Back in OZ

Well, here we are back in OZ, it’s only 3 years but seems much, much longer and what a shock to the system. After having all the boat orifices cleaned at Cullen Bay, we headed off to the supermarkets, BANANAS $4//kg that taste like shit, but are a lovely shade of yellow without a blemish!! Thankfully the other food we bought made up for our lost Aussie taste sensations, Smiths chips, meat pies, cheese of all varieties, bacon etc, etc, etc

Our new neighbours inside the lock mum, dad and the 7 babies, a good sign there's NO CROCS here

Once securely tied up in our locked environment at the Tipperary Waters Marina we settled in to our new temporary home, without any fluctuation in water level, it felt quite strange. The first task was to get the home brewing up and happening again and since the supermarkets no longer supply the brew ingredients we headed off to K-Mart and Big W to get a new brew keg, new bottles, etc, etc. Two brews were put down that day utilizing the old brew keg (that sailed all around Asia with us) so we could avoid the horrendous cost of Australian beer. Can’t believe how expensive beer has become here in OZ. Home brew is still cheaper than any of the duty free we were buying throughout Asia.



Getting the priorities right 

Our other main priorities were repairing/replacing the burnt out alternator, both engine 1,000hr services, centreboard repairs, mainsail repairs, new internal fans (much needed in Darwin), new toilet, new masthead navigation lights, dinghy repairs, outboard service, etc, etc.

Down to work with some repairs to the centreboard

It took a month to get the alternator sorted as it was not viable to repair and persist with the Balmar. We installed a modified Bosch Marine 120 amp alternator with the old “Incharge” smart external regulator and it works a treat just like the old one we had on the Perkins engine. This has been a 4 year problem that has plagued us the whole time since installing the new engine in Townsville. The local Darwin marine electrician was great and expensive but did confer with the Australian importer of Balmar who surprisingly also recommended a Bosch. We could not find anyone in Asia that had a clue about externally regulated alternators. The Balmar was purchased in Langkawi from the U.S. for $1,000 with the expectation of solving our problem. It clearly didn’t. Another costly piece of junk!! thrown in the bin.

Out with the old and in with the new

Another problem that had been plaguing us was the fuel supply to the genset which we had experienced since installing the new fuel tanks, also in Langkawi. We replaced the fuel priming pump filter assembly in Kuching (Borneo) after finding the old unit faulty, and allowing air to enter the fuel lines. We have just replaced that filter assembly as part of our 1,000 hr service and found that this unit was also faulty, as it had an internal crack which would also allow air to enter. It wasn’t noticeable until removed but since installing another pump/filter assembly the problem no longer exists. What’s the chances of replacing 1 defective unit with another new defective unit, MURPHIES LAW in action, heh!!!!

The offending genset fuel filter priming pump assembly purchased as new complete with fitted filter cartridge and HAIRLINE CRACK for free!!

The three years away and 12,000nm travelling through SE Asian waters has been a tremendous experience and we’ve enjoyed the good with the bad, many of each in fact. Here are a few of the highlight photos which were pre blog days, or may not have been displayed in any of the blogs. Hope you enjoy.

The No 1 highlight of the trip was Camp Leaky, Kumai, Indonesia to meet the Orangutan our cousin brothers/sisters. Here we are secretly shown  by Pan how to open the door to the banana shed with a piece of wire, TOTALLY AMAZING!!!!!!



Mum and baby

And another pose

Who's a cheeky girl?? Look at ME!! Look at MEEE!!

The alpha male just hanging out

The surviving ancient Angkor Temples, Siem Reap, Cambodia our No 2 highlight of the trip



Mind blowling stuff





And again, nature will always rule....... eventually!!

And for 3rd it was split between the cave dinner at Halong Bay, Vietnam and.....



...... Komodo National Park, Indonesia with dragons running amock

It’s very expensive, and hot, in the Darwin marinas, so it’s been a rush to get the work completed asap and get moving again. We may have returned to OZ, but the cruising continues with further adventures planned, before our eventual return to Townsville later in the year.

This huge smoking volcano is right on our doorstep less than 500nm from OZ but who would know????

The blogs will continue for a little longer, but not again until our return to Darwin from the Kimberley’s in 3 months, or if we continue through to Broome and further south, not sure yet, so bye for now.

Beers and Cheers with a refreshing home brew

J&J