Paint Fumes and Friends

We said a sad farewell to Kate this week. She was given the amazing opportunity to go up to Zambia and join Rufus. We’re super stoked for them and are looking forward to their return towards the end of the year. Back at harbour Island, some serious work was done over the long weekend. The cabins are really beginning to come together – loads of sanding was done and a good amount of paint fumes were inhaled. The sunny weather brought us numerous welcomed visitors. On Saturday Jan popped in for a beer but performed a miraculous Houdini before his picture could be taken J. Janneman and Robyn came round on Sunday and we shared another perfect winter’s evening at the local pub, Berties Mooring, with Gerald laying down some wicked blues. John, Kirsten and Eric visited on Tuesday morning – they are toying with the idea of buying a yacht and wanted to see what it’s all about. We hope all the obvious hard work didn’t put them off the idea – the work will pay off in the end. Tuesday also brought us good old Jumpy – Wilhelm did his first Atlantic crossing with Mark. His enthusiasm and support is always an inspiration.   

Viv

First published on offtheline.co.za

Delight

Wilhelm and I went on an adventure tour this past Saturday in search of  lights for the cabins. The entire morning was spent in two shops alone but eventually a couple of lights were bought. On Sunday we managed to put up a revolving light in our cabin, which to my delight, worked far better than I had expected. The aim was to do more but a surprise visit from my parents and a first time visit from Wilhelm’s concluded all work for the day. The rest of the afternoon was spent eating prawns at the local restaurant and sipping sundowners on deck, on yet another splendid winters day.

Viv

First published on offtheline.co.za

Winter Sunshine

After taking some time off  to re-adjust to all the recent changes, which was prolonged by numerous miserable winter weekends, we finally got back into gear and decided to start giving Melody some long deserved attention.  The weather decided to co-operate in spectacular fashion over the past weekend and we were spoilt with winter sunshine as we worked away on getting our cabins nearer to completion.  It was an AWESOME weekend (with the exception of a missing Rufus).

Viv

First published on offtheline.co.za

Changing Times

Wow it's been a while and man have there been some interesting things happening over the last month or so. After resigning from my job in Cape Town at the end of April, in the belief that we would be departing in May, it was clear that we had all been a little optimistic. Things on old Melodious were not going as smoothly as we had hoped and our constant battle with time and finances was killing all of our motivation for our amazing project. Things had to change quickly if we wanted our dream to ever materialize.

 So we began making a plan. I was fortunate enough to be able to return to an incredibly busy JLB Architects. Rufus organized a job and within a week found himself in Zambia, running a construction site. While Wilhelm landed an amazing position at a new boat yard developing incredible racing yachts. These new developments have obviously shifted our departed date out by a few months but as a team we have decided that it's the right move. Things are looking up.

iv

First published on offtheline.co.za

Windows, Paint and Controls

The imminent arrival of heavy rain on Monday made sealing the windows a priority. The painful hard work put in by Kate and Rufus over the weekend ensured that we now have a dry boat - something we are all very thankful for and happy about. Wilhelm worked away on our scoop moulds and the new morse control which, after installation, will make Melody mobile again after months of being confined to the harbour. In an attempt to make our boat look a little more presentable, Mini-Melody (our tender) was rescued from drowning and used to manoeuvre around the side of Melody in order to give her a good clean. The grey paint patches that once covered the deck and contributed to her shabby appearance have been obliterated by a lovely coat of  super white paint. The deck is now a mixture of blinding white patches and old discoloured paint. All  in preparation for the major deck painting that will be happening this weekend -  weather permitting. 

Viv

First published on offtheline.co.za