EWWWWW!!! - Dulcinea

Let me start off by pointing out today was probably one of the most disgusting days EVER (but more on that later). We awoke to pouring rain again, the sound of wind howling through the rigging and leaking hatches. We had some breakfast and had a quick tidy up in the boat before agreeing that we should go refuel the boat. Now this was made all the more awkward by the fact the boat was bone dry with diesel. I started by pouring approx 20L from a jerry can into the boat while Emma held an umbrella over me and the fuel filler (mainly to stop water getting into the diesel), we then took that empty diesel can and two full petrol cans to the Shell in Petone, emptied the petrol into our rental car (which filled it which was great!) then filled all remaining containers with diesel. We returned to the yacht, poured the three containers of diesel in (again while Emma sheltered me and the filler cap from driving southerly rain). Now was the horrible part, get to the fuel dock in POURING rain and 20-25kn southerly winds. We got out of the slip without drama, tied up to the dock fine and put another 200L diesel into her. It was getting away from the fuel dock that was the interesting part, because the wind was strong and up out date we had real trouble reversing out so ended up swinging the boat around on the fuel dock with ropes so we could drive out forwards…big thanks to the guy from the marina for his help! We then took off with ease and back into the slip with little issue (again thanks to the man from the marina for helping dock). We were soaking so got into some dry clothes, had hot soup and toast for lunch and watched an episode of House M.D. before dragging ourselves to the marina office to pay for the diesel. Emma wanted to go to the mall and look for a warm fleece, but obviously everyone else did as well and the traffic in the parking lot was horrendous so I gave up and we ended up going to Kathmandu and Macpac in Petone instead, a quick stop to Placemakers on the way back for a tarp to act as our dodger so we can get in and out without rain pouring down the companionway. Now all the mornings events were nothing in comparison to the task that I was about to undertake. Removing the FULL holding tank from under the forward berth. Now this thing stinks at the best of times, think what happened when I cut the hose and liquid *waste* came flowing out over my hand and into the bottom of the boat, let me tell you that is the worst smell I have EVER dealt with! EVER!! And it’s a smell that will outlast religion. I drained as much out as possible into a small container and disposed of it, then cut the final 2 larger hoses and again got covered in *waste* while I can hear Emma at the back of the boat gagging. I finally had it loose and carried the mostly full tank outside and sat it on the dock, next task was to remove all unnecessary pipework and cap off other pipes. After another dousing of *waste* it was cleanup time, this consisted of relegating a towel to the throw away pile and using it to soak up spillage, then a bucket of water and half a liter of bleach which should kill anything. After cleaning out the forward head and the hole the tank sat in the boat smelled of bleach which was far better than that of 3 month old human waste and decaying organisms from sea water. After that ordeal I went for a nice hot shower and some clean clothes. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful with a nice dinner (salad and Hawaiian chicken – like a Kiev but chicken, ham and pineapple), watched several episodes of House M.D. and retired to bed.