Photos: Unplanned visit

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So Friday morning, John the rigger calls from Nelson with the sound of a storm raging in the background and says Rogue is taking on lots of water, that he's pumping the bilge, and it doesn't look good. Flying down to Nelson the next morning, I picked up a rental car, bought a dingy, waterproof car cover, and rowed over to her.

Upon first inspection, nothing seemed to be the matter, getting down into the damp cabin though there were obvious signs of a problem as about four inches of water remained. I pumped and it came spurting out of the bilge tube a dark red colour. The dark red was from the next problem, the loose ballast that had rusted out and was submerged with all the water she took on.

Taking a long look at the situation though, I'm 90% sure that it was not a leak that caused the water but it was the boat cover that had been ripped in the storm. The water (and there was a lot of it coming down) pooled in the cockpit which badly redesignd by a previous owner drained into the cabin.

The rigger came out so we moved her to the dock where she'll be re-rigged and I tied a waterproof car cover over her. Lots of moisture had built up inside so I left the cabin hatch off covered by the car cover above to dry out a bit. She's absolutly fine now and there's been no sign of any other water inside. The sooner she's brought back to Wellignton where I can work on her the better. Though I'd never let any harm come to her, it's still a good feeling to know she's fully insured.

These may sound like problems but half the enjoyment is in figuring out how to solve them and the joy that comes with taking care of something you love. Many people in my life feel compelled to tell me what a money bucket boats are, I don't really care and once Rogue is restored it won't matter. It took all of thirty seconds for us to bring her to the dock when hoards of people started walking over to look at her and compliment the boat. I have a clear vision of how beautiful she will soon be.