HAUL OUT AND A RED BOTTOM

January 21 2024

Christmas and New Year are over, its time to get industrious again.  I hauled out at Medana Bay Marina on January 2.  Truce isn’t due for a new antifoul yet but I have been experiencing some knocking from the shaft at certain engine revs.  I am sure its nothing too serious but as a precaution I want to inspect all the running gear and find out what the problem is – and rectify it.  At the same time I will take the opportunity to give Truce another coat of antifoul, that should last us for another year. 

The haul out at Medana is done with a tractor and Roodberg type trailer/cradle system.  I have never used this system before and was interested to see how it worked.  On the day we didn’t have any problems and Truce came out the water nicely, well supported by the big landing pads on hydraulic rams.

I was quite happy with the old antifouling that Steven and I had applied before leaving New Zealand, It looked good and still had a few months life left.  However, I know from experience, if you bring a boat out and put it back with the same old antifoul on it won’t be long before you have to haul out again.  There was no option but to put another coat of antifoul on the hull. 

The antifoul here is very expensive.  The cost of the antifoul pain for Truce would run to about $1,500.  Wandering about the local hardware store I came across some Nippon Antifoul that is produced in Indonesia and widely used by the local fishing boats.  The jaw dropping price of about $12 per liter was very attractive. 

I did some google study and asked around the locals to get their opinion of the paint.  Google opinions varied, I couldn’t find anybody who had actually used the paint on a yacht to give an opinion.  Nippon said that the paint was good to keep the hull clean for a year, which is about what I would expect of any antifoul if the boat is spending the majority of the time at anchor, as most cruising boats do.  So, I spent very little money on the Nippon antifoul and put on three coats.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months, fingers crossed.

It turned out that the nasty noise coming from the shaft was the propellor shaft hitting the side of the log at low revs.  The Yanmar engine shakes alarmingly on its mounts at certain low revs and this was causing the shaft to hit one side of the log.  The tolerances are quite tight and the shaft has to be aligned central to the log.  When I changed out the engine mounts I realigned the engine and shaft.  I also put on a new cutlass bearing at the same time.  It seems that a period of settling in has caused the mounts, engine, cutlass bearing and shaft to take up a slightly different line.  I shifted the engine slightly over to starboard, realigned everything and now all is sweet again. 

If I had known it was just a case of misalignment I would have not hauled out and left it for a few months, but I didn’t know for sure so its best the be cautious.  Haul out facilities are few and far between in Indonesia and a shaft failure would be difficult to manage in the light and fickle wind conditions we get here.  I am happy its all good again and am now confident using the motor.

When hauling the boat out I cut my thumb on a shell clinging to the propellor.  It was just a small cut and I thought nothing of it.  Unfortunately, after a few days the cut became infected and within twenty four hours it went ballistic.  A trip to the doctor ensued and he drained and dressed it.  This was a real setback as it was my right hand and exactly where it gets the most use.  I was unable to sand and paint the hull as I usually do and had to hire labour to get the job done.  Fortunately, I had completed the shaft alignment before the infection took hold.  Due to my infected thumb the haul out took a couple of days longer than expected and I spent considerable time in my air conditioned room resting my hand. 

With the antifouling complete and the engine realigned we splashed back in the water on January 15 and did some sea trials.  All is sweet again, the knocking at low rpms is gone.  I have applied cross check to all the engine mounting bolts, that will provide a quick visual check that nothing is moving.

From Medana Bay Marina I am going a few miles down the coast to the southern Gili islands of Lombok.  There are supposed to be good, protected anchorages down there from the northerly and westerly  trades at this time of year.  First I have to top off with fuel and buy a few groceries and beer before we can head out. 

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