Immediately after Australia’s hard border opened, I flew
Putu to Bali so she could see her family for the first time in over two years. I dropped her off at Klungkung and the next day I headed off on my own for
the long trip across to Gili Gede to see Sirocco also for the first time in two year.
(The last time I saw her was when we locked the door to head back home for a
short three week trip prior to COVID19)
The 4 1/2 hour ferry ride from Padong Bay on Bali to Lembar Harbour on Lombok
At first sight after two years she didn't look too bad?
It was heart breaking to see her in such a mess, she looked
abandoned but at least she was still floating. The topsides were a mess,
mooring lines were chaffed (almost through) and there were orchids growing out
of the dinghy’s bung hole. I even had a new crow’s nest, well not really a
crow’s nest, but a swallow’s nest. Inside there was a lot of mold growing over
all the timber surfaces, but luckily not on the nice white vinyl walls.
But, one up close - OMG !!!
It was heart breaking to see her in this condition
Orchids growing out of the dinghy’s bung hole
Even though over two years ago, we asked the marina staff to
remove all food from both fridge / freezers and from the front food store room,
both fridge / freezers were in a disgusting state, the bilges were full of beer
and thankfully both engine compartments were dry. The spare bathroom was a
putrid mess and the starboard forward food storage room was a rancid
infestation of pantry moths completely covered in web and cocoons and dead
insects. My god, where to start?
There was mold growing over all the timber surfaces
These photo's don't convey the putrid sticking mess in the food store room
Well first thing to do was to clean my bedroom and bedding so
I had a clean place to sleep, next was to install the battery charger (that I
took home to repair two years ago) and see if I can get the batteries to charge
up. Next job was to finish the wiring for the battery monitoring system that I
was in the middle of installing all those years ago. It was so hot and humid; I
was swimming in sweat even with my big fan operating on high. After I completed
the battery monitoring system, next task was to install the new starboard
alternator I purchased in Australia to replace the faulty one I was trying to
get repaired before I left. Once installed, after checking all the oil &
water I tried starting the engines and they both started immediately. What a
relief, the fuel looked clear and in good condition too. I let them both run
for a while, pumping well over 70 Amps into my batteries as seen on my new
battery monitoring system. By now I was completely buggered having gotten up at
2am to travel across to Lombok from Bali, so I cleaned up and staggered up to
the bar for a beer and a feed before crashing out for the night.
What a mess & where to start ?
Next day, after sorting out the electrical system I then
turned my attention to the plumbing, sterilizing the water, cleaning filters
and flushing the entire system. Everything appeared to be working fine. Next
was the starboard electric toilet which I was sure would be corroded and
seized. After cleaning it I was astounded that it was working perfectly, what a
relief that was. While I was there, I cleaned the starboard bathroom
spotlessly. Next, I decided to clean the cockpit as I was walking all the dirt
and grime into the saloon every time I walked into the boat. I got my
submersible pump out to use as the fresh water on tap here is quite expensive
to use, but my pump was corroded and not working properly. I tried for a couple
of hours to repair it but in the end, I had to dig out my hose and use the
fresh water. At least this job was a bit cooler, even though it was hard work
and required a lot of scrubbing. Next job was to service and test the windlass.
I would be in deep shit if there was a problem with this, but after a big drink
of oil, I tested it and apart from a very rusty chain, the windless was working
fine.
I now turned my attention to all the electronics and hoped
like hell that we hadn’t been struck by lightning while I was away, but one by
one every item tested out OK. I tried to install a new SIM card in my IRIDIUM
satellite phone, but it needed a firmware update which took quite a while
messing about with my laptop on the internet, but eventually we got there and I
managed to get it going again. I had to learn to use a lot of this complex
equipment again after being away for so long. That was pretty much it for day
two, and after a shower I again staggered up to the bar for a beer and a feed
before crashing out for the night.
Day three was spent entirely in the starboard forward food
storage room. The first thing I did was remove all the linen and clothing to be
washed, then I had to remove every item from this room and discard all the food
and wash and clean anything I thought I might be able to recover. It was a hot
hell of a job. I started to clean with bleach and wet wipes and I was a sweaty
mess from sun rise to sun set and my arms, fingers and hands were aching with
pain and I was a mess and I had hardly made an impact. I would spend the next
two days in this room scrubbing and wiping and sweating and choking on bleach
fumes. These were some of the hardest days of work I have done in the steaming
hot and humid Indonesian weather.
Before I left, I tested out the gas system and unfortunately
it was faulty. The gas alarm was continually alarming and there was no gas
reaching the stove. The gas alarm turned out to be faulty, so I removed it to
take back to Australia for repairs, and the safety shutdown solenoid was also
faulty and so I had to bypass it to get gas to flow to the stove and oven. The
oven worked fine, but there was a weird issue with the hot plates where the gas
valves were working in reverse. One was off and off was on, but the safety
thermal cut-out was still working on each burner and you could get a flame, so
hopefully we would be able to use it to cook our meals on the trip back to
Australia.
I finally managed to get a flame
I then had the first attempt of cleaning the topsides and
what a hell of a job that was. Back breaking scrubbing in the hot Indonesian
sun in 32c degrees, but slowly she was starting to look beautiful once again.
By now I was exhausted and sun burnt, so I decided to give scrubbing the deck
away for a while and pump up the dinghy to see if it would remain inflated and
I also got some fuel to test the outboard. There didn’t appears to be any leaks
in the dinghy and the outboard started first pull, but unfortunately the
impeller stayed in the same place, so I had to dig around in the spares box to
find a new one. It took a little while to remove the leg from the outboard to
replace the impeller, but it wasn’t that hard and eventually I got it all back
together and it was pumping water once again.
Outboard impeller - before & after
Time was up, and I had to fly back to Bali with a bag full
of broken equipment to take back home to repair, then catch the flight back to
Singapore, then a connecting flight back to Perth.
It was such a shame to have to leave this place as I love it here so much, but because of COVID my three year cruising permit was now getting close to expiring and I needed to get Sirocco cleaned up and back into my control after years of ridiculous Australian travel bans and cruel lock-downs.
I'm going to miss this view at Marina del Ray - Lombok
