This is a LOOOOONGGGG post, so get yourself a cuppa, take a seat and strap yourself in!
Barely any wind this morning, and of course I had to do a couple of loads of washing...which is why, at 11.09am, I am sitting here updating the blog. I'm waiting for the second load of towels, to finish. I made 5 return trips up the dock this morning for two loads....how come?? taking the second load up, I got there to find I had forgotten the money. Bah!
We have taken to spending $1.25 at the Marina laundry machine to speed things up in the laundry dept. Our machine down under takes about 50 mins, whereas the marina machine takes only 1/2 hr.
So..where was I ...the weekend. Right!
After lunch, when everyone had retreated to their respective vessels, Waz decided to run the Genset to give us some relief from the interminable heat...Aircon, that is.
The Genset would start ok, and then stop...it did this a couple of times...just when we thought it was going just fine, it stopped. We had managed to boil the kettle for tea in the morning, before it tripped out. We decided to check it out later, as we had company.
The Genset had been serviced along with the engines when we returned to NZ back in March. We left the job in the hands of Elite Diesel, who had been recommended to us by the Broker here in Clear Lake.
So later, when we wanted some cool, on went the Genset again...only to trip again.
Not a good start. It was hotter than Hades down in the Lazarette, but Waz went down there anyway to investigate. Eventually he surfaced...sweat running down him...with a piece of the Genset pump in hand and a scowl on his face. It wasnt just a scowl...he was really Pissed!!!And he had every right to be.
The key was missing out of the impeller shaft which runs the raw water cooler for the Genset.For the uninitiated, the key is the part which drives between the shaft and the impeller. If it aint there, she doesn't drive...so...no water getting into the heat exchanger to cool the engine cooling water. There are two circuits..one that is a fresh water circuit that cools the engine, and there is a heat exchanger, which is the equiv.of a radiator in a car, but instead of blowing air through it, you are putting sea water through it with a raw water pump. In short...the piece that was crucial to this process, wasn't there. Hence, now we have a formerly BRAND NEW exhaust hose which is 'cooked' in the center because it has been subject to high exhaust gas temps instead of cooling water being injected into the exhaust gas to cool it. Not to mention the damage to the shaft and the impeller, because they have been running without the key. One part is stationary and one is moving=friction=wear=major $ Understand?
So today we are back at dock, and having done the laundry, we are now going to visit Elite Diesel to find out why they didnt run the Genset long enough to discover that their technician had not included a crucial part in the process. Should be interesting. I will let you know...
Back now...
Well, first I'm going to let you know what transpired when we went to the office of Elite Diesel.
We walked in with the offending damaged part in a bag. The boss man wasn't available, so we told our story to the office manager...who in turn went out back to talk to the foreman (we think he was), who then came into the front office to ask us to tell HIM the story. We did. He could see at a glance what the problem was...anyone could!...even me!!...and went out back to talk to the owner of the business by phone. A young mechanic came into the office and was directed to come and look at the parts now laid out on the counter. He said "Where is the Key?", to which we all laughed and said..."THAT is the problem"! It seems that even the youngest member of staff could see the problem straight away. He was instructed by the assumed foreperson to Check, check and double check his work before signing off. I think he got the message:)
Now, while we were doing all this, the office manager was checking all the wording on the invoice which he had up on screen. It appears that the two mechanics who did our job just copied each other's time sheets. Hmmmm..we wondered, after some time out of the office...if they did that, were we overcharged? We will bring THAT problem up to them when we go by to pick up our new parts. We also told them we expect a new hose out of this event also.
Let's see what transpires from hereonin.
So, the weekend...finally:)
Fortunately, just a couple of days before, while checking spare parts out, Waz came across a spare pump like the one damaged. This was rebuilt in 2003, the card enclosed said. Good thing we had it onboard, otherwise Elite might not have enjoyed their Labor Day off! They say they are on 24/7 call out.
So, after Dean appeared to see why we weren't answering our texts, and why things were so quiet over here, he and Waz figgered out how to put the parts together to have a working pump. It took ME to read the instructions..sheesh, fellas!:)
Now Waz had to go back down into the hole that is the Lazarette, in what we estimate was 105F and install the new pump. The Genset started pronto and before long we saw white fluffy water exiting the exhaust, just like it should. Fantastic! Waz reappeared dripping sweat, again, and was instructed to hose himself off to cool off. His shirt was totally sweat soaked.
D went back to their boat with instructions (it was now 5pm) to tell Katie to get dinner started. I came inside and put together a large Spinach (with the works) salad for 6. T and C were already grilling their Atlantic Salmon side in foil on their grill out back on the yacht. They had trouble getting the gas to stay alight, but eventually all was cooked and they came by dinghy bearing food.
Katie cooked the turkey burgers (fresh ones!) here in a pan on the induction cooktop, and when those were done we went topside for dinner. The sun was setting when we all sat down to our meal, and the breeze kept us somewhat comfy.
Such easy company to be around, lots of laughs, micky taking and discussions around boats, future plans, mistakes we have made (plenty!!) and assorted other.
They all left as the light faded, and we cleaned up the small number of dishes. No fuss cooking and people...our kind!:)
Well, the best was yet to come.
Bear in mind that we were now anchored a good nautical mile from the Shipping lane which is like main street on a Friday night (older kiwis will understand that one!), and ships (huge ones) and Tows are trucking through there at an average 14 knots. They shouldnt be, apparently..not that speed, but we felt the after effects plenty of times.
We were also surrounded by other vessels, both large and small, and some were just plain idiotic coming so close to anchored vessels at full speed. Cigarette boats whipping past us at 40-50mph gave us cause for concern a couple of times...especially when we were side on to their wake. They left with the sun, for the most part.
Night time, and time for bed. The Mozzies were like B52 bombers, so we didnt go outside for out shower, settling for the confines of our Master bathroom shower. Not as much fun and a bit warmer generally, but it does the job.
We lie down to sleep...well, someone did, and it wasnt me!
With no aircon going, and no fans = no air circulation, what is a menopausal woman who has Power Surges (hot flushes) to do? I started out on the bed, lying VERY still. Then I peeled my night clothes off. Then I got up, put on my night clothes and went into the salon. Then I went upstairs to the flydeck and tempted the mozzies....all this taking place over several hours, you understand!
Then, with pillow in hand, I went back to the salon, opened all the windows except those without screens (1) and lay down on the nice cool leather...which became hot leather very quickly.
THEN, not getting much satisfaction from the small breeze, I opened the outside door and with my pillow underarm, I went and lay down on the seat on the cockpit deck. That was ok...until....
..we were hit broadside by a series of waves that had us rocking and rolling. I sat up and looked back at the other two boats whose masts where flailing wildly from side to side. I could only imagine what was hurtling around on those two!
The rolling lasted a good five minutes. During this time Waz had woken up and was thinking...this has to stop soon!!!...and then came up to see what was going on. This was the second time this had happened within the past couple of hours...after midnight. When Waz came up, it was about 3.10am.
Lying out on the cockpit, when the rocking first started, I heard bottles clanging in the upstairs fridge, so hurried up the stairs to check that the fridge door hadn't opened again (they had spilled all over the upstairs while we were out at Red Fish Island), but fortunately I had had the foresight to put a full cooler in front of the door before going to bed.
A few things had fallen off surfaces, but we were otherwise ok. I sat and watched the rollers approach the boat and waited for them to subside. These were the result of the wake of ships going too fast down or up the shipping channel. We couldnt go anywhere, so had to ride them out. This is just one of the hazzards of anchoring near a busy shipping channel. we hadnt thought of this when we laid out the chain, of course. We would not be in that position in NZ so it was outside of our consciousness.
The boat was also heaving and groaning all the while and the waves coming up sharp under the duck board thwacked the DB hard, making he whole boat shudder. Not very good for the structure of the boat, but again, nothing much we could do under the circumstances. You wouldnt want to up anchor and move at night. there are too many hazzards in the water to do that.
When Waz came upstairs at 3.10am, he reached over and turned the fan in the salon on. WHAT?? you mean I could have had air circulation all this time? and here I was sitting and sweating and thinking this was a good time to commit Hari Kari??? I didnt think they worked without the genset going! duh! Well they do, but they also drain the house batteries! And you dont want too many of them on at once...preferably only ONE:)
So..armed with our Vornado fan, we went back into our bedroom and turned it on. I was pretty desperate for some ZZZ's by this time. It took a couple of tries to get the airflow in the correct direction, but eventually all was calm and we slept. 8am appeared much too soon, however. The boat was hot and prompted us to get up, open up and see what the world was looking like now.
Lots of boats out on the water at that hour..mostly fishermen hurrying (being the operative!) to their favorite fishing ground. I guess we just arent used to the shear numbers of boats. Even though there are Rules of the Sea, I doubt if most on the water knew what they were or that they even exist. Such was the behaviour of most of the boats...namely those go-fast boats that run on pure testosterone!!!!
I made pancakes for breakfast, needing something more sustaining that fruit and yoghurt. Texted Katie to see what they were up to, and she said they were hanging out and then she would cut Dean's hair....
I just had to get a photo of 'How To Cut Hair with a Razor on a Yacht!'
Sorry Katie's face is obscured by the flag, :)
Can you see the three Dolphins? sorry, I cannot get the resize menu up, so this is as good as it gets right now..
While we were at the back of the boat taking pics, a pod of Dolphins was busy feeding and rounding up fish not far from the boat...but far enough not to get larger photos of them. They are thrilling to watch. Mums and Babes out there too.
K and D were soon in their beloved dinghy and making their way towards us. We four decided to take a tiki-tour up the coast towards San Leon and Dicksons Bayou.
T and C had to make a stop at a friends Rum Shop where they could only purchase two bottles. Anything over that had to be purchased from another supplier. I think this was her first day of being able to sell from the shop.
Warren and I made ready to go on our fun tour, and joined K and D...
We berated K and D so much they returned to their boat to put hats on and lather up...With a newly shaved head, Dean was bound to get a very burned skull, and Katie is brown enough, in our opinion.We have already bought shares in the sunscreen company, such is the lathering we do before departing the boat to go outside. We pale faces weren't made to be out in the sun!
Warren doesnt want to look TOO enthusiastic about getting out and speeding along. Yes, that is my foot...a girl has to relax when the fellas are hooning around:)
We took our umbrella with us, and did have occassion to use it while waiting for D and K to refuel at the dock at this place...
well, maybe not THIS place, but ...
This place...around the corner a bit towards...
...this place..out of sight on the left hand side.
I love that you can just tie your boat up to the restaurant and walk in!:) simple!
This is a Pump Out station on the dock around the corner from the fuel station. Rather cute for a poo place:)
The clouds were stunning in their formation...but I didnt take a photo of the clouds just a little to the right which were precipitating! 
On our way back we got a little cloud cover which was most welcome. We also, after a few 360's got a good photo of our boats all lined up:) You try taking photos when the driver is dodging the waves at slow speed!
We had arranged to meet T and C for lunch on the dock at Bubba's Shrimp Palace at San Leon. This place has been rebuilt since the Hurricane. Remember..these places are right on the water, or the waterfront and copped the full force of Ike.
There is Chris hailing us and ready to help us tie up. It was a bit of a step up onto the dock, from our little dinghies. Tammy was already inside studying the menu and holding a table for six.
Here, they dont bring you chips, salted peanuts or any of those other apetite wamers before ordering, they bring you Po'Boys. These are deep fried cornmeal balls. You dip them in your favorite dressing..in this case it was some secret recipe, which didnt have any ingredients listed! hmmmmmmmm:)
This one is taken from inside the restaurant, just to show you how close to the place we had anchored...maybe 400 meters...for you Americans, that's about 1200 ft.
I had to take this photo just as we were leaving the restaurant...This is at the end of a private dock...This is the life, eh what??
You can tell Chris and Tammy are up to no good...cheeky looking cowboys!
Katie and Dean were taking it easy after a large meal...Catfish blackened for K, while D had the $19.99 All you can eat Shrimp. He was groaning at the end...couldnt fit any more in! It came with two sides and all you can eat salad bar. Blimey!
Waz and I had the fried catfish...we will have it grilled next time! and fries with salad bar. I didnt get to the salad bar..too much food. I ended up bringing 5...yes FIVE pieces of catfish back to the boat for dinner for tonight! Tammy donated one, and the others came from Waz and my plates.
After all that fun messing about in boats it was time to head home. The wind had come up and we thought we should get back to the dock by 5-ish. Motoring back to Seabrook along pretty much the same path we had come out on, we joined the other gazillion boats making their way home. It was a bit like main street again, coming in. Boats changing direction mid--path, others going too fast, some going too slow, others overtaking...I tell you...
I handed the controls over to Waz to get us through all the hazards ahead and went below to check the fenders and ropes were in place for docking back in our berth.
Bye bye T and C and D and K...see you later!
Dean and Katie stayed out with their sail up and played on the way home, while T and C didnt put their sail up at all. We got a light sprinkle of rain coming under the Kemah bridge, but nothing much eventuated after that.
We did a good job of putting her on the dock with a wind blowing us on, and tied up like pros. We were happy with both our and the boats performance, for the most part.
After spending an hour washing her down (lots of bird poop on the top deck) we finally came inside for a salad dinner. We were so happy to put the aircon back on and relax in the cool last evening. Sleep came easily to us...we were pooped.
Ciao for now.
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