A Little Bit Of History

Trader Boat, August, 1997

Last month marked the 13th year of our guardianship of Crystal Blues.  From the moment we saw her advertised in the August 1997 addition of Trader Boat we fell in love.  Owners John and Jenny invited us to Townsville for the weekend, to stay aboard and go out for a test sail (motor really - there was no wind...somethings never change.)  She passed our inspection and then the surveyor's, with flying colours and a month later she was ours.

A lot of water has flowed under the keel since then and for both of us it has been 13 years of fun packed adventure.  Crystal Blues was advertised with "every electronic gadget imaginable" - though we don't think the previous owners imagined Neil's passion for technology! 

Fortunately we both enjoy working with our hands and don't mind get dirty.  We continue to enhance and titivate Crystal Blues.  The worst job we have tackled on Crystal Blues was sandblasting in the forward locker  and the scariest was catching and removing a banded sea snake from the machinery area, in New Caledonia. We have enjoyed sensational sailing, beautiful anchorages. Continuing to do boat jobs in exotic places is still high on our agenda!

Three blades broken.....

Something Old

Just for something different we replaced the raw water pump impeller again on our Onan Genset (AKA the Insatiable Beast).  Two hours and 35 minutes of running is an all time record for such undistinguished lack of service. 

Something New

Life's Good  - LG 1055LDP

Our electrolux washing machine died whilst we were at Boat Lagoon last year. It was 5 years old.  Unfortunately Electrolux did not support this machine in Asia and the cost of importing new parts from Australia was prohibitive.  David and Kris from SV Taipan discovered a compact LG washing machine in Singapore, an LG 1055LDP. 

Yesterday we installed our new washer and the lazerette is again fully populated with machinery.  Even though the machine came with Singaporean plumbing and electrical fittings we had enough changeover parts to make good and within a few hours Ley was happily watching the first wash.