Countdown to relaunch

We slowly approach our launch date, January 24. The new teak deck is truly a gem. When I think of all the work it was for Ryan! For cutting wood he learned first how his boards have to work harmoniously together and respect the "codes" of marine construction. He also compared different techniques to find the most appropriate for a particular cut (they were all done by hand). He also gained confidence once he mastered a technique ... He was very stressed sometimes when he was working on a $600 board, for example, with little or no room for error. I've regularly been in the workshop, out of curiosity, to give him courage, or simply to remind him to drink (what he can do in these hot plastic sheds!) Or eating. He seems quite happy with his work even if he points out here and there defects that should be obvious to me ("Oh there is one millimeter difference between here and there?") ... Once the wood is cut it is glued down, let it cure and then clean out the excess glue between the planks (but boring boring work!).


Then apply masking tape over all the planks, yes all of the deck! Ryan applied a primer between the planks so that the black mastic clings well to the planks of the deck. But before that we put a thin strip of tape at the bottom of each groove. Thoroughness and detail work were definitely waiting for you! Finally yesterday Ryan caulked (black rubbery stuff put in the grooves) the deck! It is hard work to keep it clean! He had black everywhere (even on his back). During this time I was in charge of "sausages". Should have taken a video demo on how Ryan "recharge sausages' of mastic so they are ready to use when it is finished, it was a poem! Finally! The hardest part is done, we must now let the caulking harden (at 2 mm per day) and it remains only to sand!





















Between the thickness of the black matic and tape, the chosen method is to use a flat metal blade to remove as much as possible and sand what remains. It works fine except when Ryan planted the blade in his foot! He finished earlier today suddenly, and after cleaning the wound he took a half day off on doctor's orders, Monique (a friend who just returned from France to work for the next five weeks on her boat is in the same yard). PHEW! So nothing serious!

From my side I sewed new slip covers for our living room. It's hard to believe, but those I stapled on temporarily held almost 4 years. I removed them at one point during our trip because they needed to be washed but they were simply too stained and the staples had caused damage to the varnished wood so they were not re-used. It will be very nice to have new ones, I will treat them with a stain gaurd if  possible before we return to the boat. This is the last time I'll make temporary ones however, next time I will probably redo everything in the Sunbrella fabric that is waterproof, stain resistant but the price hurts a little about NZ $50 per square meter while I found my suede on  sale for $15, but it's worth it!

Roof of the cabin after cleanup and sanding

In a spring cleaning effort we also rented a machine to clean our mattresses and lounge seats before they are all covered with their new covers. It gets rid of dirt that accumulates, mites and salt sea water tends to remain on the fabric and easily attracts moisture.
I also disinfected all the tupperware with all our work inside, they were pretty dirty (they are directly under the oven and not in cabinets.
Sometimes I think about the new covers and chuckle, telling myself that everything will be just fine for the arrival of the baby and they won't stay clean for long once she arrives, but hey, we can't return her now, so we will have to manage.

Fresh paint on the roof of the cabin

Time is passing slowly for me, which is always a little frustrating because I can not do much to move things along with the boat and the calendar on the wall sometimes seems to taunt me. Fortunately I was able to do a little prep work for Ryan, it's not much but it is long and unexciting (remove the painter's tape which stayed too long up after paintings, clean space, remove the remaining teak on the deck which was not needed, assist and clean during the installation of windows, put the tape on the bridge, reload the famous sausages). I also sanded the "roof" of our cabins we painted with primer where need, re-sanded... It remains only to paint (paint on smooth edges and non-skid on the majority of the surface, which will take two applications with painter tape to mark the surfaces, yes, more taping!).
I stress a little, wondering if we will be ready in time for the fateful date (which has been postponed for two days already the initial date was 22), but at the same time I try not to show it and stress Ryan. I wonder how long it will take this or that and I'm trying to gauge. After 6 months out of the water we want to go back but we also want to be satisfied with the work.

Ryan decided to employ staff to look after painting the hull. It's going to give him more time to finish the deck with less pressure. Yesterday a company came to install the scaffolding.
The boat yard is pretty booked hence our stress, there are little or no available dates to get moved into the water over the next couple months, so if we can not be ready in time and miss our date, it gets to the end of what we can support moral / physically and financially. We are both in need of a break before the arrival of our little hurricane.






Outside the boat, December has brought us great gifts. We reviewed our friends Off Tempo who completed their crossing one year after us, we had not seen them since our departure from Mexico! We took a side trip to Kerikeri.







We saw the Hobbit in his home country with Jared and Christine, assisted by a small diner in Matakana.

 Goat Island Marine Reserve

Only picture I took of  our friends at christmas

We celebrated Christmas in a small bungalow in front of Goat Island and even if we had the end of hurricane Evan passing by, we still made some nice walks. All this with Jared, Christine, Jo and Rob (the yacht Blue Moon) and Lauren and Lauren (the yacht Piko). We even had a day sail on Archateuthis, the day was beautiful and I did not get sick!

For Christmas we bought ourselves a luxury tent for next summer with the little one. We hope the use it before but it could be complicated. In fact, we have just seven weeks on the boat before her arrival, if we keep on schedule. It will be good but it will be short! It all happens so fast that I spin.

On the left, a beautiful Pohutukawa also called christmas tree here. And in the background, Goat Island

I wish you a Happy New Year to all, I apologize if there was no greeting card this year and if I'm still behind in my email replies. I hope that the list above gives you an idea why.

A small special thought for our friends Ken and Sandy who have to cope with the vagaries of life but who are always very positive, even in hard times. And one for Nicole, who made my religious education and who left this Earth a few days ago. It puts things in perspective and gives even more importanance (if possible) to this little life growing in my belly, which just kicked her approval, while I was typing this.