Life on the moorings

For the past month and a week or two Dreamtime has been moored behind a factory about 10km from home, and a lot has been done.

Painting is fun

Adam felt at home

The trailer has been stabilised with some screw jacks, thanks to the help of son-in-law Lawrence and grandson Adam. Being from Durban Adam assured me he knows all about boats, and it was hard prying him away from the boat. Thanks, Adam!

Diederick, sleeping on the job

Then the newest

Neat little hatch for the generator exhaust

grandson, Diederick, came to help. Here we have to talk about work ethics. First the guy was late for his welding lesson because he wanted to have a snack, then he fell asleep on the job. Well, at one month old perhaps I should not be too hard on him.

The new welder.

In the meantime David Dhlamini has been welding on a number of things. He built a neat little hatch for the generator's exhaust, and a number of other little jobs that should be finished before we do the sandblasting and spraypainting, which is planned for May. He convinced me to invest in a small inverter welder instead of the old air cooled one, now we burn through welding rods at a frightening rate! A worthwhile investment.

Bongani, grinding away. 

And Bongani joined the team, grinding down the weld seams. It is good to have professionals on the job.

The factory now must make a few parts for me to fit the rudder, and then inspect the seams and advise which ones have to be re-welded.

And then the sandblasting and spraypainting saga!

David and I

First voyage ... sort of.

Careful strapping down!

We checked the weather forecast: clear, hot, with the possibility of thunderstorms near our destination. At four in the morning we were off, heading south. Some miscommunication with the truck driver lost us an hour, but we loaded the mast and other cutoffs, then went to the scrapyard where she was moored. In fact, chained: wheels can be stolen off unattended trailers!

Inches to spare at the tollgate

Highveld thunderstorm

Strapping her down took another half hour, and then we were on the road! At first we took it slow, gauging every sway and swing from the following car, but as he gained confidence the truck driver added some speed. After about 80 kilometers we stopped to remove the tarp, it served no purpose and distracted us. A few kilometers further a few traffic cops were checking their speed camera, and belatedly pointed the driver to the weigh bridge. He gaily waved back at them and we continued on our way.

The day was a scorcher: in the high thirties Celsius. We cooled down as best we could, and later it became cooler, with some clouds developing.

Our first toll gate had a bypass, but at the second one we carefully slid through, with inches to spare on each side. Entering Johannesburg we heard radio reports of thunderstoms and even hail. We did get some raindrops, but managed to thread through the columns of rain. Nearing our destination we went down a last long hill, bane of many heavy loads, but we had no problem! And then we were at the factory, where she will be moored for the next few months until the welding, painting and interior is complete.

A nerve wracking first voyage, but a successful one. Let us hope the rest will go as well as this one.

A safe arrival

Roll out!

Getting ready

After a hard day in very hot weather we have the boat and trailer out of the building yard, and parked in a safe place waiting for the truck.

I had my doubts, and after a start with seven people with eight ideas of which way to turn and what to do first, we managed to get her moving. I must admit to a small crisis when the wheels on the trailer started turning!

The Land Cruiser hauled her out with little drama, and we never resorted to the winch or other heroic measures. Instead the horde of bystanders were roped in to help push, pull, swear, and in general assist.

Cruising out

The corner I feared we cleared with one or maybe two inches to spare, and then it was downhill, in more ways than one - the handbrake did not really wok so you would notice it!

There was a last slap at the building yard as we left, this baby is long and as I turned into the street she swung her tail out and bashed the gate....

All together now, one inch to the left...

The tow hook on the Cruiser is too low, so she towed nose down, putting a lot of weight on the front axle, but she towed so sweetly I was tempted to tow her the whole 350 kilometers.... Respect of the law, and the newly reconditioned gearbox in the Cruiser prevailed, so we made her as secure as we could and left her to wait for the truck, which is due next Thursday.

Thanks for the help, Rean!

Grinding down a possible point of friction

And there she goes! Still a lot of work, but she is on the road!

Planning the move

We have wheels!

The project is now moving along: You may remember that the build process has more or less stopped, and now we are planning on moving the boat from Welkom in the Free State to Silvertondale in Pretoria, some 350 kilometres north.

After some trouble to find the right rims, the wheels are under the trailer, and we are getting the registration papers in order. One of the tasks we carried out today was to install tennis balls...  on top of the stanchion bases to protect the cover. The electrics was more or less simple, but the brake assembly required extensive modification, as the tow coupler is based on a different design than the trailer, so considerable cutting and rewelding was required. 

But it was great to stand on the deck and feel her move under me! 

Working on the brake system

The next major phase will be getting the boat and trailer out of the backyard she is in, snaking her past a borehole, around a sharp corner on not so strong paving and down a narrow driveway. With luck that will happen next Saturday. 

Johannesburg traffic in the rain

The next phase is then for the tow truck to take her up the highway, and as you can see there will be challenges too!

The salvage project is proceeding: Axles under the frame, tow hook, electrics. But to be legal the rims have to be the same size as those on the Land Cruiser, which makes sense, then the Cruiser tyres could serve as spares too. But the rims supplied have a different offset, which means they do not clear the frame. So back to the supplier!

In the meantime we have been able to jack up the whole shooting match, and install the axles. We also checked the strapping, measured for chains, measured for the electrics, found that we have 10mm brake rods while we need 12mm, and that the brake cables are the right length.

Next weekend we will do the 700 km again, hoping to have the right size rims, finalise the brake setup, and check the electrics.

If all check out then all that remains is to finalise the truck to tow the trailer, finalise the insurance, and get down there to do the job!

Thanks for the help, Alexander!

Lifting it up, one brick at a time. 

Salvage

Our first shipwreck. The builder has medical issues, his neighbours would not let him carry on building, not to mention sandblasting.

The building frame will get wheels on, and then we can tow her away, I hope. 

At the moment we are looking at putting wheels on the frame and getting her to somewhere we can work. A suitable site is in sight, if you get the meaning....

Spray painting the small trailer. 

In the meantime work has progressed on a small trailer to bring the plywood home. Lots of opinions, and at least a little help goes a long way. 

Explaining, again, how the rudder arrangement should work. 

Work has come to a standstill for the moment. The proposed budget limit has been reached: she should have been ready to launch, minus detailed interior fittings, and there seems to be no end to the money burn. So we called a halt, and now we will work on a phase by phase basis, with each phase being carefully planned and costed.

At the same time there are little things that are not done yet, but we should now sandblast and paint a primer coat. So phase one is to get a costing of everything that has to be done and corrected before we can do the sandblasting.

Lighting the work done for an engine mounting and stern tube
 - although

we cannot afford an engine any more. 

In the meantime she rusts away, which they tell me is not a bad thing, as the rusting removes the mill scale and the sandblasting can then easily get to white metal.

So here she is!

Rusting is good, at least at this stage!