Back in the water at the Hotel California

Farewell view of home for the past 5 months, taken on the (final) trip up the mast

BIG NEWS !!!  About a week ago, after nearly 5 months on the hard, the time had finally come to resume our life on the water!!!  After being lifted carefully from our cradle, and slowly rolled to the water, it was with a bit of trepidation that we hung in the slings of the travel lift to check for leaks.  We jump down below, and.............SHEEE-IT !!!!!  Water was GUSHING in, both bilge pumps had flicked on, and the frantic scurry began.  We've redone so many systems on this haulout that there was a lot to check, but quickly found the gusher around the prop shaft.  I had repacked the stuffing box (a fitting to keep the sea water from pouring in around the shaft).  I didn't want to get it too tight, always a danger, so of course, it was WAY too loose.....a quick few turns with the wrenches and we were good to go.  Sweet as!!!  About 1/2 mile motor boat ride to our old home at the Town Basin Marina, and at last we were a boat again...

 In addition to a myriad of smaller projects, the last few weeks in the boatyard mostly centered around completion of the galley rebuild.  Installation of the counters and new trim took longer than expected (it's a boat, remember?), and we needed several coats of varnish before stamping this one "DONE".  But it turned out beautifully, with bright lighting, new oven, plumbing, freezer and counters.  A total success!!!

Keeping track of varnish coats

One project which has not been so successful has been the rebuild of our 25 year old watermaker.  A couple of years ago we started the process, throwing out the 3 old membrane pressure tubes and replacing with 1 big one from CruiseRO Systems in California.

Rube Goldberg parts on their way to the dumpster

We kept the old motor, pump, and electronics in a kind of jury rig hybrid, ugly as hell, but seemed to work ok.  While in Seattle in Nov, we brought back a pump rebuild kit to have installed at a local pump shop.  Good preventative maintenance??  R...I...G...H...T........??????

Got the pump back in January, supposedly rebuilt and tested, and put it in our storage container at the boatyard.  There it sat for 4 months.  I reinstalled it with all new plumbing and a new control panel, also from CruiseRO, getting rid of lots of the old crap.  Sweet!!! 

Rebuilt pump (far right) and repainted motor await plumbing in new pantry (membrane mounted on bulkhead on left, covering new port fuel tank)

While out of the water, we couldn't run the high pressure pump, but we could check the new plumbing work with our on-board fresh water system.  With pressure at only about 45 psi, we figured it would at least find any major leaks in my plumbing.  Amazingly, the new plumbing stayed dry, but a steady drip could be seen coming from the NEWLY (professionally) REBUILT and TESTED high pressure pump.  At 45 psi, no less, not the 1250 psi that the pump is rated at!!!!  Color us unhappy campers indeed.

Pump leaking into bucket

Drip.....drip.....drip.....

The pump shop sent over a mechanic (we didn't feel like uninstalling the 100 pound beast by ourselves again).  He was stumped.  He found that the bolts holding the pump halves together were loose, so in fact it could never have been tested by the subcontractor testing service.  Tightening didn't help.  Mechanic opened the pump there on the boat, and found some damage, and noted that the "new" o rings didn't feel new at all.......the rat stench is getting stronger.......We lowered the whole assembly to the ground with a halyard, and off it went to the shop for some forensics.

Got a call a couple of days later.  "It's about your pump.....we'd like to discuss the matter in person, could you please come down to the shop right away ???"  Sounded like a call from the doc.....couldn't be good news.  Remember, this was a pump that was working fine till we brought it in.

Seems the pump has quite a bit of damage to 1 side of the pump.  At this point, no one knows who/what caused it.  We're not even sure that it's our pump.  Testing subcontractor says he tested w/o leaks, "At 100psi" he claims (this on a pump rated at 1250)  "BOOOO-SHIT" as Suwarrow Charlie would say.  So pump shop is still stumped, but embarrassed by their subcontractor, and agree to sell us a new 1/2 pump to replace the damaged one for their cost.  Retail for just the damaged 1/2 pump here in NZ is $1550!!!  (Whole pump, including both halves AND the gearbox in the US retails for $1200.....over $4000 in NZ!!!)

Here's where things get dicey for us.....Rather than just getting 1/2 of an old pump, and keeping the 25 year old gearbox and motor, we decided that it made more sense instead to order a whole new pump assembly, with new motor from CruiseRO back in the US.  It shipped last week, and is expected to arrive here on June 9.  More than 1 week later than our last shipment from the US.  Our visas expire on June 13.  Not good, not good at all.  With a huge amount of luck, all will go back together without problems (!!!!!), and we'll be at the start of a good weather window to depart on the 9 day voyage to Fiji (!!!!!).  No worries.....yes, we're in a bit of a panic.....NZ immigration apparently takes this visa stuff seriously.

We also had a major service done on our engine after we splashed.  Mechanic found that we had a small leak of coolant from the fresh water pump.  So small that the oozing coolant had evaporated before dripping all the way down, so we never saw it, tucked under some hoses.  It dripped onto our Balmar alternator, though, rusting it out at the bottom.  Once again, we're talking handfuls of "freedom tickets" to repair.  ("Freedom tickets" = dollar bills for the non-cruisers in the crowd)  Again, the new one ordered, and should arrive with the watermaker parts next week.  We were getting some rust spots on our "new" engine (we installed it before leaving Seattle), so decided to prep, prime, and paint the beast to get it looking like new again.

Engine masked and primed, ready for final paint

Sails just came back from the sailmaker, Dave Parr of Calibre Sails.  Needed some restitching and other repair work done, to make it through the next season.  Genoa will need replacing when we return to NZ in November.  Main and other sails look good.



Cleaning up the boat has been a major effort after 5 months in construction mode.  It was amazing how much stuff we collected in paints, tools, parts, nuts and bolts, and just miscellaneous shit!!!  Where to stash it all???  Took days, but we're nearly there....some will live in our van to be dealt with when we return!!!



OK, for those of you who have read this far......enough of this boat stuff....we know you didn't tune in just for that!!!  After all, this is a cultural blog, bringing you updates and insights into local native rites and rituals around the world.  So here's a pop quiz:  What do "Glam-er-zon", "Switchblade Betty", "Tanya Hyde", and "Pryor Conviction" have in common? 

All are roller derby queens!!!

Never ones to sit idly by on a cold Whangarei evening, your BRAVO crew couldn't resist the lure of the billboards the other night.  We headed out to watch our first roller derby match, between "Hell's Wives", the local favorite, and "Dangerous Curves", from somewhere south.  No one seemed to know from where, or really care!

Dangerous Curves, ready to rumble!

Safety inspection (checking for weapons???  who knows!!!)

14 year old kiwi goth checks in.  A member of the farm team, the "Northland Nightmares Derby Brats, do we have a future Jerry Springer star in the making!!!

NSO's (Non Skating Officials for you Roller Derby newbies) and referees, include "Judge Mental" and "Fury Gothmutha"

Hailstorm waiting out her minute in the penalty box.  Penalty was for......ummmmm.......who knows???

Fury Godmutha was a favorite ref !!!

All important team strategy sessions

Coaches on the left making the tough decisions

No way is local favorite Glam-Er-Zon letting rival jammer pass.....she gets the job done!

Took us quite a while to figure out what was going on in the mayhem out on the floor.  Actually pretty tame by pro roller derby standards (so we're told, if we did happen to ever see one of those events!!!), it was all good fun, and we even stayed to the end!!!  Will this be our last trip to the Roller Dome???  Mmmmmm.....probably, yes!!!!  But a good taste of local kiwi culture nonetheless!!!  (Actually, of course, an American export.....makes us proud!!!)  And the corn dogs and french fries (the only two items at the snack bar...perfect!) were hard to beat!!!

Another major cultural event in Whangarei last week was Cindi's birthday !!!!!  A fun celebration with mates Andy and Sue from S/Y Spruce at a local Irish pub, complete with Irish music, where the Jamiesons/rocks was cold, and the Guiness warm.......Nice!











So what's next?

Frosty docks

It's getting damned cold here in NZ.  Time to boogie outta here!

Thick frost on the decks and docks in the morning.  (We even had to get parts for our diesel heater, not used in over 4 years in the tropics.)  We sleep with 2 blankets and a sleeping bag.  Boats have been leaving in droves for warmer climes at each weather window.....Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Australia are the usual destinations.  Seems like we're one of the last.....






We hope to leave the dock this next week to go out for sea trials of all systems.  Then back for our parts delivery and install, and depart for Fiji by June 13.

The Hotel California.....where you can check in but you can't check out.  Will we be able to check out from Whangarei, our Hotel California????   Fingers crossed, stay tuned!!!

Freshly painted, BRAVO awaits her next adventure

BRAVO Refit - Weeks 2 and 3

Progress has been frustratingly slow these past couple of weeks.  After the tanks came out at the end of week 1, we thought we were "off to the races".  Unfortunately, at this point, three weeks into the project, the plywood mockups to get the new tanks fabricated are still not quite complete, so we will not have new tanks for at least the next 2 weeks or so.  We also learned that our shipwright Don does not work on Mondays!!!  WTF???  This adds 20% to the schedule for any of his work.  Not good.  At all.....

Well here's where we are at this point:

Tanks:  Mockups ALMOST done, then will go off to fabrication

Fitting the structural supports that will go between the tanks on the starboard side.  These get fiberglassed to the hull and support the generator above, as well as anchoring the tanks.

 Partitions have just been glassed in.  Pretty, right?  Well hold that thought...

When the 3 tanks were mocked up in plywood, the 3rd one was slightly too big to maneuver into position in the tight space.  So it and the adjacent tank needed to be redone, and the glassed-in partition will be cut out and re measured and recut (remember, boat hulls taper from bow to stern, so each bulkhead is unique!)

That's what the mockups are for, but it would have made more sense to try it BEFORE glassing in the bulkheads!!!  just sayin'.......

Repair of old through hull fitting hole will be as strong as original.

Meanwhile over on the port side....   We've figured out how to rebuild this side in a single tank, eliminating the hassle and expense of multiple tanks like we need on the starboard side.  It means a large vertical tank, thin enough to slip in the entry, and elimination of the horizontal leg of the L-shaped previous tank.

This required moving a through hull fitting which is the vent for the propane locker.

The repaint project is well underway.  BRAVO has scaffolding all around, and is being prepped and sanded, with the all small dings and scratches of her 30 years of voyaging being filled and faired.  We're also stripping all of the varnish off the exterior wooodwork, and polishing all of the stainless steel.








Ahhh, and now on to the galley.  As you may recall, the freezer box has been a terrible energy drain for us, requiring that we run the generator daily for perhaps 1 hour.  The refrigerator box, on the other hand, has been relatively efficient.  We figured that the freezer had to have bad or lacking insulation causing the problem, and decided after 3 years in the tropics to do something about it.  This past weekend, surgery began, as we tore out the existing counter top and the freezer box itself, along with its insulation.  Not pretty.  At All !!!

Demolition beginning.  Laminate surface removed, as is the freezer hatch (freezer is in the background)

"There's yer problem, ma'am"  Poured foam insulation along the hull (back wall of freezer) is around 1/4 inch thick!!!  Recommendation is for R-28, which is nearly 5 inches!!!  Other walls were better, with around 3"

Galley today, awaiting new freezer and counters.

Back topsides, the boom has gone off to the welding shops.  We're making some improvements to the reefing system, and strengthening the gooseneck (connection of the boom to the mast).

Poor BRAVO is looking a bit shabby now.  Hopefully the next few weeks will see progress as the rebuild continues.....stay tuned!