Plans or dreams?
20 June 2021 | Marsden Cove Marina
Susan Wells | Wet!
Susan has found an audience
It is now the middle of June and the refit on the boat is almost complete. At the moment the boat is in Marsden Cove Boatyard having the bottom sanded down to the gel coat, then painted with anti fouling. It's the first time since new that all paint has been removed. We noticed when we had the bottom repainted in Fiji that there jwere bubbles and flaking occurring because of the many layers of paint. It was time to scrape it all down and start afresh. While the boat is on the hard we'll also have the shaft seal examined and check the rudder.
One last project will be done in Auckland in July. We will convert to lithium batteries. Instead of 6 AGM lead acid batteries we will have 4 lithium batteries saving considerable space and reducing the weight of the boat by 300 pounds. The lithium will provide greater charge capacity and will last longer because they can be discharged much lower and can be cycled 4 times more than the lead acid. The catch? They are much more expensive although amortized over their lifetime, the cost is not much greater than the AGM.
Anyway, then we will be finally done, until something else breaks. The boat is ready to cross oceans, but as always, there's nowhere to go. Fiji, the most accessible place to go, is in the midst of a major COVID outbreak, The whole of Viti Levu is in lockdown. Boats are still allowed in through their "blue lanes" (a procedural sequence of regulations) but once cleared they are not allowed to move around. Fiji is also suffering from COVID related trade restrictions and recovering from the 2 cyclones that hit the islands earlier this year. It's not the place to be right now.
The best place to be is New Zealand. Our visas were renewed so we can stay until November and since that is back in cyclone season, the visas would probably be renewed for an additional 6 months. By then we're hoping that vaccines will have been distributed widely enough for countries to open up. THEN....
Fiji, Australia and West with the World ARC. This is a rally of sailboats that circumnavigates each year starting and ending in Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. We would be joining the rally halfway through in Australia in May 2022. The organization handles all the paperwork (phew) and provides some security in their numbers. Usually there are about 20 boats on this rally. The route would be from Australia to Lomboc, Indonesia to Caicos to Mauritius to Reunion to Richards Bay, South Africa then on to Brazil and ending in Saint Lucia in August of 2023. I will not be on the leg across the Indian Ocean. Greg will have crew to join him for that.
All these grand plans depend on COVID. If none of the countries open up by March of 2022 we have to think of different alternatives. We could sail East back to French Polynesia then to Hawaii and finally to the American West Coast. We could ship the boat to Ensenada, Mexico or Fort Laudadale, Florida. We could join our friends, Peter and Banu and sail up to Japan and East near Alaska before ending in the Pacific Northwest.
Meanwhile we will continue to enjoy this beautiful country. Check out the gallery for more pictures and soon we will post a video tour of Rapture fresh from her refit.