What next :Insect Pests!

This is where I am staying....its tough

Looking over the boat today I found three wasps nests inside the Hydrovane gearing, which had been wrapped tightly in a large polythene garbage bag, but the weather had made it brittle and splits had provided entry for the nasty looking insects. The only thing at hand at that moment was CRC so I gave them a good squirt and the wasps went crazy, but they didn’t find me. Eventually they flew away all confused and I quickly scraped the nests off before they returned.

Its going to need a bit more than a squirt of CRC to get the motor tidied up. I finally lifted off the engine cover today to find mould and superficial rust on the unpainted bits, especially the pulleys, and the belts will need replacing I think. But I won’t be able to test the motor till she’s back in the water, which will have to happen before too long even if I do sell her. ..speaking of which I checked on the internet the asking price for a nice EC31 in Australia. At present it is a little less than what I paid for Sapphire about 6 years ago, though of course with all the upgrades I have spent considerably more, at least as much as her original price but probably not twice as much. Nothing surprising there – no-one expects to do anything but lose money on a yacht – its not an investment but an indulgence, and I feel for my relatively modest outlay (as far as outlays on yachts are concerned, which are usually massive and for less actual sailing than Ive done) I have already had phenomenal value. Without doubt I have had the most extraordinary  challenges, experiences and rare adventures in the last six years with Sapphire that any landlubber new to yachts could ever hope for. My original dream was to learn to sail, and then sail solo from Sydney to New Zealand, and that took just over three years. Ive now surprised myself by sailing the big loop out to French Polynesia, and like some dumb kid who climbed higher up a tree than he ever intended I am looking down and getting a scary feeling, seeing how far it is to get back to the ground!

One way down is to get the boat shipped back, as Dominic suggested yesterday. He is going to get a quote. Another is to sell Sapphire and today a broker looked her over and despite the filth and mess was impressed, and felt at the right price (of course!) it would be easy to find a buyer. But don’t they always say that? He mentioned millions of francs! (but its 83 to the dollar!) The other is to sail her back, even with leaks.

For now I shall continue the tidy-up and sort through what I can do myself, and try to find my mojo again, as advised. Thanks Martin.