Category Archives: Locations

Places around the world

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.

Onward to Fiji

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We spent a lovely week in Funafuti, Tuvalu.  But, it was time to make the journey south east towards Fiji. 

The forecast showed light winds, rain, and seas between 1-2 meters.  

Prior to leaving we filled up on duty free fuel diesel. 

Pacific Energy typically fuels 200 liter drums with their large nozzles.  These nozzles are too big for our jerry cans.  Our solution was to fill a 200 liter drum.  And then use a hand pump to transfer the fuel from the drum to our (10) jerry cans. 

We transported the (10) jerry cans across the street, down the beach, in the surf to the dinghy, and then on to the boat!

Passage to Fiji

We departed early on a Saturday morning.  We spent the first 5 hours motoring across the lagoon, out of the pass, and then down the eastern side of the island.

Day 1:  The first 24 hours were really calm. We had really light winds (4-6kts) and could not sail at all.  So, we motored for the first 24 hours.  

The night brought rain showers and squalls.  The days had sunshine and rainbows. 

However, Days 2-4 we had just enough wind to raise the main and genoa to full sail. The days were beautiful with full sunshine, blue skies, white puffy clouds and decent conditions. 

Yes, we could have used more wind, but with the boat “injured” it was best to have these light winds.

We wanted to go through the Somosomo Straight (between Vanua Levu and Taveuni) during the day.  However, we did not arrive until evening.  Lucky for us we had tracks and great charts. 

We lost the wind completely between the two islands and motored through the narrow channel.  We arrived to the Savusavu channel perfect timing around 0800.  

  • Traveled:  Funafuti, Tuvalu to Savusavu, Fiji
  • Distance Travelled: 561 nautical miles
  • Total Time at Sea:  97 hours (4 days)
  • Motoring Time:  37 hours (ouch)
  • Average Speed: 5.8 and Max Speed 11kt

Matt and I under passage

The top red arrow is Funafuti, Tuvalu.  We passed many tiny atolls and islands in route to Fiji including Niulakaita Island (green arrow). And we re heading to Savusavu, Fiji the black arrow.

Arriving Fiji

Now, the tricky part.  We need to maneuver the boat in the very narrow channel to the mooring.  We had a local cruiser on stand by with his dinghy and Copra Shed Marina sent their staff to assist as well.

Savusavu, Fiji channel

Savusavu, Fiji channel

Matt was able to align the boat with a mooring.  However, before we could pick it up a large roll on / roll off tanker asked us to move so they could get past us.  He is barreling toward us and there is nothing we can do but try to reverse.

Unfortunately, once Matt reversed we had no way to get back to the mooring.

The marina guy towed us back to the mooring.  What a heart stopping event as we are surrounded by channel markers, buoys and boats.

We are here and settled.  This will be home for many weeks as we await our boat parts and start on all of the repairs.

Formalities in Fiji

Once we were settled on the mooring, the marina organized the officials. 

The Health official arrived first.  She checked under our beds, in our bathrooms, inside the fridge and freezer looking for bugs. 

We passed. 

Immigration, Customs, and Biosecurity were next.  A short 30-minutes later and we were officially cleared into the country!

Fiji Officials Clearing us into the Country

Fiji Officials Clearing us into the Country

A boat full of school kids passed by and shouted “Bula.”  It was the perfect welcome to this amazing country!

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We were under passage toward the end of April 2025. 

We celebrate the bombing of Funafuti, Tuvalu – check it out!