We bought a boat!
The wet season descended upon Far North Queensland bringing with it morning clouds and rain which lazily rolled over turning the rest of the day into the tropical sauna that is so characteristic of this region.
With the intention of attaining a cooler and somewhat drier home we moved out of Trev the Coaster Bus and onto SV (Sailing Vessel) Adelsa. Our new fixer-upper is a beautiful old ketch yacht from the 1980s. Years of rain and tropical weather have worn away at the varnished redwood bulkheads and teak decks, leaving webs of white fungi, black mould, and enough rot to put your arm through. We have been chopping bits of bulkhead out left, right and centre, and mixing epoxy, hardener, and cab-o-sil like it was going out of fashion (I've learned a lot of new words these past few weeks). I suppose you could say that we have been reassembling Adelsa, one piece of marine ply at a time. Fortunately, Dylan and I we are hard working and unafraid of a little elbow grease and both eagerly dove into the project.
It's easy to imagine her in her heyday sailing from South Australia, loaded with dive gear and enough crew to fill eight berths. Curiously, it's been very difficult to find information on Adelsa's history. Usually in the yachting community, everyone knows everyone's boats and they're happy to share a tale or two... but no one here has really even heard of Adelsa.
A digital magazine from the early 2000s hints at her history competing in races along the East Coast of Australia and maybe even racing in the Sydney to Hobart twice! She has charts from New Zealand, and American equipment that was installed in the 90's. It makes us wonder if perhaps this old girl has actually ventured far futher than we ever imagined.
Life on board is currently chaotic.
Two pups accompany us (the stow-away, and first mate), one is happy to relieve himself on fake lawn, and the other insisting on land... or the mast. One of the water tanks persistently leaks into the bilge, and all four of them are filthy and full of lurgies. While we still have so much work to do on her, we're left with only one tiny cupboard for groceries; every other storage space, including the bathroom sink, is full of power tools, screw drivers, doggy poo bags, wood chips, dust and rusted out screws.
As a very green, amature sailor, here's the current list of concerns:
The mast will fall down, puncture a hole in the boat and we will die.
The bilge will fill with water, meaning we would sink and then we'll die.
One or both of the pups will encounter a crocodile, prompting my inevitable heroics, which would likely lead to my untimely death.
We will get a water-born disease from our tanks and we will die.
I think that about covers it.
All jokes aside, we're making remarkable progress and the issues that pop up are rapidly addressed. Dylan's extensive knowledge about boats, engines, and engineering, as well as a healthy dose of concern regarding legitimate issues such as rot, has been invaluable. We're learning a lot as we go, and are impatiently awaiting the moment that we can finally set sail.
Hopefully we'll see you there!
Tate x
