On Monday morning we checked again to see if the cutlass bearing had arrived in Neiafu, and we were told by someone from DHL in southern Tonga that it was in her hands at the moment and would be on the plane to Neiafu the next day. We were also waiting for space at the haulout place. In Neiafu they have a rail haul out system, where train rails go from shore into the water and boats get placed on a cradle that rides on these tracks and then the cradle is pulled up the tracks until the boat is out of the water. The boats remain in the cradle while being worked on, so only one boat can be hauled out at a time here.
When we first got to Neiafu we were told that there were two boats in line for haulout ahead of us. As of Monday, one boat had completed it's work, but the other was not out yet, so we made plans to watch Monday Night Football live on Tuesday afternoon at Mala island (this dateline stuff is a bit confusing). On Tuesday we got up and were having coffee when we got a call on the VHF from another boat saying the haul out guys were trying to find us. Apparently they couldn't find the other boat that was supposed to be in line before us, or maybe there hadn't ever been another boat, they weren't really sure, but they'd let us haul out today if we wanted to. We did. Fred hustled ashore to check for the part again and to talk to the haul out guys while Jeff and I got the boat ready to go. The part hadn't arrived on the morning plane, but we were told it would be there in the afternoon, so Fred came back and we took God Spede over to the dock near the haul out rails, which are very conveniently located next door to the Mermaid Cafe, which is also the yacht club.
The cradle was lowered down the rails and people stood on the docks on either side of these rails and used lines from the boat to position it approximately over the cradle while two guys swam in the water and positioned some struts that stick up vertically and form the sides of the cradle. Since the bottom of the keel is skinny and the boat is wide, it's important to get the boat positioned correctly so it doesn't fall over as it's pulled up the rails out of the water.
Fred and Jeff were on the boat while all this was going, broiling in the hot noon day sun. I was on the deck manning one of the lines and being a bit concerned because all the other line handlers were talking to each other in Tongan and nobody was telling me whether I should be pulling on my line, or letting it go slack, or what. I assumed somebody would tell me if I was really messing it up, but I sure wished I could speak Tongan so I'd know for sure. After about 10 minutes of this the guys in the water gave the go-ahead and they began pulling the boat up the rails, but the lookout guy (who was positioned onshore dead ahead of the boat) quickly shouted for them to stop because he could see the boat leaning to one side. So, the boat went back down, more adjustments were made, and 10 minutes later they tried again. This time the boat completed it's jerky journey up the rails, out of the water. A few more supports were added and a ladder was tied to the side of the boat and all the yard guys went off to have their lunch. We headed over the Aquarium to check on the cutlass bearing and were told it hadn't arrived yet, but we'd have it later that afternoon for sure, so we decided to go ahead with our football plans and called a taxi to take us to Mala Island.
The taxi guy took us for a nice drive and then stopped in the middle of the road at the edge of a nice beach. I thought he was showing us the great view, so I began admiring it, but then I realized he meant for us to get out. "Where is the place that shows the football?", we asked. "Over there", he said, pointing to an island off the beach. "How do we get there?" "Boat?" he mumbled, in a way that made me think he was guessing. Then he started chatting with some guys who were lounging on the beach, and told us they would take us over. I never did find out for sure if they were the offcial Mala island ferry or if they were just some nice guys with a boat who gave us a ride, but in any case we made it to the island in time to watch the Patriots give somebody (is it a sign of early alzheimers that I don't remember who?) a serious whipping. This was the first game we'd seen all season and we really enjoyed it.
After the game we boated back with the owners of the Aquarium. It was a very scenic and enjoyable ride. Tonga really is beautiful.
When we got back to town, we found that the cutlass bearing had not come in, but it would be on the morning plane for sure. We got some dinner and headed over to our temporary boat haul out digs. We stayed at a place called Harbour View that was about 10 minutes out of town via taxi. Harbour View consists of multiple guest cabins. We were put in "the old managers quarters". I don't know what the other cabins their were like, but ours was interesting. It had a lovely stone patio out front, but the inside was quite rustic. That's the kindest word I can think of. The walls were a mix of various building materials, and the light switches were all in odd places, and all the beds had mosquito nets which made me a bit nervous about the number of mosquitos we would be encountering, but there were two bedrooms, and a kitchen, and a bathroom with our very own shower - woohoo! Unfortunately, as the very nice current manager was showing us around, a big cockroach ran across the top of the fridge. She apologized laughingly and said there's just not much to be done about them. Hmmm. Despite all these warning signs, our first night there passed uneventfully and I thoroughly enjoyed my access to unlimited hot water, even though I did have to choose between either very hot or cold because the on-demand water heater (with flames inside a box in the shower with you) did not provide any middle ground.
The next day we had a quick bite at The Aquarium for breakfast then headed down to the boat to begin the project. First we had to take the prop off. Fred had asked a very knowledge cruiser named Dave to come by and take a look at things. He did and he had some very helpful information. Unfortunately, the haul-out place is right on a major walkway in Neiafu, so everybody else came by throughout the day with advice also. Some of it was also helpful, but much was of the "sky is falling" variety, which is extremely NOT helpful when you are in the middle of doing something. Anyway, we managed to get the prop off and were also able to verify that the existing cutlass bearing was still functional, and the screws that were supposed to hold it in were in fact still there, which was good news because we weren't sure we were going to be able to find new ones if they weren't. It seems that the existing cutlass bearing was maybe not dimpled enough originally for the screws to hold it in place. This was also good news because the new cutlass bearing still had not arrived on the island. We wanted to use the new one if it arrived, and we were told it would be here in the afternoon for sure, but by now we were beginning to think that maybe "for sure" meant something different in Tonga than what we were used to.
We spent the early afternoon cleaning the prop and reading the directions on how to put it back on. Turns out there are a lot of little bitty markings on some parts that had to be lined up with other little bitty letters on other parts. I was really wondering what on earth those people who told us that all of this could be done underwater had been thinking! It was difficult enough doing it at this haul out spot! Fred and Jeff had taken turns dismantling things while either standing on a shaky box with the shaft at their shoulder level, or while standing on the ground with the shaft above their heads. Then, when the tide camea in, they had water about a foot deep right where they were working. This made the rickety box the best option for standing on, since the top of it was above the water, and it also made it very tricky to find anything you dropped, since it was then underwater. What fun! My job was to go up and down the ladder to fetch more tools or put the boat into or out of gear as needed.
Fred spent the late afternoon riding around in a taxi trying to get the part, only to find out three stops later that it wasn't here yet, but would be in the morning "for sure". At this point we decided to break for the day and if the new bearing came in on the morning plane we'd take the old one off then, and if not we'd re-use the old one after scoring it's screw notches more. Either way, we were going back in the water the next day at high tide, which would be mid-afternoon.
So, after dinner we headed back to the Harbour View. All was well until an earthquake woke us up at 2 AM. An earthquake! Jeff and I both woke up thinking about the boat. Was it OK? Did it fall over? Why, oh why, did there have to be an earthquake tonight?! And why did it have to have that nasty extra sharp shake right at the end? Should we go look at the boat? What could we possibly do if it had fallen over?
With all these thoughts swirling around our brains, we got up to check on Fred. He was in the living room looking a bit dazed. Was that an earthquake, he asked? Apparently he had woken up just before the earthquake and was getting out of bed when he saw a huge cockroach that was halfway up the side of his bed. Then the earthquake hit and he wasn't sure if it was really an earthquake or if he had shaken the bed trying to get off it as fast as possible. He kept saying that he didn't think he'd be able to sleep again, and this was definitely the last night we were staying at this place, and so on. Jeff and I finally went back to bed and Jeff was wondering if Fred had even thought of the possibility that the boat had fallen over. I said that of course he had, that's why he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, he just didn't want to talk about it. Jeff thought he hadn't thought, but didn't see any point in bringing it up. Why make Fred sick to his stomach about it too? There really wasn't anything we could do at that point one way or the other.
The next morning we took a taxi into town, and it dropped us off at a point where we could see that the mast was still pointed straight up. Jeff said, Thank God, with much feeling, and Fred asked him what he was talking about. Turns out, Fred really hadn't thought of the possibility of the boat falling over during the earthquake - the cockroach had had his full attention!
Now, of course, the part has still not arrived. We finish breakfast and there's still no news, so we head off the to boat to get to work. After we get ourselves all set up to drill the old cutlass bearing, the Chatham Air guy finally calls on the VHF and says that the package is at customs and Fred can come get it right now. So, we put everything on hold again and Fred heads off to customs for about the fourth time, but this time the package really is there and we do in fact have the new cutlass bearing. Hooray! We got the new one installed and the prop put back on in no time at all.
We told the guys at the yard we had finished and they said the tide was at a good height and they could put us back in water soon. Fred and I got on the boat for the trip back into the water - and what a trip it was! The way it is supposed to work is that the cradle the boat is sitting on gets lowered down the train rails into the water by gravity when they slacken the cable they use to pull it up. Well, in our case that didn't happen. Apparently something was stuck somewhere. So the yard guys get prybars and sticks and they're trying to pry the cradle to get it moving. Meanwhile Fred and I are on the boat and we can't see what's happening - all we feel is the boat rocking beneath us - which is NOT a very nice feeling when you know there is no water below it!
Next thing we see is a whale watching boat pull up in the water. Fred immediately gets that they are now going to try using this boat to pull the cradle into the water, despite the fact that nobody has told him anything about what's going on. We are only getting vague reports from Jeff who is down below watching. In the meantime, our supposed friend James from Kaama has arrived onshore and is watching the spectacle. He shouts up to Fred asking if Fred is OK with the fact that they've tied the line from the whale watching boat onto God Spede's rudder - and that's when Fred's face turned purple! He calmed down a little once James made it clear that he was kidding, but he didn't calm down much because still nobody from the yard had said one word to him about what was going on. He started yelling for them to stop everything and send the boss over to talk to him. One of the diver guys tried to tell him to relax, it's all OK, which didn't help at all. They finally explained that the cradle was stuck and they were trying to pull it down the ramp with the whale watching boat, which we had kinda figured out already. So, they begin again, and now the boat is really rocking as they cradle moves a tiny bit and stops again. Thankfully, on about the third try the cradle was freed and we started down the rails toward the water. That trip was the least fun roller coaster ride I have ever been on, but boy was it a relief when the boat hit the water. Fred had us out of the there as soon as we could get the lines untied and we headed back out to a mooring again.
Jeff was following us in the dinghy and while he was starting it the pull cord recoiled back onto his wrist and in the minute it took him to catch up with us his wrist had swollen up to the size of a golf ball. At first he thought that it might be broken, but after we got the boat on the mooring and got Jeff onto the boat he realised it was only swollen and bruised. Whew. We had been thinking about staying in Neiafu one more night to race God Spede in the Friday night races, but at this point we all thought we'd had enough excitement for awile and decided we would head out to the outer anchorages the next day in search of a little relaxation.
PS - We're currently in Opua, New Zealand. We'll all be back in the states Dec 10 till Feb ? I added some pics of us diving to the last post and will put in some haul out pics when we get them off the camera. Sorry blog is so far behind again!
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