Lia and I decided to work as much as we can over the summer to save the $ for this trip.  About time considering but we both agreed it made sense to do so.  Lia spent the summer tour guiding with a bit of insurance temp work thrown in, but also being able to spend time at home in Cromwell in NZ with her family.   I also made it out there for a week in December before Christmas before returning home for a few days with Christmas with my family and then back to work to finish off the Sydney summer charter season.

 

I was able to get a quazi-rotation gig with an old mate Luke Caldwell on a 38m Sanlorenzo LANCE based in Sydney from October to May 2025.  Great gid and great crew.  In my down time I was able spend some time with the Aussie and NZ families (as above) but also work in 5-week refit on the yacht in the Bundaberg Marina work area from Mid Feb to late March.  We had checked out the area last year and had a good reputation to get work done.

 

We had to bring the yacht out of the storage area and into the work area where I was able work and live on her with water and electrical connection and well maintained shower and toilet blocks very close.    It was hot at times and come sunset the midges /sandflies ate you alive but you learnt to have a good supply and bushman’s onboard to counter this as best as possible, but plenty slipped though 😉

 

Time flew but the main works were…

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1.      Hull repaint from blue to white.  We loved the blue but looking at spending more time in the tropics over the next few years made sense to have a lighter colour.  Also we had to combat some crazing that was causing crack in the paint due to heat over the years.  Now she has a facelift ;)

2.      Couch House Roof Soft Spots.   Some soft spots around the mast were becoming worrying so we hired a local shipwright (cheers Fossil) to help matt with the work of opening up the deck and investigating this.  The result was soft and rotten wood inside the fibreglass layers caused by years of small leaks from fitting around the yacht.   A good job that needed doing but by no means did we get it all but tackled the worst of it.  Opening up the whole top deck is another job and refit all together.

3.      Engine Refurbishment.  Not a full overhaul but replaced water and fuel lines, exhaust hoses, rusted fittings etc.  Alos investigated the alternator issues (ended up ordering a new alternator and and flushed the coolant system.  As with boast and salt water, on opening up the cooling system we found internal corrosion that required a full coolant head replacement.  Not a cheap exercise but had to be done.

4.      Deck fittings and bolts….. hopefully stopped a few leaks.  Hopefully 😉

5.      Some varnishing and painting (always),

6.      Propellor Removal and Servicing.  On servicing we found some issues and had to order a replacement to be installed in May…. Boats. 

7.      Small sail repairs and electrical works (always ongoing… boats)

8.      Prep hull for antifouling on return in May.

 

We did have some delays due to the cyclone passing near Bundaberg before hitting the Gold Coast, but the above with a smatter of smaller jobs inside and out quickly filled those 5 weeks.

 

Lia also joined me for the last week, and we took a few days up at Agnes Water and 1770 which was a magic time and a well needed break from the yard.  In late March we put her back in dry storage and then back to work to earn some travelling clams.