One More Day.

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Yup, tomorrow is our last day on the hard. We’re splashing before the 4 day Easter weekend.

Today we finished the wax/polish, are now one coat of varnish on the starboard side from done there, got the regalvanized anchor and chain back and are marking it before hauling it back up, greased the through hulls and some other stuff. It never ends, but the things you can only do out of the water are within an “inch” of completion! Supposedly tomorrow we even have a tanker truck coming with diesel!

Get the varnish on while we have the nice scaffolds!

Shiny regalvanized anchors and chain.

Behind the fence for now, but soon back in the water!

Varnish and Rain Don’t Mix

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It’s a little disheartening when days of work culminating in a gorgeous coat of varnish get rained out. As in rain on fresh varnish. Bummer. We might have saved it. By the time it rained the coat had kicked off a bit and we were able to very gently wipe the drops off, but there is some staining. I won’t really know until tomorrow after it dries overnight and we see how another coat goes over this one.

But, success on the waxing front. Ann finished buffing a coat of carnauba wax onto the starboard side.

How's this for real shine!

We also got the prop painted with PropSpeed, so we’re whittling the list of stuff that has to be done on the hard.

This stuff is the best anti-fouling for propellers I've used.


We splash this Thursday. We need two more days with no rain to finish the varnish. Cross fingers.

I’m Beat!

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Wow, good thing Ann’s still got some energy. She has been cleaning the hull and is almost done. Next step will be waxing, but she gets to use a buffer for that, although that does come with a weight penalty. You have to hold the beast up against the hull.

A lovely shine is taking place and the wax is not even on yet.

As for me, today would have been a GREAT varnishing day, except MetVew said it was going to rain, so I held off. Of course it was a beautiful day. 🙁

Instead I did a hated, nasty project I’ve been avoiding. Changing the raw water impeller on the engine. Doesn’t sound bad when I just say it, but to get to the bugger, I have to literally take apart the quarterberth just to expose the pump. Then, since it’s still buried on the side of the engine, you have to use a mirror to see the thing and take it apart “in reverse”. The old one should come out easily, but never does, etc, etc, swear, swear!

In retrospect, it was a good thing Ann was outside.

Anyway, got it done. Very happy to have that behind us. I’m now utterly exhausted and drinking a beer to recuperate!

Harrington's, a great beer from Christchurch, on the South Island. Not to start a war or anything, but the best Kiwi beer is from the Sourh Island.

And while I contemplate sleep, Ann is over next door with half the other Yachties around here in Room 7 at the adjacent motel, watching the final of the World Cup Cricket Match. Australia vs. New Zealand. The Internet is dog slow right now, so many people around here are watching.

Work, Work, Work

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Yup, more of the same.

Today, wet sanding the toe rails and rub rails to prepare for varnish. Almost forgot to also take off the dorades and prepare them as well. Fortunately Ann reminded me. It’s very tedious work, but no more tedious than her project – cleaning and polishing the topsides.

We’ll hope to splash this Friday if the weather cooperates and gives us a couple rain free days – not a sure thing in “Raingarei”.

At least we had a nice sunset.

And a game of cards with our "Charisma" cards. Unfortunately, Ann won. This time.

Bottom Painted; Check!

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Done! That’s a big one. Now we’re moving on to varnishing the toe-rails. So glad we did the other half of the boat varnishing before we left on our South Island adventure. I’m already exhausted from boat work and we’re not half done.

Ann's peaking out of the cockpit as the paint is not dry yet and she's already on to another project!

OK, gotta brag a little with this close up. Looks nice and we saved about $1200 doing it ourselves this year.

Prepping to Paint (by Ann)

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When I was 10 years old my parents, ever involved, had us help paint our local grade school, St John the Evangelist in Denver, Colorado. What could a ten year old do? Prep work and clean up. I hated both. I still hate both. Now that I am an adult I see the need for both but that does not lessen my dislike of both prep and clean up when it comes to painting.

Yesterday we were so excited when we saw how great the bottom paint looked on Charisma when we were lifted out of the water. Unfortunately that does not mean there is little work to do. We spent yesterday afternoon and all day today cleaning the propeller and bob-stay and cleaning the waterline so we could throw a quick coat of paint on and get on to the varnish work. It is NEVER that quick. Bob and I spent the whole day sanding and scraping. When I called it a day Bob looked at me and said, “You look awful! Go take a shower!” He was right. My dust mask provided little protection from the rain of powdered red dust that I was creating as I finished prepping the waterline. The pictures did not do it justice. Even after a long shower I noticed red lines on my knees…collections of red powder. The only solace is that we are saving a lot of money by prepping and painting…a job we hired out last year because it involved so much more work.

So the good news is that we are now waiting for a clear day to put a quick coat on the bottom and then on to the varnish work! Nothing is easy in cruising…you earn the fun times!

On the Hard And Back to Work!

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We got the green light at about noon today…time to haul! Deft maneuvering by the captain and Charisma was in the hauling bay and hoisted out. We had errands in town so returned to find Charisma snug in her cradle in the corner of the yard. Our view has changed but is still entertaining as we can watch the entire yard and the driveway. But only for an evening Charisma because tomorrow the real work begins.


Fortunately the bottom paint from last year looks fabulous! Only touch ups are needed. What a welcome surprise.

Bring out the “To Do List” and let the party begin!

Why We Love Whangarei

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A short note to glorify a wonderful little town that we have enjoyed living in the last three summers (since we’re “down under” that would be roughly December through April).

So nice to wake up on Saturday morning, grab a quick “wake up” cup of coffee and head out to the Farmers Market.  Once there a “flat white” to further caffinate and then buy our weekly goods: artisan cheese, local butchered skirt steak for Sunday BBQ, and whatever vegetables and fruits look good.  We know most of the vendors by now, so pleasantries are exchanged and as we know a lot of the locals as well, we chat folks up while we’re selecting our produce for the week.

Then back to Charisma, but wait!  This week is the craft fair on the bridge.  We stop there for an authentic Cornish Pastie and another coffee which gives us an excuse to sit down and enjoy listening to Andy – who sang at our wedding – entertain all the craft fair goers.  His huge pit bull-like doggie lays happily snoozing on her bed at his feet and his guitar case is open for a donation or two.  His voice and guitar work are so lovely I really don’t know why he isn’t famous, but he’s very happy singing at these local events.

Walking across the bridge, we check out the crafts – always some fun stuff to look at – then 10 minutes more and we’re back to Charisma.

Once back, we can hear music on the other side of the river from where we’re docked.  Hmmm, another event?  We decide to walk down-river the other way to the south bridge and then up to where the music is coming from.  Half an hour later, we’re at the event.  It’s a celebration of the People of the South Pacific.  There’s lots of singing, dancing, drumming and fun!  We hang there for a while then decide to continue the “loop” back to Charisma as we have stuff to do.

On the way back what do we hear, but more music.  This time we’re in luck (again)!  There’s a Dixieland band playing in a gazebo right along the dock at the main marina and there’s an ice cream shop next store!!

So, ice cream in hand, we grab a nearby park bench and sit and enjoy some good Dixieland, sunshine and people-watching.

Ice cream finished, it’s time to go back to Charisma.  Today’s score: Farmer’s market, Andy’s music, craft fair, South Pacific fair, ice cream and Dixieland band combined with a beautiful blue sky warm day, all walking/no car and it’s not even noon yet.  Yeah, that’s why we like Whangarei.

Boat Work

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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.