Lots More Boatyard Work

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Frank Taylor

Tahina on the Hard

Tahina on the Hard

Tahina has been on the hard now for 10 days. We have another 5 full days before we plan to go back in the water. We will finish all the critical “have-to-be-done-out-of-the-water” tasks in time. The boat will get is first coats of paint on Wednesday, and the props and final coats will happen on Friday and Saturday.

We have started and/or completed a number of tasks. The sails were taken off last week. A couple of screws had to be replaced on our furling unit which meant it had to come down. As mentioned before, this is a big project as we have to loosen the shrouds on the main and tilt it forward to get the furling unit off. But, it was all competed by the end of the week. We got the new jib sail installed on Friday. Hurray, it looks beautiful and new!

The old mainsail was a bit tough to get off. I had used a variety of cotter pins over time for attaching the sail to the mast batt-cars. Some were really tough to get off. Then the sail itself is a LOT of canvas and weighs 350 lbs (160kg). We had to remove the battens and then roll up the mainsail so I could use the main halyard to lift it up and off the boat.

After getting the mainsail cover off, we discovered the new cover did not have the sailtracks (slugs) installed so it could be fitted on the boom. The sailmaker must have forgotten to install them! It was the weekend, and we couldn’t get someone to install eyelets so we could transfer them to the new cover, so that had to wait until Monday, as did installing the mainsail.

Meanwhile, we need to have a piece of metal repaired that is the receptacle for the mainsheet block on the boom. The metal guy I found could do it, but he needs to take the boom to his shop. So, he’s coming by on Monday to pick it up on a lorry (truck) and do that job.

I’m particularly proud of a job I did this weekend. A week ago I had removed our main deck light. It was a floodlight (basically a car headlight) mounted on a custom black plastic “tripod” mount screwed into our mast a few meters up. The new light is an LED floodlight, which is much lighter and came with a little metal bracket for mounting. But, it wasn’t aluminum and I didn’t want to put a dissimilar metal on the mast. Also, it wasn’t shaped properly for the angle we needed.

Modified mount

Modified mount

I had been looking for some material to mount the light, but couldn’t find what I wanted. Yesterday I started playing with the old plastic mount and came up with a neat way to bolt the new light inside the round plastic mount. The only problem was the light wouldn’t stay at the right aiming angle. The new light also came with a white plastic mount for a pole mount and I modified one of those to bolt into the bottom of the mount in a position that holds the new light at the right angle. It worked perfectly!

I then spent a few minutes preparing the wiring for fast installation before going up the mast. Karen then operated the winch to get me up there and in a few minutes I had it mounted. We tested the wiring and the light worked, so I finished the install and it looked great! Next, we had two other spreader deck lights and I needed to switch out the bulbs with new LED bulbs. I was worried because the new bulbs were about an inch longer, but I was lucky with the wiring and it all worked like a charm.

New deck lights

New deck lights

The resulting new lights look great. But, the real payoff is in the power use. The old lights used almost 19 amps of power when in use. This was a heavy load if we didn’t have the engines on. Our navigation lights, chart plotter, radar, and other instruments use almost that much so it more than doubled our power drain when in use. The new lights only use ONE AMP! Wow! We can leave them on all night if we want.

This is only a portion of the tasks we have been doing. There were many other tasks done, and many more left before the end of the week. Back to work!

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Bang in the Night

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Frank Taylor

We have been hard at work every day, and making a lot of progress at the boatyard. Last night, we turned into bed on a calm evening with not a breath of wind. We spent a few minutes on our tablets catching up on things and just as I was about to go to sleep I felt a sudden gust of wind hit the mast. It’s the monsoon season here, and there are these thunderstorms that blow from the southwest across the Indonesia island of Sumatra. They are called Sumatras and can sometimes pack very strong winds (60kts+). I made a quick check that everything was put away and it wasn’t long before the wind was howling and rain showers began. We heard a little thunder, but not very close.

Broken bits

Broken bits

Eventually, we both went to sleep. It was still raining, but not as windy. This time it took me longer than Karen. I was sound asleep by about 11:15 PM. Suddenly we both woke up to a LOUD BANG! What the heck was that?! It was still raining lightly and a little wind, but not a lot. It was 10 minutes past midnight. I threw on some clothes and grabbed a flashlight. What I eventually found was some broken pieces of plastic on the deck. Then I saw a little piece of metal, and then more. I suddenly realized what it was.

On our spreaders up the mast, we have had a radar reflector which is a long thin cylinder filled with pieces of metal and wrapped in plastic. It was screwed on at the top to a cable, and then taped to cover the cylinder at the top. At the bottom there was a sail tie. About a year ago, I replaced the sail tie because the old had gotten tired in the sun after 4 years. Well, apparently the sun here is more intense, it apparently broke. During the strong winds the bottom must have broken off and then the cylinder fell out of the top and onto our deck. Luckily it didn’t hit any windows, although it wasn’t all that heavy. A rude way to be awakened!

Fortunately, this is an easy thing to replace, and doesn’t stop us from sailing. But, it is important for other ships to see us, and without the reflector our radar signature is very weak on other ships. Fiberglass doesn’t reflect radar well at all.

We have done a host of jobs. We finished installing the new thru-hull ball valves, changed impeller on the generator, performed other basic maintenance on the engines (oil and filter changes, and more), changed oil on the sail drives, cleaned the props, organized painting and sanding, and we just got the jib sail down. Unfortunately, we have to take down our jib furler unit because the extrusion have some screws that will need re-tapping. It’s a big job – essentially a two day job, one to take down, the other to put it back up. It also involves multiple trips up the mast in the bosun’s chair.

So, we’re very busy!

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On the Hard

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Frank Taylor

Frank watches

Frank watches

Tahina was successfully lifted out of the water yesterday afternoon – on our fourth scheduled attempt to haul-out. We are now safely set up in the yard and on the “hard”. The wood blocks, and steel beams we used to set them on, worked as expected and after only a few minutes of adjustments, and some tense moments as we tested lifting Tahina, we were soon lifted up out of the water.

Tahina LiftedWe spent a couple hours, as usual, near the ramp while the yard staff power washed and scraped the growth on the bottoms of our hulls, rudders, saildrives and props. Then they moved us a short distance to a spot in the yard and put our keels down on wood blocks and propped us on either end.

It’s noon the next day and we have already made good progress on our first project – removing our thru-hulls to replace the corroding stainless steel ball-valves installed when Tahina was built. We will be installing new composite-material ball-valves, that won’t rust, after we finish cleaning up the thru-hull parts, and the bilges. We should be finished by tomorrow on this project.

Many, many other projects on our boat list in the coming days. I may only post a few times, and will only summarize the tally and write about the more interesting projects.

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Third Time Not a Charm

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Frank Taylor

Spent the morning yesterday preparing for our haul-out at Pangkor Marina planned for the afternoon. As you can probably guess from the title, it didn’t happen. This time the problem was the yard’s fault. They had the lift under a boat still from the previous day. The manager, James, said a welder was supposed to show up in the morning to prepare the brackets for supporting that boat so they could remove the lift. But, he didn’t show up until 2:30 PM. High tide was for 3 PM and we couldn’t set up the special equipment for lifting Tahina in time.

Meanwhile, it turns out James had not acquired the required timber for propping on top of the lift to fit Tahina on. I went to the sawmill to order the necessary timber myself. It wasn’t until 4PM that the timber was delivered. By 5 PM, we had the basics of the preparations done. Now that we have it set up, I’m very confident the new system will work. High tide will be at about 3:45 PM today (Friday), so we will have plenty of time to be prepared. No other boats will be hauling out to interfere.

The manager is crediting us on our slip at the marina for the last two days of delays (we were originally supposed to be ready on Wednesday). Now we just have to pray that the weather cooperates and there are no other problems. If it doesn’t work on time today, we delay into the weekend and will have to wait until next week. Argh!

Some people (on Facebook) have been telling me to be patient. But, the reality is that this haul-out has already been delayed a lot, and I’ve been very patient up to this point. It’s normal to take longer than you want to get out of a boatyard. And, I know lots of cruisers get anxious about getting back into the water and out of a boatyard. But, its pretty unusual to have to wait 3 weeks to get INTO the boatyard going on the 4th attempt now!

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Change in Plans for Next Few Months

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Frank Taylor

One piece of wisdom for all cruisers is that you need to remain flexible about your schedule. There are too many factors – like weather, boat problems, health issues, family problems, and many others – that can effect your plans. So, it’s best to be prepared for change.

Earlier this year, we had decided since we needed to stay longer in the Singapore area due to health reasons, we thought we would try leaving in September to cross the Indian Ocean. I had read the weather isn’t bad then, it’s just not the normal time of year to go. Last week I did some more analysis and found out the reason most people don’t go that time of year is that the winds are pretty adverse for sailing. Basically a lot of beating against the wind for weeks. Given this, and the fact our boat haulout is weeks later than expected, we decided to fall back to a more normal time to cross the Indian Ocean – end of the year. Then the winds are much more favorable.

This means after we finish with the boat yard, we can sail back around to the eastern part of this Malaysian peninsula – which during the southwest monsoon season, is the popular cruising ground. There we are told you can actually sail, the water is clear and blue, and the weather milder and nice. We can leave our boat in marinas there when we go off to do sightseeing in other Asia countries. Then in October, we can bring the boat back up the Malacca Straights and go to Thailand for a month.

After that, we are thinking we will fly to the US to visit family. We would have to return before Christmas because we need to start the crossing around mid-December. This lines us up for other plans the following year.

So, another change in plans, but we hope this will result in some fun cruising and our boat should be in fine shape for it in another few weeks. Today we’re supposed to finally get hauled-out. We’ll let you know how that goes soon.

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Projects Started

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Frank Taylor

Although our haul-out is now scheduled for Thursday at the earliest, it was time to start working on projects we can do while still in the water. We considered putting the sails on, but we think it would be best to wait for that project because it would just start the process of sun degradation sooner, and we won’t be able to use them until we get in the water again. Instead we worked on some smaller projects.

First up was to replace the parts necessary for our fuel guages to work again. We have a system called “Tank Tender” which uses little air tubes into the tanks, with a guage at our instrument panel that pumps a little air into the tube to measure the pressure. This is an accurate way to read, but we discovered that the little metal fitting at the tank tops to guide the tube inside have a tendency to corrode and then the airway gets blocked.

As usually happens with a boat project, the project took longer than expected and had complications. It turns out we can’t take the fuel tank lids off easily because the manufacturer fiberglassed the tops into the bottom of the storage area where they are located. I would have to break around the edges which would allow water to accumulate in that area. As a result, the fitting on one of the tops – which had corroded off, had to be tapped out. This left the little plastic tube inside the tank. We just have to hope it won’t block anything in there. Also, the fitting has a metal tube attached to the nut top where the plastic tub inserts. I could not screw in the new nut all the way because the tank lid block it from turning. This left a 1/4 inch gap. So, I just caulked around the bottom of the bolt. This has the advantage of reducing the corrosion risk, and it’s not visible once I put the fiberglass cover over the tank tops. So, beauty is not an issue.

The second tank went more smoothly as I was able to remove the tube since the fitting did not break. I had to clean up the corrosion from the fittings, and any other signs of rust on the stainless steel tank tops. Then put everything back. The gauges now work (and we had less fuel than expected), and after an hour of putting tools away the job was done.

I also installed some fittings for us to attach the sun shades at the aft end of our cockpit, which Karen made over a year ago, so they can be held in place when it gets windy. I need to get more parts though before this is finished for all three shades. We are planning to have some awnings made to provide more sun shade over our boat tops. Most of the boats here have full boat awnings made to keep the boat cooler, and protect from the sun. The sun is VERY intense here.

We are slowly going through the boat and removing anything unused, especially weighty items. Tahina has been getting heavier as we have accumulated this junk and we need to lighten the load to keep our performance up. We have probably reduced the load about 100 pounds so far.

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Haul Out Attempt Two Fails

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Frank Taylor

This was a case of a business man who is anxious to please, and a sailor who is anxious to haul, but not doing a proper engineering of a solution to the first problem. After our first attempt to haul-out, we realized Tahina would have to lifted on wood blocks above the structure of the Sealift haul-out system which lifts under our bridge deck. We have non-structural elements under our bridge deck which were in the way of the regular lifting spars and support structure. So, the marina manager had a frame built so we could adjust the wood blocks at the forward end, and he believed the metal structure at the aft end would suit for setting up the wood blocks for the aft and middle points. He took measurements under our boat and of his structure, and was confident. So, we waited a week for the new elements to be made and on Friday we attempted to set up the system for Tahina.

Well, when setting it up and taking the measurements, things were not working out. The manager got called away on some emergency, so I ended up taking all new measurements under the boat. By the time he came back, it was too late with the tide falling to attempt hauling us out. So, I carefully looked over all the measurements. It was clear more frames would be needed to position the wood blocks properly. I was not pleased to have to wait up to another week, and I had already done some checking on hauling out at the next marina. So, I tried contacting the manager at the Rebak marina. After some going back and forth, he came back and said it was not possible to lift us on his travel lift. We exceeded the beam width designs.

After further discussion at Pangkor Marina, the manager James agreed to build two more frames. He let me design the specs for these elements, and later the metal worker came and got my measurements and reviewed the design. He agreed it would work, and later worked out the schedule with James to deliver next Wednesday. At this point, there’s no likelihood we could get to a yard faster, so I agreed and we now have a few more days to wait before the yard work.

So, we are going to try and do some of our projects while we are waiting for the haul-out. This way our list will be a bit shorter and we can hopefully reduce the total time in the yard.

For those of you who think we spend all of our time just cruising around in paradise, kicking back on a beach hammock and sucking on our frozen margaritas, swimming in crystal clear waters, and watching beautiful sunsets – this should help dispel that illusion.

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Shipments Arrived

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Frank Taylor

New Sails ShipmentYesterday our packages from the US arrived with an assortment of boat parts and some new lines (spinnaker halyard and new jib sheets). It was about 40 lbs (18kg) in three packages. Among the goods were engine parts, LED lights (replacing our halogen deck lights), toilet parts, a new US flag, yarns and other sewing supplies for Karen, new probes for our tank measuring devices, and more. Meanwhile, today the second, even bigger shipment arrived with our new sails and stackpack. It came in a custom bonded truck from Kuala Lumpur (this was done so the shipment agent could charge more money – that’s my belief). Anyway, fortunately 2 guys from the truck, plus two from the local office of the shipper, came along to help with this very heavy shipment. All total it was 355 lbs (161 kg). The heaviest was the mainsail (on the right) – which probably weighed 200+ lbs itself. It took the four guys to carry it onto Tahina. The bigger box had the jib sail and stack pack (the cover for the mainsail). And the long “tube” contains the battens for the mainsail (as seen in the photo here).

For both shipments, a customs officer came to verify we took delivery of our imported goods without paying the duty (since we are a yacht in transit). I had to use our little rubber ship’s stamp and sign about a dozen pages for each shipment. No extra fees were asked to be paid, which was a pleasant surprise.

We have too many toilets on board Tahina, which causes me to have to work on them more than I like. I had previously tried to fix one of these toilets when the pump motor went out. I finally got a new motor and put it in a year ago. In the process, I had cracked a seal housing which caused it to leak. A couple months ago, I figured out how to order just the seal housing. What I didn’t realize until yesterday, when I went to install the new part, is that when I installed the new motor the old leaking housing managed to leak INTO the new motor. Now the second motor is not working. Argh! I will have to investigate whether the motor(s) can be repaired.

Anyway, we now have parts needed to be able to complete a dozen of the three or four dozen projects I have written down for this boatyard trip. Tomorrow we are scheduled to haul out if the new frame they built to lift us properly arrives today as planned. If so, our projects will begin in earnest!

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Waiting Some More

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Frank Taylor

Sometimes the boating life moves slower than you want. The boatyard last week made it clear they would like to lift us, but they needed to build a metal frame to put wooden blocks in the right places to lift us without damaging the baffles under our bridge deck. Because this was a holiday weekend here too, they had to push back the date until this Friday. So, almost 11 days later than our original haul out date.

Meanwhile, the two big shipments I tried to organize finally left their origins and are both in Kuala Lumpur as of yesterday. They could arrive as early as today, but may be a day or two later. We will have most of the parts and supplies we needed for the projects at that point, so that will be good. And, the new sails will be here too.

We got a rental car and have been driving to the local mall which is the same operator as the mall we went to in Johor Bahru. Only, this one just opened a few months ago, so it’s brand new.

During our attempted haul-out last week, I lost my prescription glasses. We went to the mall yesterday and were able to get new glasses made in 1 hour for a price 1/10th what I paid in the US. Glasses are a real racket with the prices they charge back home. Oh, and they didn’t even charge to do an eye exam to get my prescription! Exam and glasses made in 1 hour for US$60.

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Haulout Delayed a Few Days

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Frank Taylor

We made excellent time again on Sunday on a beautiful sunny day. The temperature was a bit cooler and less humid as well. We weren’t even tempted to turn on the A/C along the way. We left at first light this time and decided we could make it all the way to the marina/boatyard by mid-afternoon. We wanted to arrive earlier since low tide was at 5PM and the entrance is reportedly a bit shallow in places. But, we had a track from s/v LeuCat who was here a few weeks earlier.

We arrived as planned by 2:30. I called on the radio, but no answer, so I tried the phone. I reached one of the staff and she said they had room and that we could call on the radio and the dock staff would help. They answered this time and offered to send a boat to help guide us in. Just after the call a ferry came out, so we followed their track while the little boat came out. We were soon tied up on a nice dock not far from the boat yard entrance.

We met the owners of a cat (Wharram design) next to us, s/v Tiare, who have been to the marina a few months and also here a year earlier. The skipper is from Auckland, and his wife is from Japan. They gave us a lot of information about the area. While there, they had an Aussie visitor, a woman from a cat in the boatyard called s/v Mad Fish. She told us they have drinks under her boat on Monday night and we were invited.

The marina is on a man-made island in the bay between the island of Pangkor and the mainland. We were surprised that there are some small mountains on the island and in the surrounding country side. There are also signs of a lot of people in this area. We also found out this place is home to a Malay naval base with a large military population plus their families living with them in a large condo-looking complex.

On Monday, I went in first thing to the Marina office to sign in. We talked a bit about the haulout. I had taken some measurements of their lifting device, which lifts us from underneath between our hulls. My initial measurements said it could work, but I wasn’t totally sure. They said someone would come over and do measurements, and he did and said it was ok.

But, by lunchtime, they called to say they would have to delay to Tuesday. The main reason being that the yard is close to full and they didn’t have adequate wood blocks. They planned to put two boats back in the water, and then there would be room.

So, Karen and I went to get transportation to town to find out about shopping. The marina manager offered to take us, but as we were leaving the Aussie gal from Mad Fish called and offered to give us a tour. She did a great job showing us hardware stores, bakery, shopping centers, etc. Turns out there is a brand new Aeon mall similar to the one in Johor Bahru. It even has a movie theater that is close to opening.

The next day, the haulout was going to be at 1PM. They sent crew over to help manage the lines that would be thrown ashore to hold us in the center of the haulout area. Of course, a 15 knot wind was blowing today (which would have been great for sailing two days earlier!). But, we got over there and were soon tied in place for the machine to go under Tahina and lift us.

Unfortunately, after over and hour and several attempts, we could not get the lifting system to fit underneath Tahina without causing problems to the baffles under our bridge that are non-structural. We even turned Tahina around aft-to and tried, but again were unable. Very frustrating! The manager said that we would have to use another approach on another day. So, we moved Tahina back to the marina slip.

They took measurements yesterday and have a metal frame that fits on top of their machine. I showed them photos of our haul-out done in New Zeland so they plan to use a similar configuration. But, it won’t happen for a few days it appears.

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