Category Archives: Repairs

New Glasses for Sugar Shack: Windows

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Say what?  Your boat got new glasses?  Well, technically, yes.  Our cabin top windows needed some love.  We have 5 flat windows and 4 large curved windows.  The flat acrylic windows craze (hundreds of very small cracks appear making it very difficult to see out of).  We replaced them in 2010 when we bought the boat but they’ve crazed again.  And several windows are leaking after many years of bending and flexing with the boat as we crossed thousands of miles across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

We engaged Metro Glass to replace 5 windows and re-bed all of the other windows.  It is a huge, messy job.  We wanted to replace three of the windows with acrylic windows and replace the two small hatches (front of the cabin top) with glass (“wanted” being the key word).

Matt had re-glued several of our curved windows to stop the leaking.  However, it was time to do it professionally again, so in comes Metro Glass.  Dave came out and took out the two flat rear windows first.  The goal was to remove them in the morning, use the old windows as a pattern and bring new ones back later that afternoon.  That was the “plan”.

What Went Wrong?

Dave’s co-worker Rob, accidentally painted the wrong side of the window (he painted the inside instead of the outside) so they have to make an entirely new window. They put the old window back in temporarily to keep the elements outside.

The other window was “in” but they drilled the holes by hand and the holes were crooked, so the screws won’t stay in.  Yes, they will have to come back to remake this window as well.  Not a good start.

They took out the center cabin top window next and managed to remake and install it with only a few little issues.  Next, they took out the two small hatches which were to be sent to Auckland to be replaced with glass.   So, we sat with 5 windows covered in plastic and pvc for more than a week waiting for the rain to subside.

All of our cushions have to be removed as the black glue gets everywhere.  This is the Metro Glass team working on the center cabin top window.

Moving on to the Curved Windows

Our two large, curved side windows were schedule to come out next.  These windows would just be re-bedded (come out, cleaned up, and put back in).  We thought these windows would be “fairly easy” to remove as Matt has re-glued these several times (which requires removal of old glue and reapplication).  However, they were stuck on good giving the guys a bit of a challenge. 

The team uses a stainless piece of wire that they saw back and forth (one person inside and one outside) to get the glue to come off.  They applied so much pressure at one point that they “sawed” right into the plexi.  Luckily Matt caught them in time and it was only a small 1/8” dig and won’t show or ruin the integrity of the window.  The other window was a smidge easier to come out, but not by much. 

It is two weeks into our 4-day window project and I am feeling incredibly defeated.  I actually begged them to just finish one window as each window they had touched was in mid-state of repair.  Finally, they finished the sealant on the very first window and the center cabin top window.

The two front cabin top curved windows were the last to be re-bedded.  These are the two that have the smaller hatch windows inside them. The most challenging windows.

Glasses Don’t Want to Come Off

They start working on the starboard window first and worked on it all day.  It was a stubborn one as it has never been taken off in 22 years.  Surprisingly, it had areas that were leaking and yet other areas would not separate.  They again sawed super hard to get the glue to separate and managed to cut the plexi 1.5” which completely sucks as this window is not being replaced.  It is in the corner where it is not visible, but it does create a weak point which could further crack while the boat is under stress.  We will have to keep an eye on it.

A few days later they came back to work on the other curved cabin top window.  This managed to come out a little easier.

In the meantime, the new small glass hatches supposedly came back from Auckland.  Matt asked them if they drilled the large hole for the latch handle and the small hole for the locking mechanism.  They checked and guess what, they did not drill the small hole.  When they inquired about it they discovered that they cannot drill the smaller hole that close to the larger hole because it would compromise the glass.  Seriously, they did not know this before?  So, they had to remake them in acrylic in order to use our latches.  At this point, I have discussed my displeasure many times and they had the intelligence enough to offer to do these small hatches at no charge.  Appeased a little, but we are not getting what we wanted which was glass hatches.

And Yet More Problems

Moving on…they continue to work on the last 4 curved windows in between the rainy days.  As they remove the duct tape from our two forward curved windows, we see marks by the small hatches.  Oh my goodness!!!!  Another $600 discount and over three weeks later, the windows are finally considered “done.”  What a project.

It was rather an unfortunate experience and one that we would not wish on anyone.  Thank goodness we had the time to babysit the workers and watch every step, but even still we had loads of problems.  But they are done, better than before and look much improved.

New Glasses are Done

Glasses are clear and leak free, for now 🙂

The events from this blog occurred in December.  In our last blog post, we enjoy Red Bull Flutag in Auckland.  We witness man-made flying contraptions plummet 6 meters into the water – it was great fun!

Cracked Neck & Rusty Elbow: Engine Repairs

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Sugar Shack has been an incredibly trustworthy yacht and home.  Since we bought her in 2010, she has never failed us, she has delivered us across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans putting well over 40,000nm under her keel.  Besides general maintenance, we have not had to do a major overhaul.  Until now….the boat repairs and projects have been piling up, but we could not get to most of them because we either did not have the resources or the expertise. 

Arriving in New Zealand has been a blessing in that we now have access to both the resources and expertise to get many of these repairs done.  Most we will do ourselves (or shall I say, Matt will do himself), but some we are hiring contractors to help us out.

Busy Work:

The starboard engine needed some serious love.  The coolant neck is cracked.  Matt had been gluing the coolant neck onto the coolant manifold but it really needed to be re-braised (type of welding).  The problem is the entire manifold had to come off in order to get the part to the welder (Absolute Stainless).  And this piece has not been removed in the boat’s life (22 years and counting).  So, Matt had to finagle the bolts using a new ¾” impact hammer.

He finally removed the piece after using much elbow grease.  One of the owners offered to come pick it up, but Matt had to carry the beast a few hundred yards to the parking lot.

They were able to fit us in right away, despite the shop being incredibly busy and way backlogged.  He contacted us the next day and said that he was able to braise the coolant neck with no problem.  Top left is the glued coolant neck and the other three show it re-braised properly.

1 Problem Solved: 1 Problem Discovered:

Slight problem – when Simon at Absolute Stainless was cleaning up the rusty exhaust elbow on the manifold, it started to crumble.  Well $hit!

We contacted the Volvo dealer (as this is a Volvo part) and they informed us that the part is not available in NZ and it would take several months to get it.  Considering we can’t use the engine without this part, we opted to ship this part in at a whopping $250USD shipping.  But we got it within 2 weeks!

Engine Cleanup

In the meantime, Matt replaced several raw water hoses that were looking ratty and difficult to see through.

Once we got the exhaust elbow back on the manifold, he installed it back on the engine. 

Next, the alternator bracket.  He had to take this off because it had a crack in it and needed to be welded back together.  You can see that we have welded this piece several times.  The alternator is very, very heavy and when under load while under passage it tends to put a lot of pressure on this huge piece of stainless steel.  The blue arrows indicate new weld.

Matt took advantage of the situation since the engine was really accessible and torn apart.  he cleaned up all around the engine, painted special rust repellent then volvo green paint on the engine.

The starboard engine after a very long spa treatment.

A Few Other Odd Jobs

  • Replaced fuel tank caps, gasket and lid (port/starboard)
  • Sewed new fender covers for our large A4 fenders (old blue cover, lower left corner, new black covers)

  • Received new Highfield 360 PVC Dinghy. Our sailmaker took us to collect our new dinghy from All Marine. He will graciously store it for us at his barn until the canvas lady can make her dinghy chaps.  Talk about great service!

The events from this blog occurred in early December.  We find fabulous hiking trails in Whangarei in our last blog post.

Rescue on the Reef

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Sugar Shack is anchored about 2nm from the main town of Denarau and 7nm from Vuda at a small island called Yakuilau island.  We had been here for a few days with our friends Mareike and Thomas (on “Scooter”) when we heard the mayday call.  We were in bad weather conditions which were not ideal for a rescue.

Mayday calls are for life-threatening emergencies where as “pan-pan” calls are for urgent situations that are not life-threatening.  So, we immediately thought the worst.  We listened to the VHF to try to determine where the vessel was to see if we could render help.

Within 5-6 minutes we figured out that the boat was on the opposite side of the island we were anchored behind.  The problem was the weather conditions were miserable.  Winds were blowing 18-20kts and the seas were about 1 meter tall with lots of white caps.  Not a time to be out in the dinghy, but we had to go see if we could help.

As soon as we turned the corner of the island we were smashing against the waves and were drenched.  But, we saw the vessel and quickly approached. 

Not sure what happened as the markers for the reef are easy to spot (as we rounded them to get to the boat). 

As we were trying to make a plan another vessel called “Coral Cats” came to help as well. 

1st Vessel Attempt

Coral Cats could not get close to the vessel because of the shallow depths of the reef so we utilized Sweetie to transport the tow ropes between boats.  Coral Cats has (2) 200hp outboards (much bigger than Sweetie’s (1) 25hp outboard).  They tried 3 times to rescue them from the reef before they had to stop because their stern cleat broke off.  Crap!

Bigger is Better: 2nd Attempt

Another roll on/roll off ferry approached while we were using Coral Cats to get the boat off the reef.  It is called BilliBilli and she had a full cargo load but still stopped for 2 hours to help try to rescue the boat.

This boat was much harder to maneuver, but had a lot more horse power.  We tried at least 5/6 times to rescue this boat off the reef.  Sweetie going back and forth multiple times as the lines had to be dropped each time the ferry repositioned herself.

We were able to turn the boat into the wind which was a huge win.  She no longer was side to the wind and waves which were pushing her further onto the reef. BilliBilli had to go as they were terribly late so we were left with this poor boat on the reef.

An Idea Comes to Mind

Matt has them drop their anchor and most of their anchor chain into our dinghy and we take it out as far as we can and drop it.  We tell them to winch in on the chain during each wave.  This will use the boat’s weight to slowly pull her off the reef.  But they had to wait for high tide at 1:30am to do most of the work.

We get a text at 3:30am that they are off the reef and anchored in front of Denarau. Thank Goodness!

What did not work?

We did not know that this is a ferro cement boat. Yep, you read that right, it is made of cement and super duper heavy.  There is or was no way our little dinghy could have done anything to help rescue her off the reef. 

We did try to use our dinghy to push her sideways while the ferry was pulling her out – that didn’t work.  We also tried to use their main halyard to pull them over and that almost flipped Sweetie – that didn’t work.

More Help

The next day, the owners asked us to help them bring the boat to the haul out facility and to be there to help assess the damage.

Why did they do that?  Well, I had texted my friend Dominique at Raiatea Carenage to see if he had any ideas on how we could help remove the boat from the reef.  He has a remarkably successful track record of rescuing boats in French Polynesia.  He actually knew the boat and the owners and told them that we would be good resources to help them.

Assessing the Damage

They haul the boat out and we were all shocked by the lack of damage!  It is a cement boat after all.  The keel is made of steel and had separated at the joint and curved in to starboard.  From the join down there is a curve but at the end there is a significant bend.  Had the keel been made of cement (like the rest of the boat), it would have shattered. The keel is made of metal because it is heavier.

The rudder also suffered some damage where it separated from the support and bent slightly to starboard.

The shaft and prop were untouched, the engine worked fine, and the hull didn’t appear to have any damage.

Overall, they were extremely blessed to have so little damage.  None of the three souls on board were injured and the boat can be repaired for a little money.

The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  Our last blog is on the beautiful Mana Island explored during low tide.