A ten day haul-out that took ten weeks

We knew that Taihoa needed to come out of the water. She had not been moved since we went to the UK at the beginning of May and the hulls were beginning to resemble a floating reef – mostly barnacles and tube worms.

In addition the U-deck that we had installed some time ago was starting to lift. The company agreed to replace it under warranty but we thought it would be much easier to do if the boat was out of the water.

A quick clean, replace the U-deck and the usual things that need doing while hauled out – change anodes, grease props, change sail-drive oil. Ten days should be plenty of time.

Just to be sure Nigel decided to remove the old U-deck. ‘A few hours work‘ took several days and revealed a few more issues that would need to be dealt with.

Haul-out was booked for 11am on 30th September at Marsden Cove. This is on the other side of the harbour from us and involves an 80 minute drive each way but only a 15 minute trip in the dinghy, when the weather permits. We have confidence in the company’s operating out of this yard and so it is our preferred haul-out facility.

https://marsdencovemarina.co.nz/marina-facilities/boat-haulout-hardstand-facility/

Nigel opted to take the boat over himself. The forecast was good and what could possibly go wrong? He gave himself plenty of time. Both engines started without any trouble. There was only a very gentle breeze, making releasing the mooring a simple procedure. But instead of a slow cruise at 6-7 knots he found that the boat made horrible noises and struggled to make 1 knot. Definitely not safe to attempt to cross the harbour.

Picking up the mooring single handed with very little power was not an option so he anchored in the middle of Taurikura Bay to investigate the problem. The most likely cause was a build up of growth on the propellers. A quick look wearing a dive mask confirmed this so it was time for a swim.

New Zealand water in September is not at its warmest so there were a few choice words said when Nigel discovered that there were no wetsuits on the boat and he would be diving in his undies.

Thirty minutes later a very cold Nigel was able to confirm with the haul-out team that the props were clear and he was able to motor again. 5 knots top speed but only half an hour late.

An hour later and the hulls were clean again. Time to start work.

The first issue that lifting the U-deck revealed was a line of cracks where the cabin top joined the decks. We contacted Rudi, the ever helpful owner of Maverick Yachts, who was able to confirm that it was only cosmetic. Just to be sure and to prevent the cracks from worsening we asked Brent from Abel Marine to fix it professionally.

This involved Nigel grinding back all the gelcoat so that Brent and his team could add fibreglass reinforcement and spray new gelcoat.

The second issue discovered after the U-deck was removed was that the glue had stained the gelcoat. This became an issue when we decided to make the new U-deck panels slightly smaller to provide larger channels for water to run overboard.

The solution was to spray new gelcoat over the stained areas. While we were at it we thought we might as well fix all (well nearly all) the other gelcoat cracks and chips.

It all took time.

Back in March 2024 (when the old house was still standing – even if we couldn’t live in it) Nigel made a new locker to fit on the stern of the boat.

He had assumed that it would be a simple job to fit it – a few bolts and a bit of fibreglass. It did not work out as planned and so now that Abel Marine were working on the boat we had the chance to get it fitted professionally.

Many, many hours later it is finally installed and looks great..

The stainless steel backrest needed some modifications before it could be fitted again and then brackets needed to be welded to the poles that support the wind generators. This meant that the wind generators needed to be removed so that the electric cables did not get melted. Why is nothing simple?

We also took the opportunity to straighten the pole that we had bent on Day 1 of our Fiji trip.

While we were getting stainless steel work done we had a few D rings welded to the bait table bracket. This will give us better fixing points for our offshore safety lines.

We kept finding more jobs.

We had a leak around the porthole in our shower. Once we took it out we discovered that it had not been installed properly. The hole was too big. Abel Marine to the rescue. The hole was modified and the porthole reinstalled.

Unfortunately the paintwork inside had to be removed and we decided to take the opportunity to redecorate.

Much of the inside of the boat is covered in a stippled paint which obviously hides many imperfections but also collects dirt and mould. We decided to get rid of it.

Many, many hours later after using a hot air gun to remove the paint, a special filler to cover the dents, a two part primer then a two part epoxy paint, we have a new look bathroom.

Along the way we also got rid of a surplus through hull fitting and filled in some holes where unused pipes had been routed.

A simple job that we do whenever we haul-out is to grease the propellers. This time Sue noticed that one of the blades was bent. Coincidentally, this was the same side that Nigel had hit on a reef in Fiji!

So the prop had to come off and taken into town for repairs. All good now.

A long list of other minor jobs included replacing the winch foot switches, fixing a leak from one of the jammers, engine oil changes, patching copper coat (more Fiji reef issues – Nigel really did find them attractive), replacing broken blocks and lots more.

With all the gelcoat work complete we were ready for a dry run install of the U-deck. This involved putting paper templates in place to make sure everything fitted. It was well worth doing, even though there were nearly 70 seperate pieces. We spotted a few errors and Sue made new templates for Brendan and his team to cut out.

Finally the new U-deck could be installed and the boat was transformed. She looked great.

So that is where the last ten weeks have disappeared to. Nigel has been travelling across the harbour in the dinghy and spending long days working alongside the team from Abel Marine. Sue has been working at home cleaning squabs and cushions and polishing leather seats – when not working on the new house design (another story).

Sunday was spent doing a final clean-up. Sue cleaning cupboards and restocking while Nigel chipped off calcium deposits left by the barnacles on the hull.

Monday morning saw the Abel Marine team scuffing the Coppercoat to reactivate it ( we missed this stage after our last haul out before going to Fiji and believe that is why we have had so much growth) ready for Remi and the Marsden Cove team to put us back in the water.