Esprit was lifted out at Quays Marina on the Pittwater on the 8th July. We were quite shocked and embarrassed at the amount of marine growth and barnacles on the hull, keel and rudder after not sailing her for two months. The guys at Q-Service assured us that most of the boats lifted out at present had similar marine growth.
First, the “After” photos – it’s easier on the eye.
Saildrive cleaned and serviced, Propspeed applied and new anodes fitted.
Evidently, an increase in water temperature and the heavy rains we’ve had this year, produced run-off with lots of nutrients for growth. This resulted in additional sanding to clean the surfaces. With the bottom cleaned, it was antifouled, the topsides polished and the engine and saildrive serviced.
Now, the “Before” photos – shocking!
The saildrive – no wonder we crept along at a snail’s pace!
Jason the marine mechanic, informed us that the heat exchanger next to the exhaust manifold was cracking and needed immediate repairs. This resulted in additional engineering work, with accompanying expense. I guess that after nine years of hard travel, wear and tear, this was to be expected. She was back in the water at Quays Marina on the 10th, but we are still waiting for the repairs to be done.
Crack and leak on the heat exchanger – a potential disaster.
Karen and Evan visited us before flying to Alice Springs for a campervan trip in the Outback and a visit to Kings Canyon, the Kata Tjuta Valley, Ellery Creek and Uluru amongst others.
Thirst things first – the Alice Springs Brewing company.
Karen – Kings canyon rim walk.
Evan and Karen – Uluru sunset.
Annie had an appointment on the 12th July with her Sports Medicine Doctor to receive PRP therapy for her damaged hamstring tendons. Platelet Rich Plasma therapy involves taking blood from the patient, putting it through a centrifuge to separate the platelets and plasma, before injecting this into the injured areas to help alleviate painful symptoms and promote healing. We are hoping for a successful outcome, as she has been battling this injury for more than a year. Clearly, her hectic gym routine and the purgatory of the Camino trail in Spain didn’t help.
Australia may not have big game dangers, but there are other small creatures that sometimes make life challenging for suburbanites. At our previous house, I waged war with the possums living in our roof, culminating in me falling off the roof and spending three days in Manly hospital with three cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. Since moving to our new abode and getting serious with gardening, two new pests have appeared to test my sanity.
A cute Possum family.
Long-nosed Bandicoots, often confused with rodents, are small, omnivorous marsupials.They are nocturnal and do a fine job of digging up your gardens, lawns and flower beds looking for grubs and worms. Every morning, I have to fill and repair their substantial holes in the garden, but being a protected species, all I can do is ask them nicely to leave us alone – or as Google informed me, by spreading “Dynamic Lifter” in the garden. The stench of these fertilizer pellets not only keep them away, but also the neighbours and visitors.
A cute long-nosed Bandicoot.
As a previously endangered species, but now a proliferating species, Bush or Brush Turkeys, have colonised our suburb. The male of this species builds huge 1-2m high nests from the leave litter and mulch in your garden. Arriving home a week ago, I was confronted by a 1.5m high mountain of what looked like mulch, which I assumed was dropped off by Joe, our arborist friend, for our complex gardens. Two days later I spotted Mr Brush Turkey putting the finishing touches on his new love nest.
A not so cute Brush Turkey building a nest.
Being a protected species, I again consulted with Google, who advised that this will become a bigger problem when the Brush Turkey kiddies arrive. Their advice: destroy the nest and spread it, but this may need to be done a few times to get the message across. So two hours later, after spreading two cubic metres of litter, I had a beer and a lay down for a rest. Over the next week, I had to spread three new nests in the making. The joys of gardening!
Halfway there, demolishing and spreading the nest mound.
In winter, sailing activities slow down and on land activities for the sailors pick up. On Saturday the 13th July, 44 members of the Coastal Cruising Club of Australia gathered at the RMYC for a long lunch. The following Saturday the 20th, we had a similar number attend the Sail Cruising Division’s Spanish Fiesta Paella lunch at PAC. After our absence of two months, it was great to catch up with our sailing friends.
The plan was to sail up to the Whitsunday Islands end of July, to get away to warmer Queensland for the rest of winter. The PRP therapy injections Annie received, knocked that plan on the head. The doctor advised that she had to take it easy for the next six weeks, to let the treatment take effect before another consultation to determine if more injections would be required. The southerly weather window for sailing North, would have passed us by then, possibly resulting in a difficult sail against the northerlies. We will instead, join the CCCA and the SCD on their shorter cruises up to Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens in the coming months.
Christmas in July at Ross and Heather on the 20th July.
Our former Allambie Heights neighbours organised their annual Christmas in July dinner and invited us to join them. We were able to get up to date with news from Madison Way and chew the fat with this lovely group of friends.
On the 25th July, our daughter Karen’s obstetrician confirmed that she was 12 weeks pregnant. Her blood tests and scans were good and her due date for delivery is early February 2025. At her age of 36, we thought we may not have grandchildren, so this is good news. Imagine me an “Oupa” at 78, and Annie an “Ouma” at 70! We will just have to hang in there for at least another decade – or more.
The Muller-Quinn fetus.
On the weekend of the 27/28th July the Northern Beaches council laid on the free “Creative Open Live” concerts at the Corso in Manly. There were twelve acts over the two days, giving new musicians a chance to be heard. Two acts that stood out for us, were Roshani, a multi instrumentalist with a voice that gives you goosebumps and Black Bird Hum, a nine piece band with a blend of roots and big-band reggae.
Roshani.
Black Bird Hum.
Enjoying a beer at the New Brighton Hotel between acts.
At the same time, our daughter Michelle was in Hawaii for work, taking the opportunity to indulge in her passion for freediving with a friend. I just don’t understand how they manage to stay underwater for so long, with only huge flippers and no scuba gear. A bit of a worry for us.
Michelle (right) with her friend.
Surfacing after her dives.
On a more positive note, we look forward to spring and say cheers until our next post.
An Easyjet flight flew us from Milan to Schiphol airport on the 18th June.Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol), built on the site of the former Haarlem Lake, is 4 metres below sea level – it is the second largest airport in the world.
Our hosts, Elin and Rick.
From here we took a train to Utrecht, about 50km south of Amsterdam where our Aussie friend Elin Powers, met us at the train station. Elin and her husband Rick Nothard spend their Aussie winters in Europe cruising the canals and rivers on their barge. They recently sold their 12m riverboat and then upgraded to an 18m steel canal barge.
Douwe, the barge.
Utrecht is a University town, so is bustling with young people. It was a short walk from the station to where “Douwe” their barge was tied up on a canal. Dutch regulations require the skipper of a 15 – 25m vessel to pass an exam for a skippers licence (Kleinvaart Bewijs) in Dutch, for which Rick had been preparing since the previous week.
Utrecht street scene.
Canal scene, 100m from where Douwe is tied up.
Now, Rick hails from Natal – the last outpost of the British Empire and his Afrikaans vocabulary is limited to a colourful list of swear words, picked up while doing his National Service in the South African Navy. Most Afrikaans speakers understand Dutch and Flemish, but Rick contracted a translator for the exam, to ensure success in this important matter. The translator pulled out at the last moment, but Rick still aced the exam the following day!
Suburban Utrecht.
While Rick was writing his exam, Elin, Annie and I cycled out through the woods to the village of Lage Vuursche in the country, where we had pancakes at a restaurant. A pleasant round trip of 32km over flat terrain – Rick and Elin have no less than 5 bicycles on board the barge. Bicycles sensibly rule the roads in Holland, where the cars are modest – none of the monster utes!
On the road again.
Pannekoekenhuis – Pancake restaurant.
The Stijl movement: Schroder – Rietveld house. Designed by Gerrit Rietveld and built in 1924.
We celebrated Rick’s success with a dinner and much wine in a bustling part of the city. The following day, we stocked up with provisions and filled the water tank before entering the first lock to enter the Lek River and from there the Vecht River. We now settled into a pattern – pulling in and tying up in a small village like Oude Zuilen for lunch and a walk afterwards. Motoring on, we stop and tie up at a village like Maarssen for dinner and overnight.
Celebrating Rick’s successful exam.
A bottle of wine and half of a Tarzan strength cannabis biscuit and I want to dance.
Entering our first lock.
In Maarssen, their friends Roger and Shirley, join us for dinner and a convivial evening. Roger, being a dead ringer for Bruce Willis! The weather played along and we enjoyed beautiful sunny days in the good company of Elin and Rick.
“Bruce Willis” casting me for the demented Russian assassin in “Die Hard 14”
Annie and Elin on deck with Rick behind the wheel.
Along the way we passed impressive old castles, houses and windmills. At some of our stops, the ladies cycled to some further afield, like the De Haar castle.
A castle or a house?
A windmill early morning.
A more modest house!
Slowly we made our way north, stopping and meeting other canal boaters in the evening, until we reached the town of Muiden through the ocean lock at the mouth of the Vecht River into the Ijsselmeer Lake.
Rick after having the other half of the Tarzan cannabis biscuit, teaching the neighbours how to Toi-Toi.
Scene along the river.
The Muiderslot, a moated 13th century castle at Muiden is quite impressive, as are the restored barges lying at anchor. After taking on diesel for the barge, we motored back to the town of Weesp to tie up at the marina.
Muiderslot castle.
A colourful restored barge.
The town of Weesp is very pretty and we enjoyed exploring the older part. Annie couldn’t resist taking a photo of a Dirk van den Broek supermarket, found all over Holland. Broek meaning trousers.
Weesp townhouses dating back to 1640.
House along the river.
My namesake – check out my new shorts.
We saw an interesting re-purposing of a church, reminding me of Robert Pirsig the author of the philosophical novel “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values”, where he speaks of the church of the mind. (A church could be anywhere) This particular church has now become a brewery and gin distillery, while the big parsonage next door, is now a childcare centre.
Weesp: Former Dutch Reformed Church.
Inside: Beer brewery and gin distillery.
This was our last stop before catching a train at Weesp train station, back to Schiphol airport and our flight home.
Weesp station – note all the commuter bicycles parked next to it.
After our epic nine day Camino Pilgrimage, which resembled an extended version of Chariots of Fire and another nine days of the Monte Carlo Rally style of driving in a VW camper, we needed to relax, befitting our age, on this delightful cruise: The poor, but sensible man’s version of a geriatric Carnival Princess cruise, down the Vecht River. Thank you Elin and Rick!
We arrived back in Sydney via Dubai on the 28th June, after six weeks away. Esprit will come out of the water on the 8th July for cleaning and antifouling, new rudder bearings, topsides polishing and a comprehensive engine service for an eye watering $8,000.
The plan is to sail up to the Whitsunday Islands end of July, to get away from a cold and wet Sydney for the rest of winter. We will keep you posted.
