Returning to Scarborough and living on Dry Dock in the marina

We have been living on and off our boat now from September 2024 in Scarborough, and it feels like our second home, well, that depends if we are in the water or on dry dock??. When we bought Dione in July 2024 we flew back to Adelaide to get things sorted and to start organising and packing. We decided to take lots of different gear to Dione, to be able to live aboard, maintain and sail her back to Adelaide. It was quite a process.

Not living on a boat before, we had no idea what to take, if it would fit, what our storage was like and was there enough room, and the big question was how we were going to get all the stuff up to the boat without spending a fortune.

Then there was leaving our house in Adelaide what needed to be done there, and how long would we be away, so how were the plants going to be watered, lawns mowed, what amount of clothes to take and for what weather. So many questions?

The second time back in Adelaide was not as bad though, as Dione was already set up, but it was difficult leaving her in the marina, and ‘what about my plants on board - who was going to water them when we were gone?’

Another concern was when we came back to Scarborough, how much time we were going to spend on dry dock, also known as hard stand. This is because there were some jobs to repair and jobs to be checked that needed to be done out of the water. These were not apparent during our sailing trial prior to purchase. They were identified after our first sailing trip in September 2024 with Bill and Lida. We decided to get everything that needed fixed or checked completed and repaired, before we started to sail her back to Adelaide and for any other longer journeys.

Dione stayed in Scarborough marina, while we were away for approximately a month. One of the main reasons for going back to Adelaide was we had a Monaro Nationals to attend in Wangaratta, Victoria which we drove over for, and had an amazing time. Wangaratta and the surrounding areas of Victoria are so beautiful and green. There was so much to see and do while we were away. Definitely worth another trip back some time. I’ll post some of my photos in the Gallery of our time in Victoria.

Markus returned to Scarborough on 9/11/2024 and I joined him a week or so later. The short story is we were booked in Dry Dock to have our propeller shaft seal and bearing replaced and a fuel tank pumped out. There were also other ongoing maintenance jobs to be completed. We were reassured by other ‘boaties’, unexpected repairs are quite common, and regular maintenance is part of a boating lifestyle.

Markus was also booked in to attend his long-range radio operator license which allows our radios and ERIPIB to be registered under our name.

In the week Markus was on dry dock alone, he never stopped. He was always busy, doing some work on the boat. When I arrived, a week later, work was truly on its way. Living on dry dock is interesting. Firstly, it’s a bit like living in a tree house, great view but scary having to climb the tall ladder onto the boat. This is especially in the wet and/or dark. I don’t know what’s worse - water or heights??

Going to the toilet at night was a challenge so my ‘GoGirl‘ came in very handy. For those of you who have never heard of this, there is also the ‘SheWee’ that is apparently very good. You can purchase them at BCF and are very well known and for women when boating or camping.

Noise and paint fumes from all the work being carried out on other boats around while on dry dock is annoying and loud. It’s good to see we were not the only ones having jobs done to their boats, and a positive is at least the Marina toilet and amenities are close by, and the car park where our bikes were kept, the walk was very close compared to living on the water in the marina.

Disposing of used water is an experience, as you can’t let it run down the drains on your boat whilst on dry dock, so to dispose of the water it needs to be carried down the ladder in a bucket or some type of container which is very tricky and not a fun experience.

Then there’s bringing bags on board, fuel containers, or taking our bikes off the boat. Because of the weight and awkwardness we used our spinnaker halyard (the rope that hauls up the spinnaker) and a winch to do the heavy work of lifting. Bill helped when I arrived as Markus was at his radio operators’ course. I held the guide rope so that the loads did not hit the side of hull and Markus operated the hand winch. It’s all part of the fun of boating!

Dione has been in dry dock twice now since we bought her, but luckily the first time was only for a couple of days for the pre-purchase survey and work before we had our test sail. We were staying in Brisbane so that was not problem :)

Once the work was finished, it was back to the water in the marina, test everything to see if working, fuel up and check everything is working as expected so that we are ready to go, to sail her home to Adelaide!