PHOTO: COLLAGE OF WORK AT THE HARDSTAND

11 days on the hardstand is an effort anywhere in the world. Now add the fact that no-one speaks English language, no toilets, no piped water, up to 14 large wooden fishing boats all grinding fibreglass, paint, marine fouling etc, up to 20 knots of wind daily, temps in the mid 30 degrees centigrade, no shade other than that afforded by the boats' shadows. Daily dust storms whipping around the yard carrying fibreglass particles, paint sandings etc etc made life difficult. Our boat had quite a bit of electrolysis damage to the hull paint below the water line. This was courtesy of a short in the ais antenna earthing out to the hull via the rig. This meant removing most of the bottom paint and then re-painting with barrier, primer, top coat then the antifouling paint. Each coat obviously has a stipulated drying time, so the old adage of sitting watching paint dry was very apt. We contracted 3 guys to assist/do the bulk of the work. That made life easier and we got through the work with little trouble. The yard itself provided almost daily amusement with fires, atrocious workplace safety, and interesting work on refurbishing timber boats. Our boat was relaunched yesterday and from the waterline down looks amazing. Above the waterline is disgustingly filthy from the dust and rubbish that flew around the yard.