Category Archives: Boat Details

What’s Inside Sugar Shack?

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We have posted bits and pieces of our beautiful home in each blog, but I am not sure we have ever dedicated a blog post to showcasing the interior of Sugar Shack.  So, why not now?  As Matt loves to say “pourquoi pas?”  I will try to explain as much as I can without putting you to sleep so if you have any questions, please send them in the comment sections.

You board Sugar Shack by either the port or starboard sugar scoops.  A sugar scoop is the nautical term for the aft (transom) which has “swim steps.”  It is easiest to board on the starboard side as we have hand holds and cleats to tie off guest dinghies.

On the top step is a hatch that leads to each engine room.  The engine room is large enough for Matt to work all around the engine (front, back, sides).  The front is a little challenging to get to as he has to lay across the top of the engine to get to it, but he manages.

The Cockpit

We can operate all of the lines and sail the boat from the cockpit.  The only time we have to go forward, while underway, is when we launch or take down the spinnaker.  Most of our life is spent in the cockpit: happy hours, passages, reading, dining, and hanging out. 

The beautiful teak table opens up and doubles its size easily seating 8 people for dinner.  In addition, the table itself is storage for most of our fishing gear and tackle.   

There is also storage in each of the floor hatches.  The one under the table has a spare outboard, spare anchor, drogue, and lots of other “stuff.”  The other hatch has all of our snorkel gear, cleaning products, boat towels, and drinks.

We have “pockets” installed to hold miscellaneous stuff that tends to muck up the cockpit (lines, hoses, scrub brushes, etc…).  You can see here that all the lines come to the cockpit.  The main electric wench, main halyard operates back stay, 3-foward reefing lines, 3 aft reefing lines. The two smaller wench handles operate the dinghy lines and main sheets.

Of course, we have our two helms on port and starboard.  The starboard helm is the “main” operating helm as it has the engine controls. However, both helms have instruments, autopilot controls, and a steering wheel to operate the boat.  We take lots of photos from the helm looking out and at the helm.

The Salon

There is a large glass door and glass window that remain open 98% of the time. The exception is when we are away and/or asleep.  This lets the outside in and brings the two areas into one. (upper right photo).  The salon has super soft alcantera seating in a U shape that allows for fun movie or game nights.  There is lots of storage under each of the settees (cushion seats) for our house batteries, canned goods, pots, pans, inverter/charger, etc…

The inside table also flips open and doubles its size.  This is a great place to do our sewing projects.  Under the table is another storage unit for glasses and a few select liquor bottles.  And below that is a large drawer for large, paper maps and charts.

Navigation and Control Center

The nav station where we set our course, monitor conditions, and operate the boat while underway.  It is the heart of the boat while navigating.  However, the heart of the monitoring is our CZone control panel which tells us everything from battery state and amp usage, to controlling “everything” electronic on the boat.  It is the main control panel.  We have it in triplicate.  You can access the control panel here or on Matt’s ipad or on the small control panel in the master suite.

The Galley (Kitchen)

The galley faces aft (back) which is great as it allows the chef to chat with guests in the cockpit.  We have a decent oven (smaller than U.S. ovens), which allows me to bake until my heart is content.  We have a 3-burner propane stove, a 200-liter refrigerator (which can also operate as freezer) and a 100-liter freezer (which can also operate as a refrigerator).  Storage above each counter and below the sink.

Portside Hull

The port side or guest side, has two cabins and a shared head (bathroom).  The hall is full of tons of storage on each side of the hallway.  We have one tool cabinet, one towel cabinet, one foul weather gear cabinet, 1 tupperware cabinet, and two pantries. 

The port head is rather small but functional.  We usually have our guests shower in the master head or off the back of the boat.  The shower in this head is the sink faucet which pulls out.  It just tends to get everything wet.  Not a big deal as it is meant to be all wet, but really its just easier to have guests shower in the large head or off the back of he boat.

The aft cabin is a special option by Catana where it is called an “office/cabin.”  You can set it up as an office with a double bed or you can fold up the bed (to twin size) and use the cabin as an office.  It too has lots of storage behind the bed, under the floor boards, under the bed, and to the side of the bed (another pantry behind the curtain).

The forward cabin is the most comfortable guest cabin as it has a huge escape hatch that lets in tons of air, another large window, a closet, and a storage shelving unit for clothing.

Starboard Hull

The starboard hull is the “owners’ cabin” which means it only has one cabin, lots of storage and a huge head (bathroom).  It is another option Catana offered.  This is where you can clearly see I have “nested.”

Most of the décor is from the islands, but some I brought with me from the U.S.  Yes, I have put double sticky tape on most of the items so they don’t fall over while we are underway.  We are a catamaran which means that we are more stable than monohulls, but we are still a sailboat and $hit can go flying.

The hallway leads to the master head which is large and airy.  We have a full stand up shower (which is separated from the toilet and sink by a curtain).  This is a luxury as most heads are one space (like our port side).

The hallway has tons and tons of storage.  We have 3 cabinets for hanging clothes, set of shelves for Matt’s folded clothes, another cabinet for my folding cloths, 2 cabinets for electronics and a washer/dryer.

Under all of the floor boards is more storage.  We keep our medical kit, emergency evac bag, dried goods, spare liquor, milk, juice, filters, here.  In addition, the water tanks can be accessed from the floor boards.

Exterior Storage

We also have lots of storage on the outside of the boat.  At the mast, or the center of the boat we have 4 compartments.  We have two fuel tanks (one for each engine) and two large hatches.  We store our dock lines, spare fuel tanks (gasoline and diesel), extra anchor chain, main anchor chain, exterior hose and more in these two areas.

Each bow peak also has storage.  The starboard bow peak stows our 3 spare spinnakers, 2 lounge chairs, 2 bean bags, luggage and noodles. The port bow peak stows all of our fenders, anchor “pearl” floats, passerelle (gangplank), spare cushions, spare ceiling panels, and life jackets.

Sugar Shack

Our beloved Sugar Shack, a Catana 471 has been an amazing sail boat and home for us.  We have enjoyed being her 3rd owner for the pat 10 years and look forward to many more years and tons more miles under the keel.  I’d say the reason I love her most is because she is a sturdy, well-made, strong, safe boat.  This boat makes me feel safe while underway and comfortable while at anchor.  Sugar Shack offers tons of storage, wonderful air flow, and modern conveniences without compromising her performance.  She points well into the wind, she handles big seas amazingly, and she still looks great for being a 20-year-old broad.

More fun photos

Sugar Shack looking down

Looking down Sugar Shack 

Lounging on the bow tramp

Lounging on the bow tramp

For more photos of Sugar shack visit this link.

We are blessed to be able to have this experience and to live on Sugar Shack.  Thank you for coming along our journey with us.  Stay tuned for more fun adventures.

You can check out other Catana 471…most of these are newer than our boat, but still gorgeous.  These are friends of ours.

Tahiti Sails

Main Sail Maintenance

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Our main sail, the main source of power for our sailboat needed some loving.  It is original to the boat which puts her at 20 years old.  She is made of two layers of dacron which is a heavy-duty material and weighs in at almost 300lbs!  She needs to be replaced because she doesn’t really hold her shape very well, but she still is functioning.  Matt and I hope to replace her and the jib when we get to New Zealand (next year).

We decided to get her re-stitched in order to get the most use of her and make her last longer.  We contacted Tahiti Sails and scheduled an appointment for them to retrieve our beastly sail.  First, you have to remove it and that is not easy.

Removing the Main Sail

The main sail lives inside the sail bag which is held up by lines called “lazy jacks.”  The sail is hoisted up the mast by 13  “cars” and has 3 reefing lines (in the front and 3 in the back), and 3 boom stromps that have to be removed.  Matt positions the boom off to the side (protecting the boom with a fender on the cabin top).  This gives him access to the sail bag, lazy jacks, boom stromps, and reefing lines.  Photos are of the sail bag as Matt removes the sail.

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Next, we document the areas that we want re-stitched and repaired.  Mostly it is re-stitching the tack, clew, head, and baton pockets.  We are going to have them strengthen all of the key stress points and add a protective fabric over them (head, tack, clew). baton pockets) to block the UV from the sun. 

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Tahiti Sails

Guillaume met us at our boat to pick up the sail.  We walk him through all the “weak” areas or areas of concern (as mentioned above).  He tests the thread on the actual material as he thinks it might be compromised as well since it is over 20 years old.  But to our surprise it is holding up nicely.  Matt and Guillaume fold up the main and off it goes to get repaired.

We also noticed that our small / top baton needs replacing.  It is shattered.  You can tell because it does not look like the rest.  Lucky for us it is the smallest one and the easiest to reach.  We will have to hunt to find a replacement.

Guillaume said it should take about 5/6 hours of work which could be done within the week.  Not sure how it takes a week to do 5/6 hours of work, but ok.  At an estimated cost of 40000xpf ($400).  We shall see.

The Beast Returns

Guillaume called us on Tuesday with the quote and a run down of all the repairs after he laid out the canvas on the floor.  The work was completed on Wednesday and delivered on Thursday – under budget and on time.  He repaired the head, tack, clew, baton pockets.  Added tail tales (wind indicators) and patched a few small tears.  He did really good work.  The top right photo shows where he hand stitched around a high stress point, then covered it with sunbrella.

Installing the Beast

Then the process of reinstalling the 300lb main begins.  It is a slow process as the weight makes it difficult to raise above our heads.  But Matt powers through it.

The sail is positioned along the side of the boom.  First he attaches the clew (bottom rear attachment point to the boom.  Then he attaches the head (the attachment point that raises the main up and down) to the main halyard.  Next up, he attaches the first of 13 cars.  He opens the car, slips the line in, closes the car, and inserts a split ring on the pin so it can’t slip out. Then is raises the main to the next car and repeats the process 13 times.  As he approaches each of the 3 reefing lines, he has to tie them on to the appropriate place in the front.  He will do the back 3 reefing points last.

Attaching the main to the cars

Attaching the main to the cars

After he attaches all 13 cars, he works on the rear reefing lines.  Lucky for us it is a quiet, windless day which makes it so much easier to keep the sail up while at anchor!  Matt is amazing!

Fast Forward:

A few days later we go to Tahiti Yacht Accessories and find a baton.  It is not really the correct size, but it is better nothing.  We needed a 16mm by 165 and he had either a 14 or 18.  Since the 18 was too big, we went with the 16.  You can clearly see the good vs the bad.

We celebrate with Rachel (from Agape) at a cool Poke Bowl place and it was delicious!

Events from this blog occurred on 21 October 2020.  Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.

Survey for Sugar Shack

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Every few years private yachts / vessels need to get a survey.  It is similar to surveying a house when you want to buy or sell it.  Our insurance carrier requires a survey to verify their investment is valued at what we have it insured for – or at least close to it.

There are three types of surveys:

  1. Out of water survey (typically done with an in water survey)
  2. In water survey
  3. Rigging Only Survey

Sometimes you can get away with doing an “in water” survey which looks at the interior and not the exterior or structure of the boat.  This is the cheapest and easiest to get done.

The out of water survey requires a haul out (taking the boat out of the water) which gets expensive.

Our insurance required an out of water survey in addition to the in water and rigging.  Crapola!  Our last out of water survey was 2016, our last rigging survey was 2017.  So, technically, I guess we are do.  Photos from our last survey.

Hindsight is 20/20

In 2018, our boat was struck by lightening in Costa Rica and had a major refit of all electronics (see blog).  We spent 8 months on the hard working on the boat, fighting with insurance, and replacing lots of gear.  We were working closely with a local surveyor who was extremely helpful and quickly became a friend.  Toward the end, we had asked him if we needed to resurvey the boat and he said “no, save the money.”  I should have pushed and insisted as I really wanted an updated survey.  But, I didn’t.   This survey would have saved us a lot of heartache when searching for a new insurance carrier.

That decision has bitten me in the a$$ more times than I care to admit.  So, we are here a few years later finally getting that out of water survey.

Finding a Surveyor

Most insurance companies based in the U.S. require the surveyor to hold either a SAMS or NAMS certification.  NAMS surveyors are pretty much based in the U.S.  SAMS has surveyors in 22 countries with the closest being Australia or Panama.  So, basically, we would have to fly someone to French Polynesia, pay for the flights, hotel, transportation, and their daily rate, plus the survey.  All in all, it would be thousands of dollars!  Not going to happen.

Plan B

We found two “surveyors” in French Polynesia.  I have them in quotes because neither are SAMS or NAMS certified.  One I contacted last year and he was not very responsive so I went to the other guy this year. He was very responsive and seemed “easy going” which is always good when assessing your boat.  I asked him to send a sample survey so I could get it approved by the insurance carrier.  He had just surveyed a Catana 50 which could not have been better for us.  They approved his survey and we scheduled our meeting.

Surveys are Subjective

You have to understand that a survey is pretty subjective (like art).  Sure, there are lots of boxes to check, but for the most part it is subjective.  Which is always worrisome when you want and expect a specific outcome.  Sugar Shack is insured as stated value, not depreciated value, considering she is in excellent condition — even at 20 years old.

Out of Water Survey

Our surveyor remained patient with us as we changed our out of water survey several times.  We were trying to get work finished up before he took photos and put them in the survey.  Unfortunately, it did not work out that way.  He came a day early and took photos while they were still doing fiberglass work and paint. Ugh!  So, I took photos and he promised to include mine in his report as well (we shall see).

The out of water survey consists of examining the hulls, props, rudders, through hulls, ground plates, SSB plates refrigeration plates, and dagger boards.  Pretty straight forward.  He walked around writing notes and asked a few questions.  It felt like the entire thing took 6 minutes but in reality, it was longer.  He said “for a 20-year-old she is in really good condition.”  Surveyor upside down by dagger board as Matt and I watch on.  Noel (foreground) working on the polish.

In Water Survey

I sent a very detailed list of all of our equipment to the surveyor prior to the survey.  The list included the type of equipment, the make/manufacturer, model #, serial #, date purchased, and location.  This list included everything on our boat.  I am sure the surveyor has never seen anything so comprehensive from a client.  Made me kinda proud – yea me for my Project Management certification!

Christophe showed up right on time and worked diligently for 4 hours checking, opening, testing, and verifying that our boat was in good working order.  From testing the strength of our hand rails, to making sure our hatches are water tight to verifying up to date fire extinguishers, EPIRBs, PFDs, Life Raft, Medical Supplies, and more.  He verified my equipment list and ensured that all of the equipment was onboard and functioning properly. 

He went up the mast to check the mast, standing rigging, rods, connection points, radar, antennas, lights, and wind indicators.  We started the engines and all the electronics, we showed the amperage of the electronics and batteries, and opened up all the bilges, engine rooms, cabinets and more.  The boat was completely exposed having a stranger poke and prod everywhere.

The Result

The only complaint I have is with his value of our boat.  We disagreed on the value and he would not budge.  He was unyielding and stubborn.  Even after I showed him comparable yachts and our previous survey.  I was severely irritated and pissed off.  I could not believe how unreasonable he was when it came to this one thing. Everything else we agreed upon.  I thought the value should be higher based on all of our new electronics and good state of the boat – but he refused to budge. 

After arguing for a week, we agreed to disagree and there was nothing I could do.  However, we  are now armed with an up to date out of water, in water, and rigging survey.  We will use this when we shop around for a new insurance carrier in Q1 2021.

The survey took place during the week of 25 September 2020.  The blog post is 6-8 weeks behind the survey date.