Teria summer (wet season) maintenance

Did some maintenance/ additions to Teria during our "Summer" (tropical wet-season) holidays to get seaworthy again (not much sailing as it's too hot-humid with chance of thunderstorms/lightning strikes offshore at times)

1) Re-sealing and re-riveting the portholes The original aluminium rivets were breaking off and the port hole frames were springing out causing leaks. The last sail in heavy weather and some heavy rains recently provided the motivation (chart soaked twice!). The starboard cabin porthole had lost over 50% of its rivets and was nearly ready to pop out for good. The port sides 2 portholes had about a 30% rivet failure rate.

So drilled the bad old rivets out, and enlarged the holes a little, scraped old silicone etc out, applied new silicone and put the new slightly larger diameter aluminium rivets in. I left the original white rubber sealant tape under the window flanges. The black inner rubber strip of the forward port porthole was a bit aged, some shrinkage etc causing pull away from corners, so pulled it out and rebedded it..the 1" ends gap (due to shortening) was filled with silicone sealant.  All rivet heads-holes were also silicone sealed too.

starboard

port side

black inner rubber strip

rivet tool

2) The sloppy tiller to rudder join - Glued a wooded block onto the tiller side. Next day planned the block down to fit the rudder stock head socket. No more tiller slop.

clamped block

tiller fitting

3) Engine department
The outboard had some running problems last trip - probably the most critical item on the boat.
Replaced 2 spark plugs and oiled greased all external moving bits  around the top of outboard.
Engine test went well. Really don't want to get stranded out there in a calm (or storm).

Engine test stand - trampoline frame and paver

Checked the u/s fuel tank gauge mechanism,  Pulled it out, the indicator pointer part missing and sight glass clouded over and leaking a bit. (the float and control wire still ok). The petrol intake still good so still using it as is.

4) Mast crutch (shear legs). Made from 2nd hand 12x50mm (1.2x2") hardwood planks about 6 ft long with a pivot bolt allowing scissor-action for stowage. This frame holds the lowered mast up giving standing headroom in the cockpit. Good for river with low bridge motoring (rudder remains in operation). The shade/rain awning can also be added to create a cool/dry cockpit area.  Rounded off some sharp corners with the surform plane  and sanded it down. It's a prototype in progress.

The design problems with it at this stage -
    It can't be used as a mast-raising aid (would fall over)
    The cockpit locker hatches can't fully open, they hit on the wood frame..
    It's too heavy - lighter material better.

5) Short-link anchor chain - Bought 18m of 6mm short-link galvanized chain at Bullivants, Townsville, they are a construction-rigging supply company. ($5/m) It is rated to 400kg safe working load (but can take at least twice that). Plus two 6mm bow shackles rated to 500kg SWL . Fit the new chain between the 7m of 6mm long link chain and the 12mm rope warp to give Teria a total of 25m of chain. With 100% chain between anchor and sampson post there's almost no chance of  it chafing through during the night. Plan is to use it in shallow anchorages, especially the nearby islands. Peace of mind when leaving the boat alone or sleeping aboard.  Just hope it's not too much weight up high in the bow, or weight to haul up by hand.

Short-link seems to handle and stow easier too.

short link chain and rope warp

long link chain and 10 lb anchor on deck (all fits in locker)

Kept the rope warp so there is deep anchoring capability (20-25m depths such as between coast and barrier reef). It could be handy if the boat is disabled offshore, stop it drifting away.

6) Stern light - The old white stern navigation light was cracking, leaking, gaffer-taped up and very unreliable, it often went off when needed at night. Thought about buying a new LED one but  ended up replacing the old stern light with an unused stern light that i had laying around. It was  a 10amp old bulb style but this one is still in top condition and is reliable.

4th sail - Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island

Recent monsoonal rains had dropped allot of water on the coast. Great for the town water supply dams and farmers. The effect on us was a half flooded back yard and Teria was bogged on its trailer down in the back corner. It took a week of drying out for the ground to be hard enough to move again. Improved the boats driveway by spreading a ute tray load of finely crushed gravel mostly in low spots that had formed ponds during the rains. With a back wheel spin or two from Jae the ute, Teria broke free of it's trap and was prepared on firmer ground.

Good weather was forecast for Sun 2nd March, we departed from Barnicle St ramp, Ross river on a king high tide. The water was only about a foot below the flat tarmac area so easy. At the rigging up anchorage seaward of the bridge, i tested the VHF radio for the first time, calling coast guard and lodging our trip plan with them (Day sail on Cleveland Bay).

A 10 knot Easterly on a slight sea greeted us as we cleared the harbor entrance. Close reaching on starboard tack on a course seaward of orchard rocks on Magnetic Island, could Horseshoe bay be reached.? The wind dropped a bit so motor-sailing kept our speed up to 5 -6 knots. The east coast of Magnetic Island was a lee shore to us so we stayed at least 1 nm out to keep plenty of sea room.

Listening in on VHF Chanel 16 was interesting, mostly commercial shipping and ferries. A large ship came into port and requested tug boats, soon after two tugs were out and then they went over to Channel 8 for the work of berthing the vessel.

We sailed as far as Arthur Bay, then the wind started picking up from the ENE and seas began to get bigger, it is a more exposed area beyond the protection of Cape Cleveland. Also Coast guard gave a weather report on VHF channel 22, strong wind warning next day. We turned back and ran downwind close to the Magnetic Island Coastline. It is a very steep Island covered in forest and has rounded granite headlands, some of which had nice houses with million dollar views.

Small Bay , east coast of Magnetic Island

Sailed into Geoffrey bay to see if it was OK to anchor, the chart showed a sizable fringing reef filling up most of the bay leaving little room for a protected spot. Snorkelers were out and marked the edge of the reef with dive buoys. The was a boat ramp with its lower edge exposed by the spring low tide. Dark patches on the seafloor implied many scattered small reefs which we didn't want to drop anchor onto. First it would smash up the life there and second the anchor was likely to get stuck. So headed off on a broad reach in calmer waters along the coast.

Allot of commercial tourist vessels and the coast guards large launch went in and out of Nelly Bay harbor-marina. It is the most protected on the Island due to large seawalls being built. No boats are allowed to anchor  in there, a marina berth is mandatory. On the VHF each vessel reported that they were arriving or departing the harbor.

There was a monstrous multi-floor box set forming a huge eyesore on Bright point.  It's probably because the straight sides of the building don't complement the landscape, smaller houses blend in because they have trees and sloping green or grey roof-lines etc breaking up their outlines. Councils should only approve architectural designs that blend in with the environment. Anything else is detracting a little from the natural tourist draw-card.

Bright Point  - Nelly Bay

We rounded Hawkings point and ran into Picnic Bay to round up and anchor just off the stinger net on the lee side of the jetty. The bottom looked like sand. This is proving to be the best bay to anchor in for us. Time to have a rest, paddle ashore. Anchored next to us was another small yacht with a family out for a sail. They had a dinghy with a small outboard and oars and it looked like a well set up small cruiser.

Scamp took us ashore

Picnic Bay anti-stinger enclosure (net) and anchorage

Picnic Bay Mall

Picnic Bay boat ramp view

View of Townsville from Picnic Bay

Spring Low tide exposes fringing reef flat

By 1600 it looked like the few other yachts out there, big and small, were heading towards port Townsville. So we went back aboard. This time i pulled Scamp the kayak up onto the fore-deck. She didn't stow snuggly but did squeeze in almost vertically with the fatter stern up forward - I didn't want to tow it downwind in rising seas and wind. There was just enough room left to haul the anchor.

Small yacht heading home

Used the trusty Johno for a few minutes to power straight upwind out of the bay and go around the reef's marker beacon. We sailed fast with full sail up on a loose reach. The kayak had the added benefit of being to windward of the fore-hatch, so it acted as a nice spray shield and the hatch could be left open for ventilation below.

Townsville port to leeward

Magnetic Island astern

It was another quick 50 minute crossing, nearing port i furled the jib to slow us down a bit at the boistrous break-wall entrance, then we glided in on flat waters. The anchor and de-rig routine went well - it gets easier with practice. . Called coast guard on VHF channel 22 to let them know we returned safely and they could take us off their trip sheet. The first test sail for the VHF radio went really well, it's a great bit of safety equipment and gives an extra layer of security at sea.

Ross River bridge ahead - Scamp on deck

Ross River Port - Rosshaven Marine and Trawler berths

The  anchor set up with the 10 lb CQR with new 6 mm diam chain (7m) on the old 10 mm warp seems about right for Teria in our conditions. It's easier to raise and lower with the reduced chain weight, (was 8m of 8 mm chain) also it held well in sand and mud. In the river at low tide i had the 7 m of chain over and tied the warp off on the bollard. On the Island i let out about 6 m more warp.

Pelican on Ross River

One of the best part of any trip is motoring back along the river's calm water, the rocking and rolling over and the safest mooring ahead - the back yard. Left Scamp tied to the rails on deck for the tow home, it looks ungainly but saves on time and effort.

In regards to trip planning, it looks like Horseshoe bay is near the limits of day-sailing range. Leave really early and get back late.  An overnight anchorage there could be better.

Anchor gear - Main anchor

The main anchor gear needed an overhaul. Teria came with a large Danforth, 7m of 8 mm standard link chain and a long run of 10 mm white rope.

The first thing to go was the oversized danforth which wouldn't fit in the anchor locker. It was replaced with a 10 lb (4.5kg) CQR plough copy. This mostly fit into the locker but the shank stuck out by about 1" onto deck, so lashed this to the bow rail with 6mm starter cord.

It was hidden under the chain in the locker, the chain to anchor rope join was a "birdsnest", the rope on the hard eye had been chaffed through and a tangle of strange knotting had rope in direct contact with chain link. This was bad form, it could easily chafe through, part the anchor cable and the boat could drift off to it's demise. Also the 6 mm bow shackle was corroded shut.

So re-rigged the rope to chain join with a hard eye splice. The bowshackle pin's turn tab broke off, so grinder in to cut it off. Replaced with a new 6 mm bowshackle.

I thought the 8 mm chain was a bit of over-kill for our use. I hauled the anchor up on one trip and it was a handful, a long heavy lift. So replaced the original 8 mm chain with 7 m of lighter 6 mm standard link galvanized chain.

The anchor chain to rope join. Hard eye prevents shackle from chafing through rope, shackle pin is wired so it can't undo.

 It had been a long time since i did an eye-splice so a bit out of practice.. First learnt it at sea scouts ages ago, have books on rigging and knots and applied it to my boats in the 1990's.

The new chain had the added benefit of taking up less space (and weight) in the anchor locker when restowed. The anchor now fits completely into the locker!

I'm hoping this set up will suit most situations in our area. I may carry the old 8 mm chain down below and could add it to the 6 mm chain if needed.

Teria's stem head fitting - a small anchor roller,  anchor bitts, jib furler. Stainless gunwale protection plate is at front.