Splash? Amphibious Return.

"W

"Before" Journey's engine out for
convenience and maintenance.

e should be out in two weeks," Wayne predicted, optimistically, regarding our time "in the yard" for boat maintenance and repair.  "Maybe four."

Pragmatically, I figured on four, maybe more.  Ironically, Wayne is usually more the cynic and worrier, and I'm usually more the optimist.

We arrived at Riverside Marina March 15th to tackle an ambitious series of boat work projects.  Normally, arrival in a boatyard for us means hauling the boat out, but opted to get started from the engine bay, a fancy name for a dock that's near the marine mechanics.

New, custom-made fuel tank, painted by Wayne.  That he was
able to get back in "more easily" while still in the engine bay.

How to lift an engine into a boat "on the hard"?  By crane!  Wayne's
climbing into the v-berth hatch as the companionway ladder
main cabin entrance is the area the engine comes down.

There our most challenging work began

• removing a fuel tank buried under our cockpit and replacing it
• removing our engine and giving it a thorough check and repair as needed

Wayne, guiding the engine in from the boat side of the crane.

Slender, flexible  Byron was also instrumental in part of the
several hours it took to get Journey's engine back inside.
See how pretty our Pearson 365's Westerbeke 40 looks now?

We also planned on the usual stuff most cruisers do in a haul-out

• prepping our hull for a fresh anti-foul
• applying the anti-foul

Relatively unique to our boat

• replacing the temporary bow anchor roller platform (as our original one is likely still hiding in Hiva Oa, French Marquesas' harbor muck (photo of new bow platform coming)
• replacing our propeller shaft

Our Pearson 365's new custom-made
stainless steel engine drip pan.  Spndy!

Our opportunistic list (just a few of the items on our list)....

1. rebedding stanchions and windows to stop leaks
2. replacing a recently cracked window in our v-berth
3. adding a catch tray below our engine to contain normal oil drips
4. professionally cleaning all our boat's upholstery and bedding
5. De-rusting the stainless

Then came the surprises

1. Very, very bad surprise:  fixing a big, rotted hole in the bottom of our boat -- we had no idea it was a time bomb waiting to reveal itself once our boat rested its weight on the work yard stands
2. Very good surprise:  we thought we'd have to replace our prop shaft and found out we didn't. 
3. Dodged bullet:  by pulling the engine, Wayne spotted a nearly disintegrated raw water engine cooling hose, which could've caused serious engine issues if he hadn't caught it when he did.  It took removing the engine to see those hose's rotted underside.

Raw water engine cooling hose rotted out on the bottom.
Looked fine on the top.  Replaced, now with new hose.

This morning, one month after we arrived at Riverside Marina, Journey's set to splash.  Just prior, we'll spend a few hours in the Travel Lift sling, just enough time to slap on a few coats of anti-foul plaint in the places we were unable to while it was one the stands in the yard.

Then, drum roll, Wayne starts the motor!

Once that happens, we'll move all the stuff we stripped off the boat to make it easy to work on, back.  

Fiberglass hole fixed plus some keel improvement.  Bottom paint
and boot stripe newly applied over it.  Journey's ready to splash!

It will be a long, busy, day.

The following day, we move back aboard.  Wayne and I were both wrong; we'll have spent a month in the boat yard, though technically, not all of it "hauled out."

Wish us luck!

Last night in "our" Whangeri Kensignton  apartment, the left
two windows in the higher middle portion.  Gonna miss it!

Location Location

Currently our boat’s in Whangarei’s Riverside Marina (S35.43.674 E174.20.17), about to move off its stilts, after undergoing much major and minor work.  We've been living in an apartment in Whangarei's Kensington neighborhood while the boat's "on the hard," moving back aboard in a day.

Sailing by the Numbers

Last year, between December 2014 and November 2015 we sailed from Florida USA to New Zealand, over 10,000 miles (visiting USA, Cuba, Colombia, Panama, Galapagos [Ecuador], French Polynesia, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand).  We will resume serious cruising when cyclone season ends in ~April 2016.  We have not yet decided whether to sail to Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu then Australia (~4,000 miles), or just to Vanuatu then Australia, where we plan to sell our boat and return to work.