Category Archives: Boat Details

Tearing the Boat Apart

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It is never easy tearing the boat apart. Matt and I have to create complete chaos in our home in order to complete our vast number of projects.

We disrupted every space and turned the entire boat upside down. Nothing was left untouched.

It made living on the boat very challenging (yes, we lived on the boat for over 3 months in this chaotic state).  Especially difficult for my OCD and neat freak character.

The cockpit becomes the work bench, storage area, and new galley.

The Salon

We upturned the salon several times. We emptied all of the contents under the settee into the two bathrooms (heads) and port aft cabin.  

All cables and wires are run through this area, which we can access only after removing everything.

Owners Cabin

We repainted the starboard potable water tank, which required taping everything off for weeks. No more access to our clothing, toiletries, or bed.

We dismantled the starboard cabin to allow workers access to install the new air-conditioning unit.

Starboard Bathroom

The owners bathroom was now a dedicated storage area for displaced items. We now stored items from the bilges, cabinets, and items from under the settee here.

Port Cabins

The forward cabin was now where Matt and I slept.  We stored our settee cushions here while work was being done in the main salon.

I packed the aft cabin with tools, parts, and projects waiting for Matt’s attention.

Port Bathroom

Stuff, junk, pots, pans, and more filled the port bathroom from floor to ceiling.

We stripped down and modified both helms.

We tore up the bow and bow peaks and rebuilt them several times as different projects progressed.

This is a shot of the bow while we were painting our cross beam.

Under the Boat

Under the boat is usually a storage area for yard tools, paint cans, and random projects outside.  We store our dinghy under the boat, park the car under the boat, and generally complete projects.

We were “on the hard” at Norsand Boatyard from early November 2025 to February 2026.

Get ready as you are about to read all about the projects that caused such chaos onboard Sugar Shack.

Don’t miss our last beautiful post on Whangarei Waterfalls.

Hauling out at Norsand Boatyard

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A return to New Zealand means a return to the boatyard.  We have a lot of upgrades, repairs, and general maintenance to do at Norsand Boatyard.

The slipway team with Kevin and Shane handle our haul out with expertise and professionalism!

We arrived in NZ with an exceptionally clean bottom (hull) when we arrived 18 days ago.  However, we spent those 18 days up river tied to a dock with warm, stagnant water.  These conditions are perfect for growing barnacles on our nice clean boat.

The good news: the yard pressure washed the boat immediately after haul out.  Matt and I (mostly Matt) spent days scraping the barnacle feet off the hulls so we could see where we needed to touch up the Coppercoat.   We do plan to burnish the bottom before we splash.

We have so many projects to accomplish in a short amount of time.  We have had to hire several different contractors in addition to the experts at Norsand.

Contractor Projects

  • Repair: Port fresh water tank needs to be repainted
  • Repair: Bottom of hull needs to be repaired due to reef scratches
  • Repair: Port rudder arm attachment needs to be replaced
  • Repair Canvas: Genoa bolt rope, aft shade, dinghy chaps, helm seat, 2-window shades, 3-back rests
  • Maintenance: Saildrives need to be serviced, gear oil changed, seals near props changed
  • Maintenance: Props need to be services, cleaned, and slightly adjusted
  • Maintenance: Paint crossbeam and martingale
  • Maintenance: Re-varnish (2) princess seats, (2) handrails, (4) swim steps
  • Maintenance: Burnish bottom of the boat
  • Maintenance: Paint saildrives and props with Prop Speed
  • Maintenance: Apply vinyl to rudder entry 
  • Upgrade: New window covers
  • Upgrade: New Solar Arch
  • Upgrade: New Solar Panels
  • Upgrade: New (2) Air Conditioning units
  • Upgrade: New Helm station extensions to fit new chart plotters
  • Upgrade: New Raymarine Mounts to fit gauge on helm
  • Upgrade: New rain flashing for the 4 large windows

Matt and Christine’s Projects

  • Paint (2) bow peak lockers (scrape, sand, clean, paint)
  • Clean stainless chain and re-mark 10m sections
  • Replace large zincs
  • Add freon to refrigerator and defrost freezer
  • Deep clean oven and stove
  • Paint security camera and cockpit clutch
  • Replace stickers on daggerboards
  • Sew: New helm covers, rail protectors, princess seat covers, cover for backrest
  • Polish all exterior and interior stainless
  • Clean and oil all exterior (hatch covers, sugar scoops) and interior (floors, walls, cabinets, tables) teak
  • Deep clean or re-organize entire boat
  • Prepare for insurance survey

The Plan

Our goal is to be out of the yard in 45 days but more likely it will be 90 days.  However, Norsand will close the yard for nearly 3 weeks during our haul out. 

Matt and I will focus on the contractor work for the first 5 weeks. We will work on our smaller projects in between our project management and overseeing of projects.

When Norsand closes we will focus on our larger projects.

We worked in the Norsand boatyard from 10 November 2025 – 12 January 2026.

Find Norsand Boatyard on No Foreign Land.

Check out the quirky things to do in Whangarei.

Reversing a Problem: Saildrive

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Our “reverse” on the starboard engine has always been a bit “finicky.”  The engine’s saildrive will go into reverse but it does not always engage immediately.  Sometimes it takes between 8-60 seconds to engage.  Which can be a problem as you approach a dock or berth.

We had Whangarei Marine service both sail drives in 2023.  However, they could not replicate the issue.

We have been able to just “deal” with the issue for the past few years with no problem as we were not staying at any marinas. 

However, it became a problem really fast when we tried to get fuel at Vuda Marina.

The starboard saildrive did not to engage just as we were approaching the fuel dock.  Lucky for us we were going slow and there were dock hands available.

What is a saildrive?

A saildrive is basically a transmission for a boat. 

It allows you to shift between forward, neutral, and reverse. 

The saildrive is attached to the engine and protrudes downward through the hull connecting to a horizontal propeller shaft mounted on a skeg outside the hull.

Plan B

We scheduled Whangarei Marine to work on the boat when we haul out in November (in 6 weeks). 

However, we need to get this repaired now before we get back to New Zealand.

We called Ritesh Kumar who works at Krishna Yacht Services in Fiji.  

He arrived next day he and a helper arrived at Sugar Shack’s berth in the marina. 

  • First, they moved the engine forward in order to access the saildrive.   
  • Next they had to disconnect the saildrive from the engine.
  • Now, they can access the gears and the sleeve (under the black “oil” top).

The good news is they found the problem.  The bad news is we need to find a new part for our 25 year old engine/saildrive.

The saildrive is the silver mechanism in the 2 lower photos below.  

The forward gear can be seen in the lower left photo in the circle and the sliding sleeve is below that.

The sliding sleeve  was worn on one end (the reversing end) which is why the saildrive had issues engaging.  

In the photo below you can see the “gray” bottom. It is rough in texture which allows the mechanism to shift. 

The copper portion on the top is smooth which prevents the engagement of the part.

The culprit is the sliding sleeve Volvo Penta part 87308. 

It took me several hours, but we found two at Marine Direct Australia. They are an authorized Volvo dealer and they happened to have these parts in stock! 

We had them in our hands in 2 business days (yeah, DHL).

Install

Ritesh and his helper came back and had the cone clutch installed, saildrive connected, and engine put back in place within 2.5 hours.

We tested both forward and reverse which both worked! 

Of course we are tied 7-ways to Sunday so the “real test” will be once we leave the marina.  Then we can test reverse in full throttle but we are confident it will work.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. 

We worked on the saildrive toward the end of September 2025.

Check out where we stayed while we worked on the saildrive -Blog post on Vuda Marina.