Just in case you think we are slacking off at Fraser Island, here is a reminder that boat maintenance is never ending. As we mentioned in our last post, we knew the war on drips had to continue!
It has been raining… a lot! In fact it has been bucketing down. So it nearly goes without saying that despite having resealed all the hatches around the cabin, we are still getting dribbles, not from those hatches, but from other places, and if this does not stop soon, Wade will pull what’s left of his hair out, and I will lose my marbles and start dribbling too!
As soon as we had a dry day, Wade attacked the big windows on either side of the cabin: six big panels that needed a bead of Fix Tech right around the aluminium frame.
We thought we were done, but of course that was not the case. When the rain returned a persistent drip kept running down the side panel onto to the carpeted floor in the starboard hull. Upon investigation we suspected a jib sheet pulley on the top of the cabin roof needed re-sitting. So with a couple of sunny days forecast, Wade has done that.
We also discovered fresh water was collecting in the engine wells through leaky hatches. Rainwater came through gaps in the seal between the aluminium hatch frame and the glass! So the glass on those two large hatches has been taken out and re-sealed into the frame!
But wait, there is more! The spinlock clamp that allows us to pull the dagger boards up and down from the cockpit, and is located on the side of the starboard engine hatch was also letting water into the engine compartment. Man we bought a sieve, not a boat!
We are done with the leak fixing for now and are waiting for the next downpour to evaluate our handy work!
The next challenge will be to start the water maker… We haven’t used it since purchasing Anui. But with our friend Phil joining us on board in a week, we thought we’d better get that operational. This time we do want water on the inside! We’ll see how that goes. Fingers crossed!
For now we are enjoying a few dry days and lovely sunsets.
Sv-Anui 
I wish I could help you, Chris. Take care my friend…
Nearly there H.J. That’s the trouble when a boat has been unattended for a while, a lot of overdue maintenance! But we are getting to the end of the process.
OMG …. what a painful process! At least you can test all this hard work with so much rain. Fingers crossed! Bossas
It has been very trying, Amanda. With a bit of luck we are done for a while. Just itching to get to the reef now. How are you going with Bossa Nova?
Beautiful photos! I’m sorry the boat has been a problem, I’m sure you guys will seal her up nicely. It’s the same with a car, sit too long and things will go wrong… They need exercise!
You are right John. We have had months of teething problems and have a lot of catch up maintenance to do before we can relax!
Glad you are finally getting on top of the leakages. At least with it all now done you will not need to do anymore for a while. Glad to see Bengie is helping!! 🐅 have fun with Wade’s friend showing him the reef.
Not quite there yet, Sue! Today we move onto the water maker… not straight forward either!
Just a thought guys: that might not apply to Anui, but worth checking if you have a hatch that refuses to seal. I was surprised when checking the manufacturers tolerance for twist / camber for our deck hatches is only +- 2mm. If the frame is twisted or bent more than that, presumably the rubber seal is compromised. Only way to check would be to remove the frame so hopefully not necessary! Best wishes: frustrations for sure, but drip-by-drip I’m sure you’ll get on top of it!
Hi Pete! We think it is just that the boat is old and the goop around the frames and the glass is giving up on all the hatches. The engine well hatches also get a bit of a workout as we step on them to get in and out of the cockpit (they are reinforced for that purpose). So as you say, drip by drip we are getting on top of the leaks! Thanks for your thought though.
Good luck with the water maker. With all that rain (and a cabintop collector)? your FW tanks should be fully topped up?
Nope, we don’t have a cabin top rain collector, nor have we got a working water maker! Off to Bundy to get that fixed! Too hard for us to do in the ocean!
Bugger!
We had a different word in mind… start with F!
We’re cheering on your efforts with the goop …. no doubt you’ll eventually remove and replace everything that might be leaking! We saw a blue hulled catamaran heading north some distance from Cairns and thought of you guys. Interesting thing was, a fellow sailor and I on board the freighter couldn’t figure out why he had the main pointing south and a storm jib fluffing behind it in a southerly trade wind? His forward progress was seemingly non existent.
We’re out of the rainy tropics now and wandering around the Undara Lava tubes, then across to WA.
Happy sailing guys!
Lovely to hear from you two. Enjoy the lava tubes! And yes, we are running out of hatches… and Fix Tech!