Back in the Marina

Hi everyone,
We're back in Tipperary Waters Marina after a wonderful Easter out on Darwin harbour.  We spent Sunday morning at Woods Inlet then had a great sail on the harbour before anchoring off Stokes Hill Wharf.

At anchor in Woods Inlet

Great sail on the harbour

Sunset over Stokes Hill wharf

Re-entering the marina

All in all, a great holiday weekend.  All the new gear worked very well.  The only addition to the to-do list was to investigate replacing the outboard.  It's a 1990's 2-stroke which is becoming increasingly leaky and difficult to start.

Test Sail on Darwin Harbour

Hi everyone,
We're having a great Easter cruising around Darwin harbour.  On Friday afternoon we locked-out of the marina and motored around to anchor off Cullen Bay.  We took the opportunity to do a speed trial of the engine...

• 2000rpm => 5.4knots
• 2200rpm => 6.0knots
• 2500rpm => 6.5knots
• 2700rpm => 6.8knots, stern digging in and some black smoke

That's a full knot faster than before the recent service work.

We had a great evening enjoying being at anchor rather than in a pen.  The boat felt alive!  We tested the HF radio and connected to Winlink Sydney, Winlink Melbourne, Sailmail Sydney and Sailmail Brunei.

At anchor in Cullen Bay

Sunset in Cullen Bay

This morning we tested the West Marine windscoop (works great) and had an otherwise lazy time.  This afternoon we went for a great sail in the harbour.  The No 2 jib (which we had cut-down from an old No 1) looks good.  The new staysail is great.  The new deck gear, and particularly the Andersen winches, are fantastic.

Moonrise at Woods Inlet

We're now at anchor in Woods Inlet.  Very nice spot on the western shore of Darwin harbour (just south of Mandorah).  Thanks Fiona for the tip.

Happy Easter!

3500rpm

We've been busy over the last couple of weeks.  The big news is that the engine is back in one piece and is much improved.  The work done on the engine since we've been in Darwin now includes:

• Oil change
• New starter motor
• New raw water pump
• New injectors
• New mixing elbow
• Cleaned exhaust pipe and exhaust manifold
• Checked heat exchanger
• Checked anodes
• Adjusted tappets
• Purchased spare oil, coolant, fuel filters; oil filters, impellers, anodes etc

Clean!

The engine test after re-assembly of the exhaust and fitting of the new injectors went very well.  Where before we could only get 2500rpm maximum, now the engine runs up to the specified 3500rpm.  We then ran the engine up in gear and reached 3500rpm there too.  We should now have a lot more power and better fuel consumption.  It's also likely we avoided major engine damage which wasn't far off based on the state of the exhaust system.  Thanks to Darwin Ship Stores for doing a great job!

In addition to the engine work we have also:

• Attended First Aid course
• Replaced the TMC electric toilet/macerator assembly with a new unit (keeping the old as spare)
• Replaced toilet switch
• Plumbed the new saloon electric bilge pump to the head drain sea-cock
• Serviced the winches
• Printed and laminated emergency stowage and procedures sheets
• Fitted 12Vdc outlets in the pedestal for charging camera/iPhone/iPad batteries
• Fitted switch for compass light
• Refitted danbouy/lifering and lifesling to pushpit
• Refitted Aries vane gear to transom
• Hoisted and furled #2 headsail and staysail
• Purchased Garmin BlueChart g2 electronic chart packages for SE Asia

We plan to escape the marina over Easter and we're ready!  A few days outside will allow us to try out all the new deck gear, test engine performance, give the outboard a run, and (hopefully) remember how to sail.  'Twill be fun!  :)