Hard to believe that it is almost the end of February already but then I don’t have too much sense of time anymore with my current lifestyle and one of its many benefits. As they/we say here in Fiji “ne senga ne lenga” which translates into “don’t worry, be happy” and is truly a part of the culture, attitudes and way of life here in Fiji. I can’t articulate it well but have come to understand it now after living here for almost a year in total between my two different times here and especially these past few months from working so closely with so many Fijians. It has truly been one of the great gifts of my time here and a big bonus for doing all this boat work here to have the opportunity to work shoulder to shoulder with these happy people, to eat and joke with them and to be given this in depth glimpse into their lives and customs. You know how it is when you work closely and spend a lot of time with someone, when you break bread with them and when you share in experiences, how you develop such a bond and understanding of people. So far beyond anything you can get from a visit or a vacation and I’m so fortunate to have this opportunity.
The weather here has continued to cooperate as we have returned to the daily rhythm of bright sunny mornings followed by hot humid afternoons and then thunder and rain showers which typically start about 3pm or so. Not a lot of rainfall when it does happen and so things have been staying very dry and all the work on the topsides of the hull has been progressing very well.
As you can see in these pictures it is a cycle of spraying on thick coats of primer/filler, sanding with large flat sanding pads to take down high spots and then filling in low spots with filler. So Learnativity has lost its all white surface from the last round of spraying you saw last week and is now this beautiful patchwork of colours as we sand through the layers of primer and filler. The goal is to have as flat and smooth a surface as possible before the dark blue colour top coat is sprayed on. The agreement I have with the crew is that if we can feel it with our hands as we run them over the hull we fill and sand them till they are gone and if you look closely at the photo above left you can see each spot we find circled in pencil. This also means that the large wavy irregularities in the steel plate will not be removed so it won’t be a perfect mirror flat surface but that isn’t reasonable or even possible with steel or most other hulls. Going with dark blue does mean that any irregularities will be more easily seen, just as you’d be familiar with on car body panels and other dark glossy surfaces, but I think it will still look very distinctive and will truly be a whole new boat by the time we are done.
Once we have the topsides all painted our attention will move to the biggest job of all, the decks. Unlike the nice large flat surfaces of the topsides, the deck is nothing but nooks and crannies that all have to be filled, fileted, sanded and primed so it takes much longer. Then when we have this all done and sprayed with the topcoat of gloss white, I need to reinstall all the hardware, fittings, hatches, windows and rigging, as everything that wasn’t welded on was removed and now has to be replaced. This includes chasing all threads for the new fasteners, cleaning and rebuilding all the parts and equipment before it is replaced and re-bedding and sealing it all so nothing leaks. Then we will mask off the area around all these and apply the non skid surfaces. All well worth it but all very time consuming and laborious
If you look closely at some of the photos here you can see that I got them to put me in a very nice spot and position such that the stern nestled right up into the tree branches. Look a bit more closely in the photo top left with Ruby in it and you’ll see that the trees border a large grassy field and behind that is all verdant wild growth. Birds fill the trees with song and I can still have my morning routine of breakfast out on the back deck looking out over this scene as I enjoy another sunrise and quiet start to a new day. About as good as it can get for being “up on the hard” as we call it. Best of all, this kind of experience will lead to an even deeper appreciation of all those times I am up on that nice new white non skid deck enjoying yet another great sundown and put a smile on my face every time I row up to Learnativity that can only be earned through this kind of effort and experience.
Not too much else to report as this work takes up all daylight hours along with many small jobs, researching and ordering new parts as well as time helping and talking with other cruisers here, trips to town for groceries and supplies and lots of writing and reading. I’d prefer to be back in the water and anchored peacefully of some remote island, but it is still a very rich and full life that I’m blessed to lead.
Stay tuned, with any luck I’ll have a nice shiny dark blue hull to show you next week.
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