BRAVO Refit - Weeks 10 thru 13

As we're entering our 4th month on the hard in the boatyard, life has taken on a rather hum drum rhythm....we wake up aboard (yee-hah!!!.....a great improvement as we moved back aboard from our camper van a week ago, as there is no more work going on in the aft stateroom), head into the yard's office kitchen for breakfast and coffee (they have refrigerators, sink, and microwave for hauled out boaties to use), and then start the day's projects.  We typically work till 6 or so, shower, have a beer or 3, make dinner in the office, watch a bit of awful tv on the bigscreen there, before the saunter back to Bravo for bed.  7 days / week, with little change save one or two welcome evenings out of the boatyard with friends!

Sunrise view looking over our stern as the boatyard comes to life.

Dockland 5 Boatyard has become a sort of mini maritime United Nations.  Owners of boats from New Zealand, Australia, Russia, France, Vanuatu, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, England, Hong Kong, Italy, Norway, and the U.S.  are hard at work, sanding, painting, rigging, and welding.  The pace has picked up dramatically, with winter approaching and many boats getting ready for the annual voyage north to the tropics or west to Asia and Australia.  Nights are increasingly chilly, and the days are getting much shorter.....

We're definitely in the homestretch of this refit.  A good thing, as we must leave New Zealand by early June due to our visa expiration.  Here's the status......

Fuel tanks:  DONE!  All of the cabinetry is rebuilt, so the tanks are hidden once again, and holding fuel without leaks.  This was a huge job, one that we never want to repeat.

Port side tank behind new bulkhead and shelves in the equipment pantry.  All have now been finished and painted, and the freezer and watermaker equipment are nearly installed on the shelves.

Starboard side.  Tanks are behind the teak panel. Compartment above awaits the re-installation of the generator.

Generator:  The crane delivered the rebuilt beast, and it's now back in it's compartment.  Mechanics Glen and Jeff did a fantastic job shoe horning the 375 lb rascal into place, without a scratch to the woodwork.  Kiwi ingenuity coupled with steel cajones, these guys!  We'll hook it all back up when we're back in the water.

What could possibly go wrong???!!!

Smile of success!

Genset finally rests in compartment awaiting hookup

Rigging:  DONE!  Just waiting on one broken part of the genoa furler, but otherwise all of the spar welding, and new standing rigging is completed.

Freezer:  DONE!  We finished the construction and painting of the new box and lid, and install of the new equipment.  (An Isotherm water cooled unit.  Compressor cooling is somewhat of an experiment, as we're running the cooling piping to and from one of our fresh water tanks instead of the more typical seawater outside the hull.  So far so good, with no appreciable warming of the water in the tank.  Nice not to need more seawater flowing into the boat, and a side benefit is that we can run the unit when the boat is out of the water)  It's running beautifully, and seems to use just around 35 amp hours / day, compared to 140 a.h. for the old, poorly insulated box.  This is a major success, and will hopefully allow us to rely solely on our solar panels for electricity, without running our generator daily.

The "Sugar Shack".  Our shipping container varnishing, fiberglassing, and painting room.  Nice!

Freezer lid and frame ready for fiberglass and paint

Freezer installed, now on "fridge" setting....and used for its highest and best purpose!!!

 Galley rebuild:  This is the biggie at the moment.  Since we needed to rip out the freezer box to redo it, the main galley counter had to come out as well.  We're getting a new one made of solid surface material like Corian, and decided to do all of the other counters at the same time.  Has become a fairly big project, and the counters will not be fabricated for about 2 more weeks.

Cindi works with shipwright Steve Erlich on plans for the new galley.  This pattern then went to the shop for fabrication.

Current use of the galley.....our workbench!

Wood refinishing:  Now completing coat 9, just one to go for all of the exterior varnishing.  Nearly there!  We'll then be able to reinstall the dodger and bimini frames, removed 3 months ago to allow the crane to hoist out the generator.

In the meantime, of course, there's been no shortage of smaller but time consuming little jobs.....servicing winches and anchor windlass, installing deck hardware, welding repairs to solar panel arch and genoa cheek blocks, installing new genoa tracks, headliner repairs, etc.  But it really does look like we're getting close as another project gets crossed off the list nearly every day.  As soon as the galley counters are installed, we should be back in the water, and BRAVO's 30 year birthday refit will be complete!