Monday afternoon after the sun had evaporated the heavy dew on the decks Richard taped up the rails (again) and started the final sanding down (again). I rested up for a while as my old bones were complaining about the dampness of the weather. Later on we moved all the lines away from the rail in preparation for varnishing. By mid afternoon rain had stopped play so we just both lazed around and read books.
Tuesday morning it was very damp with a very heavy overnight dew again. But the sun came up and by 9am was hot enough to dry everything off. So Richard continued sanding. I started doing a spring clean down below. We then had to stop to get ourselves cleaned up and headed into town for a doctor’s appointment as the specialist heart nurse (Imogen) wanted the GP to check Richard’s blood pressure and, if OK, to increase the dosage on one drug as blood test results showed no adverse effect from medication thus far. The GP didn’t agree so, on our return, Richard emailed Imogen to bring her up to date. She wasn’t happy with this outcome so contacted the GP directly and, as a result of this collaboration, Richard was told to start taking the higher dose that evening. Glad that this was resolved easily. Later on rain stopped play and it rained really hard throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Wednesday morning it rained on and off all day so Richard was constantly popping outside to do more sanding of the rail between showers. He did actually manage to complete it. Woo hoo! I managed to finish scrubbing floors, cleaning ceilings and polishing the wood too. Later on we headed over to the laundry and as there was about 20 minutes left on the dryer timer I popped into the ensuite next door to have a quick shower. Suddenly I heard one of the dryers making a horrendous row and I heard running feet coming to investigate. So I quickly finished up and hurried out to find them taking the dryer off the wall as it had managed to wobble its way lose from one of its fixings. So that the guys could take it away to investigate I emptied it of our clothes and, when folding up, I realised that one of my bras had lost an underwire wire. So I informed the guys (somewhat embarrassed) and, yes that was it, somehow it had managed to get loose, find its way through a tiny hole in the back of the drum, and was stretching and shrieking every time it went round. Oops! Luckily they were able to get it out without too much problem.
We braved the rain to get back onboard and it felt really cold. So we turned the heater on and had another quiet toasty evening down below listening to the heavy rain landing on the coachroof above us.
Thursday morning and the threat of rain was 60% so again not a good day to varnish. So we had breakfast out at the Galley. Getting back the clouds didn’t look too threatening so Richard took the chance and varnished under the rail on the port side and stern. After that we re-checked the weather and it still threatened rain all day. And, of course, the clouds cleared later and it didn’t actually rain at all….grrrr….we could have varnished after all. Never mind, there is always another day.
Friday morning and we were up early to a bright and sunny day. So we quickly worked our way around the boat varnishing the rail. Hopefully this time for the final time! She looks pretty nice…..
Task completed, after some breakfast, Richard headed off to the store to get some black marine-grade high-density polyethylene sheet (starboard). We have both been frustrated over the years by the strange layout of the pieces of board on the bowsprit. Not quite big enough to protect the wood from the chain when the anchor is being deployed or when we are sailing in a big sea (despite the anchors being tied down). Purchase made, Richard took the measurements and found a guy who could cut it to size for us and chamfer the edges. They came back within hours – we just need to fit them now – much happier than with the original configuration. Here is the old (top photo) and the new (second photo) placed in position.
Afterwards Richard decided it was time to give the outboard some love as it had been locked onto the rail since November 2019. It was seized in place and despite best efforts the motor refused to turn. So Richard found an outboard mechanic on site, removed the outboard into a dock cart, and delivered it to the shop for some specialist care and attention. We’ve agreed to get it serviced while it is there too. That should come back next week – most of the the tradies don’t work here over the weekend.
Later on we had more conversations with heart clinics and pharmacists etc – some more blood tests were organised and another heart clinic visit was also scheduled. So I sorted out the car bookings for those. Luckily we had a car again for the weekend so at 4pm we picked it up and parked it near our dock for the night.
Saturday was going to be the better of the weekend days, weather wise, so we headed out and about. First destination was Mt Coot-Tha which is a lookout over the city of Brisbane all the way out to Moreton Bay. Sadly it was a bit cloudy and gloomy so the views weren’t as good as they could be. It was pretty busy up there but, thankfully, we managed to get parked up OK and enjoyed the views while the kookaburra kept an eye on us…..
Moving on we headed north to Scarborough Marina and popped in to see John and Stella on Exocet Strike. Was a nice marina and, unlike the Boatworks, wasn’t subject to swell from tinnies and jetskies although they do have a fishing fleet so they get some swell from them when they headed out to work. We had a cup of tea and enjoyed catching up, was really nice to see them again.
Moving on we headed into the nearest town of Redcliffe and found the Bee Gees Way. This is a commemorative 70m walkway that honour’s Redcliffe’s most famous young residents. Was fun to listen to the tunes and read some of the lesser known facts as well as posing with them LOL.
Afterwards we headed to the prom and enjoyed the views out across the bay. Was a nice day to be out on the water. The sea gulls were waiting to be fed and soon lost interest when it was clear that we didn’t have anything for them.
We headed back south to Morphie and the heavens opened. It had been pretty dry all day so we were glad to return and get ourselves warmed up down below for a quiet night on board.
Sunday was always going to be a rainy day and boy did it rain! Very glad we had been out and about the previous day. So we just headed out to BCF (stands for Boating Camping Fishing) and got a propane refill. We then headed to the Westfield Mall in Helensvale and I got another pair of yoga pants which I have found to be incredibly comfortable wear for lazing around on the boat in the evening. The mall was absolutely rammed so we decided to leave there and return to the Westfield Mall in Coomera for our food shopping as at least we know the layout of the store in Coles. So we headed there, spent another fortune on fresh fruit and vegetables, and then headed back to Morphie. When we arrived in the marina it was raining cats and dogs so, before we unpacked the car, we headed into the Galley (on the takeout side) for a coffee to sit it out. Was horrible! Eventually it let up a little bit so we able to unpack the car and quickly get on board.
Was certainly a nasty wet day – we even had to dodge the rain again to go and get showered before we locked down for the night.
This morning, Monday (15 June) and Richard is putting the stainless steel rub rails back on top of the new varnish while I’m down below blogging. The forecast is better for the first half of this week so we should be able to get all the tape off and get Morphie cleaned and polished (again) now that we actually have finished varnishing.
Anyway, that’s all for now folks. Hope you are all staying safe and well.
Bye for now
Jan