Chandlery

When I was looking up a boat term the other day, I happened to find a Wiki article about chandleries and it got me to thinking about the origin of so many nautical terms. I thought I'd share this particular one with you because I found it particularly interesting. A chandlery to us is a shop that specializes in boating equipment, gear and parts. We think as large as West Marine and Defender or as small and parts-deprived as Moe's in the Cook Islands. So it was a big surprise to find that a chandlery in medieval times was a room where candles and wax were kept. The chandler was the person responsible for making and stocking the household with candles for its evening light. Chandelier, from Old French, was an early lighting fixture which held many candles. Soap is a by-product of candle-making (unbeknownst to me) and was added to the list of chandler responsibilities evidently when humans finally began to wash. That must have been an interesting day.

As populations and towns and cities grew, commercial enterprises specialized in the sale of soaps and candles...still called chandleries. The larger towns were usually near the sea and the chandlers many times provided stores to big ships. In their efforts to expand their product lines, the chandlers began to offer nautical items to these same ships. These shops became known as ship-chandleries. Other sources suggest that maybe a chandler was a corruption of the word handler, meaning a dealer or purveyor of commercial goods, like a ship's chandler for nautical things or a corn chandler who dealt in corn and seed.

With the advent of gas and electric lights, candles (other than for romance, hurricanes and birthday cakes) went the way of dial-up internet, but the nautical items remained. Boat supply stores are still called chandleries or chandler's shops. The place that sells candles and soap is now called WalMart.

Though we do try to make many things ourselves on the boat like beer, bread and homemade cookies, candle and soap making is not on the list in the foreseeable future.

SPLASH!

After eight days on the hard, we are finally back in the water again. Returning to the water is just as exciting as the haul-out. The Travelift moves into place, encompassing Cups on both sides. The straps are moved into place and take the weight off the supports. The cradle and stands are removed and then the slow process of moving the boat back to the water begins. The distance is very short, but boats are close together and there seem to be all sorts of obstacles in the way that must be avoided. The marina crew here are professional and experienced. They're careful and precise and we appreciate their expertise. Once the lift is lined up with the tracks on either side of the haul-out berth, the driver painstakingly backs up along the tracks maneuvering Cups into place over the water. He lowers the boat into the water, then allows the crew to board over the bow, just as the boat is even with the dock. He lowers her the rest of the way into the water.

Being out of the water introduces some issues of its own. Minor things, but not to be forgotten, like turning on the bilge pump again, opening the thru-hull for the engine intake and burping the prop shaft seal. David also replaced the depth/speed transducer and replaced a stopcock on the forward head thru-hull. All of these things must be checked before the Travelift turns us loose. We have a little checklist because our memories are not what they used to be. Sometimes finding the checklist is an issue unto itself. Long story short, the splash went without incident.

We've moved back to our original slip in the marina. It's just around the breakwater and near the fuel dock. It's pretty easy access and egress which is to our benefit. We usually spend more time at sea than getting into berths and we're sometimes a bit rusty. Cups is all tied up and snug once again, but she kind of resisted heading back into the slip. After all this sprucing up, she's anxious to get out on the water again...as is her crew.

By the way...

We've gotten an increasing number of people wondering how the brew is doing. The brew has aged perfectly and David is now enjoying Australia Pale Ale in the evenings with dinner. The cider was bottled today and takes longer to age. It should be ready just in time for old Saint Nick's visit ... athough we anticipate some quality control sampling necessary along the way.

Australian Customs Authority

Australian Customs have really gotten a bad rap. Maybe it was deserved some time, some place in the past. We've certainly heard several horror stories, but as for us, we've been blessed with professional, courteous, efficient Customs officers who have have taken their jobs seriously without being offensive or officious. Perhaps, we've just been lucky or there's been a change in attitude. Customs officials worldwide are an interesting lot. Their job primarily involves dealing with folks who are entering or leaving their country and are bringing in goods. It could be just luggage. It could be a freighter full of goods for importation. It could be illegal drugs which tend to be frowned upon. It could be cruisers, who are bringing in lots of boat parts from the States. It could even be folks like us who want to extend their stay in a country with their sailboat and don't want to pay Customs duties to import the boat. Some Customs officials, like say in the Eastern Caribbean, for instance, can be officious and haughty. Some can request “gifts” in order to complete the boat paperwork correctly and in a timely manner. Here in Australia, it's by-the-book.

For those who haven't traveled to Australia with a boat, their rules are rather strict. We had to give 96 hours notice to Customs before arrival or face a stiff fine. This was pretty easy actually. We sent an email from the boat about a week before our arrival. They're flexible with dates as long as it's more than 96 hours in advance and you update them as necessary. Not every port is an official Port of Entry. We arrived in Bundaberg, Queensland last November (2011) and Customs directed us to a Quarantine dock upon arrival.

First aboard was AQIS, Australian Quarantine. They clear the boat and the crew before Immigration or Customs even steps aboard. They confiscate any fresh food or specific items that cannot be imported (e.g. honey), empty out the vacuum cleaner, check that there are no pets aboard including the creepy-crawly variety like roaches and generally inspect the boat. We had to show proof that we had anti-fouled the boat within the last six months.

Next came Immigration. Australia is one of very few countries that requires everyone (other than Kiwis) to have a visa to enter. Typically when we enter a foreign country, we receive at least a 30-90 day visa on arrival, no pre-paperwork necessary. Australia makes it easy in that you can apply for and pay for your ETA (electronic transit authority) on line, but it must be done in advance of your arrival. We got our initial visa in Fiji last year and then another one in the States to return to Tasmania in September. We applied for, paid for and received a one year visa, so we're good until September 2013.

Then Customs came aboard. They have the right to go through the boat, checking in lockers, under floorboards, exploring nooks and crannies to determine exactly what you are bringing into Australia. Sometimes they even bring sniffing dogs. We were limited as to the amount of liquor, beer, wine, cigarettes, etc., we could bring with us. It pays to be honest because if you're not and they find any discrepancy, you're in hot water. Additionally, we had to place a value on the boat because if we intended to sell it in Australia, we would have to pay import duties on it. We received clearance which allowed us to keep the boat in Australia for one year without paying any duties as long as we reported in quarterly to Customs via postcard, phone or email as to our whereabouts and intentions.

One question frequently asked is how we know what to do when arriving in a new country. Easy...I do research well in advance of our departure from our previous port. Once again, Australia makes it easy. They have a separate page on their government website specific to arrival procedures for yachts.

Well, here we are one year later. It's November again. We're still in Australia with no plans to leave any time in the near future and we needed to renew our Customs paperwork. We'd been good citizens, didn't get into any trouble and had duly submitted our “Control Permit Location Reports” on time each quarter. Even so, whenever you're dealing with officials in foreign countries, you tend to be a bit uneasy. Come to think of it, whenever you're dealing with officials in your own country, you can get uneasy (think IRS, police, school principals).

We stopped by the Customs Office in downtown Hobart a month ago. They said call back a week before renewal time and make an appointment to come in. Well, this was the week. I made the appointment and gave them information in advance over the phone. The Customs office is on the second floor of a government building. It has a small lobby and a counter with a push button for service. We rang the bell. An officer came out, asked our business and disappeared. Two minutes later another officer appeared and asked for our arrival paperwork. She took it, returned in another five minutes and we were good to go for another year. No fees, no hassle, no problems. I've already marked our postcards with the quarterly report dates and put them on the calendar.

The boat is now legal in Australia for another year. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, we're not sure we want to be in a country that allows the likes of us to stay. ;-) .