Work. Work. Work.

It is a four letter word! It's been non-stop work aboard Astarte here in the Docklands 5 boat yard and haul-out in Whangarei, New Zealand. But we are accomplishing quite a lot.

It's now been a week in the yard and so far we've got the bottom of the hull cleaned, taped and two full coats of new bottom paint on her (with an extra coat along the waterline). Michael has also managed to wash and clean the hull, getting off some nasty rust stains. Unfortunately he had already taped the hull for the bottom painting, but decided it would be better to clean the hull prior to painting the bottom as he would be using a harsh acidic cleaner. So he had to tape the boat twice. He has also started to wax and buff the hull. He can barely lift his arms.

Barbara has been on varnishing duty (as well as the daily activities of keeping the crew fed). So far the salon table is just about done with perhaps one more coat on the tops and the edges. The ladder-steps have also been sanded down to bare wood (all by hand) and have a first coat of varnish. This piece is taking a long time as its quite large and has lots of nooks and crannies to get sanded.

The yard is located a bit out of town so when we need parts and bits, it is a walk. Michael has walked all over town between paint coats – sometimes with the ship's wheel in hand! He's searching for a way to make a smaller version of the wheel so we have more cockpit room when at anchor. He's also brought our mirrors in to be re-made; has had to buy paint and varnish and the supplies needed to apply these products; got the "dry cleaning" in (his sports coat and nice slacks); brought our large duvet to be laundered; and, the longest walk was to find a plumbing bit and was sent from shop to shop to shop to shop. He's definitely put some miles on his feet. We went in together for a few food items and then Barbara caught a ride with a fellow cruising couple for a bigger grocery run which included the much deserved end of day beers.

It's been long days and we go to sleep quite exhausted only to get up the next day and start all over again. We hopefully will be out of the yard by week's end.

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