I don’t know why, but it seems every yard likes to wait to let you know what is going on, then rush you to the haul out for hauling. We knew it would be today but the time was questionable. Early afternoon they showed up and there appeared to be some urgency. Maybe it was me. maybe the yard.
A push boat came by and Joe from the security office. He helped with the bow lines while the push boat cleared the mooring bouys that held us off the dock ensuring we would not end up with any of them tangled in the prop. To start with all went well.
We backed out with all lines cleared and I was moving fenders and lines for tying in the slipway while W/ was aligning the boat to just pull in. Oops! We had thought we would be entering the pit bow first but the push boat indicated we were to go in stern first. W/ began to adjust, reverse, forward, reverse, repeat while attempting to turn the boat in her own length. The push boat assisted by gently pushing on the bow turning us quicker to align
us. Soon we were in the slip and with the boat tied while they moved the lift over us. I gave Mo (the lift operator) the photos of Elysium’s bottom for when we had lifted her before and explained that yards like to carry her a bit bow down. They adjusted the straps and he lifted the boat slightly when his son went into the water to attach the lines for the straps. That’s when I learned a new lesson.
On the port side he had successfully tied the straps together and was working on the starboard. The waterline was about 40 cms out of the water and he was working on tying the bow straps and swimming in the water. The head exhaust is now right at the water line and until the end clears the water any effluent in the hose stays there. You might be able to guess the next part. As air enters into the hose any waste product that was still in the hose will exit. . Well….as he was moving along the water disturbing the water air was able to enter the hose and the effluent that was left in the hose came rushing out. Needless to say he was not a happy camper. For the next hour he coughed and choked and complained about the potential for getting sick. A 6 pack of beers eased the complaints some but we were concerned for his concern, not that he would become sick. After all that head is on a LectraSan unit. Lesson learned. Before hauling, pump the head several times to ensure there is no waste is left in the system. We have a sewage treatment system on the boat so I wasn’t concerned about any diseases but still, anytime I can keep workers on the boat more comfortable the better off everyone is.
Kitti, (the Manager of Yuve Marine) checked the bottom and saved us some $$’s After he saw the bottom he said we didn’t need to have the bottom pressure washed. Wow, with all my cleaning of the bottom, besides aiding in our boat speed by keeping it clean I actually saved some money on the haul out. 🙂
Once the boat was up she was moved into the work yard we prepared for shutting everything down, Yuve began their jobs while we were packing, moving, and storing gear. Fortunately the Marina has 4 cottages for rent and again we are able to be off the boat while work ensued on Elysium. Living on the boat and doing projects aboard is frustrating enough. Living on the boat on the hard and doing projects aboard is beyond what we have always envisioned cruising as. Luckily, everywhere we’ve hauled we’ve had a place to stay off the boat.
The following day Yuve began to attack the bottom as any good crew ought to. An avid reader might well remember we touched a rock pinnacle in the Perlas and put a rather nice scar in the bottom about 2-3 cm up from the keel. That needed to be repaired. And in NZ and Australia they are not happy with the bottom paint we used throughout the Caribbean and mostly in the Pacific. So the best bet is to remove the paint. Besides, we were getting to the expected life of the barrier coat and I was somehow getting paint bubble between it and the bottom paint and in a couple of places between it and the gel. They began by attempting to scrap the paint off and found it too difficult. They ended up tenting the boat and sanding the paint off – better them than us. Also the sanding added some gouges to the gel that will need to be addressed when we recoat, but for now we are on the right track.
Work progress’ smoothly, we’ve hired three things done, two of which I prefer not to do, the bottom and waxing the hull. The third; W/ and I were just to lazy to do, clean and polish the stainless. Seems we would do parts of the stainless polishing but would never finish the entire project.
We’ve moved into the cottage, we’ve been packing up gear and organizing everything. We’ve even made it to Latoka and Nadi with Jackie from Jean-Marie as our guide. Latoka is the largest town we’ve been to since Papeeta and I will say; having choices was quite nice. We paid for our internet and picked up some fresh food for the rare times we are eating in house. With two very good restaurants nearby; Vuda Point Yacht Club and First Landing, we’ve been indulging ourselves.
Our plans were to move the boat Monday to a cyclone pit and then do the final projects. Yuve had asked to have the boat moved early in the am so they could easily finish the hull waxing and I had arranged the move with the front office 3 days before. But as in many projects cruising, plans are not always implemented as expected. The yard crew had other ideas and Elysium was not moved until early in the afternoon. But too as in much of life; most things work out. As we were not leaving until late Tuesday we had some time in the am to complete our final tasks. I had Yuve install a lightning ground and we discussed what we would have completed upon our return. We contracted with Mr. Bharros to keep an eye on the boat and we covered Elysium with two tarps securing it the best we could. Hopefully they will last the entire season but I don’t have much confidence in that occurring.
While Yuve was doing the boat work we made a trip to Nadi, the larger town in the area. I had found a store that did iPhone repairs and needed a new on / off switch on our older iPhone 4s and a new power port on the iPhone 5 I had purchased from my nephew. Again as with many of cruising’s adventures there is good and bad. The 4s was fixed and is working perfectly, the 5 power port was fixed but the screen didn’t work. It did when we brought it in but as the battery was flat when I took it in they couldn’t verify the working screen. In all honesty I couldn’t say if I was being scammed or not. The screen worked before I took it in, I didn’t bang it around but who knows. They could have put a bad screen on and/or been trying to sell me my own replacement, it could have somehow been broken, it wasn’t cracked but when I had the phone looked at in the states the guy said you could see there was an issue on the underside of the screen. I couldn’t but he could. In the states I had it replaced for less than it was quoted at in Fiji and now I have a phone again. We plan on upgrading in the states anyway but on a boat one of the keys to successfully cruising is having backups, backups and more backups! You never know where something is going to fail and how long something is going to last! Never.
We left our home and the marina at 6 is for the flight to the states. Our first leg was 10 hours long and the plane was packed but quite comfortable. Fiji Airways is still a quality airline providing blankets for each of us, more room in the seats and we ended up having two quite tasty meals. The down side was we were only allowed one bag each plus carry ons. Fortunately, traveling this direction that was not an issue and when we booked our tickets we were informed that the first carrier set the baggage allowances and all after would follow. Thus on the return leg we would be able to carry more.
The entire trip was comprised of 30 hours travel time and we had a 10 hour layover in LA. Who the hell wants to hang out in an airport for 10 hours? To make the time bearable we joined the Admirals Club for AA and what a gift to ourselves that was. We had a comfortable lounge in which to hang, TV’s galore, internet everywhere, a nice restaurant, free chocolate chip cookies, free beer, free wine, free sodas. The Admirals club was definitely worth the entrance fee. We will keep an eye out for that option in any future flying we need to do. While the trip back to the land of instant everything was uneventful, it was very, very tiring. We arrived to a smiling family; little did they know what the future held with us, and a wonderful rest from the hours of traveling at light speed.
Our blog has been updated about every two weeks since we began almost 8 years ago. For the time in the states I will continue to update it but expect them to be closer to once / month. I will not be relaying much on family unless of course it effects information on cruising and as much of our time here will be with family and friends I don’t expect a lot of writing. However, we will be attending boat shows and purchasing / returning boat gear I will report on any new findings, information, ideas I might have related to ……cruising.
Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long