Reuniting with Cool Change

On the windy, cloudy Tuesday morning following our Monday afternoon flight in from Nuku’alofa, we drove over to the Vava’u Boatyard, practically holding our breath in anticipation of laying eyes on Cool Change for the first time in 30 months. What shape was she going to be in? Could she even recover from being abandoned by us for so long? Or was our beautiful home for six years of our lives going to look like an old derelict, ready to be sold for parts? We have been asking ourselves these questions for so long, and now would be the moment of truth.

The first thing we saw of her as we approached her up on her cyclone cradle, of course, was the hull. The topsides looked great. That paint job they did in Mexico has really held up.  The Boatyard had already told us they had prepped the bottom for another paint job, so the bottom was taped off. The boards supporting the spare fuel containers attached to the stanchions midship on either side of the boat, we were soon to discover, had rotted through. Fortunately, we had saved some pieces of teak we can use to replace them.

The deck and the cockpit, even though we had a sunshade covering them, looked as one would expect after 30 months in the tropics: all green and black and ugly. But we would find that after two days of scrubbing, they cleaned up well. Tie wraps holding Rick’s spacers on the SSB radio cable split in the heat/sun. The Cetol wood treatment on the cap rails held up great but the varnish on the companionway slats looked like heck.

The worst was the dodger (the canvas covering the entrance to the cabin). Even though it was shaded, that didn’t stop the ash from the volcano from seeping through. And even though the boatyard said they washed it off, the ash stuck to the fabric, especially the leather wear protection, and turned it black.  Sooty, thick black. Where there was fabric, there was black.  We thought the dodger was toast.  But with a lot of elbow grease, it looks like it will survive.  Not quite as spiffy as it once was, but it will survive.

Inside the cabin, we were pleasantly surprised.  The teak looked good, the headliner cleaned up well, and we only found two dead cockroaches and a few spider egg sacks. A can inside a plastic bag exploded, but that is why it was packed inside a bag! Most of my zillions of spices baked to a dark brown and had to be tossed.  It was quite cathartic, throwing away stuff I had since Mexico.

Rick will update you more on the technical stuff, but here is a summary so far: both of our house batteries and our starter battery are not taking a charge. Fortunately, Rick had ordered new house batteries in 2019 so they were here waiting for us when we arrived, and so far seem no worse for sitting for two years. We just arranged to have a starter battery on order from New Zealand through the boatyard that should hopefully arrive by the end of August – meanwhile we will be very careful starting the engine with our house batteries. On shore power, everything electrical seems to be working ok, but there is still much to test. Rick replaced a part of the VHF cable he thought might be causing some problems, but still, the VHF is not operating at maximum power, says Rick’s meters. On the other hand, our reception sounds great, and we are in a radio hole next to a hill so our reception/transmission could be interrupted.

Rick got the solar panels and the wind generator back up, and so far so good.  We left one, old solar panel up while we were gone, to keep the bilge pump working, and that solar panel was all warped and dead.  The few lines we left uncovered were black but they cleaned up well, and the sacrificial lines we put up in place of the halyards were all still in one piece.  Of course, we haven’t rigged any of the sails yet so we will see if the sacrificial lines hold up while pulling the real halyards up the mast.

My biggest regret is that we had to leave behind about 70 pounds of stuff because of luggage limitations on the repatriation flight, or so we were told. As it turns out, we probably could have brought more and just paid for it. (We were warned that the repatriation flight coild be fully booked and there wouldnt be roomf ro exyra baggage, but as it was, it was a big plane and only half full.) One of the things that got cut was a new mattress cover I had sewn to fit the v-berth. I figured we would just use the old one. It had been so long that I had forgotten we had thrown the old one away.  So my lovely new mattress cover sits at home while we will sleep recklessly on our mattress without a cover to protect it, other than a sheet.  Pisses me off.  Also, we both found that we brought stuff thinking they were essential and found plenty already on the boat, like chart pencils and tie wraps. I think at some point in the past, we were short on these things so the next time we came, we brought plenty, and then forgot we had loaded up already!  

Quality kitchen sponges are hard to find here, and I had to cut the quantity of those I brought too, darn.  And I had a bunch of new items for the galley to replace old stuff and that all got left behind too. But Rick got to bring all his equipment, without trimming much, but then I will admit, our repaired VHF radio is more important than a new kitchen gadget!

We had no luggage inspection whatsoever when we arrived and could have brought anything. But aside from new boat equipment, we really didn’t push the limits at all anyway.

After our initial deck cleaning, which Rick and I did together, each taking half of the boat, we split our duties to take advantage of our strengths and to not get in each other’s way. Rick helped me empty the v-berth by passing all the sails and rolled-up dinghy up the forward hatch, where we stored everything above deck. While Rick put up the solar panels, I finished emptying the v-berth, wiped down every inch of the headliner and teak inside the cabin with vinegar, and washed and put away everything in the galley. While he prepped the engine for start up and loaded/hooked up the new batteries, I hung the storm curtains in the cockpit and restored all of the safety equipment to its proper place.

Today an expert mechanic went through the engjne start up procedure with Rick. After many moments of uncertainty due to 30 months of inactivity, our Yanmar purred like she should, and the mechanic complemented Rick on his excellent engine maintenance. Our outboard started up ok but is off to the mechanic’s shop for a tune-up. Meanwhile, I stayed back at the bungalow today and spent the day hand washing and hanging our clothes up to dry in the wind and the sun (not something I missed!)

There is still so much to do. We haven’t begun to rig the sails yet – a big job. Hopefully that will be one of our next projects. I am anxious to see if the fridge still works, of course. And I am anxious to confirm that our chartplotter still works, as well as our electronics such as our wind indicator. Our depth sounder and speed indicators can’t be tested until we are in the water. Rick should probably go up the mast and make sure everything is still where it should be a d in good condition.

I was amazed at how much canned food we have accumulated over the years. We actually have a whole canned duck! Can you believe it? Now that we are looking at no more than six months or less before we empty Cool Change for sale, we have to start thinning out our accumulation of food, clothing and other stuff. We are trying to eat the food, and I have already sorted out several pounds of sheets, towels, clothing and household items we are giving away. there will be more, here and in Fiji.

We have our bungalow for one more week and then move onto Cool Change in the Boatyard full time. Rick agreed to keep the car yet another week after we move onto the boat, since the Boatyard is far from town. As you can imagine, we are hemorrhaging money right now, between all our continuing expenses to maintain our home in California, plus Boatyard rental, bungalow rental, car rental, restocking costs, and new parts such as the new starter battery. But oh well, that is what we have savings and investments for. It is not like these expenses will continue forever. It will help our budget once we are floating again – no rental car or bungalow costs, but more imoortantly, after 30 months, no Boatyard costs!

Meanwhile, while this can be an arduous process, I remind Rick that we should relish every moment. We are just so darn relieved and happy to be here.