The Sunday walk was cancelled due to Leon , with no consideration for our exercise needs , having severe pain in his left arm . A special shout out to Monica ( Boree Creek ), our ‘ cruise GP ’ who wrote Leon a script for an antibiotic to deal with a diagnosed bursitis infection in his arm .
May I say at this point that it is common for RPAYC cruises to experience the happenstance of having eminently qualified people in all fields of expertise who are more than willing to assist if the need arises . This is the inestimable value of sailing with a group and particularly an organised Club cruise with multiple boats participating .
As it turned out Leon still had to be hospitalised , but I am sure that the early administering of antibiotics gave the hospital a head start when they upped this to intravenous anti-biotics .
As a result of Leon ’ s illness , the day turned into a lay day with some attending the local Thai restaurant ( Sticky Rice ) about which we received glowing reports and others attending the pub Trivia night across the road from the NCYC marina , whilst yet others entertained friends and family who live in Newcastle . An example of the Sticky Rice dining was a 4 dish meal shared between 8 cost $ 17.50 each comprising the dishes of honey & lemon chicken , massaman beef , sautéed chicken and cashew , pad thai with prawns and a bowl of rice each . Others like Athena ( Owen and Linda ) spent their day “ servicing the loo , unblocking filters , rerunning halyards , re running a power circuit ”.
Tips learned that day
Tip 1 - After running out of LPG and having to refill whilst in Newcastle , I learned that , pouring boiling water over the outside of an LPG tank will show the level of gas by a condensation line which forms at the height of the LPG inside the gas bottle . I haven ’ t tried it yet , but it sounds logical .
Tip 2 - After my dyneema furling line breaking in two , I learned that bare dyneema when exposed to UV will lose its integrity which is why it needs to be covered in an outer sheath . My 10mm furling line had a section of its outer sheath removed by the rigger to enable it to wrap around the furling drum without the turns on the drum building up and jamming on the drum guides . My replacement furling line ( also purchased in Newcastle ) is now 8mm with sheath for the entire length of the rope .