Bali Marina Day 4

Hi everyone,
Today was my final day here, so it was spent sorting out the boat for its stay here for the next month or two:

• Finished cleaning and drying the cushions and upholstery
• Polishing stainless steel
• Rigging backup mooring lines
• Opening all lockers in the cabin and head so air can circulate
• Lifting all cushions off their bases so air can circulate
• Spraying dilute oil of cloves over anything liable to become mouldy
• Emptying and cleaning the fridge
• Closing all sea-cocks and gas valves
• Giving the engine a final run and then closing its raw water inlet sea-cock
• Packing my full 40kg luggage allowance

Tony and Pat from UK yacht Full Flight invited me to join them for lunch.  We ate at a nice place in Serangan, a 15 minute drive away.  Both before and after lunch I helped Tony and Pat load and setup GoogleEarth charts in OpenCPN, and sold them my near-new spare USB GPS since theirs was unreliable.

Tomorrow morning I fly home to Perth and back to work.  It's great to have the boat 1000nm closer to home.  Looking forward to the next leg!

Bali Marina Day 3

Hi everyone,
Another day in paradise!  More jobs expunged from the to-do list...

• Replaced engine throttle and gear-shift morse cables with shorter cables
• Filled water tanks from 19 litre "galons"
• Obtained 10 litres of engine oil
• Visited Carrefour supermarket to buy washing sponges, canned fruit & Bali coffee beans
• Local mechanic took a look at our engine alignment and shaft seal, and declared them OK
• Started cleaning the upholstery/cushions using AutoGlym
• Start researching anchorages in the Montebello and Abrolhos Islands

The morse cable replacement made a huge difference to the "feel" of the engine controls.  The old cables were at least twice as long - needing two full loops - and the friction in the system was significant.  The new ones were a perfect fit.  Most importantly the gear shift cable is now properly connected, compared to the old one which relied on elastoplast!

The local mechanic's opinion offers comfort about the movement in the PSS shaft seal bellows.  I will replace the seal and have the engine alignment checked when we get home to Fremantle.

AutoGlym is an interior shampoo which works well for us.  In addition to having Royal appointments from HM the Queen and HRH the Prince of Wales it is used by Aston Martin, Jaguar and Morgan!  Suffice to say it just works.  ;)

Not much more work to do before "leaving on a jet plane" on Monday morning.

Bali Marina Day 2

Hi everyone,
Today was a busy cruising day - more boat maintenance in an exotic location.

Engine Compartment with "bling"

Here's what I got done...

* Restowed kit to free up space in the quarterberth - it's a long time since we've seen the cushion!
* Cleaned saloon area, including galley and navstation
* Transferred 60 litres of diesel from jerries to main tank to fill the latter
* Arranged refill of three diesel jerries (Rp9,700/litre + Rp200,000 delivery)
* Partially refilled main water tanks from 80 litres in jerries
* Arranged delivery of four 19 litre "galons" of potable water
* Cleaned engine of V-belt dust
* Refitted oil pressure sensor to avoid V-belt wear (my mistake!)
* Replaced engine V-belt
* Chenged engine fuel primary and secondary filters
* Chenged engine oil and oil filter
* Test-ran engine following service
* Collected laundry and dropped off more
* Fitted sound insulation panels to walls and roof of engine compartment
* Oversaw local man Herman who cleaned the hull underwater while I was servicing the engine

Craftsman Marine do make good-looking engines
(or perhaps I've been aboard too long!)

As you can see, most of today's activities were engine related, making sure the boat is ready for a quick escape when we return for the next leg of our voyage home.

Trust you're having as much fun where you are! ;)