INVESTIGATOR 563

Good evening to one and all,

At last, we are off for the Gippsland Lakes Holiday. My goal - to sail up to Sale. Actually, I don't care too much. GL is a great place to be on a trailer sailer and I am happy to be there.

Started packing Pip this afternoon - interesting that our new attitude to food - a bit dry goods, a bit vegetarian, a bit one-pot wonders, means that we seem to need less stuff stored on board.

As well, carry 4 days of clothes etc on the boat and 4 days in the back of the ute. Wow! so much space and so much time.

Get out there, guys.

Half your luck Dr Peter I would love to have 4 days out in a boat in this great weather we are having at the moment.

Steve

Fantastic... enjoy
Pete

The things that can happen.

A meeting I had to go to today. But with everything loaded we were away within 10 minutes of my getting home.

About 30 minutes alter we pulled up to grab a coffee and check the boat. Lashings, tie-down straps and the hubs. One hub is barely warm but the other is too hot to touch - and I had been driving at 90 kmh.

There was no option but to finish the coffees, wait a little longer, and limp home at 80 kmh with a stop to check on the way.

With luck the local powerboat dealer will deal with it tomorrow - I know I could do it myself but I didn't want to.

Check those hubs.

Peter-See one of our early posts on trailer wheel bearings. The seals are usually the problem, and the so called marine seals are hopeless.

Bit of a bummer Dr Peter,
I hope it don't cut the cruising too short. I usually find the failure of trailer wheel bearings and seals to be a lack of pre-load on the bearing.

Steve

A couple of years ago I was taking my Maricat to Canberra for our national titles. I was driving much too fast for those little wheels on the trailer. About an hour out of Canberra I spotted a wheel bouncing past the passenger window and a sudden deceleration, and the Maricat and trailer weighed bugger all. I would not like to repeat the experiment with an I563 in tow. So a hot hub is a no brainer - get it fixed and be -- SAFE!

Its only inconvenience.

So - our Gippsland Lake Holiday may start a bit later than anticipated, or we could always go to Corio Bay, Geelong.

We are thinking about it. I know Geoff likes it.

OK - now we expect a heatwave next week. Madam, Skipper, asked the question why? I could not come up with a suitable reply.

So, we have unpacked the boat and put the cover on. Maybe in a week.

What a pity Peter!

Yesterday on Corio Bay was magic too, as was today (though 'She who must be obeyed' had me doing the gardening and other domestic chores today).

Still a few warm weekends left in January before you trudge back to school, but then there's Easter to contemplate - arguably the best time to sail at Geelong, given the steady winds and moderate temperatures.

Perhaps we'll see you here then?

Cheers, Geoff