Work at the boatyard

Work in the boatyard is finished and Zenitude with a renewed look is back in the water. She had all the old bottom paint removed and replaced by new anti-fouling, including raising a bit the water line that was too low. She also had all the old stripes removed and replaced by new ones, polish and wax completes the new look. Sail drives are good. Seacocks are good except for one that is broken and needs changing. Oh well, always a worry, everybody is busy at the yard, nobody wants a small job so Oscar decides to do it himself. It is an underwater seacock so it has to be perfect if Zenitude is to stay in the water. Finally all is done, on November 20 she is down in the water happily floating again.

Oscar had been looking around making inquires and found a great marina in Soldiers Point with a very good mechanic and electrician to continue with the overall maintenance work. So that is where he is heading all by himself as I'm still working in Sydney. Going along the channel is a bit stressful with just under 3 feet depth at high tide in some places, but he makes it to the marina.
G.

Finally back

After almost 6 months overseas we are back in Sydney. Zenitude is still in Oyster Cove, Port Stevens. Work on the boatyard has started last week with a complete peel off the old antifouling. Inside, Zenitude is a complete mess and we have lots of work ahead of us, as always, coming back and getting things into place again feels overwhelming. Oscar is back and forth between Sydney and Port Stevens and I'm doing my bit as I have started on a big project that's been waiting for me for a long time: a new bimini!

Slowly we are trying to get back in shape and get Zenitude ready for a Summer in Sydney.
G.

Zenitude in Port Stephens

On March 6, Zenitude left Cammeray Marina towards Port Stephens. Oscar and Murray, our friend and ex-crew, left the mooring just before 11:00 AM for an 87 miles short trip to Port Stephens. They arrived in Shoal Bay at 2:30 AM and dropped anchor to rest and wait for daylight before continuing to Cove Marine in Oyster Cove. 

Leaving Sydney, the first part of the trip was good, with excellent following winds. After reaching Newcastle a series of squalls together with the cold wind made the last 20 miles quite miserable. It was also miserable wet with very poor visibility the next morning, making the 12 miles from Shoal Bay to Oyster Cove. The result is that they lost the tide's window to haul out Zenitude. Haul out had to wait for next day.

Our idea is to leave Zenitude in Cove Marine, Port Stephens, in the dry, while we go overseas for 2 to 3 months. The plan is to do all needed work (antifoul paint plus all the small things in our two pages long 'to do' list) when we are back from overseas and before leaving for our sail north to Whitsunday Islands.

At this point we don't know for how long we'll stay overseas. As soon as we have a good idea we'll post our sailing plans here.         

G

Making travel plans

The end of our working season is fast approaching and we are starting to get ready for some more traveling. Traveling plans to be posted soon ...

G

Currently we are not posting

We are not travelling at the moment, we are in Sydney. Zenitude is moored at Cammeray Marina. As soon as we have our next travel plans finalized we'll post them here. In the meantime check our website for past travels.