52:28.50N 1:43.109W

89 miles run (still)

89 Miles since leaving Sandwich

20^th May 2022

Lowestoft is a fine town and the staff at Lowestoft Haven marina are all friendly and helpful but its got to be said, 19 days in I am seriously thinking about starting an escape committee. The gearbox saga continues. Our old gearbox was removed and sent back to Lancings in Brighton and the next day a new (refurbished) gearbox arrived looking very clean and ready to go. It was duly fitted the next day and the engine fired up for testing. As soon as I engaged gear the vibrations were bad enough to shake your fillings out. At first, I thought the prop was hitting the hull or something had wrapped around it but on checking it looked clear. After much scratching behind ears and tightening of nuts it was deduced that the flange at the back was about 2mm out of true. Not much but by the time that is transmitted down the length of the shaft you have a propeller bouncing around like a landed fish. Another session of behind the ear scratching and nut loosening ensued which culminated in me phoning Lancings and having that, “The thing you sent me is broken conversation”. At this point I must say that Martin at Lancings was super helpful and agreed to pay for the de-installation, return to them for checking and re-installation again. Couldn’t say fairer than that could you. All was agreed but the fly in the ointment was that Martin had to get sign off from his boss before he could guarantee payment to Peter and his son my local mechanics. This arrived later that evening and so it was the next morning that the gearbox was removed again before being sent away for inspection. At this point I must mention that taking this gearbox in and out is no small feat. It is heavy, very heavy, and it takes three people bent double while poking their heads and arms through various access points around the engine plus a multitude of straps to encourage the beast to exit the engine bay. The exit point being via a small space under Normas Knicker draw in the aft cabin. I think calling a midwife would have been a good call at some points. Once the beast has been delivered onto the cabin floor we then have to slide it through the galley before attaching a block and tackle from the main boom and hauling it up through the hatch and over the side. All in all it’s a good mornings work and all at £55 per hour x 2 people, I have decided not to charge Norma for my efforts.

Well, that’s where we are gearbox wise. It is now still in Brighton but will be sent back here on Monday with a new rear flange and hopefully it will be fitted on Tuesday. Lancings have offered us £500 for the old gearbox which means not counting marina fees the whole saga has cost us the best part of £3,500 that was definitely not in the budget. Any donations to the cause please send to the poor family in the shiny boat that doesn’t work, Lake Lothing, Lowestoft.

     On a lighter note, we have been keeping ourselves busy. Via Facebook Norma tracked down an old RAF pal of ours from my basic training days in RAF Locking and then RAF Marham. We last met Alan and Emma while I was based in Cyprus 22 years ago when they came out to stay with us for a holiday. That holiday was cut a bit short as a wildfire swept though the camp and we were all evacuated to Akrotiri and Limassol but that’s another story for another blog. Alan and Emma live in Swaffham Norfolk not to far away and a meet up was quickly arranged. It was great catching up and swapping stories. Alan and myself both agreed that neither of us had aged a day and so the evening was set off in grand style. We went for a meal at the Last Bridge restaurant in the marina which was very good and after numerous libations we agreed to meet up again the next morning on the boat for breakfast. It was really nice to see them again after all of these years and we have agreed to be better at keeping in touch in the future.

As I said we haven’t aged a day

Tony my son was in Norfolk with his friend Jay buying a car last week and they dropped in on for dinner on their way back south again. Tony gave me a new flagpole which he has made which looks very swish on the aft rail. This is to replace the old one that travelled one and a half times around the world before being stolen by a low life scum bag in Sandwich last year. Not that I am bitter and twisted of course. My temporary flagpole (broomstick) has now been repurposed into a medieval looking gaff hook for when we start hauling in the Tuna and marlin on our Atlantic crossing.

My new flag pole looking good in the breeze.                                                         My medieval weapon of war / Gaff hook / Broom stick

Apart from that we have kept ourselves busy with boat maintenance. The mast steps are still being put on, a couple at a time and I am now well above the spreaders so not too far to go. I also slackened off both the backstays and the triatic stay as I had been way to keen putting a sexy bend in the mast. As it turned out it wasn’t sexy at all it was just a bend which forced the spreaders to not sit quite flush in their sockets. Me bad.

I can actually see Sandwich from there on a clear day

As always, the varnishing has kept us busy, as has the brass work on deck. To sum it up we are the best-looking broken boat in Lowestoft. We replaced the mattress in the port side cabin which will give whoever sleeps in there next a more comfortable nights rest I hope. The old mattress foam gave Norma the inspiration to convert part of it into two new big cockpit cushions / backrests which will make sitting through future night shifts much more comfortable. In fact I can see us lounging in the cockpit like Roman gods as we gently waft along through the azure seas. Anyway back to Lowestoft.

Two cockpit cushions ready for some serious lounging.

We have also got to know the neighbours as you do when travelling. It is a nice little community here and there are several liveaboards plus regular visitors on the surrounding boats which keep us in regular conversations. We also took a walk into Oulton Broad yesterday to watch the powerboat racing which was a new experience from the shore side. To not be too cryptic my only other experience with powerboats was just outside Ramsgate many years ago. We were returning from Calais and had managed to get a riding turn on a winch. Out of control we invaded the powerboat circuit nearly running down a hydroplane that was broken down right in our way. That would probably be a first, sailing boat runs down a hydroplane. All ended well though we got the winch free before we ran over him and he gave us a cheery wave with his clenched fist as we gently sailed pass.  

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom around Oulton Broad

What a load of old waffle this edition has been. Honestly I am soooooo bored!!!!

Before I go, I must mention what has kept us the busiest. Seagulls! They are unbelievable absolute shite monsters here. Ater cleaning the decks we counted 34 guano deposits by the next morning and so it goes on day after day after day. We have to pressure wash the decks every two days just to keep ahead of the game. The little blighters sit on a warehouse roof 50 meters away with nasty grins on their beaks watching us cleaning. 

That’s it I’m finished, next time I write I will have a new gearbox and we will have decided whether we are going to turn left or right when we finally escape from Lowestoft.