Having removed most of the fuel from the port fuel tank, replaced the generator fuel lift pump, yet again, repiped the generator fuel pickup, replaced the fuel filter on the generator, rodded all the other fuel pipes, cleaned the bottom of the tank, repiped the fuel polishing system to pick up fuel from the bottom of the tank, relabelled everything and then re-polished all the fuel, a jerry can at a time, we sincerely hope we’ve resolved the problem. Given that the generator ran twice yesterday without spluttering, time will tell if, indeed, the problem has been resolved. Of course, Roy now needs to undertake some of the same work on the starboard side to ensure we have consistency across both tanks, but getting a dry day could be the challenge. It didn’t help matters that, although the forecast indicated sunny days, all this work was carried out between numerous rain showers, but was completed, thankfully, before the deluge of rain which set in for all of yesterday afternoon and well into last night, revealing another soggy mess in the cockpit this morning. Tired of the latter, we eventually surrendered to putting down the side-skirts, which reduces the cool breeze, but will keep the cockpit drier.
Although Elaine was having her usual off day on Monday, she still managed to be the gofer and continued with her passage planning, but, by lunchtime, she could no longer fight off the fatigue, so into her cabin she went for a nap, surfacing three hours later when her sister called from Ireland.
Yesterday, feeling human again, Elaine continued her gofer duties and passage planning, which, although is nearing completion for the two alternate routes to South Africa, she too was in and out of the cockpit and the saloon trying to stay cool between the rain showers. It was certainly a great workout for her thighs! Regardless, once completed, she’ll be able to create an Action List to be executed at the appropriate time, then she’ll return to the Red Sea passage planning and the final review of the potential yacht insurance policy just to have this as a backup in case the socio-economic instability in South Africa deteriorates further over the next year, given that Zuma’s trial hasn’t started yet.
On Monday another yacht transporter arrived in the area and, although it didn’t appear that yachts were loaded yesterday, today we counted eight onboard and three more in the vicinity to be loaded. We’d heard from the Moorings manager based at Ao Po Grand marina that Australians are purchasing yachts unseen, but represented by an interdependent surveyor, then having them shipped back to Australia. Guess they’re seeing an opportunity for a few bargains with the numerous yachts sitting on the hard all around SE Asia and their owners unable to return to them due to the border closures.
For us, though, the highlight of our day came in the form of a photograph of William who had completed his latest school project. Noting his favourite colour as red, his favourite animal as a parrot, his superhero as his daddy and, most importantly, his favourite song as Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams, a tradition and an all time favourite passed down through the generations from his Grandma and Justine, was priceless!
Today, besides pottering around and Roy baking, we also had a short “dinghy visit” from Craig, off Il Sogno, before the rain was back. We’d been told the southwest monsoon season in Thailand was very unpleasant; definitely an accurate assessment, summed up by a playful message we received from Richard, off Charon, saying he’d seen “some crazy person out in a dinghy” earlier yesterday afternoon. That was Roy heading to the marina office to collect a few parcels. It wasn’t raining when he left, but it was lashing down on his return!
