Shipyard Work, One for the Boys!…#23

Living while our boat is in the shipyard is not easy. Long before we put the boat on the hard, we had decided to rent a place to stay other than the shipyard. YES, you can actually stay on your boat way up in the air while it is on blocks on land. We happily decided to find a cheap alternative. A room in a house close to the yard worked great.

We chose Opequimar Shipyard, in Puerto Vallarta, to do the work for multiple reasons. As I mentioned in my post Iguanas, Tigers & Crocodiles… OH MY!!!! …#21  Dan and Ken did shipyard visits. They talked with a lot of folks about the approach, the facility capability, the businesses, accomodations, and restaurants nearby for doing the work and keeping it all organized. The whole picture.  We had a pretty big list of items we wanted done and needed to have a Mexican translator and Project Manager help us. We got that with a recommendation from Dick Markie at Paradise Village Marina with Jorge Servin from SYS.

Dan and I spent the 40ish hours before the haulout preparing for the work on the outside. We moved our stuff from the outside decks to inside. They would be sanding and painting and we didn’t want anything spoiled. Plus we needed it out of their way to facilitate a faster turnaround time.  We also had our Dinghy, Waverunner & motorcycle stored on land. We were having the top deck redone too. Other than doing an outside paint job from the waterline down and 80% above the water line. We had other stuff we needed/wanted done too.

Their Work List:

• Top side painting, Fly bridge to deck including cockpit and cranes
• Clean, scrape, repair, epoxy coat then paint bottom and boot stripe
• Upholstery for bow and flybridge cushions
• Varnish railing, doors, flybridge seating rails, Sapphire deck bench seats
• Rebed and repair Bow spray rails, stop small leak
• Repack and install new packing box hoses on main shafts, rebed one strut.
• Restore pitted rudder shafts, rebed rudder glands, install new bearings
• Complete overhaul of Naiad Stabilizer Actuators and seals to near new condition
• Reinstall dinghy cradles in new positions for safety, list control and access

The crew was expecting us and ready for our arrival at Opequimar (O-pek-i-mar).  They didn’t take long to get her into the slings of the travel lift. Below is Angelique in the sling to move her on the “hard” as us boaters call it.

They moved her on to land and did a quick power wash of the bottom while still in slings. She is setting on blocks of wood that help keep her from moving while they spray off the bottom. Then they moved Angelique to her location in yard and put her on wood platforms and started to put the jack stands on to support her upright. They tie them together across from side to side so they can’t move. Then a simple ladder to climb up the back.

The work began that day, as soon as she was supported, they went to work. 

Dan and I ride our bicycles everyday to work (as Dan puts it). We arrive at the shipyard and Dan does his dirty jobs and works on his project list while the guys are doing their paid for work.

• Dan Jobs;
  • Wire aft bilge level switch to alarm bell
  • Install new KVH compass and Garmin display unit
  • Build and install new reverse engineered wireless remote for our old Robertson AP300 Autopilot (Saved $800)
  • Zincs on swim platform brackets
  • Refurbish and install swim step ladder as designed under the step
  • Glue, clamp Sapphire Deck table to fix crack
  • Install new port generator exhaust elbow, and stbd generator shutdown solenoid
  • Fix electrical issues with 32V bow lights and aft hall 12V lights, and panel lights
  • Build and install new heavy duty battery hold down clamp on house batteries
  • Clean repair and lubricate all 6 strainers, and fix mount on Stbd GenSet strainer
  • Install 3 new Turbo drain hoses on main engines
  • Fix steering leaky O-rings and hydraulic hoses aft
  • Fix snaps on bow sun shade
  • Repaint anchor chain depth marks
  • Install 2 new searchlights

I help and assist all that I can with Dan’s list of items. I spend time working on other stuff;

• Angela’s Jobs;
  • Blog writing
  • Keeping us healthy and fed
  • Flat bicycle tire repair shop hunting
  • Talking to varnish & upholstery guys
  • Finding our Airbnb’s to stay in
  • Phone service shopping
  • Moving/covering our stuff on boat so it doesn’t get dirty
  • Cleaning up a bit after them
  • Taking pictures
  • Working on our budget
  • Planning our Kylie/Ryan visit
  • Helping Dan when possible (like snaking wire!)

We keep trying to do some fun stuff too, but the hard work is over shadowing the fun stuff right now. It is important to get it done as quick as possible, it cost us everyday on the hard. AND we want back on our boat and in the water. It is our home now.

After Angelique was pulled out of the water an inspection was done to the bottom. Of course more work was found and identified adding to the length of time on the hard and our budget. Something has to give with the dollars being spent and we will have to give up some of our wants vs needs.

We were told an estimate of 3-4 weeks in the yard. But as I write this blog we are at Day 27 but think we are on the downhill side. It will take longer than 4 weeks, my guess is 6. We are trying to be optimistic with our timeline. But with most projects it isn’t going to hit the target date. Now we have added to the scope. Dan and I had a bet in November before we talked to anyone about the work.. He picked a date and I picked a date…… GUESS WHOS going to WIN!! Our dates were 6 weeks apart. Lets just say I wish I didn’t win.

Pictures of the paint prep, a couple guys

Once back in the water we still won’t be done. There are items that can’t happen in the dusty, dirty shipyard. example: final varnishing of the rails, and placing of the dinghy cradles.

We are really excited to see the completion and a clean boat. That will be a happy day! Watch for our next blog…. ——>>> what was found, what we fixed & what was completed

Adios Amigos, Bueno dia