Category Archives: Repairs

15' ladder

Raiatea Carenage Haul Out

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It was time to haul Sugar Shack out and I was on pins and needles!  We left our anchorage at 0600 and arrived at Raiatea Carenage at 0715.  Arriving early, we had 30-45 minutes to wait so we hovered by the entrance and watched them prepare the platform.  We were being hauled out on the platform and would remain on the platform while they do the work.

Five employees worked diligently to get the platform ready and lowered into the water.  They store it on a driveway (for lack of better word), and slowly let it descend into the water.  Once in the water, they set lines based on our boat’s dimensions.  When they are ready, the wave us in.  Photo: #1 shows the platform on the driveway (below the monohulls) with rails.  #2 shows the platform lowering into the water, #3 shows the workers in the water waiting for us to drive up to them.

Look where the man in blue shorts is standing – he is on rails which is part of the platform on the cement slope.  The #2 has the platform half in and half out of the water.  

Raiatea Carenage platform haul out

Raiatea Carenage platform haul out

It is really freaky driving over huge steel rails with people standing on them!  What if we hit the rails?  Or a person, or the ground?  Oh my goodness!

Raiatea Carenage has a platform system which is pulled by an 8 to 1 pully system that required constant lube and water.  The top photo shows the owner, Dominique operating the pully system and the bottom photo is the platform attachment point.

Securing the Boat to the Platform

Once the boat is aligned, they start attaching lines.  This was a constant push and pull to get the boat centered on the platform.  They attached a line from the starboard bow to the port side platform and from the port bow to the starboard platform (a criss cross).  Then they repeated the same thing with the stern.  Next, they attached a line from the center of the bow to the center of the platform and from the center of the stern to the center of the platform (prevent forward and reverse movement).

Securing Sugar Shack to platform

Securing Sugar Shack to platform

Lifting Out of the Water

The pully pulls the platform out of the water.  The platform’s outer edges glide over rollers which are on rails.  It was shocking to see the workers right in front of the platform adjusting these rollers while under water!  I could not believe the danger they put themselves in.  The photos below show what they are doing once the platform came out of the water – but they did this under water too.  They place the rollers under the steel rails to allow a continuous movement of the platform.  Yes, the entire platform that holds our boat is directly over his fingers.

Almost out of the water, you can see the entire platform and pully system

You can see the wood blocks they placed, while under water, to set the boat on the platform.  They put them under our bulk heads (the strongest part of the boat) to support us on the platform.

This is the fun ladder I get to climb up and down on to get to shore.  I hate it!  It wobbles and is creepy.

15' ladder

15′ ladder

PRESSURE WASHING

We still had soft growth and algae on the boat, despite the fact that we cleaned the water line and the bottom of the boat the day before we arrived.  The start of the work is pressure washing the boat. As you can see, we are in desperate need of a bottom job (new paint).  We change the color of our bottom paint to know how many layers down we are.  On the center photo you can see at least 5 colors!  Yikes!  And look at that growth. Workers are pressure washing the boat in the top photos.  The bottom photos show the boat after the work is done. 

Pressure washing the grime away

Pressure washing the grime away

Hauling out other boats

Today was an extremely busy day for Raiatea Carenage. They hauled out 6 boats.  The yard used the platform to haul Sugar Shack out.  The same workers used a 25-ton trailer to haul out another catamaran.  The catamaran had to navigate down a narrow waterway to get lifted out by a trailer.  A mono and 4 other boats were lifted out by a travel lift.

French Polynesia Can Be Dangerous

There have been many stories of boats running aground in French Polynesia. Especially in the Tuamotus where there are lots of coral heads and hidden reefs. Four boats were severely damaged after running aground last year.  Raiatea Carenage was still working on three of them when we arrived..

Over 135 boats have been repaired at this yard since 1987.  That is almost 2 boats a month that run aground!

This yard has a great reputation for fiberglass repair work.  Which is good considering we have fiberglass repair work to do on Sugar Shack!  However, it is difficult to see these horribly damaged boats.

This 45’ lagoon is a charter boat.  It ran aground and tore off the bottom of both hulls.  They had to make a mold of the hull using another lagoon in order to recreate the original.  You can actually stand underneath and be inside the boat!

These three boats did not seem repairable, but they were going to try!

This beautiful 47’ Outremer was on a mooring in Fakarava (Tuamotus) during a maramu (big storm).  The mooring gave out and the yacht ended up on the reef.  They had both hulls and rudders damaged beyond repair.  Raiatea Carenage sent 4 people to Fakarava to transport the boat to Apataki yard and do a temporary repair which took 3 weeks.  Then they sailed it to Raiatea Carenage to finish the work (which is still a work in progress 8 months later).

Facilities

Here is a photo of the lovely bathroom that we’ve been using.  They have one head and one shower (with no locking door).  We share it with everyone at the yard and even some of the boats at the anchorage.  Luckily we have not had to wait much.

We’ve seen several people do laundry here too.  The yard provides us with water and electricity for the boat.  Good thing as we get to keep the house batteries at 100% which is rare when we are not plugged in.

The yard has access to a sail loft and two small marine stores.  They do everything here including fiberglass, wood work, metal work (aluminum, stainless, steel), paint, electrical, mechanical, plumbing.  They have a boat building business, towing and shuttle.  Very successful!

Check in on our next blog as we begin the fiber glass repair and start on a few other boat projects.

The events of this blog post occurred on 14 September 2020.  The blog post are 4-6 weeks behind our adventures.

Ouch

Disaster Strikes – Maramu

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One of the reasons we decided to tie up to the old basin was because there was a maramu (storm) in the forecast and we wanted to avoid a disaster.  The four boats in the basin took all of the necessary precautions – or so we thought.  Let me paint a picture.

The old military basin is an upside down “U” shape with the entrance at the opening of the U.  The wall on the right, facing the lagoon is taller and has a 42’ mono and Sea Jay 50’.  The taller wall proved to be a life saver for these two boats.  The opposite side of the U, where we are, faces the shore.  The wall is at an angle where we are tied up and then it straightens out where a mono and our friends on Hoodoo are located.

Preparing for a Maramu

Holding us to the dock were (2) bow lines (one from port and one from starboard bow peaks), (2) spring lines and (2) stern lines (port and starboard).  In addition, we had (4) large, round A4 fenders and (2) F4 fenders between us and the dock and al of the fenders were touching the water when we went to bed.  Everything was secured and stowed on the deck and bow.  But we did leave up our sun/rain shades to try to prevent a flood of water coming into the cockpit.  We also left out our cushions which are “secured” to the boat.  

We’ve been through several maramus and we were not expecting a disaster.  Normal water level is shown below.  The tide flooded the basin so much that the bottom of Sugar Shack’s Port hull threatened to land on top of the dock.

Maramu Strikes

Fast forward to 11:30pm at night when Matt and I are woken up by a horrible bashing noise, winds blowing over 42kts, thunder, and lightning, and pounding rains.  We jumped up and realized SS was banging (not rubbing) against the concrete wall.  The lagoon was filled so high that it flooded the basin raising the water level at least 1.5 meters.  That in and of itself would not have been bad if it was not accompanied by a meter swell which tossed SS almost on top of the dock several times. 

It took Matt, Yanell, Missy and I everything we had to keep her safe.  In the pouring rain, we added (4) more F4 fenders between the boat and tried to push SS off the dock.  About an hour later the storm subsided and we saw the damage — a rather large 1/4” dent that was about 1 meter wide with lots of scratches.  Nothing we can do in the middle of the night.

Maramu is Not Done with Us

Then at 0230 another, stronger storm hit.  We had lowered all the fenders and placed fenders floating in the water to prevent SS from continuing to bash against the concrete.  What a disaster! Running between SS and HooDoo to make sure all of our boats were safe.  If you can imagine the rain falling so hard that it actually hurt our faces!  We could not wear hats because the wind would blow them off.  It was terrible.  Unfortunately, SS took the brunt of the storm because we were closest to the entrance and on the slanted part of the dock.  We blocked the majority of the waves and storm from Queen B and HooDoo.  (Nice of us, right?)

Around 0400 the weather calmed enough for Matt to go out in the dingy to put an anchor out in the middle of the basin.  He then attached it to our starboard mid-cleat to pull the boat further off the wall.  Around 0430 we finally got an hour of sleep.  By sunrise we were evaluating the damage and trying to figure out what else we can do to prepare for Thursday’s storm.  We added a stern line from starboard to a mooring pulling the stern further away from the wall and adjusted all the lines and fenders again. Luckily Thursday night was only 30-35kts of wind, little rain, and no flooding.  We scared it away with all of our preparedness.

The Damage

We almost lost one of our 2-meter cockpit cushions and a sunshade.  Both caught up by the lifelines and saved.  We had one sunshade tear before we could get it off and we lost 2 fender covers.  But the worst damage is the hull which could have been a much bigger disaster.  We don’t think there is structural damage.  We have a thin layer of fiberglass, then honeycomb, then fiberglass.  But there is about a 1/4” dent with lots of scratches that stretch across 2 meters of the port hull.  We will have to repair it when we are hauled out (Tahiti or NZ).

Sea Jay lost a small cockpit cushion but found it the next morning as a local was carrying it and walking away.  Lucky them.  HooDoo and Queen B have some small scratches on the hull that will buff out.  Yesterday we spent the day adding anchors and lines to all the boats to keep them off the dock making the basin an obstacle course but will help us avoid further disaster. 

The good news is that we are all safe and unhurt.  The boat can be mended.  We are lucky.

Weather Predictions Get it Wrong

Matt took a screen shot of Predict Wind’s screen which showed what was predicted and what came through.  Unfortunately, it does not give minute by minute updates. In addition, it never accurately showed the wind strength, amount of rain or correct wind direction.   But it gives you an idea of how “off” weather predictions can be. In and of itself that is a disaster. 

This post was written in June 2020.  Our blog posts are usually 8 to 10 weeks behind are true adventures. 

Smack, Crack, Fall. Alternator Down

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This post is a long time in the making so bear with me.  It all started back in mid-February 2020 when we were trying to leave the Marquesas.  One alternator decided it did not want to be attached to the engine…

We rose early on the morning that we planned to leave for the Gambiers.  Not because we wanted to leave early, but because we anchored on top of another boat’s anchor.  We had to start the engines and move our boat forward so they could safely retrieve their anchor.  Not a big deal, but an early morning.

The Bay of Virgins (in the Marquesas) is a gusty little devil, with katabatic winds coming down the valley.  All good, took a while but we were able to maneuver out of the other boat’s way without dislodging our anchor.

While Matt waited for the other boat to sort out their anchor, he heard a loud clunk.  Sort of a smack, crack, clunk.  He figured I had opened or closed a bilge or something.  But, no, not me.  He did not mention it to me right away so I was clueless.

A few hours of going over the forecast and future forecast, we finally decided to get going.  As usual the “pre-flight engine checks” were in-order.  This time a surprise of all surprises. 

Surprise Surprise

When Matt opened the port hatch to the engine room, he saw the auxiliary alternator that charges the house batteries, was missing in action.  WTF?  This is a 50lb, white alternator.  It’s a hard thing to miss. 

The belts were not on the front of the engine.  Turns out the engine mount that holds the heavy alternator gave out, ¼ steel plate broke right off.  The plate that holds the alternator is also part of the engine mount.  So, when we go to fix it we will have no use of the port engine. 

Pretty sure that was the smack, crack, clunk, sound he heard earlier.  Guess we will be looking for a welder in the Gambiers.

Project on Hold

A week after we arrived in the Gambiers, we attended a Sunday Funday BBQ in Taravai where Matt was able to ask several people about local welders.  It appears there are two people who have the tools and capabilities.  One cruiser had something welded by the main group of welders and he was not impressed with their work.  The other is a friend of a friend that we would have to hunt down.

Looks like we will put this project on the back burner for a few weeks.  This is a secondary alternator that is used to charge the house batteries.  So, without it we just have to use the Starboard secondary alternator to charge the batteries.  We have 4 alternators (two for the engines and two for the house batteries).

Lucky Break

Fast forward past some down time, then the corona virus 45-day quarantine, and we are at 3 months later.  Our friends on Storm Along have a metal boat and Niels is a welder with all the welding equipment. He has agreed to help us out if we can get some extra steel for the support brackets.

We come up with a game plan.  Matt and I need to find some steel to reinforce the plate in three sections.  Then we will meet Nils on the beach to weld the plate back together.  Now, to find some steel.

Stefan to the Rescue

Fast forward a few more weeks and we are back in the anchorage of Rikitea in Mangareva.  We asked our local friend Stefan if he knows anyone who can do some welding for us.  He works at the school which has professional technical training and we heard they teach welding.  He asked what we needed and to our great surprise he had all of the tools, equipment, steel, and supplies.

Stefan cut three pieces of steel to Matt’s specifications.  The triangle will be welded to the vertical and horizontal pieces.  The long flat bar will be welded between the alternator plate and the engine plate on the bottom. The short flat bar will be welded between the same two plates but on top.

Welding Begins 

We met Niels at the beach with all of equipment.  We used our 220v Honda Generator for power.  It worked great for the grinding and for short welds.  Niels was able to make the initial weld holding the two pieces together.  Then Niels and Matt started off by grinding the pieces for a better weld.

Then the boys attach the first support bracket across the bottom of the two plates.  The image below shows them testing placement, then grinding the bar, then Matt holds it in place for initial small welds and then Niels tries to do a long weld.

Unfortunately, the Honda generator was not strong enough to power the welding equipment which required a 100 amps (at 220volts).  Looks like we need a Plan B.

Plan B

We visit the local “Commune” where the islands has most of its machinery and a welding shop (the place mentioned above that did not do such a good job for another sailor).  They graciously allowed us to use their power to complete our job.

Commune Building in Rikitea

Commune Building in Rikitea

Matt got to grinding the remaining parts while Niels welded.  Perfect set up to complete our project.

The welding was complete about 90 minutes later.  The big ugly weld was not Neils but the previous weld we had done in St. Lucia.

Next, Matt sprayed a anti-corrosion paint and two coats of Volvo green paint to match the engine.

Project done!