Author Archives: bob

R & R in Fiji

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"Villa Ladoux" where we spent the night with John and Lisa

Our own private pool

"I told you not to drink my beer!"

View from the Villa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight we spent the evening at Lisa and John’s “villa”. Again these guys found a sweet deal on a hillside villa complete with a private “dipping pool”. Spending our last evening together with these guys would have been memorable anywhere, but at their villa it was heavenly! They found this jewel nestled high in the hills overlooking the harbor entrance. Too bad the sky was overcast so there was no sunset.
No worries. We had a wonderful meal prepared by Bob and John after a nice dip in the pool. Followed by a fun evening of cards (did I tell you I- Ann- won?). Very relaxing! And much needed!
We also finally got into town and paid all of the fees for entering Fiji — the Customs overtime fees ($76), the Biohazard fee ($182) and $229 to the Ministry of Health. The current rate is $.54 Fijian to $1 US.
We also went to the Immigration Offices and released Lisa from our crew list. We no longer are “wanted” in Fiji for not paying our entry fees!

Seven Solid Hours

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Partially disassembled...

Injector pump on its way to Suva

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, head down on the engine. I’m getting a real lesson in diesel engine rebuilds here. Here’s a list of the stuff taken apart today.
-fuel lines. Not only the four hard lines but about six other soft ones to the fuel pump, return line, etc
-Four injectors, eight bolts and multiple other stuff to get these guys out
-Intake Manifold. Turns out while there are “only” three bolts that hold down the injection pump, one of them is inaccessible without removing the manifold. This also means dismantling the dipstick holder, throttle cable and air intake filter as well. Not part of the plan.
-Timing gear plate. Once I got to the three bolts that hold the injection pump on, I found that the pump shaft is pressed onto a timing gear that doesn’t come out. You can access it through an inspection plate and see it, but it won’t come out with the injection pump.
-injection Pump. Finally got access to this guy. As above, it wouldn’t just come out. It’s pressed onto the timing gear. I had to disassemble the timing gear box nut and then with hammer and punch, bang the shaft out.

OK, I won’t mention that I had to learn how to identify where “Top Dead Center” is on cylinder #1, because if you don’t somehow reassemble the thing with the same alignment when it comes back the engine will explode…or something probably much worse. All you have to do is get a mirror, slide it along the side of the engine to the hole in the bell housing and look for the little etched mark on the flywheel as you rotate the main shaft with your socket wrench. Huh?

OK, so the whole mess is now on its way to Suva. I have no clue where we go from here. I’m trying not to think about getting the thing put back together.

So…tomorrow, we’re taking a break since there’s nothing we can do now until the parts come back–hopefully in a couple weeks or sooner. In the mean time we’re going to paddle board and then spend the afternoon and evening with John and Lisa (at their Villa) before they have to fly back to NZ on Friday. I promise to get some pictures up in the next couple days. It’s just been nonstop the last few…

Still Fixing Stuff

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Contaminated fuel. It should be "clear" but instead was opaque and milky. Saltwater up the vent pipe.

A borrowed transfer pump made fast work of draining the tank so I could clean it and bleed the fuel lines of the contaminated fuel.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, the good news-as they say-is that we’re in Fiji. The bad news is that the entire fuel system has been contaminated with saltwater. Apparently one or more of the waves during the last couple days must have forced itself up through the fuel vent. I know that several slammed Charisma pretty hard. All the fuel is trash. It was a milky white/dirty brown looking mess when I opened up the tank inspection plate. I spent most of today working on draining it and cleaning the tank, while Ann was cleaning out lockers, drying them and cleaning the mold that develops on the wet, salty surfaces. Why do we do this you ask? I have no idea. It is so far from fun right now, I just can’t explain. And the money flows out–turns out I have to remove the fuel injection pump and all four injectors and send them to Suva,which is the closest city with services capable to recondition them. Cha Ching!

I have no idea how to take all this stuff apart much less put it back together, but that will be tomorrow’s problem. For now-sleep. We have had no let up in working on fixing all the stuff that got beat up from the crossing. Interestingly we’re now hearing from some other folks who left a week or so after us and they too are getting hammered by unexpected weather. There will be lots of stories to tell among the yachties in Fiji this year.

Pictures will come in the next couple days as I get sorted out. The key right now is to yank the parts and send them out-then we can chill for a while while we’re waiting to get them back-which I am very optimistically thinking might take a week. If only it goes that fast.

Oh, wait a minute—the head’s still broken. Oh well, we have been taking the dinghy ashore for that business. Requires a bit of planning, but we’re managing…

More importantly, today we celebrated Lisa’s 50th birthday. She volunteered to do the passage with us to document the big year. We think she got the “E” ticket ride, don’t you!

Counting down the days

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We’re about a week and counting.  Trying to leave next Thursday, 10/6 (or so) pending weather, and whether we have all our gear packed, stowed and ready to go.
Been working very hard this week. Ann’s been cleaning and organizing down below in the cabin and I’ve been pulling cables and wire to get the two new solar panels and the 1000 watt voltage inverter running. Long story short, the panels are working (two Kyocera, 130 watt panels wired in parallel to double their amperage), a Blue Sky “duo” regulator (to run the panels and a water generator that we’re waiting for from Hamilton Ferris). Spent waaayyy to long in the Lazarette wiring stuff, but the result is pretty cool. I took us “off the grid” four days ago. The refrigerator runs all night and pulls the batteries down, but the panels, one of which faces the morning sun, power the boat back up and by 9AM, the batteries are completely full again. Really fun to watch how self sufficient we are becoming.
Here’s a couple pics of some of our work including the watermaker and THE LISTS! Everything at this point with only a week left is about lists.
THE LISTS! Watermaker

More Boatyard

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Yeah, get used to it.  We’ll likely be here another two weeks.  After six days on the hard we are progressing on some of our projects and not so well on others.  Specifically, Ann is kicking on the boat polishing project.  She is now applying the final carnuba wax coat on the hull and will likely finish tomorrow.  Good progress.  On the other hand, Bob has been working for days on a project that was not even on the project list, so he’s not progressing so well on that.

 

Major corrosion that would have resulted in a sudden catastrophic failure, resulting in dismasting. Glad we found it, but it's taking time and effort we hadn't planned for. Oh well, welcome to boating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are about 1/3 of the tools I "burned up" trying to excavate the bolts for the bobstay fitting. At about $20/tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We couldn't get to the heads inside the hull, so finally resorted to having the metal shop guy cut them off with a cut-off wheel. Took about 30 seconds!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one of the bolts showing the head that was cut off. If you click on the picture and look closely, you can also see the bolt had some crevice corrosion going on the left side (which was the outside closest to the water).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I set up a scaffold and am inspecting the entire bowsprit (which is about 12 feet in the air)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so the bobstay wasn’t on the project list, but we’re really glad we found this.  I don’t think the fitting was a lot longer for this world and if this part breaks-so long mast!  I already have a quote for the machine shop to make the new fitting.  About $280 for the fitting and $28/bolt.  However, there is also still some fiberglass work that we need to do which I am looking to the shop to do that will add to the overall cost.  I found some ‘voids’ inside the bolt-holes and underneath the backing plate.  I’m having the fiberglass guys inject epoxy resin inside the holes to strengthen the whole thing.  It’s  a bit more complex than that, but suffice to say I want to make sure it’s solid given the work I’ve put in so far to get this right.

 

So…now that this project is more or less on a path to a solution, I’m moving on to other projects that are actually on the list.  Next up-the lazarette locker hatches.  When Charisma was originally surveyed (for purchase) the hatches were pointed out as needing reinforcement.  They are finally to the point where I have to agree.  I’ll be removing them, grinding out the plywood backing which has some rot in it and then either/or (I’m not sure yet) epoxying a new plywood backing, or just fiberglassing the inside of the doors.  More to come on this once I get the doors off and have a look.

 

Ann will be spending tomorrow polishing the rest of Charisma and then will move on to the cabin and cockpit sides.  She is building some fierce muscles.  We both are very impressed with how beautiful Charisma is looking from all the effort.  She’s shining-and I must say, I think I can see her smile from all the attention.

Eureka I’ve Found It!

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The second bolt that is.  Whew what a job.  Two days of grinding, sawing, drilling and the only thing I have to show for it is that two bolts are now visible in the bow under the anchor locker.  It’s been a very ugly job and I have multiple bruises on my arms from “jamming” myself in through the locker, between the sampson posts in order to reach far enough to dig the damn things out.  Turns out that now I’ve got the bolts exposed, I’m too big to actually get a socket wrench on them and turn it, so tomorrow we have another (smaller) guy coming over to help with that part.

Doesn't look like two days worth of work, does it? But I burned up about $200 worth of saw blades and burr tools cutting through over 1 1/2 inches of fiberglass and epoxy to get at these buggers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course Ann kicked butt on her project and moved around to the starboard side. Less than 1/2 boat to go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But....at the end of the day-THE BEST BBQ CORN EVER!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An amazing boatyard sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, the happy couple after a delightful dinner and a fistful of Tylenol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, despite bruises and painful shoulders (try polishing a boat all day long as Ann’s been doing) the Tylenol is kicking in, dinner was fantastic and we’re noshing on a few bites of dark chocolate.  Life’s good.  Soon the medicinal rum will be deployed.

 

After working all day on exhausting projects, we were actually too tired to go out to dinner.  We decided to just BBQ some burgers and corn in the boatyard.  Wow!  We could not have had a better meal.  First off the scenery (see above).  Second, the food was unreal.  I just threw the corn in the husks on the fire, dropped some portobello ‘shrooms and then some ordinary looking “minced meat” (what NZ calls hamburger) on the barbie.  I have to say, all of the above were the best we’ve ever had.  The corn must have been harvested locally as it was so plump and bursting with flavor and the minced meat, er, I mean hamburger was amazing.  What really surprised us was how it didn’t shrink one bit.  I’m used to burgers getting about half as big once they are cooked-these guys didn’t get any smaller-there’s very little fat and fillers.  I’m going to buy less next time now that I know.

 

OK, so that’s all from the boatyard for today.  Stiff necks, bruised arms, sore shoulders and happy campers signing off for now!

Grunt!

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My project for the day...discover where in the world the bobstay bolts are hidden under the fiberglass in the anchor locker. This is the locker, looking downward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is where I spent the day. The bobstay fitting was behind the two wooden posts in the background (they are called "Sampson Posts")

 

 

 

 

 

 

My actual "uniform" of the day. Headlamp, earplugs and facemask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uh huh. Six hours spent like this and I'm not halfway done...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, that's about all I've got to show for six hours work. One bolt is just showing and the other has been "found" but not yet excavated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Argh, Ack and Uhhh! were also heard during the day.  When it’s bad, it’s bad.  Not a fun day.  I’m beat.  Not to take all the credit for tough jobs.  Ann’s beat too-but she’s actually showing some progress on her project.  She “rounded” the bow this afternoon and is polishing the way down the starboard side.

 

The bobstay fitting removal project is turning very ugly.  For several hours I couldn’t even be sure where the second bolt was.  Turned out I was looking in the wrong direction.  I finally drilled a hole right through the bow so I could see where in the heck I was.  Good news, I found out.  Bad news, the second bolt is in the worst possible place.  Right under a bulkhead.  There’s a small “bridge” where it is, so I have some working room, but not much.  The electric saw (Fein Tool) won’t fit under there so I had to buy a Dremel tool with a burr cutter.  That’s tomorrow’s project.

More Boat Yard

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Ann's "art shot" showing the ladder down from our deck and the shadow of Charisma against the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worked all day to get the propeller and its mount nice and shiny so we can paint it with anti-fouling paint to keep the barnacles off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third day and Ann is now a little over halfway down the port side...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first "gotcha". This is the Bobstay fitting (no relation). It's one of the most important on the boat, holding the mast up. As you can see one of the holes has an odd crack. I have to take it off to check it for corrosion. Unfortunately, the bolts that hold it on the side of the boat are completely covered with fiberglass. Ouch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll likely be here a couple weeks, so ignore this for a while if boat yard stuff is not your thing.

 

Today (Sunday) Ann spent another day polishing the hull.  I spent another day sanding and polishing the propeller.  Ho Hum-boatwork.  Actually, I did get a couple other things done.  I overhauled the anchor windlass.  It had jammed and needed some TLC.  Nothing that a hammer, a little Acetone and a new coat of grease couldn’t handle.  Another project crossed off the list.

 

The one that wasn’t on the list but has now gone to the top is the Bobstay fitting.  No, not named after me.  I don’t know the history of the term, but google tells me it dates from the 1700’s.  Anyway, the bobstay connects from the end of the bowsprit down to the waterline and basically holds the mast from falling down.  So, quite an important piece of gear.  The piece in question is the fitting that sits right at the waterline.  At least it did before we started cruising.  A couple thousand pounds of gear later, it now sits a couple inches underwater at the bow and seems to be suffering from crevice corrosion.  When I cleaned it a strange “chunk” just broke off.  No Bueno.  So, I have to remove it to see what’s going on.  No biggie, right?  Well….as someone in the Tayana Owners Web Forum noted; “This is probably going to be the worst, most miserable job you’ve ever done”.  OK, thanks for the encouragement.

 

To get to the bolts you have to drop both anchors out of the anchor locker.  OK, not too hard since I can just drop them on the dirt.  I’ve been wanting to do that anyway to check the chain and such.  Next, take out the (very dirty) plywood floor.  Did I mention that at this point I’m jammed up into the very end of the Vee-Berth in the bow of the boat and trying to squeeze my very ample body into a very small opening?  OK, got the floor out.  No sign of the bolts.

 

Onto the Tayana Owners Web site, which has all kinds of good info.  There I find that the boat manufacturer, in their infinite wisdom FIBERGLASSED OVER the bolts!  You can only find them by licking your finger, twirling it in the air and pointing to a place in the inside of the hull whereby you start drilling away hoping you’ll find them-instead of just drilling right through.  Arrrrgh.  That’s why we do this kind of stuff up on the hard.  Dry land.  Good.

 

I also find that some manufacturers may have used asbestos in their fiberglass back in the day, so I’m waiting until Monday when I can buy a respirator to keep the material from clogging my lungs.

 

In any case, tomorrow I’ll be jamming a too big body in too small a space trying to drill a mystery hole into the hull to find the mystery bolts that hold the damn, possibly broken thingy in place!!  Welcome to cruising, we love this stuff.

 

Aside from that, we had a delightful evening.  Sunday nights here in the boat yard there is a potluck BBQ.  There’s a really nice gazebo-like structure over by the river with a BBQ and a bunch of picnic tables.  Everyone gets together at 6PM.  You bring a dish and some meat.  We brought ginger-garlic green beans (which were scarfed immediately) and a couple steaks.  We proceeded to have a great evening, meeting many of the other folks in the area who will also be cruising up into Fiji later this year as will we.

 

Lots of new friends.  Lots of boat work yet to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working In The Boat Yard

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There's a really nice little BBQ area in the yard. We bought some veggies and grass-fed beef at the farmer's market and did us a BBQ this evening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a yummy dinner...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yard at night. That's Charisma on the right. We're living at the top of the ladder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boatyard mania!  Our first full day in the yard and we’re exhausted.   Ann’s polishing the hull (37 feet down one side and 37 feet back the other) and I spent the day polishing the propeller.  You say; “The whole day!?”  You betcha.  The prop and associated other metal parts that support the prop shaft were covered in barnacle residue (I chip the barnacles off on a monthly basis by diving when we’re in the water) and needed to get all the residue chipped off one-by-one.  Not a fun job.  Standing under the hull with a pick to knock off bits of barnacle and piece of sandpaper to then smooth the surface if very tedious.  I used my new cordless grinder that I got for Christmas (Thanks Mom and Dad!) for the rough work, but then had to use wet and dry sandpaper to progressively polish the prop back to a nice smooth bronze surface.  A lot of work, but looks nice.

For her part, Ann spent the day on a platform rubbing the hull with rubbing compound, then polishing it off with a wax cleaner.  After she goes down one side and back the other, she’ll have to do it all over again with the final wax coat.  Having done it myself a few times, I can sympathize.  It’s not a lot of fun, but the results are worth the effort.  Charisma is going to SHINE.  However, it will take her about four more 8 hour days at least.

OK, we’re pooped.  More tomorrow including some pics of the polished hull and beautiful propeller.  I’m sure you’re all dying to see!     😉

 

Classic Kiwi Moment

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Morning at Ray's Marine just before hauling out

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming out of the water

 

 

 

 

 

 

All out and ready to move into the yard

 

 

 

 

 

Charisma's set on her hardstand and the anchor chain's out in ten foot increments for marking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rudder straps already ground down and primed, ready for fairing and paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hauled out today and are now living on “the hard”, about 12 feet off the ground.  It’s always a bit harrowing hauling out.  Boats look very awkward out of the water and all I can think of is 28,000 pounds hanging from just two straps under the crane.  Scary.  Anyway, we’re now all set up sitting on the ground.  The bottom has already been sanded, some of the areas where the paint was coming off have been ground down and painted with new primer, the scrapes on the bottom where we ran aground at Aitutaki have been faired and I’ve dropped the anchor and put new depth markings on the chain.  And that’s Day 1!  I’m sure things will slow down, but nice to get a fast start.

One of the things we did today was call a friend we have met who has a machine shop in town and ask if we could use his drill press to resize the holes that the new nav instruments need to fit into.  Antony (no “h”) said; “By all means!  If I’m not there just let yourself in”.  So off we went and when we showed up and he wasn’t there, we let ourselves into his shop and started setting up the drill press.  Then one of his friends showed up and we all introduced ourselves.  Fortunately Ann was there to do the socializing while I was working on setting up the “jig” I made to drill the 3 and 3/8 inch hole for the new instrument.  I started cutting, but the drill press wasn’t quite up to the very hard, thick plastic I had to drill through.  So, I’m cutting away, very slowly to keep the tool from binding (which it was doing anyway), when another of Antony’s friends named Pete showed up.  He was more aggressive about suggesting the drill press wasn’t strong enough and was bound and determined to “help”.  So there I am; two of Antony’s friends and now Antony has shown up, the drill press is jamming and everyone has an opinion (these guys are all amateur custom car builders, so no lack of builder’s opinions-and all in Kiwi accents).  Finally the Pete grabs the jig, and my bag of parts and says; “Come on mate, we’ll get a proper drill press”.  Off we go with a quick wave to Antony who apparently is accustomed to his friend “taking over”.  We charge across the street and into a gas station where Pete walked in the front door, quickly said; “Do ya mind if we use the drill press”, then headed toward the shop while the owner of the shop called; “OK” after him.  We’re just following Pete at this point and wondering where the heck this is all going and what’s going to happen, but Pete has the part the needs to be drilled and he’s on a mission.  He gets in the shop and makes a bee-line to the press, sets up the hole cutter and my part of the jig I made and proceeds to start to cut.  It’s working, so I’m fine just watching.  Anyway, long story a little shorter, Pete cuts all four of the holes, I sweep the floor and we’re done.

As the headline suggests, this was a classic Kiwi moment. Everyone here is so helpful and also very headstrong (lead, follow or get out of the way).  But all in all a lot of fun!