Carina's Refit Philippines

 

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Holiday Oceanview Marina

in Davao Gulf is a new marina and boatyard. We returned here after a side trip to Indonesia. For a refit...

Bye Bye Ocean

hello concrete

Just After The Holidays

of 2014, we floated onto a custom-made cradle and were slowly brought ashore.

The Guys

scrubbed months of accumulated growth from Carina's undersides.

In the Philippines

workshoes are minimalist.

Team Oceanview

consisted of the good and the bad...like any crew...but all were ready to help Kjartan the yard manager when interesting projects arose, such as stepping the mast of a catamaran built on site.

And We Began

our tenure as concrete dwellers, connected to earth by a surprisingly-strong bamboo ladder.

And

her propeller

Home Sweet

boatyard. A view from above at the top of the limestone cliff above the yard.

Our New

Oceanview

The First Project

was chainplates. The uppers and lowers replaced with newly constructed ones before we even hauled out. Here Philip is contorted into a locker where the plates enter Carina.

The Family

"car", a Honda XRM 125, kept us connected to town and mostly sane because it allowed us to tour the island.

Jake

was not amused. He had grown fond of his nocturnal wanderings in the marina. Now he is confined to Carina.

On Hand to Help

with boatyard projects were Bill & Kjartan. Serge was visiting for installation of the mast and rigging of Norma, the catamaran they are moving out of the shed on this day.

The Failed Expoxy Coating

on Carina's underside was attacked first.

Jake

seemed to care less about the baggies of parts lining the cabin sole. We were less sanguine about them.

And Then

the bootstripe. Backwards, yes, but they want to be sure to reproduce the stripe to perfection.

Even the Dodger

top got a fresh coat of paint.

And New

Sunbrella sidepanels. Built to last.

In Preparation

for painting the decks and cabin top, we pulled the dorade box to find the wooden support structure rotted. The shop began to manufacture a replacement made of plastic.

Then We

removed hardware and the guys began sanding and patching the hull

Carina's Cockpit

wrapped up for painting.

The Decks

primed for painting. The blue hue is from the tarps meant to protect the workers from the fierce noontime sun.

Ikoy

was a careful and skilled painter

Carina's New

LP topsides paint. Awlgrip Off-White.

Jake Approved

of the new paint.

Irrefutable Evidence

of deeply buried corrosion of stainless exposed to seawater prompted us to pull all the chainplates and bow roller.

Lucky We Did

The bow roller assembly showed extensive corrosion and was sent off to the shop for repair and reinforcement.

Tata

was in charge of the bow roller project. Here he is cutting the stock for the piece to be sistered to the tack and chainplate

Re-Installing

the bow roller involved precariously balancing on a tippy ladder while trying to avoid getting coated with gooey sealant.

Carina's Twin

stern chainplates were also pulled and examined by a rigger who said they were thicker above the clevis than below. So, we measured them and

He Was Right

the stress on the chainplates moved material such that above the clevis pin the plates were 0.1 - 0.15 mm thicker than below the clevis. As the result we beefed up the chainplates by making them twice as thick.

Stern Chainplates

go directly through the solid teak toe rail aft. These holes had to be reamed out.

The New

beefier chainplates went in after the topsides paint was completed

Another Improvement

was the addition of chainplate covers to help seal the teak to stainless chainplate.

Jack

wanted aboard and sometimes achieve his goal despite our putting deterrents in his way.

At the Top

of the backstay, the aging tang was also replaced with a new one fashioned by Tata.

Tata

also made us a thicker backstay splitter, which when rigged to newly serviced Sta-Lok fittings, resulted in a whole new backstay, ready for service.

We Even

took apart all of our Sta-Loks and found at least one wire that needed replacement. Our sealant had failed.

Then and Only Then

could we hook up the radio tuner to the backstay antenna.

There are a

thousand little jobs to do when you are out of the water, including battling ants.

Jack

was a boatyard kitty of unknown origins who we befriended, fed, and had neutered and vaccinated. He is a silly little thing and a good hunter whose job became to keep any boatyard vermin population under control.

Jack

was a frequent visitor to boats on the hard, navigating steep boarding ladders with ease.

Whew

this piece of hardware failed during our refit and NOT at sea. Its limber hole must have been clogged and seawater accumulated in the base, causing it to rust and fail.

Most Boatyard

jobs involve stuffing crew into tight places!

Her Name

renewed. Leslie doesn't like the color but hey, it's what we got.

Carina Had

a non-functioning speed log. We removed it and the yard began the painstaking task of repairing the hole.

After Fabricating

a plug and carefully grinding a recessed hole, the patch came together. Fiberglass and epoxy reinforced the patch on the inside.

After Anti-Fouling Primer

we re-installed through hulls. Note the alignment marks which assured us that the seacocks and 90 degree hose barb adapters inside would align so as to be functional in a tight space.

One Fewer

hole in the hull. One fewer site to fail and sink the boat.

Speaking of Sinking

the boat. This odd fitting below waterline always worried us. We pulled it and WOW, it had a hole in it. The folks at Mae Wess (the ferry company on Samal Island) fabricated a perfect replacement.

Sea Cocks

Installed when we bought Carina, along with odd adapters, also worried us. This refit, this seawater intake to the head was replaced with a higher quality fitting.

Back Down

she went on Saturday April 11, 2015.

Will She Float?

She did on Saturday April 11 but we discovered a leaking thru-hull. For four days more she sat on her keel, wet but not yet afloat. We came and went on the plank to shore.

On Tuesday April

14, Carina finally floated after a whole bunch of guys gave her a shove off the cradle as the marginally-high tide came to a crest.

Each Morning We

woke to a true ocean view...even if it was over the marina breakwater...and got on with our list of chores, content to float.

A Return to the Water

meant Jack waiting for Philip when he left for his walk each morning.

Though We Floated

the list was still long including polishing and re-painting the dorade for installation on the newly reinforced dorade box.

An Old Friend

Also rebuilt was our trusty Monitor windvane. From polish to shims, bearings and a complete set of mounting and assembly fasteners, Bud is better than ever and ready to take on another ocean.

After Months

of back and forth on liferaft servicing, concerns and finally replacement, our "not new" but never deployed, newly serviced little lovely arrived. It seems to have visited a few ports of call along the way.

And

it looked GREAT. A 2013 model six man. Hurray for Winslow Liferaft's customer support.

At 0530

the sunrise sparkles on the dew collected on Carina's coaming undergoing preparation for varnish.

And Then There

was yet more rigging. Inspection of Sta-Loks on uppers and lowers prompted replacement of the aft lower port stay which had a single broken wire buried deep in its lower terminal. New wedges and some wire and we had ourselves a brand new stay. Gotta love those mechanical fittings.

And if All That...

wasn't enough already, there are all the little things that need to be maintained. Our 'frig wiring was a little corroded and was giving us intermittent loss of connectivity. Of course this occured at the hottest time on the hottest of hot days.

She Shines

from top to bottom. The freshly sprayed galley table reflects the light of the portlights. And this was a cloudy day!

The Old Water

heater hadn't been used in years. The tank was leaking so we took it out of the system by connecting its cold input to the hot output and connecting the system hoses together using a hose barb.

The Trouble

was that the water heater was too big to fit through the lazarette opening. It was a messy ugly job to get the - still water filled - hideous mess removed.

Two Days

went by before we had the NEW water heater, dis-assembled, in place, re-assembled, wired and plumbed.