Day 22: Coongul Creek, Fraser Island 2

Staying put waiting for the weather to blow up. Not today.

Nice pic of us on the beach yesterday from Carolyn.

Still trying to get to the bottom of the electrical problems. There is a good voltage on the alternator but not across the battery. The circuitry suggests they should be one and the same. Job split down into two parts. First, and this took the morning, I had to identify and mark the cables. This is all about the starboard alternator so that's where I started.

Tracing and marking cables.

Once I'd mapped out the cabling, it was time to find where the voltage drop was occurring. I was losing a volt somewhere. Turned out to be a the solenoid that connects the alternator to the batteries then the starboard engine is running. I pulled it and checked the resistance through the contacts and it gave erratic readings. The unit is sealed but I would guess contacts pitted with age and use.

There is another solenoid on the boat that should get very little use. I swapped them over to see if that helps. Partial result -  now a 1/2 volt drop, which is still 1/2 volt too much. These things should create a short circuit. We have order two replacements and hope to pick them up at Bundaberg.

The offending item - one of the solenoids.

One of the other boats set a fire on the beach for sundowners. Had trouble landing the dink in surf but it's a great thing to do in a deserted beach.

Bedtime at Casa Roach.

Location

Coongul Creek

Day 21: Coongul Creek, Fraser Island

The coming strong south / southeasterly winds have driven us north to a different part of Fraser Island. We are tucked in on the northwesterly shore. The land is fairly low-lying and may not provide the protection we want but there are some cliffs a bit further north that will probably do if things blow up. One thing, the beach here is amazing. Fine while sand, littered with pure white shells and shallow sea. Lot worse places we could be. We'll probably be here for 3-4 days.

One of those sunsets.

Location

Coongul Creek

Day 20: Kingfisher, Fraser Island

Lazier day than usual. I planned to get up and snorkel on the props and hull. Had a quick look at the props and there are a few barnacles worth scraping. The saildrive legs could do with a clean as well. The rest of the hull looks good but I could wipe it over to get the slime off for a check. Ended up not doing anything because the current is too strong to work in the water. What I need is a very calm anchorage, clear water and to anchor in shallow enough water to wade in. Maybe up the coast a bit.

Task: Turn this lot into a working anchor system.

As the diving didn't work out, I put the secondary anchor together. Looks good.

All good to go.

Met up with Carolyn and Walt for lunch ashore. Went through the wetlands to the main pool for a swim & spa. Lunch at the Sand Bar was the totally excellent pizza.

The Sand Bar - source of pizza.

Pearl on deck in the evening.

Location

Kingfisher

Day 19: Kingfisher, Fraser Island

Fairly early start - these should lessen from now on - to catch the tide to Kingfisher. This tide thing is new to us - maybe we should have paid more attention. The Great Sandy Straight, through which we will be motoring, is open to the sea top and bottom. This means that the tide rises from both ends and meets somewhere in the middle. For us, the tide will rise through the morning, giving us a boost as it flows north, give us plenty of depth in the shallow part that in the middle of the day, and flow with us as it goes out and we travel further north. By golly, it works! We probably should have done something like this in the Clarence River last year.

Fraser Island ferry comes right through the anchorage.

Motoring is a great time to do some low-level simple jobs and the dinghy cover got a bit more Velcro.

Velcro additions to the dinghy cover.

Anchored at Kingfisher early afternoon and went ashore for a swim and ice cream. Kim is getting more mobile by the day and is able to get in and out of the dink. As always here, there is a big tidal range so getting to the beach needs planning. We, and our buddies, are hanging out for pizza so that will be lunch tomorrow.

Location

Kingfisher

Day 18: Pelican Bay

Up at 5am - this is going to have to stop! - for the run through the formidable Wide Bay Bar. The crossing was bouncy but not dangerous. Biggest problem was 3 stinkboats screaming through creating havoc. Kiddies.

Pulled straight into Pelican Bay and tried anchoring 4 times before we settled. The depth is all over the place and we had to find a spot not too close to others, especially as some of them were monos.

Spent the afternoon sewing the dinghy cover, and wiring in the engine hour counters. The main purpose of the latter is to keep track of engine usage so that I know when they need servicing. They should also help with maintaining a fairly even usage between the two engines.

Engine counters get wired into their respective engine control panel. Just need to find something that has 12v when the engine is running.

Counters bottom right.

The barbie is getting much more of a workout on this trip. Helped by being much more convenient to use than on Red. Also, there is no oven on this boat so we need to get a bit more creative.

Location

Pelican Bay

Day 17: Double Island Point

Left Mooloolaba at 6am for a fairly uneventful run up to Double Island Point. This roadstead anchorage is a short hop to the Wide Bay Bar which we will tackle in the morning.

Snags never stop. On leaving the heads, the auto-pilot wasn't working. There was an error message. I looked it up and it had a fault with the Sea-Talk interface - not so coincidentally attached to the same cable I found ratted yesterday. I reckoned the rat had shorted some conductors and a clean cut with proper wire clippers rectified it enough to keep going.

There's the wind instruments working after last night's repair.

We motor sailed all day and when I tried to just sail we barely made 3 knots. There must be something I can do to improve on this.

Location

Double Island Point

Day 16: Mooloolaba

Last day in Mooloolaba, and last day with the car.

Car had to be back at 10.30am so we started at Whitworths for a few odds and sods before doing the shopping.

Main beach at Mooloolaba. Good for a swim - though not at the heads end. Rocks!

Bill & Linda (Valiam) came down for a concert and we were able to have lunch with them.

Replacing the alternator.

After lunch I started on the alternators. Port fitted easily but I found a broken alternator mounting bracket on the starboard engine. Bill was kind enough to run me around to Aqua-Tec who welded it back together for $20. Back on the boat, both alternators seem to be working fine. I will be testing them over the next few days.

Alternator support bracket - starboard engine.

Same bracket after Aqua-Tec welded it up.

Out of curiosity I put an ammeter on the inverter D.C. input while running the microwave. 120amps! That's not 800W. The label on the microwave suggests a high power rating so Kim decided to swap it out. A smaller 700W model seems to be better.

Replaced a section of the ratted wind sender cable and now these instruments seem to work.

Location

Mooloolaba

Day 15: Mooloolaba

Couple of early visitors. Got the alternators back with a clean bill of health. Will have to reinstall them before we leave. Also, someone came to buy the generator, bread maker, and a couple of chairs. Riding higher in the water now.

Mooloolaba Marina. Red October and Cat Play are both in this pic.

Still getting the best from the car. Took Carolyn, Walt, and their outboard engine to Noosa for a warranty service. Morning tea on the main beach while the work was underway.

Main beach at Noosa.

Lots of trendy little shops at Noosa.

Back at the boat and we went for a swim, then fish and chips for lunch.

Got stuck into some jobs in the afternoon...

Replaced by the dink hoist system. The way it was set up didn't work at all. Now it is easy to haul up and there are lines to stop it flopping around underway.

Put the new furler line in. The old one was too small.

Moved the water maker power unit into the generator box. A little too long so I've got some woodwork to do extending the box.

Went to Montezumas for dinner. Well, it will be my birthday in a couple of days.

Carolyn and Walter at Montezumas.

Location

Mooloolaba

Day 14: Mooloolaba

Electrician arrived early and went over our system. He reckons the alternators aren't too bad but the wiring may be the problem. If parts of the system are developing a high resistance, this will eat power destined for the batteries. As he couldn't rule the alternators out, I asked him to bench test them anyway. We get them, and the result, in the morning.

Picked up a hire car for a couple of days and immediately got stuck in with visits to Jaycar, Bunnings, and The Good Guys - the latter to get the vacuum cleaner sorted. Very pleasant lunch in Maroochydore.

Traced the problem with the wind instruments. That sodding rat!

Rat damage on the wind instrument sender cable. Another repair needed.

Got back to the boat and overhauled the dinghy hoist on the targa bar. Almost done.

Thai takeaway for dinner.

Location

Mooloolaba

Day 13: Mooloolaba

Woken early a Tangalooma by the swell. 4am and we're rocking and rolling. Managed another couple of hours sleep but we decided to pull the plug and head to Mooloolaba.

After noticing some steam coming from the port engine exhaust yesterday, I read that it's most likely not enough raw water getting to the mixing elbow. This overheats and flashes some water to steam. I checked the raw water strainer and the impeller. Both seemed fine but I cleaned them out anyway. This actually seemed to work. Must make sure both strainers are very clean from now on.

The run was mostly a dash across Morton Bay through the shipping channels. Passed a few ships and a French navy vessel heading out. Got to Mooloolaba around 4pm.

My favorite pic of Sea Change. The clouds seem to be tracking her.

One of the cargo ships we passed.

Sea Change backgrounded by a cargo ship.

French navy.

The parking in the marina was a complete pigs breakfast. I was surprised by the current and spun out of the entry into the finger. By the time I got to the berth, half the marina was there waiting to help pull me in  - which I also made a mess of. Most inelegant. I need a LOT of practice.

Up side - met up with Bruce & Cheryl, new owners of Red October and they don't want to kill us! Had a really nice evening catching up and hearing about Red's new life.

Got an alternator guy coming in the morning.

Location

Mooloolaba

Day 12: Tangalooma

In keeping with getting as much stuff working as possible, I sorted out the water maker. One of the fittings had corroded but Rainman, who have outstanding after sales support, sent replacements and a tool to remove the old one. Procedure went well and, after a bit of buggering about, we were back in the water business and I put about 50 litres in the tank.

Went ashore to dump rubbish, get fuel and do a bit of shopping. The tide goes out fast at Dunwich but Carolyn and Walt were on hand to help. Between the three of us, we manhandled both dinks in and out of the water. The guys also helped with the loading.

Pushed straight off for a 5 hour run to Tangalooma. Known for its wrecks, resort and dolphin feeding, we are trying to decide if the weather tomorrow will make for a good run to Mooloolaba. Conference shortly.

Sea Eagle on a marker.

First time we had one of Cat Play's sails up.

Motor-sailing again, this time on the other tack. In front is our buddy-boat.

Me at the helm.

Kim chilling in her Admiral's chair.

Location

Tangalooma

Day 11: Dunwich

Spent the morning, actually 'till 1pm, tracing through the electrics trying to find out what's keeping the batteries from fully charging. I've come to the conclusion that it's the alternators - both of them. It may well be the brushes or regulator but, either way, they need work. This will have to wait until Mooloolaba.

The culprit alternator. An overhaul may sort it out.

Spent a pleasant afternoon motoring up to Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island, about 3 hours north. This time we went along Canapia Passage which is the prettier of the two channels. Quiet and relaxing.

About 4pm, we anchored just off Dunwich. This is a township where Walt wants to pick up some fuel. We'll fill our cans, too.

Things need to be stowed when underway. This is where we keep the cats.

Location

Dunwich

Day 10: Slipping Sands

This is a good pick for a foul weather anchorage. It's wet, for sure, but the wind has no sting. We've just been bobbing around the anchor all day while the rain buckets down.

Not much to other than tackle the electrical problems. I have a hand-drawn circuit diagram, that I only partially trust, and I have also started to trace out the wiring. As an emergency facility, a push-button switch pulls in a relay that connects all of the batteries to the starter motors. This is so that you can start the engines on the house batteries if the starter batteries are dead. However, as a side-effect, it also joins all of the batteries to the port alternator. I can use this to fault find the starboard alternator. Turns out there is a problem with this. It can only supply about 12volts and it should be up to 13/14. We need to replace it.

Battery circuit relay.

There also seems to be a problem on the port side and it doesn't seem to be able to fully charge the batteries. Tomorrow, I will try and test the port alternator/voltage regulator. I can also attempt to charge the batteries with the genny which should eliminate more possibles. Slow going, this.

Bulldog clip to tie all boat batteries together - and let them all be charged from the best source.

Small side job was to connect the VHF radio to the plotter. This uses the same interface connections as for the auto pilot. A connection block makes for better maintenance.

This block has the NMEA connections that allow data to be passed between the plotter, VHF & auto-pilot.

Location

Slipping Sands