TOUGH GOING ... THANKS TO YANMAR

Ok, so all my friends out there who say they are green with envy at our adventures and lovingly hate us for the life style we are living ... here is some good 'revenge time' to sooth your evil souls ... LOL!

Ana and I have had a torrid time for some ... well ... almost 2 weeks now ...

Fortunately, I am writing this from beautiful Deadman's Bay having had Impi launched again just this morning ...

But ... back to the past two weeks ...

I decided it was time to haul Impi for new anti-foul (bottom paint designed to fight marine growth below the water line) as the 'potency' of the initial paint had worn off in less than 1 year.

Of course this was frustrating for us as we had been led to believe the product would provide at least a 2 year protection but somewhere between the product (International paints) and the people who applied it at Granger Bay, there was a problem!

This is the second time we have applied the same product with only 1 years effectiveness, so I am questioning the paint type.

Our choice of new paint was certainly NOT going to be the same as we had previously purchased.

After researching various types of paints and products we realized that we were going to have to go with a less potent type than we would like to put on as certain countries do not allow certain paints in their waters.

Our paint of choice was a Seahawk product that met the requirements of all countries. I prefer a harder paint to what is otherwise known as an ablative which wears and sheds as it moves through water.

We had hauled Impi here at Tortola Yacht Services having managed to 'squeeze' a discounted price of $1000 for haul out, time on hard and to have lowered back into the water after all work was completed.

I think the discount was offered on account of them doing much of the work.

I managed to get a 'soft pad' (sanding off the old paint) thrown into the deal which was apparently 'unheard of' but this fact together with free time on the hard and allowing sub contractors to work on our boat without additional charges is what clenched the deal with Tortola Yacht Services versus using Nanny Cay.

Labour costs here to do the work run at roughly $16 per foot for catamarans and a 'topside' (waterline to deck line) chemical wash, buff and polish will rush you somewhere around the same price.

We had fortunately agreed with the yard that work would be done by the Yanmar agents to our sail drives and the yard would change oils and o'rings' to our lower drive ... and this would not cost additional time in the yard if we opted to go for Tortola Yacht Services instead of Nanny Cay.

Apparently a haul out at Nanny Cay will cost extra for outside contractors to do additional work on your yacht whilst in their yard.

So here we were, hauled out on a Friday afternoon and left dangling in the slings over the weekend.

The temperature was hot and of course opening hatches did little to nothing for us as the wind was not blowing from directly ahead.

Ana and I tried to take this as part of the adventure ... cracking open a few cans in the evening and sitting upstairs on our MUCH LOVED fly bridge chatting about how we could encourage the yard to work at speed to set us back in the water within the coming week.

In all fairness to the yard crew, they had 'squeezed' us in to what was an already busy schedule despite the manager leaving for holiday the following day and the only condition was that the work may take a bit longer than usual.

In the meantime, I continued with the air conditioning installation which required the drilling of through hull fittings and installation thereof ... at a cost of $85 per hole which I managed to negotiate down a bit as I felt this was excessive. This is a job I could easily have done myself, but decided to make use of professionals as if something went wrong here it could result in the boat sinking which could have implications with insurance.

We decided to go with Marelon 'Teflon plastic' fittings and shut off valves' since they do not rust and are incredibly strong and do not suffer from corrosion as do some other metal material types.

A local electrical engineer was tasked to assist me with the wiring (special marine grade tinned wiring) and proved to be a great guy ... Dave Gibson (284) 499-0036 who charges at $100 per hour and graciously deducts any 'talk time'.

Dave enjoys a good chat and we certainly gained a huge amount of knowledge by listening to him instead of 'watching the watch' so to speak!

It is possible to find cheaper rates on the island but Dave works fast and efficiently, is HIGHLY qualified with a BSC(Hons) Electrical & Electronic Eng (UK) MIET, is a member of the UK Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers, is an experienced design engineer on UK defense industry projects ... and it shows!

Ana and I resolved always to only ever use the best when it comes to work on Impi, especially since the quality in safety and reliability of systems at sea could be the difference between life and death.

Of course we had him in discussion with our all time favorite back in South Africa ... Robert Galley. Robert's ability to explain and Dave's ability to understand the electrical systems on Impi made for 'smooth work' and much saved time.

I pulled wires through various compartments and mounted boards to walls whilst Dave focused on 'hook up', circuit breakers and fuses etc.

All was completed within a day and 1/2 work.

Our trusted washing / drying machine had decided to develop problems which we asked Dave to take a good look at. He looked at it briefly and suggested we opt for a new machine as the repair details lay in  one of the circuit boards and repairs could amount to a price closely resembling that of a replacement unit. Ana immediately ordered another from the UK which hopefully arrives next week Tuesday. We opted for the Hoover WDYNS 654 as the dimensions provide for a narrow type machine which is what we need, as well as having the ability to conserve fresh water in that it supplies just enough water according to the load.

I contacted the local Yanmar dealer here in Tortola.

One problem with the Yanmar sail drives which rely on cone clutches (the sail drive is the leg which provides drive from the engine to the propellor transitioning torque from a being dry in the boat to wet underwater) is that after low hours (sometimes within 500 hours) they start to slip.

There are various procedures in the Yanmar manual to do preventative maintenance which includes 'lapping'. We had this done in Antigua at cost by the Yanmar agent there ... it was truly a waste of time and money ... not only was the agent unreliable but he also wanted nothing to do with the fact that his costly job had failed soon afterward.

So here we decided to have the local agent in Tortola install new Yanmar cones to each drive and to service the drives (yet again) as we do not want to experience problems in the event of requiring engines in an emergency situation or any other situation requiring the use of engines for that matter.

I had turned both props by hand just shortly after Impi had been hauled ... both were turning sweetly without any noise.

The local Yanmar agent had now arrived to do the work.

I asked them to please check the seals where the engine and SD50 sail drives meet as the port side required 'top up' every now and again and I had heard that Yanmar had manufactured a 'dip stick' (to check the oil) which was too short resulting in too much oil and pressure build up that has the result of possibly causing either the top seal or bottom seal to 'pop'. They now have a replacement dip stick which is longer.

The agent recommended that we replace the seal with another as this one was leaking.

I inquired about warranty but soon got the vibe that Yanmar is not as 'warranty friendly' as they were in the days of old. (I can understand this as I am sure they must be inundated with warranty claims against the rubbish sail drives they are manufacturing these days) ... and I really must say I am hugely disappointed to think that Yanmar had had my respect for the good quality engines they produced back in the day when I had these in my earth-moving machines.

Anyway, moving on swiftly, the Yanmar agents had assembled the units ... starboard side drive felt good and free but the port side suffered from 'Lock up' and a strange knocking sound! Oh boy.

Fortunately I had remained with Impi throughout the entire process ... had logged hours of the coming and going of the technicians and had raised my concern for the manner in which the drives were being placed in the dirt.

Of course I was onto this immediately and demanded that dirt be kept out of these drives at all times. This tended to make me unpopular with 'the team' but non the less I was determined to have things done correctly.

The workshop manager had arrived at Impi and produced a bill (I had already placed a $500 deposit with them).

When scrutinizing the bill, I noticed that even if I was 'wildly generous' in the times I had personally recorded of the technicians coming and going, that I was being well and truly overcharged for the hours claimed.

Secondly, the 'assistant' (who was required to hold items and pass tools) was being charged out at the same rate as the technician.

I asked the workshop manager about this who was already irate with me for having mentioned the overcharge in hours and informed me that the assistant is charged at the same rate and in fact should go for more as he is more qualified than the technician, himself and me put together.

Having owned workshops and having had many technicians work for me in the past, I told him I seriously doubted this and spent some time doing research on the man in the BVI's.

Before too long, I had come to the conclusion that in fact this was not the case and heard first hand that on a particular island the assistant is not wanted there again.

The workshop manager had agreed to rectify the issue with no further cost in labour to us but that we need only to pay for parts if and where necessary. I agreed.

Monday arrived and with this so did the workshop manager who now wanted payment for all the work done thus far. I politely declined.

In the meantime, the CEO of the group had heard of this situation through a friend of mine who does a lot of work with them and contacted me to discuss the issue.

I was polite but had the feeling that there was a HUGE gap between what he thought of his people's abilities and in reality what the situation was. After all, I have worked with hundreds upon hundreds of technicians, I myself in my early years had qualified as one with Caterpillar and owned my own workshops, complete with workshop managers, buyers and technicians all on my payroll!

Here I was, on our own yacht watching and monitoring first hand all that was going on ... a luxury I never had in my business for being too busy doing business!

I listened as various scenario's were being sketched and shook my head in amazement as I thought of the 'twoddle' being put before me and could not help but feel this was all in an attempt to cast their mistake into my pockets.

In the end I called Yanmar in South Africa who previously had looked after our engines and sail drives and discussed these issues with them. A little way into the discussion my feelings were confirmed and it seemed we were of the same opinion.

The workshop manager in the meanwhile was about to order a new lower shaft which had to be flown in when I suggested he rather try the shaft from our starboard (right side) leg which would verify this as being the issue.

The shaft was removed and placed in the port side (left) leg and what do you know ... the problem was still there which saved me the cost of a new shaft being flown in special delivery and fitted over a weekend.

The drive was stripped, new bearings were fitted with one having been flown in from overseas. The CEO personally watched over this .... what I had now named ...  'monkey business' ...

Ana and I were living in a boat yard in sweltering heat and in grime and dust! It was difficult to be at the mercy of these people ... to lack faith in their ability to remedy the situation ... to watch a workshop manager back out of his commitment to do the work labour free from a certain point in time and then say he will have to charge for it ...

Of course I knew they had me by the 'shorts and curly' ... I mean after all we are on an island, the drive leg is in their possession and both parties knew the agent had the upper hand ... we felt 'DONE IN! ' and there was precious little we could do about it ... the best option I had is what I call 'damage control'.

In the meantime, Ana was not feeling great and was in serious need of a break from all this so I decided to take her across to the hotel at the Moorings base where we stayed in an air conditioned room for the night.

The outside temperature was 35 degrees and the humidity was incredible with no sign of any breeze what so ever as all the wind has been sucked up by hurricane 'Sandy' as it passed taking all the energy in the atmosphere with it to play havoc with the USA.

The hotel room with its air conditioning was 'instant relief' for us and we enjoyed spending time in the swimming pool and sipping on ice cold drinks.

The room had a great king size bed ... I had turned the air conditioner down to as freezing as we could get it to go and for the first time in a year found myself sleeping under a duvet. There was an empty fridge which I stocked up with cans of coke and a bottle of wine for Ana.

At about 4:00 am there was a massive thump and bang at the door ... Ana had woken up with a scream and was hyperventilating ... my queu to be a man ... I jumped out of bed carrying a pillow in front of me so as not to intimidate anyone and rushed up to the door grabbing with my hands and let out a massive growl to notify the intruders first off that there are people in the room.

At this all seemed quiet and I had successfully 'growled' away the burglars and was walking back to bed when I noticed the fridge door was ajar.

I thought Ana had forgotten to close it and as I looked in I observed a coke can which had exploded and thrust the door open.

Of course you can only imagine the story Ana is telling all and sundry of the exploding coke can and her burly SA man running up to the door with a pillow and growling ... oh boy!

Well this at least has been something we laugh a lot about and it brought smiles during what otherwise has been a tough time for us.

What was interesting is that Ana and I really seemed to 'pull together' despite all the odds. These situations could potentially create an environment for couples to argue and relationships to break down, whereas we seemed to be strong in the face of adversity and found ourselves rather supporting and encouraging each other and strategising  how best to get Impi back into the water.

Our negotiations with the agents seemed to be deteriorating ... their frustration came from the inability to swiftly resolve the situation and ours was the fact that they were not only adding parts costs but also labour ... and in my opinion labour that was not suitably qualified for the task.

In the end, the CEO had called to say they had found a new drive casing belonging to one of the charter companies and had transplanted our gears and shafts complete with new bearings, o'rings and seals and the unit was functioning well without any lockup!

I asked about the cost ... it created an air of awkwardness and I was told 'we don't know as the charter company has yet to make up it's mind'. My response was to the effect that I did not want this job to become a 'run away train' in terms of costs and that they need to be guiding us on what it was they expected from us financially and that we needed to be guiding them on what we are prepared to pay.

This resulted in the agent blurting out the words to the effect that they were going to stop working on this with immediate effect ... I agreed pending a meeting face to face across the board room table to find some sort of resolution to all this. At first they were not keen to meet and it seemed they would be happier to terminate the work right there ... of course our yacht was on 'the hard', they had our drive leg and they knew pretty well they had the upper hand.

Ana suggested we go and see the various charter companies to see what was being charged for this drive ... it was going to be like searching for a needle in a hay stack.

We consulted a number of people and companies until we discovered the very person who was 'selling' this drive to them.

After a brief discussion he mentioned he did not want to be in the middle of the situation but indicated to me that in-fact they were doing other business with the same agent and had basically 'given' the drive leg to them!

I placed a call to Florida and inquired about the price of a brand new drive ... the ENTIRE unit from top to bottom was $4900.00 including all gears and was totally complete.

The CEO seemed to be a nice guy in person and I couldn't help but feel he had been misled by his crew ...

He initially put before us a bill of somewhere between $5000 - $6000 saying he had cut back where he could ...

I felt my eyes begin to burn ... a sure sign of battle ahead ...

This is not why I went sailing ... this is exactly why I left all the nonsense behind me doing land based business ... I was madder than hell (as the Americans always say).

Ana looked at me and placed her hand on my knee ...

She then asked the man if he had worked out another scenario for us ...

He presented a paper with an amount showing $3500.00 all in!

I was still feeling that burning sensation in my eyes ... I was the bull drawing it's hoof through the dirt and snorting up dust clouds ... I was waiting for that gate to open ...

All of a sudden Ana had noticed some plaque on his desk ... an award for donations made to children who were suffering from damage sustained to their island during a storm. It turns out that Ana had belonged to the same organisation ... they got locked into debate around these issues and I was left feeling somewhat bewildered as I felt the 'Bull in me' disappear for a stroll in fields of daisies.

She placed her hand on my knee and said, 'Love, that's it then, $3500.00 ... I will use the credit card and lets get Impi back into the water again!'

I was not very happy about the outcome ... however, Ana was right ... she drew the line knowing we had no further options and later said she was happy to pay a price to regain the happiness we enjoy .. out there on the water.

I was amazed at Ana's forgiving spirit ... her ability to compromise and move on despite knowing we had been 'out pocketed' ... I guess there was a lesson for me here ... always fighting to the last for what I believe is right or wrong and lacking the humility and ability to know the art of compromise.

Back at base Lex (the yard manager) was happy to hear our news ... we would be launched first thing in the morning!

This morning could not come too soon for Ana and me ... nor for Lex it would seem, as he was already moving the crane into place by 6:00am.

With Lex at the Tortola Yacht Services Yard

I think Lex must have sighed a huge sigh of relief when I left ...

On one occasion whilst the saga with the Yanmar people was going on, one of the workers in the yard had yet again demanded additional money from me for redoing part of a job he had not done well.

It seemed that the guys were taking advantage of our situation and at one point I had just had enough!

So I jumped down from the boat and gathered the staff around me in the vicinity dressing them down about the fact that they are all wanting money for this and for that and that quite frankly my dealings were between management of the yard and myself ... not with the yard staff at large ... 'I have had enough of this', I said angrily 'and if anyone asks me for money again they are going to have to deal with the consequences having been duly warned'.

I was met with rather bewildered stares and the atmosphere was awkwardly silent for a while but then the guys agreed with me saying they understood and were sorry.

A little later one stocky man walked up to me and said 'Sir, are you from South Africa?'

'Yes', I said

'Sir, today you made me proud', he said, 'I am a zulu from Durban in South Africa and your boat is called Impi (a zulu word for a Zulu warrior) and today sir, you were a true Impi and these people have seen for the first time a man who is not afraid to be a stranger in foreign place. Today you made me miss my old country South Africa ... I left it 25 years ago ... today sir, I call you my brother'.

I gave him a big tap on the shoulder and said it was wonderful to meet a Zulu out here on the islands and wonderful to be called his brother. We chatted about our differences in an old South Africa and how we managed to rise above the colour divide to be united even this far across the seas and in foreign lands ... he was clearly emotional about this ... I felt humbled as he turned and gave me a huge hug!

  With Victa, a zulu from Durban in South Africa wearing his protective paint clothing

Impi was good to go ...

Ana was not going to crack a smile until the boat was in the water ... she was very worried as the crane walked with Impi dangling in the slings across the yard toward the open sea ...

This morning Impi 'hit the water' ... Ana was ALL SMILES and having turned the music up loud danced around the boat as we took off from the dock.
Of course I laughed out loud as she is normally such a quiet person but could not contain her happiness and even did a little 'growl' every now and then (of course jokingly as a reminder of the night I growled at the intruders at the hotel room door' ....

We motored around to Wickham Cay and as we passed the sea wall where all the crewed Moorings Yachts are, the crew members all jumped up and down for joy shouting out 'Go Impi' ... Nico held up a coffee cup and motioned for us to anchor and join him for a cupper ...

We anchored and whilst Ana went into town for some drinks and food I spent time socializing with our friends on the Moorings dock where all and sundry enjoyed our burglary story which of course turned out to be a burst can of coke, the story of my friend the Zulu warrior and we felt the warmth and enthusiasm they shared in seeing Impi back on the deep blue!