Dolphins of Tin Can Bay

It's Raining Again...

That would make a cheerful song :)
Trying to find a calm anchorage in this stormy weather has been a bit of a challenge.

Moon Point was covered in shorebirds - bar-tailed godwits in breeding plumage, whimbrel, eastern curlew, along with lots of terns and cormorants, but it was looking lumpy so we anchored off Coongul Creek, with a long stretch of beach to walk on. 
Then the storms began, but we collected enough water to wash sheets, towels and clothes, which all had an extra rinse on the lines.
Next we tried to sail over to Big Woody, but gave up and motored.  No calm anchorage there, so we opted to return to Kingfisher Bay and finally some sunshine.

Summer Projects

Summer Projects

Engine repairs – all finally fixed and running; injector timing was the key. Engine insulation replaced – a great indoor activity of scraping out the old and creating a pile of dust, then gluing in the new.

Hot water – Peter removed the port hot water tank and re-plumbed the galley sink to the starboard tank, saving weight and power.

Watermaker – sold the old one and Peter completed the installation of the new Stella;  first TDS test reads 200 ppm – drinkable water, Yay!

Galley sink tap, which had corroded to no longer swivel, replaced with a shiny new swivel mixer tap.  Galley wench very happy J

Clears and Shades WIP

The corner clears were very tricky - getting the curves to fit the Q-snaps was challenging, but we are pleased with the result so far.  Still need to attach the Velcro joins, then make up the mid-section for starboard side sail track.  

Thanks to Col from Decka for the spare vinyl to trim the edges!

Clear Challenge

Next sewing challenge on the Sailrite - making new clears so that we can see ahead when sailing (what a good idea!).  A bit tricky to measure from sailtrack to sailtrack, but happy with the result.

Mooloolabaa-baa

Back to Mooloolaba, to cross the bar, where the dredge is working the river entrance, so it needs some caution to cruise into the river.  Hurtle Turtle and WOW are anchored here, waiting to head south.  Just before we decided to drop the main, Peter noticed our main outhaul line had broken, not much we could do under sail but reef the main, sailed to the bar and sorted it out up in the river.  The engineer devised a plan to undo all the sheaves and jammers, feed a new line through the mast, remove the makings of a nest (those pesky welcome swallows again!) and re-tie the clew to the outhaul.  Job done!

We Are Sailing ... again!

Back in Moreton Bay and our first chance to hoist the mainsail with the new rigging.  Wow!  We sailed at 8.5 knots in a 10.5 knot NE wind!  Rudder is performing well; the running rigging is so much easier and the winches are soooo smooooth. 
Thanks #EverythingMarineAustralia  :)