TRYING TO EMBRACE WINTER

 

Apparently I can't avoid winter, no matter how much I try so I decided this break while visiting mum in country Vic, that instead of loathing winter, I would embrace it. 

In the theme of winter, I pulled out my snowgear and got excited enough to peel myself away from the heater and drive two hours each way to spend the day hitting the 'slopes' at Mt Baw Baw. Snowboarding is my only exception to winter and it was actually awesome. The vis was bad, the snow was sludgy and it was drizzling all day but it was fun to be 'shredding'. 

Mt Baw Baw surprised me a little. Firstly I didn't realise the resort only had pommers and T-bars. Initially I found this kind of daunting, but after several runs and no incidences I realised this wasn't a problem. Secondly, Baw Baw is packed with tree runs. All are quite short, but there are heaps of little kickers over soft terrain which allowed me to hit them unnoticeably confident.

The really good thing about having a mountain so close to mums is the recovery from the cold at the end of the day. This meant I got to sit back in my spot in front of the heater, with a hot water bottle, mums pea and ham soup and two very warm, cuddly sausage dogs.

My winter advice... find some sun! If you can't, find your local mountain. 

 

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THE BEST FLIGHTS WEBSITE EVER!

 

Western Sahara, Morocco

 

Great Wall of China, Beijing

I feel like It's only right to share the cheap flight love with the 15 people that read my blog.

 

Now its actually pretty manageable affording to travel as much as I do, simply because I have learnt to manipulate a website www.skyscanner.com to find me the cheapest flights on offer. Maybe everyone already knows this.. but my mind was blown when I learnt about it.

 

Thanks to my sidekick Jordan who has stars in his eyes when it comes to travel, I was shown ways to find the cheapest destinations as well as cheapest times of year to travel.

Its simple. Just a matter of searching a city or country and being as vague or exact as you want. You can simply choose your departure city and destination as everywhere, a country or a specific city.

Dates can be chosen as whole years, months or days.

 

If you are flexible, you then can go through the next year to see what the cheapest dates are. It shows all flights as they are looked at by other people and updated as requested.

 

Sometimes this can be inaccurate but most the time is spot on.. $69 one way flights from Bali to Perth, $780 Perth to dublin return (a rare find), $373 Perth to Ho Chi Minh return and $1490 Melb to Cabo return are just a few of the random fares at low prices I have seen.

 

Even without booking flights, its my favourite website to checkout. Dreaming about all the amazing places I could go. The map function shows even more unusual destinations, making the world your oyster!

 

 

*maybe if all 15 of you read this blog, skyscanner will start paying me for advertising!

 

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BOAT UPDATE # 4 - PAINT THE TOWN RED... ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE SANDED, PRIMED AND PAINTED IT BLACK'

Tri-coloured Hull with stand marks

 

Before pic - Haul out last year

 

After Pic - Sexiest Hull in La Paz

 

According to Hendo, the last few coats went on a treat, with several tiny conundrums along the way, but nothing too unexpected and difficult to solve.

One thing that was established and explained to me is that putting the last coat of paint on now and then leaving the boat sit on the hard for a couple of months will cause the copper to oxidise and the paint will lose it's barnacle killing ability. Therefore there is one last coat to go on just before she goes back in the water... And more than likely I will finally be there to help with it. 

It seems boat paint is copper based and has big warnings about being carcinogenic. Who knew that it would take both Hendo and Eddie to use a drill to mix the paint and spill most of it on themselves before coming up with this ingenious 'hole in paint lid idea'.

 

*For the record (it's in the blog so it's a legal disclaimer), no compo will b paid for work carried out on this boat...

 

The two troopers moved stands back and forth, sanded, painted, and spent time strategically placing and sikaflexing zincs so that water cant get behind them, yet also ensuring that the zincs have good contact for electrical current.

 

Looking at the obvious difference from the haul out until now you can appreciate the amazing amount of effort and work gone into it. I am so stoked, who knew a mechanic could be such a craftsman with a hull.

 

 

*I will be sure to update with a picture of Hendo and Eddie with a finished Hull.

 

 

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BOAT UPDATE # 3 - A SEXY PRIMED HULL



Almost a fully primed white hull, minus the teak run off from the rain
 

My mate Hayley giving Hendo a hand

 

No words necessary

 

Just kidding when I said pack up the tools... There's heaps more work to b done....

The original plan was to have the boat (I really need a name for her) back in the water on June 27th, but now looks like it will b staying on the hard for a couple more months.

Due to a few storms and really high humidity, work on the hull was slightly delayed. Luckily now the weather is just back to dry and hot the work has continued.

The yard took the generator away so Hendo and Eddie had to do the last hull pre-paint prep sanding by hand.

The painting/mixing process as explained to me by Hendo

"3 parts big tin, 1 part small tin, 20-25% of the mix green tin (that makes no sense I know....). Stir the shit out of it, pour into paint tray and roll on hull while copping paint all over yourself and in your beard"

Unfortunately I am not there to observe this intricate process but am kept well informed by email. She looks a beauty all white.

 

I have been told, 'Only one coat of primer, one coat of black, two coats of red and four sands in between and her hull will be done...'

 

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BOAT UPDATE # 2 - THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VENT (SUNBAKE AREA)

A beautifully flushed vent

 

View of the vent from the head

              

Me imagining myself laying out (needs a towel and beer though)

                   

More exciting times on the boat fixing front. For me, possibly one of the most exciting achievements to date (after the removal of the compost head of course)

The installation of the skylight/flushed air vent.

Part of the compost toilet was a vent that was setup on top of the raised deck right in the prime 'layout' location.

Being a girl that takes a lot of time and bases great importance on her tan, this saddened me greatly. It was possible to lay on, but was not flush so there was a discomfort factor but More importantly than that was the stench of the compost through the vent. Safe to say, I found different, less well functioning tanning spots. 

Whether Hendo knew it or not (but I'm sure he did) the importance of the vent decision was a 'make or break' moment. 

As you can see from the picture it was a pure success. The new skylight is unable to be seen through, due to the Perspex and sun reflection, will have no permanent stench and provides adequate and comfortable tanning space! 

Pack up the tools.... Boat complete!

 

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