On the Hard Stand at Rebak Marina December 2010

Twice before DoraMac has been pulled from the water. Both times we had to contend with wind and current and it was touch and go at times. The first time we were pulled was in China at the Seahorse fiberglass yard. It was up a channel and there was wind and current and if I remember correctly we had to back in so the bow thrusters were, of course, no help. We had to wait for the exact right time and movement of the wind and current to get into the slip. At Batu Maung they used a small motorboat to pull our bow around in the strong current and still it took almost an hour to get into the slip. Both Randal and I started to fear for the worst but ultimately we were in the slip without a scratch. This time SMOOTH AS GLASS!!!!! Not only were the conditions mostly calm, but our neighbor Hans and other neighbor Dale let loose our slip lines and then came aboard to help at the other end, catching the lines. Mostly I watched and learned. Good thing because the next day I helped Jim and Julia when Papillon was pulled. All I had to do was catch one line at the end because the marina had sent someone to help them. They have a very wide catamaran and that’s a bit trickier than ours which isn’t so wide.

We came from a slip just past the far boats so it was a pretty easy straight shot.

We went in bow first because of the angle of our mast which we had to lower a bit when we backed in at Batu Maung.

Checking our clearance but we had “lots” of room.

A diver with a face mask but no tank dove under the boat to check the placement of the straps used to lift the boat. They decided to add a third strap.

The driver of the giant contraption that lifts the boat.

You can see all of the levers and the foot pedal that the driver uses.

This is actually Papillon, our friends Julia and Jim’s catamaran which only had inches to spare on either side of the small lift slip. At this point they are over in the power wash station. Once in the straps the boat is lifted out of the water and onto land. There it stays for a bit as a team of guys scrapes the barnacles and muscles from the bottom of the boat. Unfortunately I don’t have photos of DoraMac because before they lifted us from the water we had to quickly climb out over the bow onto the dock. No time to grab camera, or book or anything! Rats. But when the men were done there was a small pile of muscles that they separated from the rest of the mess. Guess someone would cook them. When it was moved to the power wash station Randal asked if I wanted to get back on and I did because that’s where my camera and book were.

DoraMac being power washed.

Our parking space on land.

Looking down on our slip because I was on the boat.

The hard stand area is on the far side of the marina away from the entrance breezes and closer to the trees and mosquitoes. We can hear the hornbills screeching in the morning and the tree frogs or cicadas making a racket in the afternoon. Haven’t seen any monkeys (anywhere on the islands actually) though we have been warned that they, at times, make raids onto the boats.

Randal with his work table making primer.

Hard stands hold up DoraMac and so the expression, “on the hard.”

Our paint still is shiny enough to reflect the sailboat on our left. Sadly, that’s how the boat looks most of the time…no workers doing any work. These are not the same workers who pulled us from the water. Those were marina workers. The painters are a crew registered with the marina and pretty much our only option. Maybe things will pick up. They get paid by the job, not by the hour.

Randal doing some of the work while one of the paid guys wet sands the boat to get it ready for the anti-fouling paint.

We have a ladder this time and it’s actually easier than the barrel and boxes we’ve used in the past because I said I hate ladders. But I’m very, VERY careful. It’s still a long way to the ground.

Lots of work is still done by hand with a combination of water and sandpaper.

DoraMac on the hard.