Spraying and splashing and leaking (just a bit)

Cam from Port Whangarei Marine Center spraying on our Coppercoat.

Kiwis swear a lot. At first I thought it was because we were in a boatyard and that's just how the tradesmen talked. But in the time I spent at playgrounds and walking along the scenic waterfront paths in Whangarei, I was continually, mildly surprised to hear the F-word casually uttered in conversation by moms pushing young kids in strollers. Seems that just the way it 'effin is here...

We think this gun was the primary reason for the
long lines to get on the NZ Navy boat.It caused a logjam
 as people vied for a turn to fire it (unloaded of course).

Some folks do seem to try and "hide it from the kids".  As we stood in line to tour the New Zealand Navy patrol ship Roititi, the grandmother of a 5-year old boy in front of us said, "sh*t" and the parents tried to play it off ("Uh, the ship?  What about the 'ship' Nonni?). I guess it's all part of the laid-back, irreverent Kiwi attitude that I like so much.

Mark from s/v Field Trip gave us the idea to have the Coppercoat
sprayed on and we're glad he did. Matt and Mark mixing paint.

Ooh, ahh...

While on the topic of swearing, I had a few choice words streaming through my head as we were finally lowered into the water the other day. In addition to the spanking new bottom, we have all-new thru-hulls and the shafts and rudders were removed and put back in. So while we were still in the slings of the travel lift, we rushed around to check all the various fittings and seals. A trickle of water was coming out of the shaft seal for the engine propeller shaft and several of the thru-hulls had some water leaking. There was no gushing but, for obvious reasons, any water coming in is bad.

Matt had us lifted back out of the water (in place) so he could address the various leaks. He felt the pressure of the consequences if he couldn't fix them in quickly: the waiting travel lift operators (who were very patient) had other tasks and the next boat to be hauled out was waiting for us to be done (Mark from Field Trip was on board to help and was extremely gracious about saying that there was no rush). The pressure was mostly self-imposed, but very real. We both felt it.

Matt replaced and moved the hose clamps on the shaft seal and fixed two of the three leaky through hulls. The third through hull connected to a sanitary hose that wouldn't come undone even after softening with boiling water and with almost all of Matt's strength. Just as an exhausted Matt had given up and asked Mark to come give him a hand, his eensy-teensy, manly pride rallied his strength and he was able to get it loose.

It was a tense few minutes after we were re-lowered into the water and checked the shaft and through hulls. All was good and we could breathe again. We motored over to the dock across the bay, where Mark helped us dock. After that, Matt went over and helped Field Trip get hauled out, which is another story that I will let them tell. Matt spent the rest of the day fixing residual leaks in hoses above some of the through hull valves (these can be done in the water and any leaking can be stopped by closing the valve) and tending to the toilets, whose seals had gotten dried and cracked after more than three months of disuse while out of the water.

It has been a couple days since we splashed and Matt is getting close to finishing 'the list' of boat tasks. We have sold our car, ordered our Fijian money, and completed our final provisioning. The wind for the near future is pretty light and/or from the wrong direction, so we'll have time to hang out here while we wait for a good window to head to the Lau group to meet up with the other Sea Mercy vessels (please consider donating on their site if you're able). We're looking forward to seeing our buddies on Amelie IV, who just left for Fiji the other day..