Restart of Stamper

June 12, 2013

It was a lot more difficult to leave the house where Mieke died then to return to Stamper where we have spend an intense last seven years.

After 18 hours travelling you have overslept your fatigue, and just start organizing your own baggage, quickly realizing that you first need to empty the lockers that Mieke used to make space for all your stuff.

Now a neat, not too big pile of bags with Miekes clothing is waiting for shipment back home. Stamper was in good shape, apart of some mould on the inside of the cockpit tent. That can easily be removed with water and bleach (vinegar, thanks for the tip).

Initially I asked the yard manager to put Stamper back in the water at noon today as I only planned to change the zinc anode on the prop. I quickly changed that to tomorrow as the prop also needed cleaning and polishing. To my surprise when I returned to Stamper around 11 after some shopping, the travel lift was already positioned to lift Stamper. The yard manager had forgotten to tell his boys...

Then finding Frans from Gemini, who called me after I e-mailed him when i did not find him on my first round in the Boat Lagoon. Shopping together and now the jet-lag is tapping at my shoulder. Just ignore it, I still want to do this update and start the polishing of the prop. Then will be time for some Zen and a nap.

Conclusion for all you readers: everything is fine with Stamper and Rob reunited. The weather is awful and tomorrow is another day!

Saturday; June 15, 2013

The day after the travel lift came by as scheduled this time and put Stamper neatly in the water. The weather looks like Dutch autumn weather, except for the temperature.

For the next 2 days the carpenter who had done the teakdeck was busy resetting the kitchen sink so that the dishwashingwater will no longer seep into the woodwork. And I myself have cleaned the boat out so now in 7 years time, for the first, we have four (!) empty lockers and not stuff standing around in the cabin (apart from the sails of course). Stamper is truly rebooted and ready for a new life.

All the stuff that needs to be shipped home is stored on Miekes bed.

For Mieke; sweet memories and I still need to get the photo we used at the funeral on board. (was not able to pack it safely).

June 19, 2013: Wednesday

We are getting somewhere; the mounting plate for the anchor winch is fitted together with a teak-board as a chain guide from the winch to the chain-roller to protect the deck. Nice work mr Gig! I paid him 280 Euro's for the extra work and all is finished now.

Below a view of the modified sink. This work is not perfect, but i guess i overasked their craftsmanship here. It OK for now.

I am less happy with our dinghy, after inspection all glued see]ams are falling apart. Already last year I send an e-mail to Cater Marine in Opua, New Zealand asking what we should expect as some less important seams were coming loose. Never got an answer. We would not have sued you mr Cater, but an answer was important to us as we rely heavily on a dinghy in the Indian Ocean, where you can not get a new one!

Today the seams connecting the aluminium hull to the PVC were gone. I shopped here in Phuket and learned that PVC dinghy's in this warm and humid climate sweat their plasticizers and these destroy the glue. Thank you very much. Now a new dinghy made of hypalon is on my shopping list. The problem is: The first dinghy we bought in the Netherlands in 2006 lasted only until 2009. Will this new one be better? (a bit difficult to see, but that seam is gone as are many others)

June 23, maiden trip of new dinghy

I am a happy person again; the new dinghy has excellent wheel so that I can carry the 45 kg myself up the beach, it looks good, is very stable, and does (just about) plane with the 5 HP engine.

Also, after a lot of measuring and adjusting, the motor of the anchor winch is fitted and the winch is working good.

Tomorrow: cleaning the bun-lockers in the stern (ants and little plants seem to like the piles of teakwood dust that has collected there). Maybe I will test my sewing skills and see if I can remake the old dinghy cover to fit the new dinghy?

And if I really start getting bored: I can always re-varnish the galley.

June 29, 2013

Now, after waiting for some time for the Italian dinghy manufacturer to provide hypalon glue, the cover of the dinghy is finally fitted. For someone who has for the first time in his life sewed anything, I am pleased with the result. The cover is attached with Velcro to the tubes of the dinghy.

Also I have arranged for a Chinese investment banker from Shanghai, who quit his job, to sail with me from Phuket to Pangkor. That makes life so much easier for me, having a second hand to aid in difficult situations can make a big difference. Jay wants to gain sailing experience to sail one day his own 21 foot boat. So both sides profit from the deal.

And a major change of plan, as there is no longer a potential travel companion for me for the rest of the year, I have decided to join Sven on Dana Felicia in Puerto Montt, Chile for a trip to Patagonia and may be Antarctica. By February 2014 I should be back with Stamper to prepare her for the trip to South Africa. For now the trip to Patagonia looks like a good adventure, worth while spending my time on and a once in a lifetime opportunity. For anyone interested in other stories about sailing to Antarctica see http://www.sarahvorwerk.net/en/home. (thanks Frans of Gemini)