Early Mornings in Riverside Marina
In the mornings, around 7.00am Jaap or Renee pull slowly on the chain that grinds up their massive roller shed door allowing natural light to pour in on Jacob’s hull and decks ready for another long laborious day’s work. Jaap and I were chatting on Saturday eve at their 50th Anniversary Party and he revealed he and Renee are GPs and so he understood what I was saying about Rob’s condition. Its kind of reassuring to know they are there, just a few metres away from Zoonie, especially when Rob comes back to Zoonie and I will be administering his antibiotics.
Gail, Tony and I left the party early to take up our positions in The Dickens Inn ready for the final of the Rugby. A better result than the previous Saturday when we lost 21-24 in a very good game where the desperation and stress in each side was well matched. We excelled though with two beautiful tries. The drawn final showed some brilliant rugby and two superb tries by the All Blacks in a game that neither side deserved to lose.
As you know our plans to come home have been put on hold until Rob is better. Our travel agent, Briar can put the flights on hold for us until March 31st next year which is a relief. There is a cost for changing the dates and as our travel insurance covers cancellation we are having to work out whether it would be cheaper to cancel and start again or hold the flights.
As the New Zealand weather deepens towards mid-winter thunderstorms, frequent showers and cold nights are the norm. The wet on the grass and in millions of puddles matches the river water. Zoonie wobbles ever so slightly in her cradle as the wind whips around her elegant hull and slams against the mast. A chain rattles as a neighbour lowers his new engine into place and the dredger being pushed by a chunky little tug rumbles upriver to work in the Town Basin. A sander moans mournfully over Jacob’s new wooden decks and the hoist roars in complaint as it lifts a little cruiser from the water.
Mo’s hammer bangs away at a poor wooden stand and then he is lining up the ancient tractor infront of the skip ready to dump the broken parts. It rains hard between sunny spells and work goes on here in Riverside Marina.
Tomorrow Vicky goes to have her replacement headlights fitted followed by her re-test to get through Warrant of Fitness. Fingers crossed. Then I’ll have to see if Rick can do anything about her thirst for coolant, which is even greater than ours for good beer! I think I should enrol her in AA, Alcoholics Anonymous! The cop should have breathalysed her, not Rob, or perhaps its just as well he didn’t!
Hard Times on the hard at Riverside Marina
The weather folk haven’t given the recent snow storm a name, surprisingly, since it had much more effect over both islands than either of the Cyclones, so in the interests of irony I will call it ‘Snow White’ because the storm was anything but sweet and innocent. However in its destructive way its effect on the scenery was beautiful.
Snow White started her life in the southern ocean and first hit Invercargill and the south coast of the south island. Dumping a couple of metres of snow on the high ground and a blanket everywhere else Snow White moved slowly north powered by gale force winds.
But she isn’t all that is going on in the wild Antarctic Ocean right now. A 6.8 earthquake rumbled the sea bed 400km south of Invercargill and a vast ice berg broke clear of the ice shelf and is slowly making its way towards South America. This was a predicted event and the crack has been monitored for 10 years. As it was always floating it will not alter the sea level but the shelf it came from encloses melting glaciers and if they break through to the ocean that will be a different story.
Dunedin and Christchurch reported a sunny morning in a balmy 5’ after Snow White lifted her skirt northward. Ski Resort owners, busy preparing the slopes for their visitors, and farmers alike asked “How long till the thaw?” The former want the conditions to last of course but the farmers’ cows and sheep will start giving birth in a month and a lack of grass for the sheep will be a disaster.
When she reached the Cook Strait between the two islands the storm gave the ferry passengers an interesting ride before the service was suspended. They lay on the floor listening to the crashing of the waves and the metal juddering and an RNZ reporter standing on the south shore overlooking the strait near Wellington, the wind whistling around his mic reported “I can only see white water”. A wave meter recorded a wave height of 11 metres in the straight. Constant winds reached 120km/h with gusts of 160 +.
As Snow White skipped over the Strait the lace frill at the hem of her skirts left behind an island covered in ice.
Moving north towards Tongariro National Park roads were closed and cars only allowed on others if they crunched along on chains. The Chateau Tongariro at the foot of Mount Ruapehu has over 100 stranded skiers living off airlifted supplies and wondering if they would make their homeward flights. In the ski-lift café where we had enjoyed a coffee with Charly and Tom watching the blizzard at the summit in December (the NZ midsummer) the situation was the same this week, 7 months later in the NZ midwinter, that’s NZ for you.
One lady reported her dog bumped his nose on the ice in his drinking bowl, another followed the tiny footprints in the snow to see that her cats went out of the door on one side of her house to discreetly slip straight back through the cat flap on the other side, in disgust no doubt. Another cat warmed itself infront of the fire but got just a little too close. His owner had never before seen him leap so high nor make such a heart rending noise.
Here on the hard in Zoonie Snow White made her presence felt with moaning winds around the yard buildings and setting the pink rosebuds Kristina gave me shivering in their vase. This morning (15th July) all is calm and sunny.
Before I go to see Rob I am hoping for visits from Steve and Bruce. Steve is coming to measure up for a wooden shelf so we can install the new fridge parts and Bruce will hopefully apply the Coppercoat, if its not too cold for it to cure. Once that is on we can put Zoonie back in the water and Brian at the Town Basin Marina is saving a berth for us whenever we want. When we eventually come home we will put Zoonie on a pile mooring as that is the least expensive. She will have done a full circle since her accident.
Our travel insurers have taken up our case and will arrange our flights home when the doctors clear Rob to travel and we need to have Zoonie back in the water by then. I think they will both come together at about the same time.
A young lady doctor decided yesterday morning that it was time for us both to be fully informed of the possible outcomes of Rob’s serious illness. She was stretching her wings under the watchful gaze of Doc Heather who corrected her on numerous aspects of her interpretation of Rob’s notes. We had guessed at most of her comments and with the wisdom of years we are not worrying about what may never happen, but living the life we do there is some preparation that needs to be done.
Being single handed when the other crew member is fit and available to help is one thing, but to be the only capable crew on board with a very sick crew member who needs an urgent air lift to the nearest hospital in short order is quite another.
When Rob is back on board we will go through emergency medical procedures together and discuss questions like do we abandon Zoonie or do I stay with her and sail her single handed to port. We have two things in our favour, first the opportunity to prepare for this possible event and the knowledge our insurance company will cover an airlift.
Much depends upon the outcome of the TOE (Transient Oesophageal Endoscopy) camera look at his heart on Thursday to see if the Abs have done their work and whether the bacteria has further damaged his heart valve.
Bruce arrived with his tubby little white lady Staffy companion. He is hoping to start work on the anti-fouling job this weekend by filling the osmosis holes Rob ground out and sealed. Now that Snow White has floated off out over the Pacific the weather is going through a calm, dry spell which will be perfect for the painting he hopes to do at the end of the week after the hull is thoroughly sanded.
His little white dog feels the cold so she was wearing a grey coat, with a fin on the top and a fin at each side. “So is she meant to be a whale or a dolphin Bruce?” I enquired.
“She’s a shark!” Which made us laugh and his little friend wagged her stubby tail, I must get her name. (It is Gena)
On the Mend on the Hard
Skipper released on good behaviour
Rob is back on board Zoonie where he will receive his daily dose of Abs from me once the District Nurse has shown me how to do it! Then he will visit the DNs once a week for a check-up and blood tests for the next four weeks until 18th August when his 6 weeks of Abs will be complete. Then three days of blood tests and a further TOE at the end of August to see how the Ab v bacteria battle is coming along.
Today’s TOE showed a very slight increase in the size of both bacteria beds but this is not uncommon and it takes a long time for the Ab to start winning over the bacteria. His discharge letter confirmed he is not fit to fly, at any level, including sea level! Nice touch of humour from the Doctor and no escaping aboard Zoonie then!
Our wonderful social committee, Gail and Tony, have got tickets for the Andre Rieu film of his annual concert in Maastricht viewing next Saturday and we are really looking forward to that. It is a 2hour 40 minute film and we will dine out afterwards.
It is pouring with rain here at present as another winter storm passes overhead. So no jogging along the riverside today then, just relaxing aboard and pretending the grey sky is blue.
The Normal World is out there.
We have spent the past two weeks passing along a tunnel, I thought as I poked my head out into the cockpit this morning to be met by sunny blue skies, for a short period anyway. Rob is now back on board and we are emerging quickly back to our normal lives, Whangarei Bound as we are.
Alicia climbed bravely up Zoonie’s ladder this morning for the last of her two visits supervising me, in my role as Hot Lips Houlihan from Mash feeding Rob intravenously with his antibiotics. That done Rob decided the game plan for the day would start with a gentle walk around the Hatea Loop, stopping on the quay for a restful coffee.
We wondered, quite seriously, if our fortunes have changed for the better because a sparrow had just pooped on my hair.
When Rob was taken poorly I developed tunnel vision which focused just on him. Once safely under medical care in hospital I remember getting back to the marina after dark and tripping over a kerb, falling flat on my face on the gravel yard ground and finding the incident amusing as I scrambled up brushing my hands together and sorting myself out for fear someone would see me. Adrenalin kept me going for the first 24 hours and then I settled into the easy routine of visiting Rob twice a day with the added variety and challenge of getting Vicky through her WOF before he came home and of course dealing with emails to and from our boat and health insurers.
Her problem was headlights. Obtaining replacements that came up to standard was the challenge. Soon we had some but one did not match the light output of the other. With a little imagination the garage tried putting a more powerful bulb in the dimmer side and that worked. They also located the cause of a major coolant leak.
The liquid was reaching the water heater in the dash board and then bypassing it and pouring under the carpet on the passenger side and pooling in a pink shiny lake on the rear footwell. The garage bypassed the water heater, joining the two open ends of the pipe under the bonnet, so now we have no heater (well we never did as white vapour would pour into the car if we turned the heater on) but hey we don’t need one either. The pink lake has still got to be cleaned up though.
Everyone and their dog were on the loop walk today and we met the lady we had sat in front of at the Lions v Barbarians match all those weeks ago. She’s on to the national rugby results now with just as much passion.
Remember the duckling with the gammy, upside down leg that I mentioned back when we first arrived here? Well he’s got himself a mate and we were tickled pink to see him thriving against all odds. It probably helps that they mate in the water!
Kind natured Bruce finished cleaning and sanding Zoonie’s hull on Friday so this week, in between the wet weather fronts, he will be able to prime the waterline, having sanded the old boot topping, and then apply the coppercoat. We cannot wait to get a proper rounded covering of this excellent anti-fouling onto her hull and finally call that long drawn out job ‘done’. Then a week later we can launch her and deal with any leaks that may or may not appear.
I will give Rob his last anti-biotics on the 18th August and then he will have a daily blood test every other day for three sessions. Then a few days later, at the end of August, he will have another TOE. Finger crossed the bacteria cottage gardens will have gone, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Thank goodness for our reciprocal health agreement to pay for the treatment he had in hospital and our travel insurance who have taken over other costs and our travel arrangements back to the UK. They are in direct contact with Rob’s doctors at Whangarei Hospital.
Rob’s first day back was a busy one. After a short walk in town to the Turkish Restaurant where we supped real strong Turkish coffee, licked our sugary lips while chewing the flaky baklava pastry and reminisced on our long weekend in Istanbul, we returned to the marina to transfer the boxes of Coppercoat into Bruce’s car to make room in the back of ours for the four batteries that we took to the scrap yard for a profit of $100.
Mo agreed to help with the batteries for the standard boatyard currency of Steinlager Classic. He hoiked them onto the side-deck by hand and then employed the generous laws of gravity to help them to the ground 10 feet below.
Now Mo is a strong but not a big person and we shared a fear that gravity might take over as the battery disappeared over Zoonie’s topside, so I was given the dubiously enjoyable task of holding tight onto his leather belt and leaning backward against Zoonie’s coachroof to counter balance the combined weight of Mo and said battery. This we did four times and by the time we had finished I was getting quite used to holding onto the pants (U.S. meaning) of a man who was not my hubby!
It’s a funny thing about independence that before Rob was ill there were many day to day tasks of shore living (driving, ordering and paying for things, carrying money) that Rob had taken over from me after we got together on this trip. Suddenly, with his hospitalisation, it became necessary for me to take them all back on board and it gave me much delight to realise I could still not only do them all but also enjoy doing them as well. I still hold the car key! For how much longer do you reckon?