Well, this past week has been filled with more projects. Working outside has been tough as it's in high 80s to low 90s every day by 1000 and the humidity is up in the 70% range so being outside is one big sweat fest. We have to watch ourselves as dehydration can become a big problem with the huge amount of water we both loose when we are outside.

We got luck and Wednesday morning was totally overcast. We took that time to head to the bow and remove the windlass(Maxwell 3500). It was well past time for a total rebuild. Factory specs say to drop it out of the boat every three years and change the oil and the seals. Well, I figure that ours was installed in the late 90's and has never been out of the boat since. Being overcast at least allowed us to work in "shade". We disconnect the chain from the anchor and dropped it into the locker and then, piece by piece, took the fitting that are above deck apart putting each piece in a big box(loose a lot less parts that way). I took it off and handed it to Tracy who put it safely away. The small screws, nuts and bolts for stowed in plastic bags. I have a reputation of loosing things overboard so we tried to make this job as fool proof as possible. Once everything was off on the outside, we were down to four bolts going through the deck. As I unscrewed the first three, they slowly came up away from the deck. As I undid the fourth, it stayed against the plate I was unscrewing it from. Something wasn't quite right. I screwed that bolt back in and headed into the anchor locker. Sure enough, those were the bolts that held the windlass onto the deck. If I had continued unscrewing them, it would have dropped the big windlass motor and all it's parts down onto the big pile of chain ripping out all the electrical wiring that was attached to the under deck. Sure glad I stopped. With a small flashlight attached to my head, I grabbed a wrench and undid the two wires that went to the motor. It was now ready for dropping. Tracy handed me a big board to cover the chain and then undid the last bolt and down came the assembly. As a complete unit, it weights in at over 100 pounds. Having taken off everything above deck had decreased the weight to only about 60 pounds. Still not light but far more manageable. Once down, I changed positions and slowly got it out of the locker and then the two of us boosted it up on deck. We're luck we got it done by then as the Sun was beginning to burn through the clouds and it was about to get a whole lot hotter and far more humid. We wrestled it back to the stern and with a rope attached, got it ashore. I made arrangements for one of the trucks from Baobab(biggest marine repair facility in the islands) to stop by and pick it up.

Once they had picked it up, I walked up to the shop to make arrangements to get it rebuilt. I was lucky that I had the forethought to buy a rebuild kit from the factory before we ever left the US. I had everything the repairman was going to need to get it fixed. The folks at the office told me to come back tomorrow morning(Thursday)at 0800 and they could start in on it. I'd asked to be there to watch the work(learning how it's done) and they had no problem with be being there. One thing we did do was take pictures throughout the entire dismantling of the unit on the boat. I took my camera along with me and continued taking pictures as it was taken apart. We'd chosen Baobab because we figured that, being a marine repair facility, they knew what a windlass was and how to take it apart. We got started just after 0800 and didn't stop till noon when it was lunch time and the entire place closes down. No coffee breaks, and no cigarette breaks. I could tell I wasn't in the US.

The man that was doing the job knew exactly what to do and went about it explaining what he was doing and what he found as he took the unit apart. No bits of metal in the oil pan meant the gears were still in good condition. The inside of the motor was pristine while the outside had a good bit of rust on it. Once apart, the motor case was sandblasted to get all the rust off it and then it got three coats of paint. The rest of the assembly was dunked in a liquid that removes all the old grease and oil. We had the entire unit apart by lunch.

After lunch, I watched as it was put back together. It was all ready to go(even checking the motor to make sure it ran) by 1430. All in all, about 5.5 hours to do the entire job. They were still going to give the unit two more coats of paint before they would bring it back to Zephyr. We did several things right--1-have a rebuilt kit on board, 2-take pictures of the dismantling for later reference, and 3-take the time to get it serviced when there is a good facility available. Labor for the job comes in at $50.00 Fijian or $27.50 US. With them taking about 6 hours(max), my bill should end up being about $300 Fijian or $165US. The last estimate I gotten while back in the US was $1,100 to do what I just had done. We're good for another three years(or longer). We should have it back later this afternoon.

Next big project is the water heater. We've had several companies come on board looking at the cabin floor trying to figure out how to get it off with as little damage to it as possible. One company has come by twice. We should have an estimate by later today or Monday. Hopefully, it won't be more than what the heater will be. We have a company looking into one and hope to hear back from them today. Our problem is that we are a 120 volt boat in a 240 volt world. At least we are leaving time for someone in New Zealand to get us one before we arrive. If it's not ready by then, well we'll just have to have it shipped up. Tho old heater may be leaking but at least we have hot water. It's a lot less like camping when you have hot water available.