Another layer of fibreglass on the transducer mount and more painting.
Haulout – Day 5
Haulout – Day 4
Haulout – Day 3
Another 6am start. There was only two other boats being worked on today. With only a few people around Health and Safety and Boatyard rules dont apply. There was hull sanding without a vacuum attachment (dust going everywhere). Spraying on Antifoul out in the yard amongst other boats (not in the shed where overspray is contained). And some silly bugger climbing on the scaffolding rails so he can paint higher on the boat.
Sue finished off removing all the barnacles, while Andrew painted the above waterline white. Well, the first coat, second coat tomorrow.
Sue finished off removing all the barnacles, while Andrew painted the above waterline white. Well, the first coat, second coat tomorrow.
Haulout – Day 2
We’ve hardly got the energy to write this.
We started at 6am. First job remove the steering pedestal, ready for the engineers to weld on Monday. Then Sue back scraping barnacles, Andrew sanding waterline and all the chips and scratches. Seventeen metres down each side. By lunch time Andrew had got 3/4 of the way down one side. After lunch the sander packed up. The hardware shop is only a 2 hour walk each way. Luckily as Andrew was about to set off, someone working on their neighbouring boat offered Andrew a lift.
An hour later back to the sanding. The waterline is sanded and one side of the boat is barnicle free, so we took an early mark today and finished at 4.30pm.
We started at 6am. First job remove the steering pedestal, ready for the engineers to weld on Monday. Then Sue back scraping barnacles, Andrew sanding waterline and all the chips and scratches. Seventeen metres down each side. By lunch time Andrew had got 3/4 of the way down one side. After lunch the sander packed up. The hardware shop is only a 2 hour walk each way. Luckily as Andrew was about to set off, someone working on their neighbouring boat offered Andrew a lift.
An hour later back to the sanding. The waterline is sanded and one side of the boat is barnicle free, so we took an early mark today and finished at 4.30pm.
Haulout – Day 1
Friday 18th March Yesterday we thought we had better see if we could haul anchor or would we have to cut it. After holding us throughout the flood, we knew the anchor would have buried itself deep in the mud.
So we followed normal procedure, slowly drive forward while winching in the chain (with our new winch). That didn’t last long. We only pulled up 10m before it came to a grinding halt. Thirty metres to go. Okay, put the chain brake on and increase the revs. Okay, full revs.
I think that did something! Then the bow dipped and we stopped again. Slow the engine take it out of gear and let the river current drag us back while winching up the chain. Mmmm, twenty five metres to go. Lets try full throttle to port. Full throttle to starboard. That gained us another two metres.
We repeated this for 2 hours. We were just about to quit, Imagine lurched forward and we were free.
Ten minutes later we were back on anchor knowing we could haul anchor this morning.
This morning we hauled anchor with no problems and slowly cruised down river dodging all the debris. We saw a few of the boats have returned to the river.
Once at Rivergate we had the usual problem of backing Imagine into crane slings. Imagine does not like backing up.
It took most of the day for the yard crew to get Imagine into position on the yard and secure the cradle. She didnt look as bad as we thought, lots of scratches and a few chips back to the fibreglass, but not too bad. As soon as it was safe Andrew started on the mount for the new transducer and Sue started scraping the barnacles off.
By 5pm we were stuffed.
So we followed normal procedure, slowly drive forward while winching in the chain (with our new winch). That didn’t last long. We only pulled up 10m before it came to a grinding halt. Thirty metres to go. Okay, put the chain brake on and increase the revs. Okay, full revs.
I think that did something! Then the bow dipped and we stopped again. Slow the engine take it out of gear and let the river current drag us back while winching up the chain. Mmmm, twenty five metres to go. Lets try full throttle to port. Full throttle to starboard. That gained us another two metres.
We repeated this for 2 hours. We were just about to quit, Imagine lurched forward and we were free.
Ten minutes later we were back on anchor knowing we could haul anchor this morning.
This morning we hauled anchor with no problems and slowly cruised down river dodging all the debris. We saw a few of the boats have returned to the river.
Once at Rivergate we had the usual problem of backing Imagine into crane slings. Imagine does not like backing up.
It took most of the day for the yard crew to get Imagine into position on the yard and secure the cradle. She didnt look as bad as we thought, lots of scratches and a few chips back to the fibreglass, but not too bad. As soon as it was safe Andrew started on the mount for the new transducer and Sue started scraping the barnacles off.
By 5pm we were stuffed.
And still it keeps coming
There is still debris coming downriver. This morning there is lots of trees, large logs, weeds, a mattress and another pontoon liner. Sue has been out on deck with a pole fending off the larger items to keep them away particularly from the anchor.
Yesterday Ben went to the Gold Coast (2 hours each way) and picked up the winch and anchor Andrew had ordered (a huge thank you to Ben). Today Andrew has taken the old winch off, bogged up all the original holes and general preparation so that tomorrow he can hopefully fit the new winch.
Things must be starting to return to normal, one of the party boats has been out today.
Yesterday Ben went to the Gold Coast (2 hours each way) and picked up the winch and anchor Andrew had ordered (a huge thank you to Ben). Today Andrew has taken the old winch off, bogged up all the original holes and general preparation so that tomorrow he can hopefully fit the new winch.
Things must be starting to return to normal, one of the party boats has been out today.
Ooops!
A few days ago Andrew slept up top keeping an eye on Imagine’s position as the tides were starting to turn, the wind had picked up and with 50m of chain still out and the direction of the wind, there was a possibility we could have gone into the riverbank.
During the night a couple of times he manually winched up a few metres (no mean task as it only pulls through a couple of links per pull! ) to keep us from going too close to the bank. There is so much silt and the contours/depths of the river have changed.
Pete (on Jambalaya) was not so lucky. Andrew looked out the window early hours of the morning and found Pete had gone in a bit close to the bank. It was nearing low tide and his boat had grounded and was on a lean. Nothing you can do except wait for the tide to come back in and then try moving out further and reset the anchor. We phoned the MSQ guy that had given us his number and asked if he could arrange for a “no wash” zone so that the boat wasn’t being banged up against the rocks. He did and most of the boats going past were fairly good. Sue went out and shouted at the Go Boats drivers that were going flat chat past not caring about the wake they were creating.
A couple of hours later the tide had come in far enough to refloat Jambalaya so Andrew took the dinghy and helped Pete pull the boat forward and reanchor. It could so easily have been us.
They have been doing a hydrographic survey of the river post flooding. Sometimes they came fairly close!
During the night a couple of times he manually winched up a few metres (no mean task as it only pulls through a couple of links per pull! ) to keep us from going too close to the bank. There is so much silt and the contours/depths of the river have changed.
Pete (on Jambalaya) was not so lucky. Andrew looked out the window early hours of the morning and found Pete had gone in a bit close to the bank. It was nearing low tide and his boat had grounded and was on a lean. Nothing you can do except wait for the tide to come back in and then try moving out further and reset the anchor. We phoned the MSQ guy that had given us his number and asked if he could arrange for a “no wash” zone so that the boat wasn’t being banged up against the rocks. He did and most of the boats going past were fairly good. Sue went out and shouted at the Go Boats drivers that were going flat chat past not caring about the wake they were creating.
A couple of hours later the tide had come in far enough to refloat Jambalaya so Andrew took the dinghy and helped Pete pull the boat forward and reanchor. It could so easily have been us.
They have been doing a hydrographic survey of the river post flooding. Sometimes they came fairly close!
It’s not over
We thought it was over.
With the clean up happening upriver, there has been debris flowing downriver. Because the river level is falling and the current easing, means the debris is not being dragged to the other side of the river.
Today we had to go ashore to do some shopping (we have run out of baked beans). Upon returning to Imagine we discovered a large rolled up pontoon casing, had wrapped itself around our anchor and bow.
Andrew tried to remove it but it wouldn’t budge. We contacted Maritime Safety Queensland to help. They sent a barge with a crane. The guys on the barge first thought they could just pull it off the anchor by hand and be on their way. No it wasn’t moving. They had to use the crane, and it still took over half an hour.
As they left they said that there is likely to be more over the next week.
A big thank you to them though as with the next tide change and the force of this on the chain, we could have dragged anchor.
-
- Thanks Drew for the photo
Sunshine
Day 7. We have managed to get some sleep over the past two days. The predicted storm stayed out in the bay, sparing Brisbane from another deluge.
The sun was out today the river is receding. The current was slow enough for Andrew to go get water in the jerry cans. We had been catching rain in the buckets to use for washing and flushing the toilet. Andrew was told by locals the the supermarket has now reopened after flooding, but has very little stock. Thats okay as we can survive a few more days.
We see the tugs and marine salvage boats go past, sorting out the wreckage in the river around the CBD and have heard on the radio that they are collecting the pontoons, yachts etc that have gone out into the bay.
There isn’t a lot we can do except wait for things to get back to normal. We are still booked in to be hauled out mid March. Then we can get stuck in to painting and antifouling Imagine. Luckily Andrew had run around the week before the flood and bought the paint, antifoul and hopefully everything we need.
There is more stormy weather forecast for tomorrow and towards the end of next week, but today the sun shone brightly.
Thanks to everyone for your support and best wishes.
-
- During Flood
-
- Today
-
- Sunshine
