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Labasa: In Search of a Machine Shop

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We were eager to find a machine shop to help with our repairs.  A friend told us about a local electrical mechanic named Ram Pillai who might have a machine press.  With sketchy directions in hand we started our hunt for his shop.

We found him, after a few wrong turns and many inquiries.  For those of you who made need his services: +679.921.9777, rampillai090@gmail.com. Location: 16°46.783S / 179°20.207E.   Unfortunately, his press was broken.  However, he referred us to Vanua Engineering in Labasa.  He even called the owner to confirm that he could help us before he gave us a hand drawn map and contact information.

Ram Pillai on the right with the blue shirt teaching his student.

Ram Pillai on the right with the blue shirt teaching his student.

Labasa Road Trip

The machine shop was locate in Labasa which is a 2.5 hour bus ride across the island.  A new adventure.  We arrived at the bus depot at 7:15am and the bus driver how we go about getting a ride.

A lady passed by us and heard our conversation. She said that we had to purchase a bus card but that the place that sells them doesn’t open until 8:00am.  We would miss our bus if we waited for the shop to open.  She did not hesitate.  She reached into her purse and handed me her bus card.  We exchanged numbers and thanked her profusely.  Next, we headed to the little pop-up shop to get some water and to top up the bus card.  It cost $9.72 per person each way. So, we loaded $60 Fijian ($24USD) thinking it will cover our fares and leave her with an extra $20 for her kindness.

The bus was super rickety and noisy but it made it up and down all of the hills and across the island. We had some gorgeous views as the students and locals filled the bus at each stop.

Reminder of What We Are Doing

Matt was able to remove 2 of the 4 bearings and seals, as you might remember from our last blog post.  However, the last two were below the large gear which required a large machine press which can only be found in a machine shop.

Vanua Engineering 

We showed the bus driver our map from Pillai and asked if he could drop us off near by.  Vanua Engineering is located a mile before the main town of Labasa (16°25.983S / 179°21.779E).  From the main street, we turned left, then an immediate right, and another immediate left.

The shop was a bit of a mess but it had an impressive array of equipment.  This is a really large machine shop.  They have multiple presses (manual and hydraulic), welding, mills, and lathes.

Matt explains what he needs done to the manager, Raul (+679.947.9270).

The first thing do is try to remove the gear.  Matt thought a “key” prevented the gear from turning.  However, the gear was welded to the shaft!  This sucks.

They had to grind down the weld on the bottom to push the gear off the shaft.  This gave them access to the two bearings below it.

Shoot! We realized the seals we bought were not the right size.  So, Vanua Engineering made us new seals.

Miss the Bus or Finish the Work?

We had waited all day with the hopes of them finishing the work.  However, Raul told us they wouldn’t be done in time.  We had to catch the last bus back to Savusavu at 4:00p.

The manager said he would put the steering gear box on the bus the next day. Sounds reasonable.  We paid for the work $250 Fijian ($111 USD).  

We decided it was best to return to Labasa the next day. The thought of him putting it on a bus and us not finding the right bus was too much for us to handle.

Finishing the Work

Raul inserted the new seals into the bearings.  Then both were placed inside the steering gear box.  Next they had to weld the gear back to the shaft.

Matt rode the bus all the way back to the machine shop in Labasa to get our steering gear box.  

I could not go with him as I was hosting the Island Cruising Pacific Rally Welcome Party.  We had 17 boats and over 50 people attending and I had to prepare.

The Results

Matt got back to the boat to discover a few things.  The most important thing is that it works and we can use it to get around Fiji and to New Zealand.

However, he noticed that the machine shop took out the seal from the small bearing that we brought.  It was a brand new seal fitted inside the bearing.  All they had to do was place it under the gear.  But for some reason, the removed the seal and filled it with grease.  Ugh!

Even though the weld will hold the gear to the shaft it was not welded to Matt’s standards.

What does this mean?  It means we have to take it apart and fix it when we get to New Zealand.

All in all we are happy that we got our starboard steering working!  Now, we can go explore and play across the Fiji Islands.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  We went to Labasa around May 22, 2025.

Massive Repairs in Savusavu

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I return to Savusavu after a quick trip to the states to pick up all of our boat parts (see blog “Life as a Pack Mule“).  Now, Matt is ready to begin working on the lengthy list of repairs.

He tackles the most important jobs first: Port Engine and Starboard Steering

Port Engine Timing Belt

An engine cannot run without its timing belt.  We lost the port engine timing belt in Tuvalu which rendered us short one engine.  See Failures Bring on Frustrating Times.

The new timing belt was a lot tighter than the original.  It took Matt a few tries to get it on.  Once it was on, Matt triple checked everything before attempting to start the engine.  And….it would not start.  He worked on it all day before he finally asked a fellow cruiser (Michael from sv Promises Kept) to take a look.  They bounced a lot of ideas off each other and worked on it for several hours.  Still nothing!  It would try to turn over and it sounded like it was almost there.

Finally, Matt took it apart again and triple checked everything again.  Hoping that all of the pieces were aligned and “in time.”  He moved one piece a few cm over and tried to start the engine.  It was the most beautiful sound to hear that engine fire up!  And we are back to being a two engine boat!

Starboard Steering Gear Box

This project is a little trickier as we require a machine shop to press the bearings out before Matt can finish this project.

Matt was able to get one of the small and one of the large bearings out using his new tool kit.  The Orion Motor Tech Blind Hole Collet Bearing and Seal Puller Extractor Kit.  This heavy tool kit was part of the reason my check in bag weighed 66lbs!

So we had two of the four bearings/seals out.  The other two required a machine shop.  

What we learned:

  1. The small bearing is completely missing its seal.  See old vs new bearings in the photo below.
  2. The large bearing and seal are workable but since we are taking it all apart we will replace them too.  

In the photo below, Matt uses the extractor tool to remove the bearing (green arrow). 

The red arrow shows the spot where the bearing came from out of the gear box.

We also noticed that there are a few teeth in the gear that are “worn.”  This wearing is at the center position (when the helm is centered) which is the most used position.

Finding a Machine Shop

We need to find a machine shop that has a large press to remove the gear. This would give us access to the two bottom bearings.

Stay tuned for a follow up blog post on our trip to Labasa to find a machine shop.

Wash Down Pump

The wash down pump is located at the front of the boat by the mast.  We use it to clean off the ground tackle and the boat.  We can use both fresh water and salt water through the same pump and 50′ of hose which makes it super convenient.

This poor pump is constantly exposed to salt water as it lives inside the anchor locker. 

It stopped working as we were lifting the anchor up to leave the Marshall Islands.  Which was a real bummer as the anchor chain was really dirty and needed a good scrub.

Matt thought he could repair the pump. 

However, when he took it apart he realized it was too rusted to repair. We ordered a new one which I brought back with me from the states.

Matt got it installed with little effort and ow it is working perfectly.

Leaks at the Bow

It is never good to have a leak on a boat and we had 2!  At least both leaks were contained to the bow peaks.  

We use our two forward bow peaks for storage. 

The port bow peak houses (5) A4 and (8) F4 fenders, a passerelle, SUP, and (8) PFD’s. 

Starboard houses (3) spinnakers, (2) large bean bags, (4) empty large water bottles, and some fun floats and noodles.

Both lockers were getting wet and it was a challenge to find their source. 

Matt discovered that the starboard leak was coming from the outside cleat. 

First, he had to remove everything from the locker and to clean it out. 

Then he took apart the cleat fittings, cleaned it, and sealed it up.  No more leaks! 

It does look like we need to repaint the interior of this locker at some point.

The port leak came from the outside rub strake. Matt removed the strake.  The water dripped in through some of the old holes were never filled in.

Matt fixed the leak by filled the holes and applying lots of 5200 (extra strength adhesive).

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  Matt worked on these projects over the month of May 2025. 

How did we get all of these new parts to Fiji?  Check out my life as a Pack Mule.

Life as a Pack Mule

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We were exhausted after visiting 3 countries and sailing over 1800 nautical miles in less than one month.  However, one of us had to be the pack mule. 

We needed boat parts to repair the boat and they were not available in Fiji.  So, we ordered all of the parts and had them shipped to my sister in California.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered it would cost $900 USD to ship a 20lb box (18″x18″x6″) from Los Angeles to Savusavu.  

In the past we used Fiji Freight and they were amazing!  However, they are no longer doing consolidated shipping.  They are only focusing on commercial shipping.  We looked at many shipping companies and shipping agents.  The cheapest price was close to the price of an airline ticket.

We decided it would be best to physically go to the U.S. to retrieve our valuable boat parts.

Savusavu to Los Angeles

A flight from Savusavu to Nadi and then Los Angeles will cost about $1,100 USD and will take 21-22 hours (depending on layovers).  

The one hour flight from Savusavu is on 21-passenger plane operated by Fiji Link.  This small plane pulls up to the equally small, single-building airport. 

I sat in the last row on my departing flight.

We had beautiful views of both Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Markedly, a beautiful day!

I love that you can see the shadow of our airplane in the water.

Coming in for a landing at the Nadi International airport. 

The bottom left photo shows us making the approach to the airport. Can you see the air strip?

The Domestic terminal is super small.  One baggage carousel, a small cafe, bathrooms and 2 desks. 

It is a short 3-minute walk to the International terminal.

The flight from Nadi to L.A. was huge! Close to 250-300 passengers.  It was cruel that they had us pass by the business/first class area to get to our tightly packed economy area.

Hermosa Beach

I took a few extra days with my sister and her sweet 6-month old puppy Luke. 

We went on lovely walks each day, ran some errands, and gathered boat parts.

The only person I got to see was my uncle Matthew.  He came by for a short visit and lunch.

I enjoyed lots of walks between Hermosa Beach (above) and Manhattan beach (below).

Pack Mule

Enough funny business.  It was time to earn my pack mule title. 

It was time to remove all packaging and organize this chaos in a way that meets the strict luggage guidelines.

I was allotted one checked bag weighing 30 kilos (66lbs) and one carry bag weighing 7 kilos (15lbs).  

Lots of heavy bearings, a wash down pump, a full stainless tool kit, 2 sets of dive gauges, snorkel gear, and some clothes.

As it turned out my checked bag came in right at 30 kilos!  Man was I lucky.  My carry on was 5 kilos.

Matt took a photo of our plane coming into Savusavu:

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events. 

I was a pack mule for Matt the first part of May 2025.

Be sure to read about our passage to Fiji here.