Current Position: 28 47.476’S 32 04.958’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 0; COG: N/A; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Richards Bay): in a slip at ZYC; Total Miles Sailed: 15574 nm; Engine Hours: 314; Estimate Fuel: 60+15+50;
Comments: I woke at 5:00 this morning, a few minutes after sunrise at 4:56. I transferred 45 gal diesel from the Jerry cans to the main tank. I believe there is at least 60 gal in the tank now. I was on my way to the office to ask where I could get fuel when I spotted a truck and trailer with a carboy of diesel. I asked if he delivered and he said he could fill my Jerry cans right then. His helpers even fetched the Jerry cans and carried the filled ones back to the boat. 45 gal (120 l) was $245 ($5.40 gal). The local price was $4.77/ gal, so I paid an extra $28, which was worth not having to haul the Jerry cans to the rental car, drive somewhere to fill them, then haul them back to the boat. I washed the boat down (first time since leaving Mexico) and filled all the water tanks. It is 9:30 and I messaged Andries earlier this morning about the parts he is welding, but have not heard back, so I will move in to the next project, the reefing lines. I just realized I cannot work on the reefing lines while the boom is detached from the mast. Before I could find another project, Andries called about 10:00 and asked if he could use a 10 mm nut instead of the 5/16”, because the latter was too thin to weld. He says he’ll have it finished in a half hour or so. I still have hopes of finishing the boom today. It is nearly 2:00. I worked 4h to shape the nut brackets to line up the nuts exactly where they need to go. At one point I broke the weld and it had to be rewelded. When I finally hit both nuts aligned, I drilled and tapped the brackets to secure them in place with screws to the end piece of the boom. I cut 10 mm bolts to size. The fix looks bulletproof. It did not take too long to reattach the boom. I have learned tricks along the way to align the heavy pieces. The boom is fixed! It is almost 15:00 and I am beat. It was unusually hot today, in the 90s … not good weather for heavy labor. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will focus on fixing the reefing lines and will start my “flight plan” (as the OSASA calls it) to Durban. It looks like a departure at noon on Friday or Saturday works.
Comments: I woke at 5:00 this morning, a few minutes after sunrise at 4:56. I transferred 45 gal diesel from the Jerry cans to the main tank. I believe there is at least 60 gal in the tank now. I was on my way to the office to ask where I could get fuel when I spotted a truck and trailer with a carboy of diesel. I asked if he delivered and he said he could fill my Jerry cans right then. His helpers even fetched the Jerry cans and carried the filled ones back to the boat. 45 gal (120 l) was $245 ($5.40 gal). The local price was $4.77/ gal, so I paid an extra $28, which was worth not having to haul the Jerry cans to the rental car, drive somewhere to fill them, then haul them back to the boat. I washed the boat down (first time since leaving Mexico) and filled all the water tanks. It is 9:30 and I messaged Andries earlier this morning about the parts he is welding, but have not heard back, so I will move in to the next project, the reefing lines. I just realized I cannot work on the reefing lines while the boom is detached from the mast. Before I could find another project, Andries called about 10:00 and asked if he could use a 10 mm nut instead of the 5/16”, because the latter was too thin to weld. He says he’ll have it finished in a half hour or so. I still have hopes of finishing the boom today. It is nearly 2:00. I worked 4h to shape the nut brackets to line up the nuts exactly where they need to go. At one point I broke the weld and it had to be rewelded. When I finally hit both nuts aligned, I drilled and tapped the brackets to secure them in place with screws to the end piece of the boom. I cut 10 mm bolts to size. The fix looks bulletproof. It did not take too long to reattach the boom. I have learned tricks along the way to align the heavy pieces. The boom is fixed! It is almost 15:00 and I am beat. It was unusually hot today, in the 90s … not good weather for heavy labor. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will focus on fixing the reefing lines and will start my “flight plan” (as the OSASA calls it) to Durban. It looks like a departure at noon on Friday or Saturday works.