fixing Opela to get back in the water part two

 

Chapter two

I left off where I had left UK with two bags of toys I was going to use to get Mrs Opela back to some sort of restored dignity after leaving her for almost three years

In my bags I had

A new chartplotter with AIS built in

A new Raymarine autopilot control unit

Second (useless) wind turbine with a mppt controller

A new vhf radio and aerial

A new Battery charger that ran off the honda generator

A new 3000W inverter

A new Starlink mini system

and hundreds of other smaller spares that I needed because the yard had allowed the boat to go to ruin

I found the yard had turned off the automatic bilge pump and let the boat fill with water so all the veneer on the inside had gone rotten and peeled or been stained

Taken my dinghy off the boat and let it get destroyed by their staff but it was too late now to push that so I buckled down and started working on it

I ordered a new Dinghy but the French sent a bigger one than I ordered so now I have to make compromises

So the work began

I took out all the non functioning electronics and equipment and installed all the new equipment I had bought

Im sure nick and Kristel were getting used to the constant arrival of new packages being delivered to their house every day while I was there

I wont go into the endless time spent on hands and knees in tiny spaces installing everything knowing that with each installation I would most likely find more that needed doing

excluding all that I had planned

Then nit was three days sanding the bottom and another three days painting the antifouling paint onto the hull

working upwards is tiring and the fine spray of the paint burns your eyes terribly but it had to be done and was

I got the yard to help me with servicing the engine and then running it to make sure it was still working and realised that I needed a complete set of new batteries at the same time so they were ordered

No I must add that anything bought on the island has to come in by ship and ships (2 of them )usually come within 4 days of each other and arrive once every three weeks bringing all the supplies for everyone on the island

Flights bring post but that is about all so if you order be prepared to wait

Its that bad that sometimes you go to get beer and they have run out so you wait for the day after the ship has offloaded and then go to the store to get beer again,

And they speak of crimes against humanity

Anyway when I got back from UK I was told I must go back in the water immediately and I put my foot down and said we had agreed the 16^th of February so that was the date even if the yard was under pressure to get rid of me

The yard had destroyed my dinghy but I was also soon to find out they had given my new chain to another boat so they told me to find another chain so I found one as close to being ok as possible and put it onto the boat after hiring a car to drag it up and down the road to get rid of the rust

I may still have to invest in new chain before I leave but thats usd 2300 for my boat

So from Feb 4^th to Feb 16^th I got almost every thing done by working long hours and just persisting in 35 degrees of heat inside the boat I was as ready as possible to get back in the water

And here comes the good part the staff were so happy I had succeeded that they arrived on the 16^th with fresh pork meat and bananas and grapefruits to wish me well and encourage me it was heart-warming

I went into The water a

t 3pm and I must say it went smoothly and because the bay was sooo full of boats I anchored outside the harbour in the open sea but I am glad I did because I was away from everyone and strangely enough 5 other boats joined me out there later

Two young Norwegian guys on their boat saw me installing my sails and came over to help and I was thankful for the help

there were a few adjustments I made and they all worked

In that time I had met the couples on JOSA and bunch of other boats and was becoming part of a community again

So I spent a week out on that anchorage and then it was time to move on and on Sunday morning I started my engine picked up my anchor and put up sails and sailed from Hiva Oa island to Touhatha island as my first test sail

on arrival in Touhatha I first went to the main town and it was so busy I immediately left and went to another bay as you see in the picture

There I found JOSA anchored and a few other boats as well but there was plenty of space so I stayed a week there tinkering swimming and watching dolphins with cubs turtles and Manta rays swimming around the boat all the time

One boat caught a large tuna so that night they came around and gave all the boats in te area a piece and it was really interesting to hear how each boat prepared their piece for dinner

I had tuna steak and the next morning Shashimi

and after the time there I knew it was time to move on and that will be the subject of my next story