An Arrowhead of breeze spears over the water. It fans out,
among glittering pin point reflections, darkening the surface of the sea. The chime of halyard against mast, all across
the marina, announces the arrival of the gust. Stargazer tugs restlessly at her
lines. They stiffen, groan in protest, and then relax. Stargazer settles back
alongside the pontoon, as the gust passes . The forecast Westerly 7 is
building. We won’t be going out this weekend.
The wind has chased the clouds from the sky, leaving it a
clear autumn royal blue; deeper and crisper than the blue of a summer sky. The
sun is low. Even though it’s mid-morning it casts long shadows. Standing in the
companionway, sheltered by the windscreen, I feel the sun warm my back. My coffee
mug steams in my hand. I look out across the bay. The tide is low. Geese are
crowded on the humped back of an exposed shoal. The black and white of their
plumage is picked out by the sun; accentuated against a backcloth of
glistening, grey harbour mud; and framed by the shimmering indigo of the sea.
Stargazer’s cockpit is still wet with the night’s dew. The
sun bathes her decks and companionway in light, glints off her cockpit
coamings; but is not yet high enough to peer into the cockpit
itself. The teak is a pleasing chestnut brown. I run my eyes appreciatively
down the black caulking lines. The sun peeps over the coaming and warms the
aft corner of the side bench; turns it from brown to silver. The silver patch
begins to spread. The cockpit is drying.
My eye returns to the cockpit sole, still in shadow. I notice tell-tale white
speckles, clustered like chicken-pox, along the caulked seams. They weren’t visible
when the cockpit was silver dry yesterday evening. I know that they will turn
into green or black mould as winter deepens, unless I do something to protect
the wood.
It’s a perfect day to give Stargazer’s teak some winter
protection. Crisp,bright and breezy. Good drying weather. “Boracol 10RH” is the
treatment recommended by Hallberg- Rassy. I know that it works, from
conversations with the owner of a Nauticat in Poole and a Malo in Ile d’Yeu.
Both boats were ten plus years old and looked as if they were newly
commissioned. The downside with Boracol is that it costs about £70 for 5
litres. I read about an alternative treatment on the ybw Practical Boat Owner
forum. It’s called “Patio Magic”, costs £19 for 5 litres and contains Benzalkonium
Chloride, the same active ingredient as Boracol. The main difference (apart
from price) is that Boracol is a 10% solution, whereas Patio Magic is 7.5%. I
head for the local DIY store to get some Patio Magic while the sun gets to work
drying Stargazer’s cockpit.
An hour later, I’m back aboard. The cockpit is silver and
dry. I set to work. There’s something therapeutic, and conducive to reflection,
in brushing the thin, clear liquid into the teak. I move round Stargazer
clockwise: sugar scoop, stern gunwale, cockpit, coach roof grab rails, port
gunwale, starboard gunwale. The sun is warm on my face and the breeze ruffles my hair as I work. There’s a rhythm to it. Dip brush, one long slow
stroke, quick spreading strokes, stand, shift along, crouch, dip brush…..Round
and round Stargazer I go. By the time I complete a circuit the solution has
soaked in and the wood is thirsty for its next coat. Small wind-blown waves
chase round Stargazer’s waterline, chuckling musically as I work, following me
as I circle the deck. I complete four circuits before the teak’s thirst seems slaked. On the
fourth the solution lies for a while on the surface, before being sipped,
rather than gulped, into the wood.
I had expected the Benzalkonium Chloride solution to take
some time to work. I was a pleasantly surprised to find that the Patio Magic
cleared areas that were starting to “green,” instantly. By the following morning,
despite an overnight downpour, the chicken-pox were gone too. Time will
tell how long the treatment lasts. At about a quarter of
the price of Boracol I’d feel quite happy to be applying Patio Magic twice a
year to Boracol’s once – if that turns out to be necessary. Stargazer’s teak
will be getting the same protection for half the cost, or less.
As I circled the deck
with brush in hand, the song of the wind in my ears and
the sun on my back; a question occurred to me. It was sparked by the Patio Magic
versus Boracol experience: 75% of the result (grams of Benzalkonium Chloride delivered)
for 25% of the cost.
I asked myself: “Do
I really need a marina berth? Is it value for money? Do I need all that it offers?“ My annual marina berth contract accounts for 20% of my
entire annual cost of living. This year I was away, on The Living The Dream
Cruise 2012, for five months. The berth lay empty for almost half the year. Should
I have a rethink about how I berth Stargazer in 2013? I live beside Holes Bay, in the sheltered
upper reaches of Poole Harbour. There’s
not a lot of water in Holes Bay, but there are some moorings deep enough for Stargazer. They are a viable all year
option too. Holes Bay is closely ringed by land and so relatively sheltered. A
harbour commission annual mooring in Holes Bay is one quarter of the cost of my
annual marina contract.
There are some plusses to being on a mooring besides the
cost. It’s easier to pick up a mooring
singlehanded, than to come alongside in a marina, for one.
There are some
hidden costs with a mooring: I’d have to buy a decent rigid dinghy; plus find a convenient place to keep the dinghy, of course - and pay for it; And it'd probably be as well to upgrade Stargazer’s solar battery charging , from one “roving” 48w
panel to 80-120w permanently mounted set up. I suspect that I'd have change out of the first year's berth contract savings after the upgrades, though; and upping Stargazer's solar panel capacity would increase our fredom when cruising.
Perhaps a more
difficult hurdle to overcome is how to do without electricity to run a
heater and dehumidifier. I usually run a dehumidifier to keep winter damp and at bay and a heater whenever sub-zero
temperatures are forecast. I'd also need to figure out where to conveniently replenish drinking water. My habits would have to change. I wouldn’t be able to just walk down to Stargazer for a
cup of coffee and a “time out” either ….although I always find a quiet row is good
for my soul……
No answers on the berth question for now. It’s a question that I’ll be teasing away at
over the winter months though....
