This Failed
(For now)
U-turn Journal #8

Hull plank rotted into wet toast, patched with bitumen coated planks from inside to block the worst of the leaking.
The leaking speed well illustrated by the green of the algi taken in with the water.

We have one dangerously rotten hull plank below the water line, at the moment leaking about 30% of pump capacity (at 100.001% you obviously sink), but decided to count on slow increase of the leaking speed and not to let it divert us from first finishing the Forecastle and Sanitary Complex. To replace the plank, we would need a heavy winch to tow the bow out and did already trace the winch Roland, now for several months in Germany, reported, by phone, to have "somewhere" on the compound of his Tools and Machinery shop. Roland is a successful businessman but a highly unsuccessful in stacking the old rubbish he decides to keep for you never know what. The art of stacking serves the purpose of being able when necessary to get every single item out with the least effort possible. On Roland's compound the other extreme is touched: it is impossible to take an object out without first move ALL the rest of the shit. That is not an easy achievement. He could win a prize in a competition to stack as badly as possible. No doubt it results from leaving it to unsupervised Ugandan staff.

Winch pulled off rubbish including a boat leaning on it,
which (inset) pushed the replacing support through the tarmac

We found the, awesome it must be said, winch (already pulled out on the picture) hidden behind the huge grey water tank (left), that we had to move first, behind the winch was a boat stacked on its side, resting on the winch. We had to pull tank and winch with a professional car crane (left). Before pulling the crane out, we had to find a new support for the boat. But all decent wood and metal beams on the compound were all blocked and buried by loads of other heavy stuff...except one quite thick metal pipe on which I decided to rely. That was justified but I had trusted the ground too much: while pulling out the winch the boat started to lean on the pipe. It held but pierced down through the tarmac (see picture inset right below). Not waiting for further disasters we quickly left the compound.

Dropping the winch at the harbour slipway

We cleared a platform for the winch, but the bolting of the winch on a concrete foundation could come later - we judged. We would anchor the winch provisionally by hitting steel bars deep in the ground. The winch's worm wheels needed only some vacuum cleaning and oil, but the grease sections had turned into a hard clayish substance, grease nipple valves irreparably fucked. Roland's son Alex, a car mechanic, helped us out.  

We decided to professionalize the pulling by mounting a custom made pulling eye at the dhow's bow.
(attentive readers: the improvised keel beam hole we drilled to start our Banda maintenance session got filled again at relaunch)

Let's Go!