Sunday, April 5, 2015

Back in the water



Catamaran row at the Gold Coast City Marina.

We're done with land cruising so it's now time to get Tortuguita ready to go back in the water.  There is always plenty of work to do on a boat but the goal was to only do things necessary to get launched.  Everything else would wait until we get in the marina berth.

Waiting for the Travelift
The hulls had to be buffed and waxed.  This took 4 days because the sun was so hot that the work had to be done on the shady side of the boat or else the wax would cake-up and get sticky if working in the sun. The antifouling bottom paint had to be sanded, primed, and painted.  The propellers needed to be stripped and Propspeed applied.  There is an order that everything needs to be accomplished.  The boat needs to be launched within 3 days of painting the bottom so it is not possible to  do the buffing afterwards.  We had a few rain days but were ready with hours to spare.

On the road again
Now that we are comfortably tied to the dock, the project list started with thoroughly scrubbing of boatyard dirt off the decks and includes reinstalling the sail, overhauling the water maker, finishing the water tank project and gluing some headliner, plus many little things that just appear.

Our goal is to leave the marina after Easter and head to Coff's Harbour, about 150 miles south of here.  This will give us a better angle against the southeast winds for our trip to New Caledonia.  


A picture perfect launch with the new 250 ton lift.