Author Archives: Mike
Día Tres de Haulout 2014
We’ve just finished watched the early Vin Diesel 2003 film “A Man Apart”, and blistering barnacles, it was decidedly average. Full of unsubtitled Spanish speaking Mexican drug lords and their henchmen… Hence the title of this blog post. How did Day 3 go? Today my arms fell off. We’ll, they feel like they have, at … Continue reading
Day Two of Haulout 2014
We got stuck into the hull below the waterline today, scraping all the loose anti foul off first, cleaning out any daggy putty in the seams then caulking, puttying, and priming bare wood where exposed. The white rings is part of our usual modus operandi; we walk around scraping, sanding and chipping away at paint, … Continue reading
2014 Haulout – Day 1
We hauled out this morning at the DSS for the first time here, and the first time since the Tamar, two years ago. We dropped the car off down at the DSS last night, then got up bright and sparky (before dawn!) to get the boat ready for the slip and sail the boys to … Continue reading
‘Twas the day before Christmas
Twas the the day before Christmas And all across the bay There wasn’t another boat seen At the breaking of day The boys are all excited And running around Guessing at presents While the dawn chorus sounds The birds sing their song The sea eagle takes flight The cabin fills with reflections Of the sun’s … Continue reading
Christmas Cruise
Every year, we have to get out the Marina for a couple of weeks over Christmas, to make way for the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. Every year it’s a struggle to get the leave period sorted with work, get the boat provisioned, get Christmas shopping done, find a home for the car, etc. What with Dad’s … Continue reading
Getting a Guernsey
Bet you didn’t know “Getting a guernsey” was an Aussie phrase, did you? I didn’t, especially as no one calls them guernseys anyway, we call them jumpers… But it turns out that on the other side if the planet there are two islands, one named Guernsey and the other Jersey. Both were famous for their … Continue reading
Tassie weather
So it’s a beautiful day today; gentle 5kt NW wind, blue sky dappled with cloud. Yesterday there was snow on the mountain, it barely got into double digit temperatures and there was a brisk 15-20kt SW wind. …talk about unsettled weather. A few weekends ago I took a couple of days off work and we … Continue reading
Winter is here..
I’m so glad I have a boat that doesn’t leak. First two boats we lived aboard leaked when it rained, and made life quite miserable down below. ERIK, on the other hand, is cosy warm. Last night we got soaked through to the skin getting onboard and everyone got changed into dry clothes. Hanging up … Continue reading
Regrowth
We went down the Peninsula on the weekend. It’s not the first time since the fires, but it’s impact hasn’t faded. People living in tents or sheds next to the burnt out rubble of their houses, the pervasive smell of burnt things in the air, the alien autumn-like browns and golds in the foliage; these … Continue reading
Keeping an eye out for someone
Don’t get orbital cellulitis… And if you do, don’t look it up on the web and scare yourself silly with it relevant Wikipedia entry. Don’t worry, a week in hospital and I was fine!