Dear F&F,
This is the companion post to our “12 – 2009 – Tahiti Boat Projects” photo
gallery.
The photos show about 10% of what we actually did. I don’t want to bore
you with too many details and the photos pretty much tell the story. Some
of the nice “Tahiti Topside” photos of the sister island of Moorea were
taken while Cindy hauled me 75 feet off the water; up the mast. We had
broken our sail track on the way from the Galapagos to the Marquesas and it
took us the better part of five days to replace it. While “aloft” I took
some cool photos of the Marina and Moorea. (See our 09_2009 Tahiti Topside
Photo Gallery).
It’s the middle of Summer here and while you all in the Northern Hemisphere
are emailing us about how wet and cold it is in the US, Canada and Europe,
it’s hotter than blazes down here in the Southern Hemisphere summer. Think
“Palm Springs in August”. As we don’t have a car and we have lots to do
aboard the boat, a bit of cabin fever (at least cool cabin fever) has set
in. Also, as this is an \”El Nino\” year, we get to watch for the errant
HURRICANE that occasionally threatens French Polynesia. So far, only OLI
(As of February 24th, 2010) has done some area wide mischief here. A tree
next to the boat fell down. The island of Tubuai to our south was not so
lucky. They got a direct hit, one life lost and 200 homes destroyed. READ
THAT AS ALL THE HOMES WERE DESTROYED. It blew 60 knots in the marina here
for several hours. The small side of Tahiti, Tahiti Nui had 100 mph winds
for awhile. Glad we weren\’t there!… The Hurricane never came closer to
Tahiti than 170 miles. SO, you can imagine being in the way of a Catagory
3-5 hurricane like KATRINA.
Cindy has been more than patient during all of the boat project and weather
challenges. Her mantra is: \”It will all be okay IF: \”YOU GET ME IN THE
WATER”. This has been our second “summer” in the wrong hemisphere in very
hot weather. We will try not to repeat this a third time.
On two trips we’ve taken to Los Angeles so far, we’ve brought back over 350
lbs of spare boat parts and “stuff”…..It’s getting harder to find a place to
put it all.
*A partial, but by no means complete list. If you’re a glutton for boat
project punishment……read on: (Disclaimer) – Children under 13 and Women of
any age may need to be protected from this list; skip to end if this
describes you.*
Replace Zincs on propellers, grease propellers, clean hull, replace zincs on
refrigeration/freezer units (underwater heat exchangers like a radiator in a
car)
Recharge, evacuate, troubleshoot Refrigeration/Freezer issue
Chase ANTS that got aboard.
Rebuild main toilet
Clean out all toilet lines that have stopped up over 5+ years.
Seal deck seam tape inside to insure no leakage when at sea.
Replace escape hatch gaskets and reseal side port lights/replace gaskets
Hydraulic steering fluid replacement
Engines: replace oil and filters. Fuel filters, primary and secondary. Lap
cone clutch on starboard transmission. Tighten motor mounts. Reline engine
room and generator room sound material.
Generator: EVERYTHING. New electronic governor, new capacitors, coolant
leak, fuel air leak.
Air Conditioning Main: Re-wire for 220 volt/50-60 hz power. Fix plumbing
leaks, replace 3 cooling sensors.
New Little Air Conditioning: Install….TWICE…Complete
Mast/Rigging: Replace leisure furl in boom furler track, gooseneck shims.
Maintain all deck hardware due to UV damage including all shock cords, zip
ties, rings, cotters, etc.
Wash boat and Wax (in April)
Paint and repair washer/dryer
INVENTORY EVERYTHING on a spread sheet.
New AIS (automatic identification system), update software in
chartplotters.
New little inverter for computers, old one fried on Galapagos crossing.
Complete SCUBA compressor maintenance
Lots of deck hardware/anchor roller maintenance
Repair window screens and canvass
Repair mainsail chafe, genneker tear, spinnaker sock tears
Remove and replace water tanks and replace gauge sensors
Replaced all interior ventilation fans.
Replaced all Watermaker filters and main water system filters
Lots of wiring clean up
Drawers needed hardware fixing
Radio modem for “at sea email” needed re-cabling
Finish work on several wood pieces and vents
Clean and organize everything….mildew is a bitch!
Gee when I see it written down this way, It doesn’t look like that much. I
know forgot lots; most likely a mental block.
We have put in approximately 4 months of 5 day weeks doing all this
stuff….only about 2 weeks to go as of this posting in late February 2010.
And you all thought we were retired!….
Happy Holidays,
KIT (keep in touch),
Scott and Cindy