Well it is only Friday afternoon here but it’s pouring outside for the last hour and so work is done for this week and many of you have been asking for a weather update so thought I’d make the most of the situation and post this now.
** NOTE: Click on any blog picture to see the full size version and more details.
WEATHER UPDATE:
In spite of the current downpour, the weather update is very good. Neither of the two TD’s (Topical Depressions) that were headed our way earlier this week made it this far and neither of them turned into TC’s (Tropical Cyclones and when they get named) so that is pretty great news as you can imagine.
All things considered the weather was quite good this week with rain every day but no major or long lasting amounts and relatively low winds. Some of the local people ashore are suffering as a result of the flooding that happened 2 weeks ago as the weather since hasn’t let things dry out and some have only just started to get their tap water turned back on but the roads are open and there hasn’t been any more flooding or mud slides that I’m aware of. Here in Vuda Point marina the ground does an amazing job of draining away all the water and while there are puddles and its a bit soggy in places Ruby and I are able to get out for walks at least once a day without much trouble.
The big picture weather pattern, which I believe is common this time of year and I see in the large scale weather maps I download like the one on the left here, is that there is a very large clockwise swirling weather pattern that goes from part way over the west coast of Australia to east of Tonga and from just north of the equator down to about 30 degrees south. Where I’m at in Fiji is about 17 degrees south and just left of center in this map on the left. You can make out the west side of Australia on the far left of this map and the north end of New Zealand is down at the bottom. This map is showing what is predicted for next Wednesday and if you look closely you’ll see the outline of the two big islands of Fiji inside that nasty looking set of tight circular lines which would probably be a cyclone in the forming. We obviously hope this forecast is wrong, as all the others have been to date and this is five days out which is a long way in weather forecasts and makes the accuracy very low. This is what I keep my eye on as these maps and models are updated once or twice each day and makes for great entertainment and learning!
Lows seem to form over on the west side of the big circular pattern over the west parts of Australia and then start making their way clockwise towards us and if conditions are right they turn into TD’s and if it continues into TC’s.
New lows can form at any time and there are two new ones that just showed up over to the west and are forecast to become at least TD’s by Saturday or so and the first one is forecast to be approaching us about Tuesday. So that’s what I’ll be keeping my eyes on and hoping that the pattern of the past few weeks continues and these also turn SE and miss us and that neither of them become full blown cyclones and hurt anyone else.
As I type this out it all sounds more dramatic than it really is and so no cause for alarm and no one I know of here is loosing much sleep over it. Not to be flip about it and it could become very serious but right now it is just something you keep your eye on and are prepared to deal with if they turn into TC’s and if they are going to come ashore here.
BOAT WORK UPDATE:
Unfortunately though we have not seen the sun this week so we didn’t get anything done with the paint work projects but we were able to get started at installing the new prop shaft the past few days as this is all mechanical work and we when working under the bottom of the hull the boat keeps most of the rain off. So I’ve had two great guys here for the past 2 days and we removed the two old cutlass bearings which hold the 3.5 meter/yard long shaft in place and keep it spinning smoothly.
Today, carefully supervised by Commodore Ruby, we pressed the two new cutlass bearings into their respective housings in the hull and then they trucked the newly machined shaft down from the shop and it slid nicely into place about an hour ago and just before the rain started in earnest. We should be able to finish the installation early next week which involves pushing the shaft into its final position, attaching the shaft to the transmission with a nice new flexible coupling, installing a new dripless shaft seal system I’ve purchased and remounting the shaft disc brake that keeps the propeller shaft from spinning while sailing as this can damage the hydraulic transmission. Then I need to rebuild and mount the big auto feathering AutoProp and Learnativity will finally have her drive train all ready to go for many more sailing seasons to come.
And so ends another wet and productive week here in beautiful Fiji. The wet weather looks it will continue for most of next week but one never knows and we’ll get back to more paint work as soon as Mother Nature allows. Enjoy your weekend!
Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
Comments