The weather was looking good, so we meandered off to see if we could find some whales relaxing in Hervey Bay before their big trek south again.
Yes , the cabin was snapped up tout suite, the arrangement being to pick up our new willing crew members the day after tomorrow.
Arrangements in place, we hung about the bottom of Platypus Bay the following day, an easy decision as there was absolutely no wind. We drifted about for several hours looking at /for whales before anchoring up again for the evening.
Next morning we set off to cover the 12nm to Urangan boat harbour , the rendezvous point. Last year when out, Peter and I had done a ‘reccy’ of the boat harbour to see if picking up or dropping off people would be feasible and to decide about the difficulty factor. There is a public pontoon just near the boat ramp. The pontoon is aligned roughly N/S at a guess, which would generally have a beam on wind, perhaps its more designed for power boats or boats with thrusters. We had decided that the easiest method would probably be to enter the harbour and to do the pickup/drop off by dinghy whilst the other person held station on K’Gari over by the seawall, a hundred or so meters from the pontoon and potentially in far less traffic than just by the boat ramp.
I’m not sure that Jo thought it was going to be such a simple procedure, when she saw the location as I explained the plan!
It was! We came into the harbour, lowered the dinghy, she went ashore ,picked up our new crew and gear, returned , they disembarked from the tender, the gear was passed up, Jo reattached the falls, we hoisted up the tender, which she secured as I slowly departed the harbour. Q.E.D! So now we know!
It was glassy calm- I mean flat as a mirror. Wherever we were going it was going to be motoring not sailing. An anathema to me, but a useful means to an end, motoring was the only way that day.
Our favourite spot for anchoring in whale season is the northern end of the bay. Here at night you can hear the whales singing. The acoustics are just perfect here for some reason. It’s a 30 odd mile trip but as our friends only had limited time and the forecast was for the wind to fill from the north the following day, it meant we could motor up and then sail back the following day.
Anchoring just in time for sundowners and the afternoon ‘cruise by’ of the whales, it was a great day.
Next day we cruised slowly back along the 5m depth contour and were lucky enough to encounter a very co-operative mother and calf which we had the privilege of watching for some time.
https://youtu.be/y8qqDbbifoo
The only odd moment was when I thought I caught a slight waft of sewage as we rolled gently, whilst drifting, as the whales entertained us……..I had a very cursory check of the valves on the tank and all appeared as it should be , so it was back up topside to watch the calf learning new tricks……..
We delivered our friends safely back to Urangan about midday on Friday , the whales having played the game. We decided that we would make our way slowly home to the marina as very little wind was forecast over the next few days.
Having been underway for about an hour in a bit of slop caused by wind versus tide, I again got a definite waft of sewage. This only happens when the tank is nearing capacity- which it shouldn’t have been. Another inspection, this time without the distraction of missing out on watching the whales revealed that indeed something was amiss. That valves were open, but the tank was nearly full!
As luck would have it, Urangan boat harbour is one of the very few places in Queensland where you can actually get a pump out of your sewage holding tank done. I rang the Boat Club and yes if we could be there by 2pm a pump out could be done. Talk about lucky as it was Friday afternoon.
Having never had this done before I had no idea how long it would take or how efficient the pump out would be. It was relatively quick once the correct adaptor was found and about 80% efficient. Whether the 20% inefficiency is due to the particular equipment or the design of the tank I don’t know. However the boat club operator had his done best! By my calculation - I always knew maths was useful for something , especially working out volumes in this case- I reckon we had about 27-30lts left in the tank. We also have two toilets and therefore two holding tanks on K’Gari, so until I could figure out what the issue was ,this particular facility was no longer in use.
All sorts of scenarios ran through my mind about how to solve this conundrum, from simply managing to poke a length of something handy (the question being, what exactly) through to a haulout being required.
The holding tank is plastic so judicious backlighting with a torch is possible in places, to attempt to visualize the internal pipework.There is also a diagram in the owners manual which actually appears to be quite accurate. Strange as it may seem I hadn’t really preoccupied myself with the internal workings of the holding tank before now.
What we needed was something relatively stiff yet flexible to get around the slight curves of the pipes and the lip of the through tank fittings. Searching around for what we had on board, revealed no handy sani snake- quelle surprise! Eventually we tried a section of old hosepipe, but realised it wasn’t going to even get into the tank via the outlet pipe.
So instead of going home I decided we needed to at least check the valves were in fact operational. The valves are plastic ballcocks and I had begun to ponder if the lower one had actually sheared off in the closed position. Certainly from where we could see the valve handle was opening and shutting as it should. The only way to do this would be from in the water, so it was back to the clearer water in Platypus Bay.
It was whilst sailing towards our favourite spot that we had the most awesome encounter with two juvenile whales. For 28 minutes we sat ,hove to, as these two magnificent mammals came to inspect us, circle around and under us, the footage is wobbly-we had to remember to keep breathing, the wind in the microphone is noisy, but it was a stunning interaction. Their grace and majesty combined with their millimetre accuracy in never touching us, is something that will stay with us forever. Talk about a “gotcha” experience-imprinted forever and it wouldn’t have happened without the holding tank blocking, very serendipitous indeed.
 |
| https://youtu.be/JqZX3UxQIDw or the shorter version- close encounters of the leviathan kind  |
Anchoring up again for the evening ,once more entertained by the whale parade during sundowners, I planned to test the outlet from the outboard side the following day through the simple technique of inserting something long enough to feel any movement of the ball valve. I would be in the water and Jo would open shut the valve from inboard.
https://youtu.be/Z1CA7COHfrE
The valve mechanism was indeed still in tact and could clearly be felt opening and shutting as I touched it gently with the tip of the longest screwdriver that I was inserting up the discharge pipe, as Jo opened and shut the valve. Next idea? Nope didn’t have one, I figured we need a sani snake so there was nothing else to be done, except relax and enjoy the anchorage.
Another up close and personal encounter occurred later in the day. I was reading, listening to music and Jo was washing her hair when I heard her call out whale, whale. As she had rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and opened her eyes there was a whale right alongside eyeballing her through the window! She had heard it exhaling- which I hadn’t ,with the music playing. Thankfully she chose to remain in the shower watching it, instead of bursting Archimedes like from the shower!
 |
| https://youtu.be/Rd8WhlqFfcc |
Returning home it occurred to me that I knew a couple of chaps who might have a solution. Stuart who I had met on the boat next to me last time I was out of the water certainly had some ideas, none of which I could implement at the time. Brett in Sydney, my go to fountain of knowledge about things Seawind, suggested a couple of things: 1) was there a plunger on board, 2)how fast could I swim, 3) could I delegate the task?
In order the answers were: yes, relatively, probably not.
In the end the solution was easy. Over the side again, positioned up current of the discharge point, two plunges with the plunger and QED problem solved!
And so to home we continued with a now completely functioning holding tank. Perhaps its time to change out the hoses, next time I’m out of the water. On the other hand….we could just see if it happens again…now I know a cure.
No comments:
Post a Comment