Grace and work(s)...

Today's insight from Buechner seemed appropriate given the experience of the ups and downs of the past two days...

Thursday 3rd September

Up early Thursday to haul out at the unique and picturesque 'Doug's Boatyard' on a clear and beautiful Spring morning.  A big Spring tide of 2.7m was due at 1050hrs so haul-out was timed for 0900 on a rising flood.  A delay meant hanging on a mooring while Doug hauled the "Miss Brett" launch for a quick inspection - time for a coffee and to enjoy the environs.  Doug's is located in Walls Bay just far enough north-west of the Opua wharf to grant it's occupiers a sense of peaceful isolation from the hustle and bustle of the main Opua port.  400m of sonic distance means that even the ubiquitous and regular vehicular ferries fade into the distant background buzz of port life.

All go again at 1100hrs as I manoeuvred Kalai judiciously into the waiting cradle while Doug zipped back and forth in the work boat adjusting cradles and supports to ensure my mistress was firmly planted when the long tow uphill began. He's a little genius, is Doug, and manages to perfectly centre our acutely angled keel on the wooden blocks as a surprisingly clean yacht emerged from the tide.

My efforts in regular scraping and brushing these past couple of visits seemed to have paid dividends as the underwater hull is nowhere near as foul as I anticipated - especially given the accelerated marine growth of a warm summer past.

A quick water blast, a bit of scraping work and my anticipated wet-sand was abandoned as unnecessary this time.  By 1400hrs I was applying the first coat of new anti foul and the unseasonably warm day (19deg) meant that by 1700hrs I had two coats completed and the old girl was looking mighty fine!

Living aboard at Doug's is like going back in time - these historic boatyards are becoming dinosaurs as the corporate players lock up the marine maintenance business with their slick corporate efficiency and claimed expertise.  I like the unhurried pace and old-fashioned nature of this operation - and like to support Doug, who has had more than his fair share of opponents these past dozen years or more...





Time for celebratory drink then a quick shower, the last helping of beef curry (still good) before trundling off to the OCC to watch the late night hammering of the Broncos by the Mighty Storm!

Friday 4th September

A leisurely start due to the late hour of retirement... walked over to JB's and picked up Victor (who was feeling a little lonely and neglected)... promise of rain due to arrive in the afternoon meant pressing on with the other tasks...

But, as it happens, there is always a joker in the pack where boat maintenance is

concerned.  The good news was the cutlass bearing was still in reasonable shape (holding the prop-shaft in place) but in checking the rudder bearings I noticed some play in the bottom support/skeg. The copper(?)boot fitting on the skeg had loosened and would need to be re-anchored ('play' in a rudder support is not a good thing...)  James came over and we tried to suss out how this 'boot' was attached - it was not immediately obvious and fixings may well be buried under several layers of filler/paint.  Nothing for it but to scrape away the layers and find a solution.  After some head-scratching we resolved to add some layers of fibreglass to the base and re-anchor the blighter. 

By now the drizzle was persistent and I spent the afternoon scraping and sanding tucked under the stern while the run-off coursed down the rudder and wetted the 'need to be dry' section... Hopefully this front passes through overnight and the day is fine enough to get the repairs done - otherwise I might be high and dry a little longer than anticipated. 

Doug is due back Monday to splash me back in - I may or may not be ready by then...

The good news is the weather is due to improve next week as a high pressure system slowly moves across.  I'm hanging out for some sailing time - as has been famously said: "A yacht in a harbour may be safe, but that is not what yachts are built for..."

Time to hit the sack as the thunder booms around the bay and the barometer continues to fall!