Before we left Panama we already decided to put our Pakia tea on the hard in the Tuamotus Atoll of Apataki, to change all the sea cocks, repair a few things on the keel, paint a new waterline and fix the grounding plates again. After we hit a coral bommie on Makemo we really needed to haul out. At this accident our sacrificial keel on the port hull was shredded at a length of 3 meters and coral chafed through the fibreglass at one spot on the side of a hull.
When we arrived in Apataki we were not able to haul out at first, because our „special“ boat was too unstable on their hydraulic wagon. But since we really liked the place of the Carenage, the area looked comfortable and clean to work at and the weather there is very dry, we decided to order two long wooden blanks from Tahiti to maybe be able to haul out here. In the meantime we started work on the water with sanding and painting the hatches, the gaffs and parts of the kitchen and cabins. The gaffs also got a new chafe protection and the carpet on the bathing platform was replaced. After two weeks waiting time the big haul out day finally arrived and we were able to haul out our Pakia tea for the first time after Thailand. We only need to do this very rarely because instead of a very toxic conventional anti-fouling we decided to use copper coat instead. This is an epoxy based paint with copper particles which reduces a strong growth of organisms without giving off a lot of toxic substances into the water. This should last for at least 10 years and doesn't need to be taken off when replacing it. We have had the copper coat since four years and are very happy with it. In comparison to other boats we do not clean so often and it comes off very easily.
Three weeks on the hard gave us time to paint a new waterline, to give a profile to the rudder plates and copper coat, to open up all blisters in the paint above and below water, which we have since Thailand, let them dry and seal them again (about 350!), to repair the supporting surface of two beams and glue new rubber mats under the beams, replace the part of the sacrificial keel which came off during our coral bommie encounter, to cover all the repaired spots and places of the underwater part with new copper coat, to polish and wax the hull above water and finally paint a new coat on the hull of our dinghy. A lot of work and the time went by too quickly. We also did not need to go to the main town (1 hour by speed boat) to do some shopping, because a lot of boats came out and were left here for the hurricane season with the owners flying out, and they had to get rid of all the groceries. There was only one other boat also working on the hard besides us. All others leave their boats here for months.
When we came back into the water after three weeks we were very happy that everything worked out so good and we were able to do all the work. The weather the whole time was mostly dry and sunny, just a little rain on the last few days. We will come back to the Carenage in about three to four years time for sure...
>>planned route - join us ...