Tag Archives: coppercoat

Managing the Maintenance Part II

Leave a reply

This is Part II of our maintenance list while on the hard at the Norsand Boatyard.  Please see “Managing the Maintenance Part I” for our work on our cross beam, sail drives, rudder arm, and props.

Here is a list of the items we worked on that are mentioned in this blog post:

  • New Scuppers
  • Paint Bow Peak Lockers (inside storage area)
  • Polishing Stainless Counter Tops (Bench)
  • Snap Shackles for Main Sheets
  • Cleaning the Interior Cushions
  • Miscellaneous Maintenance
    • Sail and Canvas Repair
    • Propspeed (Saildrives & Props)
    • Finsulate around Rudder posts
    • Window/Hatch removal of velcro
    • Teak Cleaning
    • Relabeling the clutches

Making New Scuppers

We have 17 scuppers (drains) at the bottom of the bridge deck. At some point, one of them fell off and we have not been able to find any replacements.  So, Matt decided to make his own.  

We purchased PVC white (1220mm x 300mm x3mm) plastic from Cambrian Plastics ($37USD).

Matt started by making a mold out of Plaster of Paris.  He made end plates to match the shape of the scupper and used scrap formica around the end plates.

Matt heated a cut piece of the PVC plastic in the oven at 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  He then took the warm piece, wrapped it around his mold, clamped it, and let it cool for 20-30 minutes.

We used a band saw or jig saw to cut out the shape, then sanded, drilled the holes, and created our new scuppers.

After we made our surplus, a friend told us about Tenob which makes smaller scuppers.

Repaint Bow Peak Lockers

The forward bow peak lockers are used for storing our spare sails, bean bags, passerelle, tons of fenders, SUP, folding chairs, and more.  

The interior paint of these two storage areas has been chipping off for years. 

It is only a cosmetic issue but it is one that has been bothering me for awhile.

The Long Process

Once the bow peak was empty, I used a metal scraper to remove all of the big flaky bits.  This process was a loud, dirty job.

I got out the power sander with attached vacuum to smooth out the walls, ceiling, floor and “V-berth.” 

It is probably 10-15 degrees hotter inside the hole.  Wearing a full suit, goggles and mask makes it seem even worse.

Next, I wiped down everything with soap and water twice. 

Then we pressure washed the entire bow peak with warm water and simple green and let it dry over night.

Matt mixed the two-part paint, Jotun Jotamasic 90 (3 parts A to 1 part B) and brought it to me.

It is specially designed for areas where optimum surface preparation is not possible or required and provides long-lasting protection in environments with high corrosivity.

The paint has a pot life of 2 hours so I had to work fast and in small increments. I started with the hardest to reach part first, the “V berth.”  It is super difficult to reach and requires full body contortion. 

But 4-hours later the entire bow locker was done.

The next day I painted a second coat and we let it out-gas for 7 days. 

Talk about a world of difference in appearance.

I also repeated the entire process on the port bow peak which was in a lot worse condition but now looks beautiful.

Stainless Countertop Polish

We love our stainless counter tops!  It does take a little more maintenance than standard counter tops but they look so beautiful!

Our countertops got marked up over the last 4 years, despite our careful management. We are not sure what caused these marks but it could be citrus, oil, salt, bleach, hard water).

We spent 4 hours masking and protecting the entire salon.  

An easy polish by Absolute Stainless and they look brand new.

We clean it twice a week with two products. 

For standard cleaning we use Weiman Stainless Steel Wipes (Amazon).  The cost ranges between $12-20 per container.

For corrosion or harder areas we use “Chemico Cleaning Paste” cleansing paste $7 (4 USD).  This paste was recommended by Absolute Stainless (the company who installed our counter tops).  

Snap Shackles

Our main sheets control our large main sail and are under a lot of pressure during a sail.  We have 16m double braid tied to a Harken Black Magic Air Becket block.  Catana custom made this block to be connected to a Wichard HR Snap Shackle (80mm) at $150USD x 2.

Our snap shackles were original to the boat and had some wear on the center clip which causes a weak point.  We had RH Precision fabricate new stainless steel pins that connected the snap shackle to the block.

More Cleaning

Cushion Cleaning: The inside of the boat got very dusty and dirty with all of the work in the yard.  So, I decided it was important to clean our interior upholstery.  We have Macrosuede fabric (color Ash) on the salon settee and the cabin benches. 

We hired JAE Cleaning Services in Whangarei to clean them for us. It was a bit of a chore getting the cushions to them, but worth it to use their “drying room.”

Of course it was raining on the day we had to transport the cushions. We wrapped each cushion in plastic to prevent it from getting soaked.

It was like playing a game of Tetris trying to fit the cushions into the car in one load.

Miscellaneous Maintenance:

Canvas:  We brought Kim (Masterpieces in Canvas) to repair and update a few pieces for us:

  • Kim made 3 new Sauleda window shades
  • Modified 2 helm back rests to accommodate the new arch
  • Made a new back rest cover for our new cockpit back rest.
  • Repaired the 2 side rain shades (put support around each snap and added velcro to hold corner when rolling up
  • Made covers for both of our bow princess seats to protect our new varnish
  • Repaired the aft shade had a small tear near the baton
  • Fixed a few small tears on the dinghy chaps
  • Replaced the top section of the starboard helm seat that got stained
  • Made 2 new helm covers to accommodate our new helm extensions and pods
  • Made a new cover for the cockpit back rest

Genoa: Roger from North Sails repaired our genoa which had a small tear near the bolt rope.  He also made a backup “Sweetie” patch for our dinghy.

Bottoms Up”

We burnished our Coppercoat which activates the copper.  We also added vinyl (from Finsulate) around our rudder posts where we once had antifoul bottom paint (which did not last).

Norsand applied Propspeed to our saildrives and props.  Matt greased the prop gears and changed all the zincs.

We added “Finsulate” a type of vinyl to the area around the rudder post.  Coppercoat can not be applied near our aluminum rudder post so added a vinyl.  

Good comparison between the vinyl around the saildrive and the rudderpost.

Each of these steps are to help prevent growth on the bottom of the boat.

Rudders

The rudders are all cleaned up and have a new bearings so it was time to install them.  The install went smoothly and took all of 10 minutes to do both rudders.

Teak Cleaning

The teak on the sugar scoops and in the cockpit were absolutely filthy.  We had dozens of workers coming and going, fluids spilled, and polish over-sprayed on them

I gave them a good scrub with teak cleaner.  I would prefer to oil or stain them but Matt likes them raw.  Perhaps next time I clean them I will out some oil on them.

Clutch Labels

We have close to 20 clutches on the boat.  Most of the clutches have labels dating back to 2001.  These labels were in both English and French and were very hard to read.

Of course, we know what the clutches do without the labels.  However, it is always a good idea to have nice, readable labels for others that might be assisting on the boat.

So, on a rainy day I took it upon myself to scrape the old labels off and put new labels on.

Lastly we washed and polished of the boat which made her all shiny and pretty.

Be sure to read about our brand new solar arch – it is super sexy!

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

Be sure to read Managing the Maintenance Part I blog post.

We were in the Norsand boat yard working on repairs and maintenance items from November 2025 to January 2026.

The Maskelyne Islands

Leave a reply

The Maskelyne islands were named by Captain Cook after his astronomer royal Nevil Maskelyne.  They are a very remote cluster of low-lying islands that sit off the southern tip of Vanuatu’s second largest island, Malekula.  It is a very remote and pristine area of Vanuatu.

The locals who live in the area still get around in their wooden outrigger canoes and live a very simple life, much as they have for centuries.

One of the reasons we came to the Maskelyne islands was to see the dugongs.  Dugongs are cousins to the manatee but are more closely related to the elephant.  They are known as “sea cows” and are truly gentle giants.  You can see all of the “fish” markers below which indicate locations where they have been spotted.  I am on a mission to swim with them!

The red arrow is where Sugar Shack is anchored when I took the snapshot of the chart.  Find the Maskelyne Islands on No Foreign Land.

Awei Island Anchorage

Our first stop in the Maskelyne Islands is Awei Island.  There is an anchorage between Awei and Malekula that provides really good protection from wind and swell in almost all directions.  Between the two islands is a reef that also keeps this bay calm and beautiful.

We anchored here with our friends on Moana but they left before we could get the drone out.  This anchorage is super protected by two islands and a reef.  We had perfect conditions for drone pictures.

As you can see, there are lots of reefs in this anchorage.  One that blocks the ocean (top photo, top left), one behind Sugar Shack and one to our port.

We had several days of rain so this sunny day was particularly welcome.  It is so cool to see the clouds in the water. It gives the allusion that we are floating in the sky 🙂

The Awei Village

There is a very small sandy beach in our bay that is used for a launching point. The kids take outriggers to school and the women take outriggers across the anchorage to a neighboring island to work in the garden.

The small village is a short 15 minute walk across the island to the other side.  It is remarkably clean and neat village hosting 3 families.

They have a Presbyterian church (in pink) with a dive tank as their church bell.  Not sure why they need a bell as there are so few people who live here??

A few of the ladies were weaving and they allowed us to watch.  It was really impressive how they effortlessly continued to weave while carrying on a conversation with us.  Lower right photo is their “small or tiny” garden.

It rained almost every day we were here.  But we did not let that stop us.  Rena (from sv Moana) and I went exploring on the SUPs.  We found lots of tunnels in the mangroves and checked out the reefs from above.

Sughulamp Reef

We had the chance to move to shallow, blue water at the Sughulamp Reef.  It is not really an anchorage (at least none of the charts note it as an anchorage), but it suits us well.  We dropped the hook in 2.5meters of turquoise water which is close to the dugong area.  Here we can enjoy some quiet time by ourselves.

We both jump in the water and take several hours to burnish the Coppercoat.  We have not had to do anything to the bottom since we splashed which was 7 weeks ago.  I do the “easy” part which is cleaning the sides of the hulls (4 sides x 50′ is a lot to cover) as far as I can go while holding my beath.  Matt does the hard part (clean the very bottom) using the hooka.  I have far more area to cover but he works upside down.

Lucky for us, the light grime and few barnacles easily come off with a brillo pad.  Now we have a super clean bottom, hulls, rudders, sail drive and props.  Sweet as!

Our friends took this photo…can you tell what is “different” about this photo?  Answer at the bottom.

Dugongs

You absolutely want to see the dugongs while you are in the Maskelyne Islands.  They are the gentlest of giants and simply adorable. The Maskelyne islands are a global hotspot for these shy and graceful creatures (often referred to as sea cows) and swimming with them is an extra special ocean experience.

Interest in the dugongs has helped the island communities restrict local hunting and turn towards environmentally responsible tourism to support dugong conservation instead, and guidelines are in place to ensure any interactions are a positive experience for the wonderful creatures.

Stay tuned for adventures with the dugongs in our next blog!  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in the Maskleyne Island Awei anchorage around mid-July 2024.  In our last blog post we take you through the grade-taking ceremony at Ambrym.

Answer: The photo is taken upside down.  The water was so calm and clear that it makes it hard to tell.

Back in the Boatyard

Leave a reply

We are back on the hard in Norsand Boatyard.  What, you are probably asking, “why?”  Well, we had a lot of little things we needed to do – each individually would not warrant a haul out, but together they did.

Boatyard Projects on the List

  • Reburnish the Coppercoat (due to our barnacle incident)
  • Fix small gelcoat damage (another boat ran into our starboard bow)
  • Water Tanks: Scrape, clean, and repaint interior 
  • Repair Teak on both Sugar Scoops 
  • Wax the hulls and stern

Haul out

Hauling your home out of its natural environment and onto a trailer is always nerve racking.  However, Kevin and Shayne at Norsand Boatyard are experts and they truly take every precaution to ensure our home is safe. 

Coppercoat

We applied fresh Coppercoat in late December 2023 and had a massive issue 6 weeks later after being in a barnacle infested river.  Coppercoat UK and the local NZ Coppercoat distributor agreed to reburnish the bottom of our boat. This particular task requires us to be out of the water so the boatyard can sand the entire bottom with 320 grit sand paper.  

I will say that we rock!  Why do you ask?  Well, we spent days in the freezing cold water scraping and cleaning our bottom and it looks so much better than other boats with barnacles on their Coppercoat.  I took a photo of a monohull that had similar barnacle problems to us (lower right photo).  As you can see they were not as successful at removing the “feet” of the barnacles (little white spots) as we were.  And another boat with Coppercoat who stayed in the barnacle infested water for over 6 months had a reef with baby eels falling off of it when she hauled out (lower left photo).

Sugar Shack bottom at haul out (top) and another boat after haul out (bottom), both with Coppercoat.  Yep, we did good.  

Coppercoat Repair

Once we were out of the water, we noticed an area that has 4 spots that are down to the barrier coat – that is not good.  So we have to address this issue.

Conor fills the spots with filler and Coppercoat.  It needs a sanding, then it is ready to be burnished with the rest of the bottom.

Burnsing the Coppercoat

Right before we splash, the yard comes back to burnish the Coppercoat with 320 grit sandpaper.  Not sure what I expected, but honestly, I was surprised that the bottom turned back to copper color after the boys (Ian and Shamus) burnished it.  It was soooo smooth.

It even had a shiny penny look when the sun hit it.

Hit by another Boat

Another boat hits us while we were docked at Town Basin Marina.  It was rather an unfortunate occurrence but the damage was minimal.  This other boat was trying to squeeze in front of us and claimed he had bow thrusters.  He had bow thrusters, but they did not work.  The tide was pretty strong and carried his boat side ways causing the stern of his boat, with his dinghy and dinghy outboard to scratch the inside starboard bow.

Aaron from Norsand Boat yard came out to give us an estimate and the other boat owner, begrudgingly paid us the $1500NZ that it cost to repair our boat.

While we were at it we had the boatyard finish a job they forgot to complete last time.  They missed cleaning up the repair around the port cleat (the cleat goes where the 3 holes are) the repair was the cracks around the cleat.

Water Tanks

Our two water tanks hold about 400L of water each and are built into the boat.  When the boat was built, the manufacturer used some sort of weird potable paint that has not held up well.  For several years it has been peeling away and clogging up our filters.  Matt has drained the tanks, scraped the excess paint off, and vacuumed up the mess several times.  But, it was beyond time for us to completely clean out the tanks and repaint them with special non-toxic potable paint.

The white or light specs are actually pieces of chipped paint.  Now don’t completely freak out because we do have several filters for each water tank (which holds 400L).  So the water goes through each filter before coming to the taps.

This is such a huge project that I decided to write a separate blog about it so I can include more of the details (in case any of our other fellow cruisers need to do this too).  See upcoming blog post “Disgusting Water Tank.”

Repairing the Teak on our Sugar Scoops

The teak on both the port and starboard sugar scoops has had a long, challenging life span in direct sun light, constantly covered in salt water and enduring heavy usage.  We try to be diligent with its care but it is completely exposed to salt water, sun and constant use.  We’ve replaced the teak about 8-9 years ago, but it time to do a temporary repair until we can replace them again (it is a long and expensive process so we want to squeeze as much life out of these sugar scoops as we can).

As you can see, the black caulking has come up and is completely missing in some places. It is time to repair it all.

I watched several YouTube videos and pulled Matt in to help.  This is turning out to be a much larger job than we anticipated. So, the details of the teak repair will be coming out in an upcoming blog called “Caulking the Sugar Scoops Teak” stay tuned.

Waxing the Boat

Ian, aka “Stretch” comes in to wax our boat and make her as shiny as possible (considering her gelcoat is thin and old).  He always does such a great job.

While we were working on the sugar scoops we had to get on and off the boat with a very tall (15 steps) ladder which was such a pain in the arse!  Luckily it was only for 2 of the 6 weeks we were here.

As you can see we made the most of this haul out in the boat yard.  We were anxious to get back in the water as we prepare to head to a new country, Vanuatu.

Our blog posts run several weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred late April 2024. We enjoy some rough housing during the stock car races in Whangarei.