Week two of Anui’s galley revamp on the Gippsland Lakes and we are nearly done. This swamping wave of boat work is rolling past and we are keeping our head above water.

Floating about on the Lakes

After the demolition stations of week one, we had a quiet weekend of recovery away from Paynesville. This map will give you an idea of our whereabouts.

The Gippsland Lakes are Australia’s largest waterway system, covering 400 square kilometres of coastal lagoons and marshes. Fed by alpine rivers and separated from the ocean by dunes, the system (including Lakes King, Victoria, and Wellington) is a premier destination for boating, fishing, and nature-based tourism. This used to be where we kept our three previous boats and spent numerous weekends sailing and relaxing. It is also where we developed a taste for cruising, using the Lakes as our base to explore the Bass Strait Islands and Tasmania. We were part-time locals for some 17 years, right up until we retired, moved aboard Take It Easy and our vagabond life began. So we know this region well. As we often say, this place feels like home – familiar faces, familiar places, lots of connections. We could easily settle here if it was not for the cold winters and lack of surf for Wade!

But back to the present. We left Paynesville on Friday morning, initially thinking we would go to Rotamah Island, where two public moorings have been installed. We used to bring Take It Easy to the jetty, but Anui is just too big for it. Unfortunately, the larger mooring has somehow disappeared, and we nearly planted ourselves in the mud trying to reach the smaller one, so backed out with vigor and opted to return to Steamer Landing for ease of access and safety.

It was quiet, warm during the middle of the day, chilly but comfortable at night under the doona. We walked, lazed around, and enjoyed the peace. As you can see from the drone shots, the ocean was much quieter than during our visit the previous weekend. With the calm weather there is a lot of smoke haze around as large-scale burns are carried out in Gippsland to reduce fuel loads and manage wildfires. It makes for interesting skies at sunset.

However we can’t complain about the weather as we have been blessed with sunny, dry and calm conditions for the work on the boat.

Maintenance Update

By Monday, we were back at the floating jetties in Paynesville, ready for the next onslaught.

Tim Heaney from Frecheville Heaney Boats was on duty this time with Charlie as his assistant. Updating a kitchen is never easy, and even less so on a boat where space is limited and every step is fiddly. Last week was about the cabinetry around the fridges. This week is all about the preparation for the new Laminex on the benchtops, which means deconstructing the galley first! The cupboard drawers, microwave, stove and sink were taken out. It all ended up in the cockpit. What a mess! Thankfully it was not raining! This was the most disruptive part of the work since we had no water nor gas for several days. We used the local toilet facilities and ate at the various eateries.

Tim’s task list for this week involved filling the gaps in the benches left by the old fridge lids, making templates for the tricky shapes (like the corner cupboard and rounded edges), rough cutting the laminate sheets then planing the edges so they fit perfectly, scuffing the countertops so the contact adhesive keys in properly, and starting to glue down the Laminex. And let’s not forget the fridges, which had to be secured to the base in exactly the right position, so the doors open properly and nothing moves when we are underway, venting the back of the cabinets, finishing the cedar trim around the front.

The last few days have been multi-tasking days! Apart the crescendo of the galley and navigation station work, we also lined up the local trimmer from Martrim Australia, David Skelley, to replace our clears. They had seen better days and were starting to tear. David is in high demand. We contacted him when we were still at the Prom and we are very grateful that he managed to fit this job in without a lot of notice. He not only made us some bright new clears, using Easyslip UV2000, but also improved the zip system for running the black shade cloth and replaced the press studs so we can affix both the shade cloth and the clears to the same ‘gipsy’ clips. Really nice work and plenty of tips to keep everything in great condition. We are told the key is to always rinse the salt off in fresh water, not roll the clears while they are wet and regularly polish them with Vuplex Plastic Cleaner. Duly noted!

Today as we post this, gluing of some of the Laminex has started at the navigation station, but it won’t be done in the galley until early next week. At least we will have an operational kitchen tonight, with running water and gas reconnected for the weekend!

The Frecheville Heaney Boats team has been beavering away. The galley revamp is taking time, but we came here because we wanted it done well, by people we trust. Even though there is not much for us to do except wait, or go for walks, we have appreciated watching the action, at times with a pit in the stomach, but most of the time admiring the process. It is all coming together now.

Although we will be in the region for a while longer, it can’t be helped. We enjoy the mild conditions and relish the little surprises, like this Nankeen Night Heron resting on our mooring line.