A slow first day

Aboard Chimere, Chaffers Marina, Wellington

Monday 17, May 2021

Howling wind gave way to pouring rain through the night, but tiredness and sleep conquered all.  Despite the conditions outside, it was certainly snug inside, resulting in a sleep-in and a socks and slippers kind of morning. 

Breakfast was still underway around 11 o’clock, which was really only 9 o’clock Melbourne time, when my cousin Keith called to check in.

It was good to catch up on his news making me feel almost a local, what with our respective fathers being brothers an’ all.

In talking with Keith about my planned slipping of Chimere on Thursday, it dawned on me that if I’m going to do a high-pressure water clean and the weather on Thursday is fine, then I should also give the hull a paint.  My problem was that I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on paint, and then not use it.  Which remained a possibility.  But if I didn’t order the paint in advance, then the chance of the local shop just having it on the shelf should I walk in on Thursday, was slim.    

At least I could do some research.  So in the early afternoon, with the rain seeming to lighten off a bit, I wandered up town a short distance to the local chandlery – Barton Marine, to see what I could see.  As it turned out, the friendly guy in the store understood my dilemma and was more than happy to put the only two suitable cans in the store aside until Thursday.  He also asked me about replacement zinc anodes, should I discover I need them, of which he had plenty.    

This was my kind of store, but the trouble with chandleries, particularly for a boatowner, is that there are so many tempting, “essential” items on display – all calling out as you walk by … buy me, buy me, buy me.

It must act on that part of the brain which somehow triggers an auto-response along the lines of … “Gee I could do with one of those”, or thoughts to that effect

A case in point was the glass cabinet at the front of the store; naturally hiding all the best bits.   

I glanced inside and couldn’t help myself – the auto-response – “That’s a good price for a brass clock”, I said.  Probably not the best way to start any bargaining/purchasing situation.

The fact is, our previous antique-looking brass clock in the saloon died a few years ago and in the end I finally removed it because each time you’d instinctively look in that direction you’d quickly realise the same thing … “oh it doesn’t work it’s still 11:23”. 

The helpful guy explained that since COVID they couldn’t get much new stock from overseas and had decided to mark down the price of the stuff they had.  Which, now I type the words, it doesn’t really make sense. Anyway, I couldn’t help digging my hole deeper by declaring … “That clock would fit the space perfectly in our saloon”

After that there wasn’t much left but to pay my money and buy it – quick before I looked at anything else.    And I must say I was 100% correct – I didn’t buy anything else – but as you can see from the before-and-after pictures, it was more of an “investment” than an expense.

Rain was getting heavier and so after only a short walk I wandered back to the boat for a late lunch

Earlier on in the day Adam dropped by, giving me a chance to thank him in person for all the care and attention he has shown Chimere over the past year. He asked whether I had been able to tee-up some contractors to help with the preparations. And at this stage it’s looking good. 

The key tasks being to service the engines, check the rigging, get a marine survey while she’s out of the water and give the hull above the water line a bit of a polish;  John Land (who flies in tomorrow) and I will be able to do the water blasting and antifouling.

While he was on board the ever helpful Adam also gave me the password to the marina Wi-Fi.  Which is a wonderful thing to have.  I would have eventually got it from the office later in the day but it was nice to be able to turn off the data roaming and hotspot connection on my phone and tap into the local system; which indirectly I’m probably already paying for

There was a brief, still moment late in the day when I could go on deck , drink my coffee and munch on a Tim Tam, without getting wet or being blown away, and just gaze out at the world – the watery, grey, Wellington world laid out before me.  Even have a chat with a small bird making use of our bow line as a perch to dry his feathers.

In keeping with the general tone of the day, I’m now preparing for a relatively early night, so it’s back to my cosy bunk – first cabin on the left.

Smooth seas, fair breeze and a slow first day

Rob Latimer