Failures Bring on Frustrating Times

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Sugar Shack has had a string of failures over the last few weeks. I cannot remember a time when I’ve been so frustrated.  

Our boat has been and continues to be an amazing vessel. 

She has safely transported us over 50,000nm across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  She is our home, our yacht, our love and I would not trade her for anything else.  We love our Catana!

However, with anything over 24 years old you have failures.  

All of this happened over the course of 2 weeks in route to Fiji from the Marshall Islands.

Double Steering Failure

As you might recall, we had a “A Double Steering Failure” when we lost our starboard steering gear box and our port rudder arm.  This rendered our starboard helm un-steerable and our port helm without a rudder. 

Makes steering a challenge, but still doable with auto pilot using the port steering gear box and the starboard rudder.

Problem: ​Starboard Steering Gear Box failed. 

Solution: We ordered new bearings and seals from Germany for both port and starboard.  They’re being sent to Fiji where we will do repairs.

Problem: Port Rudder Arm failed. 

Solution: The good news is it broke at the attachment point.  We found the one man who has the tools to weld stainless and he fixed our rudder arm! We need to weld the two pieces together at the exact correct length to reinstall the rudder arm.

Matt and I searched for a stainless welder all over Funafuti over 3 days.  We finally found the one man who has the tools and expertise.  He tack welded the two pieces together, then did some grinding, then finished the welding.  We are back in business with two rudders!

A Massive Disappointment

Port Engine Failure

Problem: Our port engine water pump had a slow leak.  We had been watching it and were prepared to replace it once we got to Fiji. However, the leak got progressively worse.  So, Matt decided to replace it in Tuvalu.

The water pump is located in front of the engine making it a challenge to access. Matt has to lean over the engine, upside down to access the pump. Many pieces and parts have to be removed including the timing belt.

Problem #2: As Matt was removing the timing belt it ripped!  Oh for the love of God!  The engine can’t run at all without a timing belt!  This is bad, very bad!

Solution: The water pump was installed, but there is nothing we can do about the timing belt.  We ordered (2) new timing belts (one for both engines) from the UK to be delivered to Fiji where we will do repairs.

More Annoying Issues

Problem:  As Matt was removing pieces from the engine to get to the water pump one of his most used sockets fell into the water.  We are in 14m depth (40′).  

We got the dive gear out and both pressure gauges had water ingress and were not readable. 

Solution:  Matt used the dive gear anyway and within 4 minutes found the socket!  Yeah.

Problem: The furler is starting to fail and is leaking.  It is still working, but we have to be gentle when using the genoa.

Solution: We ordered new bearings and seals to be sent to Fiji where we will do repairs.

Problem: The washdown pump failed.  We use this pump to hose off the boat and clean the ground tackle (with both fresh and salt water).

Solution:  Matt thought we could just take it a part, clean it and get it working.  But this 13 year old pump was done.  We will have to buy a new one.

Summary

 
We have one engine and one rudder forcing us to run between helm stations. And somehow make it to Fiji to do the repairs.
 
Good news:  
  • We can steer from the Port helm and run back to starboard to use the throttles
  • We found a stainless welder in Tuvalu (the 2nd smallest country in the world). We now have use of both rudders
  • The port engine NEW water pump is installed
  • The engine was off when the timing belt failed.
    • Would have been catastrophic if it failed with the engine on.
  • We found the socket in 14m of silty water.  New octopi will be purchased in the future
  • Matt thinks he can take the washdown pump apart, clean it, service it and get it working without a replacement.  
  • The furler still works but we have to be gentle using it.  

Trying our best to see the silver lining. We are truly blessed and know that “life happens.”  It’s just hard when it happens all at one time.

We find some joy and charm in Tuvalu – check out our last blog post.

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual events.  The failures occurred between mid to end of March 2025.

Tuvalu and its Charms

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Tuvalu is such a small country but it is rich in its charms and culture.  We’ve met so many lovely people who have welcomed us with big smiles and hardy waves!

Formation of Atolls – David’s Drill

An great attraction in Funafuti is “David’s Drill.”

Scientists from the Royal Society of London conducted experimental drilling in the late 1800s.  Their goal was to test Charles Darwin’s theory of atoll formation. Darwin, the famous formulator of evolution theory, believed that all coral atolls rest on a volcanic base. The deepest bore at David’s Drill reached over 1,000′ and proved Darwin’s theory. The boreholes can still be seen to this day in Fongafale village.

Funafuti has the oldest, most comprehensive geological map of any atoll globally.  This provides a unique dataset for on-going contributions to the geological sciences.

Tuvalu Stamps – Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau

The Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau is located at the southern end of the township of Funafuti. Stamps depicting facets of Tuvalu are printed overseas and are highly collectable.

Since 1975, collectors from more than 60 countries around the globe have eagerly sought new issues of Tuvalu stamps.

There are over one hundred stamps on display that you can purchase.  You tell the worker what stamp you want and she searches the boxes (2nd row, left photo) for your stamps).

The popularity of these unique and original stamps grew rapidly.

These are the stamps I purchased:

Public Gym – Fitness Area

Near the beach with a beautiful view is a fitness area donated fitness equipment.  It looks a bit old (2019) but it all works.

Amazing Garden

It is very difficult for the people living on atolls to have any type of garden.  The reason is because they do not have any soil or dirt. 

However, the clever people of Tuvalu have created and maintain a spectacular community garden.  With much thanx to the Taiwanese. 

The Taiwanese provide the seeds, tools, and soil.  The locals built an area above the coral, covered it, added enriched soil, and started planting. 

They have dozens of enormous rain water tanks to keep things hydrated..

The locals use pig and chicken manure to enrich the soil. 

It also gives them an opportunity to sell the eggs and pigs for additional income.

The result is a rich, thriving garden. 

They sell tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, eggplant, peppers, bananas, lettuce, bok choi, squash and more.

To purchase items from the garden you arrive at 6:00am on Tuesday or Saturday. There is no shopping cart or bag.  A list is passed around that you write your order on. Then you wait for your name to be called to collect your bag.

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.

Did you read about Tuvalu’s status as the 2nd smallest country in the world in our last blog post?

Tuvalu, the Smallest Country in the World?

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Tuvalu is situated in the South Pacific.  Southeast of the Marshall Islands and Kiribati and North of Fiji and New Zealand.  It is barely a spec on the world map.

Tuvalu is a fully independent island nation within the Commonwealth. 

The country consists of 3 reef islands and 9 atolls. The population is 10,643 (consensus 2022).  This makes it the 2nd least populous country in the world (behind the Vatican City).

A Disappearing Country

Tuvalu is a low-lying island nation and is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise.  The highest point is a mere 15′ above sea level making it one of the countries most threatened by climate change.

Rising sea levels not only push back its shorelines, but the encroaching salt water also erodes the country’s limited farmland. The sea’s warming temperatures also threaten surrounding marine life.

The country made international headlines in 2021 when then-foreign minister Simon Kofe delivered a speech to the United Nations while standing knee-deep in water.

Because there is not a significant amount of soil the country has to rely heavily on imports and fishing for food.

During our visit we got to witness their attempt to save their island. 

Australia and New Zealand invested close to $100 million to add 40 acres of land. A massive amount of machinery. It starts with dredging the lagoon, then filtering sand, creating enormous sand mounds, then filling huge sand bags.  They then use the sand bags to create barriers between the shore and lagoon (bottom photo).

Income Sources

The local government has several income sources. However, two of them are their largest revenue stream.

The first is from fishing licenses.  Like many other Pacific Nations, Tuvalu sells fishing licenses to other countries.  This gives international companies the rights to fish in the Tuvalu waters.  

The second source of revenue is from a digital source. The government owns the suffix .tv.  So their email and web addresses end in .tv.  For example, christine.mitchell@tuvalu.tv.

As a brilliant move, the government sold its .tv internet suffix to a Californian company.  This brings in several million dollars a year in continuing revenue.  The California company then sells the suffix to television broadcasters.

Many locals harvest copra or work on cargo ships and send money back to their families

We arrived in Tuvalu a few days after they christened their very 1st ATM!  Can you believe it?  This cash only country had no ATM.

Funafuti Marine Conservation

20% of the lagoon in Funafuti is a marine conservation area covering 33sq kilometers (12.74 sq. miles). 

The conservation area consists of reef, lagoon, and motus on the western side of the atoll (gray area in image). 

Many species of fish, coral, algae, and invertebrates call this area home including the endangered green sea turtle.

Tuvalu Airport

For being such a small country it has a really nice airport. 

The landing strip has been newly paved making it the nicest we’ve seen in years. 

Fiji Link flies three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) to and from Fiji and Tuvalu.  It is a big event when the plane comes so we took the opportunity to watch it a few times.  

Children use the runway as a playground when in between flights.

WWII 

Thousands of U.S. troops were stationed in Tuvalu during WWII.  They used used Tuvalu as a launching place to attack the Japanese in Kiribati. 

It is not uncommon to find WWII remnants on the beaches and reefs in Funafuti the capital of Tuvalu.

Beginning in 1942, U.S. forces built airbases on the islands of Funafuti, Nanumea, and Nukufetau. The Funafuti airstrip is still in use.

The Navy built a sea port, a small hospital, PT boat base, a seaplane base and an airbase.

Interesting Websites

We managed to find the “town drunk” who was super jovial and willing to share his jug of vodka coke with Matt

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Tuvalu from April 18-25, 2025.

Check out Tuvalu on No Foreign Land: www.noforeignland.com/place/6056779874041856 

Can you believe we had a double steering failure on our passage from the Marshall Islands?