So, vacation is definitely over.  We’re back in Whangarei and working on Charisma.

Friday we got the reconditioned fuel injectors back – yes, they found one had a leak and hopefully fixed it this time – and I reinstalled them.  The engine works, so we’re good there.

Ann polished a bunch more of the stainless steel.  A thankless job if there ever was one.

Today, we scrubbed the cockpit teak.  It had turned that silver/grey teak color that some folks like.  We, however, prefer the honey color of freshly oiled teak, which after a good four hours of scrubbing, bleaching and oiling we now have attained once again.  It will take another coat of oil in a day or so, then a coat every month until we’re back at sea in which case entropy will take over and in six months we’ll have a grey/silver look again.  Ahhhh, boat work never ends.

We also put up new artwork on the starboard side of the main cabin.  The port side has three prints that we bought in Fiji a year ago.  In Dunedin a couple weeks ago we found some hand colored woodcuts of New Zealand birds that mirror the Fiji prints quite nicely and the combination has now been properly framed and mounted in the main cabin.  Very nice!

We had our Sunday night BBQ with all the folks around here on the dock.  Very nice.  Tomorrow (Monday) we hope to find out what day this week (hopefully) we’ll haul out to see how the bottom paint is holding up.  Probably a bunch of barnacles to scape off, but it also gives us a chance to set up some scaffolds along the side which make polishing the hull and the final varnishing of the toe-rails easier.  We also had our two anchors and all the chain re-galvanized (look it up) and it will be easier to load back on Charisma when we’re in the yard.

Lots to do – about a month to do it in, then we head east back toward the States.  Our course will be dictated by wind/weather, but generally east to Tahiti then north to Hawaii and finally a great circle route to Washington State.  More detail on why that route later – but your hint is: it’s dependent on trade winds which have a pretty constant direction during the non-cyclonic months of the year.