Photos: Tregoning’s hull being power-washed while she sits in the large travel lift at Port Whangarei Marine Center
Prior to this week, we have had Tregoning hauled-out of the water four times (that I can remember) since we bought her. First for the extended refit in Fernandina Beach Florida (2008), then in 2011 to have the engine replaced in Hawai`i, very briefly for an out-of-water survey in Olympia, WA, in 2013, and most recently (2014) for a complete hull repaint in Mazatlán, México.
All of those haul-outs have been made using a travel-lift, which is a large U-shaped, four-wheeled vehicle. The boat is driven into the mouth of the U while the lift is sitting on jetties that extend out over the water on either side of a slip. Slings that are suspended between the arms of the U dip into the water below the boat and these are slowly raised on both sides, lifting the boat out of the water and above ground-level. The lift is driven to the appropriate spot in the boatyard and the process is reversed with the boat standing upon the flat base of the keel and supported by a cradle and/or jack-stands (movable, stands topped by square wooden panels that can be raised, lowered, and angled to fit the hull).
When we arrived at the travel-lift slip of Port Whangarei Marine Center (downriver of the Te Matau Ā Pohe drawbridge which was opened for us in a most efficient and timely fashion), we were a little surprised to find that we were expected to stay aboard Tregoning during her lift. This had not been permitted at other boatyards so it was a novel experience for us to rise up in the boat, holding on tightly in case of any bumps. From this position, one does study the thick fabric webbing of the slings and wonder just how strong and well-maintained they are.
All went smoothly and a ladder was erected so that we could descend and watch as Tregoning’s hull was given a thoroughly cleaning with high-pressure power-wash. Considering she had been without a hull clean of any sort for at least 18 months, the barnacle growth and other critters was relatively light and, on the whole, the bottom paint had lasted pretty well. After Tregoning was moved to her cradle, was carefully supported, and the travel-lift extracted for another haul-out, we did find that a few holes had been blasted through the bottom paint, exposing tiny areas of fiberglass. With a comprehensive survey of the hull, I counted and marked just over 50 of these nicks in the paint, each of which would need to be ground-out and refilled before receiving a layer of barrier-coat and then two layers of bottom paint. In Florida and Hawai`i, Randall and I had taken care of these ourselves but with plenty of other projects to tackle, this time we hired the boatyard painting crew to deal with it all.
Our next big decision was whether to have the mast taken-out or hire a rigger to go up and add equipment to the top-plate from which we could run our asymmetrical spinnaker without the halyard (the line on which the sail is raised) chafing through, as had happened on our way from México to French Polynesia. It did not take much discussion with the rigger to decide that we would need to add a bigger plate to the top of the mast and for this the mast had to be on the ground. So two days later, a crane came to lift the mast out of the boat (the base of the mast stands on the top of the keel in the bilges, under the salon-cabin floor) and lay it on stands next to Tregoning.
The crane lowering Tregoning’s mast to the ground
Prior to the mast-lifting, we had to frantically release all of the electrical wires from inside the boat (VHF radio, radar, lights, wind-gauge, etc.) which is quite a major project as the wires creep all through the boat to their respective switches and instruments, and were all neatly bundled together with other wires. We also had to loosen the standing rigging (the thick wire, fore- and back-stays, and the six side-shrouds), which was released from the decks and lifted-out with the mast only after we had lifted the rigger up to the top of the mast to put the crane straps in place. Even with both of us working the winch, it was really hard work lifting the rigger who was not at all overweight but who was quite tall.
A mast-less Tregoning sitting in the cradle and jack-stands
To me, sailboats always look rather sad when they do not have their mast, and Tregoning is no exception, especially when she had an acne-ridden look to her hull from all of the spots there that need filling. Of course, now that the mast is lying down at waist-level, it is easy to see all of the other projects that could be done on it (cleaning the shrouds, touch-up paint, re-rigging two halyards) as well as adding the top plate, reinstalling the masthead-light and wind-vane, and installing the new block, cleat, and through-mast openings for the new spinnaker halyard.
While we may have plenty of work to occupy us in the boatyard, we did manage to enjoy some more relaxed activities before we left the Town Basin Marina. Satisfied that it might be a while before I would beat my new personal best time of 27 minutes 5 second, I volunteered at Parkrun and had a highly responsible role as of one of the two timekeepers. The following day, I ran the course of the Whangarei half-marathon, completing it in exactly 2 hours 16 minutes. I was a little disappointed that I was six minutes slower than my first half-marathon attempt had been in Olympia but I felt good about completing the distance and it was a pleasant route, much of it alongside the river. Periodically supplying me with water, Randall followed me in his bike which was quite an ambitious ride for him, having only been on a bike once (at Andrew and Judith’s) since his surgery.
Along the Hatea River Walk, on our way to the Whangarei Falls
Anticipating that the waking and running opportunities around the boatyard would be much less interesting than around the Town Basin, we had also walked from the Town Basin to the Whangarei Falls and back. Including one loop trail around the waterfalls and another through the A.H. Reed Memorial Kauri Park to include the Canopy Walkway which threads between several large Kauri trees, this is a lovely 14 km round trip (9 miles). We took a picnic lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the shaded parts of the woodland walk, while admiring the river and falls views on a particularly fine, sunny day.
Realizing that Tregoning was, at last, going to leave the Town Basin Marina after spending 16 months there, we scurried around to spend several evenings with friends on their boats (thank you, Lauri and Chuck) or on Tregoning. We knew we were not going far and we would likely return in April/May before our departure to Tonga, but it did seem like a big step and a bit sad to finally cast-off the dock-lines. There was one advantage for me about moving into the boatyard. After so much heart-healthy cooking and having been trying to divest myself of the extra pounds gained during our wed-fed “It’s Good to be Alive Tour”, I had missed baking cakes and cookie bars. With a multitude of yard-workers around, I was pretty confident that I would find an appreciative audience for some lemon-bars, brownies, chocolate cake and raspberry oatmeal bars. Yum yum!