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Crtd 11-10-22 Lastedit 15-10-27
Porridge and a 32 ton jack
U-turn Journal #9
Our first attempt to get the dhow out to replace a dangerously bad and leaking plank failed. This is the second. But rain and mud have not receded.
Attempt #2, a draining channel (righttop), more metal anchors, and thick steel wire (fixed at the harbour shed pillars)
The dhow's
bow decided to push its supports and rollers down and dig its way in
the shore mud rather than allowing itself to be lifted. So I bought a 32
Ton hydraulic jack (for 35 euro, made in China of course), quite a
boost to my virile instincts. After 10 times lifting and heightening
supports the bow was up the half meter we needed to work.
Until this stage of removing rot, we pulled it out with our bare fingers.
Porridge!-
It is like being in heaven and starting to realize your cloud does not
hold.
Surprizingly Charles, whom I thought needed supervision at every stage of every job, now decisively took the initiative and clearly showed he'd done this before, radiating a confidence that made me give him the lead and pose as his - very attentive, to be sure - assistant. He positively identified the rotten plank as piri piri ("pepper"), not a pepper but a tree with pepper-shaped leaves. Thus we found that my shipyard contractor Daniel, who got paid to use mninga only, already had started to cheat in the very first phase of building (picture).
Ever saw the sun shine from the bottom of a ship?
In a mood quite different from that of his boss, Charles shapes the new plank,
in the way we Europeans did with our traditional oak
ships
Mlawatu thought the new exit an improvement and could not appreciate its
closure the next day.
I was impressed by Charles' tight fitting of the new
plank.
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