Quotes: paint removal and repaint; Fast forward to reality; Follow up on tint and schedule: no and no; Don’t kid yourself: Fijians need supervision; Do’s for stripping old paint off an aluminium boat and painting at Vuda Point; Take a walk through the yard; Apartment with million-dollar view; Uninvited apartment guests; Service people; Zulu with her new makeover!
Quotes: paint removal and repaint
The life of Zulu’s paint is at the beginning of the end on decks, house, dodger, cockpit, sugar scoop. It is bubbling, bursting, and in some areas under the nonskid reveals white powdery corrosion. Paint and aluminium are not friends for long.
Ashby’s boat yard in Opua, NZ--NZ$30K (US$26K) for ‘sand’ blasting and painting above-mentioned areas. Environmental laws are strict and Zulu would have had to be trucked inland short of some jolly sheep farm to an enclosed structure for the blast job. OK, adhering to environmental regulation is good.
But seeing we just put a new roof on our home and converted from oil to gas heating for a total of US$21K, the thought of spending another US$26K was too painful.
However, the thought of sailing around looking like Grapes of Wrath was too painful for me too. It did not bother Russ though.
“Just out of interest, let’s get a quote” I suggested.
Baobab, Vuda Point Marina--First quote: FJ$12K (US$6,840) to remove paint by grinding and then repaint using the International brand. This includes 7.5% Vuda Point Marina management take just for using their yard.
Baobab would waive the 15% VAT since we are a transient yacht and any product or work related is duty free. We’d have to give them the rotation number and copy of the Revenue and Customs form given us when we cleared in to Fiji.
Russ said that was too much and promptly sailed away to Malolo Lailai island for the natural paint peeling process to continue to take its course. Who needs a grinder? We’ve got one. A coffee grinder.
Anchored out on the spit off Musket Cove I could not stand the thought of Zulu taking on the ‘on-the-fringes’ look: paint peeling and non skid flapping around making for guaranteed tripping material and beyond unimpressive look. Lloyds of London would quiver.
We both did independent research for prepping an aluminium boat for paint. Russ found some military primer product online that was supposed to have paint adhere for an eternity, but how to prepare the alloy and where do you get the magic product etc., etc. Voices in cyberspace lead nowhere.
I found chat forums on alloy boat prep. Do NOT grind as you will not be able to get the proper ‘profile’. That is get into little corroded crevices and pot holes. And do NOT use sand as a blasting medium on aluminium. Not sure why.
DO use garnet, a form of semi-precious stone to blast. And/or DO use soda and soda mixed with garnet in some areas. ‘Some areas’ were not defined and nor the reason why soda. Baobab later said DO NOT use soda?
“Let’s just do it!” I urged. “I’ve worked out a way to pay for it short of eating fish heads and rice for 10 years.
Next we were back in Vuda Point revisiting quotes and method for stripping the old paint.
Baobab—Second quote: FJ$11K (US$6,270) to paint, agreed grinding was not the way to go and gave a quote of FJ$5.6K (US$3,192) for blasting.
We showed interest and along came Baobab’s Fijian blaster contacts. They have an office just down the road from Vuda Point and work mainly on blasting the insides of the big BlueGas tanks.
Down they came—a whole troupe of them--boots and all. Yes they could do the job and could use garnet, and would take 3-to-4 days but could not work when it rained. They threw out a US$2000 figure and said: “It is cheap in Fiji right?”
But they did not have a permit to work at Vuda Point Marina, and would have to work under the umbrella of Baobab. The latter did not want to take the risk and so we would have had to be responsible should anything go wrong.
Like it did some time back when the blasters unintentionally blasted sand through the tarpaulin spraying boats around them. That was not a fun day in the sun! Plus their equipment fails a lot. Then they have to go off and make repairs and come back days later to continue.
One week has passed and we have gotten nowhere quick. And in the end, Baobab said they could not do it. My heart sank! And steel-blue-eyed David Parry, who is very much in the know with regard paint, paint specs, painting and mentoring/overseeing those who work with him was disappointed too. So much up front energy spent for a no go. Baobab owner did not want to take the risk. And nor did we.
David is an interesting chap: born in Kenya of English parents, he lived there 7 years. His teacher showed so much interest in him that when the time came for his parents to leave, she took him into her home for two years so that his schooling would not be disrupted. A teacher never to forget!
He had his own boat yard in Durban, South Africa for two years; has done his share of sailing: delivered a boat from Cape Town to south of Australia; sailed to Hawaii and San Francisco. Worked up the Sacramento Delta for time enjoying Live and Green band’s music of the time. He bought his boat in Sausalito, where we, too, bought our first boat.
In Tonga he found a sweet young woman whom he married and made his home base in Auckland, NZ. So his arrangement is to spend 6 months in Auckland and 6 months at Vuda Point.
“I like the arrangement.” He says with a twinkle in his eye.
We’re sorry we missed working with him as he certainly is in the know when it comes to boats and boat technologies.
By the way, Baobab is a most grand and beautiful tree native to Madagascar and mainland Africa. It is so big, people have been known to live in their trunks.
Not deterred, I walk into the dusty office of Doug Cusick, of Yacht Help. Doug is a layed-back mellow southern Californian from Santa Barbara. Quiet and obliging he listened to our needs and found Marine Solutions--owned by a New Zealander named Brad--who could do the blasting. Doug and his crew would do the painting.
Yacht Help, Vuda Point Marina—First quote: FJ$13,510.68K (US$7,700) to blast, tent the boat, tape, prime and paint. Sounds good. We’ll move forward with this.
Marine Solutions, Lautoka—First quote: (to come in independent from Yacht Help) had no bottom line. However, Greg who assessed the scope of work was a Kiwi chap: amiable, knowledgeable, easy to deal with, credible.
He measured length by breadth—60 m2--and said they could do the blasting in 3-to-4 days. Would use garnet and in some places garnet and soda mixed. They had their own permit to work at Vuda Point Marina, so could come in independently. And, yes, they would work the process for transient yacht exemption of the 15% VAT. We made a gentleman’s agreement to work together with an understanding that we’d have to pay Vuda Point Marina the 7.5% of the total.
Second week passes and we are getting somewhere.
Vuda Point Marina Haul Out-–It took quite some time to get us into a spot suitable for blasting under a tent, and at last in the place that suited both Yacht Help and us i.e., NOT next to a steel boat that was being welded. It was a ring-a-rosie dance at a dizzying pace for sure, but turned out well. Thanks to George and Mo.
Third week passes and—while still in the water--there is light at the end of the boat yard tunnel.
Fast forward to reality
Fiji Time happened and so did rain and so did more Fiji Time happen and quote creep. But it was all good, as my daughter Sarah always says not matter how bad it is.
Marine Solutions pulled through with a job well done, and worked with me to resolve the 15% VAT exemption, and overall cost for what extended from 4-to-10 days!
Doug has been patient and good-natured with ups and downs and with Fiji Time extending into more Fiji Time.
I came across him on his way out a few days ago and approached him with--
“Hey Doug, I’m going to side swipe you.” I said.
He blinked his eyes subtly, but kept a poker face not to show surprise.
“The Snow White paint we chose looks like the inside of a toilet.” I said. He laughs leaning against a coconut tree. “Russ does not care because he likes to read inside toilets.” I continued.
“Hahahaha—a toilet!” Doug chuckled.
Ja, Doug did not have the most extensive colour charts to show us in the beginning. So Russ just pointed to what looked like the most glaring white and said: “That will do.”
“Can we put a tint in the final coat to tone down the glare?” I asked. “What colour would you suggest?”
“Well, since you have the grey stripe on the hull, I’d put a drop of black in. I’ll have to see if International has any black in Lautoka. If not, we could change paints to Apco.”
“No, I want to stay with International.” I say.
“Come by next Monday and we’ll see what we have.” Then on he sauntered to his sweet boat named Renegade to declare day’s ended.
Yacht Help—Second quote midstream: FJ$9,435.35 (US$5,377)--independent from Marine Solutions. I need to know how the quote stands. Hmmmm. It increased again.
Yacht Help—Third quote shortly after midstream: FJ$9,935.66 (US$5,662).
Aaaaaaah. Doug said he saw no reason why it would grow any further.
I emailed him: How about how long before the job is done?
“God willing and the creek don’t rise end of next week!” he said.
I responded that I was holding my breath and that for his info, I did not have a diving tank!
On we go with Fiji Flow—-----
Follow up on tint and schedule: no and no
I popped by to check on possibility of toning the ‘toilet’ white down with a tinge of black as discussed. No go. No International black for tint! No won’t be ready by November 3.
Mondays are not good for Doug!
Follow up on schedule. “Hows the creek doing?” Hmmmmm. “Don’t think we’ll make it by end of next week.” Looks like God isn’t willing and the flippin creek is RISING!
“When do you think you’ll be finished?” “Perhaps the next Wednesday, November 7?” “Is that probable?” “Hmmmm, not sure.” “OK, give me WORST CASE schedule for finishing job.” “ Perhaps end of that week, November 11?” “Is that a ‘for sure’?” “Hopefully.”
“Will third quote creep again?” “A little, not much.” “Well I’ve come to the end of my financial tether.” “Well it’s only Fiji dollars and we’re just at the beginning!”
Such is Fiji Flow!
Doug’s work team
“Marilyn you have to take a photograph of Doug’s workers.” Russ’ request surprises me as he is not a picture-taking person. In fact he’s never read my blog.
He tells me that Doug’s workers always offer him a coffee when they take their lunch break. Folgers it is. How sweet is that!
“They take a loaf of that round squishy white bread. Cut it in half, and spread a tin of mackerel or tuna on it, then dip it in their cups of Folger’s coffee.” Russ says with interest.
Protein, starch, and a burst of caffeine gets the crew going for the second half of the hot, hot day under the tent, where Russ says the temperature reaches 110 Degrees F.
No wonder they’re on Fiji Time!!
Don’t kid yourself: Fijians need supervision
All the sweet stuff aside, Fijians need supervision! But they don’t really like it, especially if it comes from the boat owner and not their supervisor. Russ, having worked in the business, knows what to expect and when he sees stuff falling short he calls them on it.
But they have a slick way of ‘kissing him off’. They don’t like to say ‘no’, so just say ‘yes’ and then go on their way ignoring the direction and doing what they like. Or they use subtle body language of cocking the head to the side as a brush off and carry on as if you don’t exist. And time to them is circular. They are not pressed for time, because they are on Fiji Time.
“You can’t push Fijians.” Doug says. Not at the pay rate of FJ$3.50 (US$1.99) an hour (Russ found a wage slip on the ground.)
They had agreed to work Saturday to have a shot at meeting end-of-next week (November 3) deadline. Three of the crew showed up. Then one went home. Thank goodness Leo, the paint lead stayed. Well when in Fiji, who would want to come to work on a Saturday. It is too beautiful. In any case, there is a new Marina Rule. Only work to 1:00 on Saturdays.
Can anyone win?
The DO’s for stripping old paint off an aluminium boat and painting at Vuda Point
Do be prepared to pay 7.5% of total job to Vuda Point Marina.
Blasting--Do get FIRM quotes in writing with bottom line Totals and limit to creep. Agree on--
- Scope of work, to include m2 to be blasted and painted.
- Schedule.
- What hardware will be taken off.
- Number of workers and rate per hour.
- Time limit over quote impacted by inclement weather.
- Blasting media (garnet (NOT sand) and question why garnet mixed with soda is needed in some areas).
- Quantity of blasting media, how much to use per day (10 bags versus 4), and cost.
- Responsible oversight of workers so pressure set right to get paint off at a timely rate.
- Blasting method: best is to (1) do whole area at once to get old paint and nonskid glue off, (2) clean surface, (3) come back next day and blast oxidation off a section small enough to allow time to clean surface and put prime coats on (4 hrs is the maximum to leave bare before priming), (4) come back next day and do same until done. Note: they did section-by-section on Zulu, recycling media, cleaning surface for painters to follow with prime. Slow.
- 15% VAT tax exemption and verify procedure for this understood ( Provide rotation number and copy of Revenue and Customs form).
- Payment due date, method, bank and service provider details.
Primary provider/Painting--Do get firm quotes from them in writing with bottom line Totals and limit to creep. Ask for worst-case quote. Agree on—
- Scope of work, to include m2 to be painted.
- Schedule.
- What Vuda Point requirements are for environment protection.
- What hardware cannot be taken off, and therefore will have to be covered and taped.
- Cost of tape, tent, and miscellaneous products.
- Number of workers and rate per hour.
- Time limit over quote impacted by inclement weather.
- Paint brand, COLOUR, quantity needed, and cost.
- Paint provider having an additional small blaster in tool set would enable blasting to be done in one shot, and painters to follow next day zapping oxidation and priming. This would take less overall time.
- (Understand) 7.5% will be added to job Total for Vuda Point!!!!
- 15% VAT tax exemption and verify
procedure for this understood (provide rotation number and copy of Revenue and Customs form).
- When payment due , method, bank and service provider details.
- Time and place! Latter IMPORTANT as it is aluminium and cannot be put next to a steel boat that is having welding done.
- Meeting environmental and yard requirements.
See Zulu hauled out and Fijian workers involved.
Ollie and Russ stripping teak. See dodger’s windows are removed.
Zulu sans nonskid. The harness is being put on. Russ has drawn a picture for the lift operators and they are right on the mark.
Mo working the lift.
Out she comes—trusty vessel.
Mo reverses Zulu in for a pressure wash.
George gives Zulu’s bottom the once over. The bottom paint job Russ did in NZ in April looks good.
Close up of Zulu’s keel. See where it kissed the reef of Denarau?
Zulu riding in the sling towards the pit. George steps into the pit to put wooden blocks in place for the keel to rest on.
Russ, always observant, watches her being lowered down.
Beautiful shaped underbelly. Good job Graham Shannon (the designer).
Zulu’s gone under cover for blasting with garnet (semi-precious stone) to ready for new paint. The temperature under the tent is hell hot for the workers—110 Degrees F.
Doug, from Yacht Help, is in charge of the job. Mo runs the lift.
George guides from the ground and is also the man who is ever in a tin dinghy assisting yachts in and out of berths—Mediterranean style. George, on another day, directing Mo with stop-and-go signs for placing a boat in position on the hard. Looks like he lost his change with his pocket turned inside out!
Russ and Adam, Mo’s son, exchanging yard talk.
Yacht Help’s paint crew are all related: Top—Johnny, Joe (a really good worker), and Tom. Bottom—Sim, Johnny, Joe, Tom. Leo, the lead painter, was out sick and Ollie had a sore toe so did not make the photo op.
Apartment with a million-dollar view
Where to stay when Zulu comes onto the hard? I looked into en-suite rooms available at First Landing resort for FJ$75 a day (US$42.75)—‘yachtie’ rate.
Booked up! Then I looked at Vuda Point accommodation: a small cottage set back under a big tree with deck, bedroom, and shower for FJ$75 a day; a cabin beneath an apartment with a bed and doll house basin and use of outside toilets and showers for FJ$55 (US$31.35) a day; and lastly, the self contained one bedroom, bathroom, lounge-dining-kitchen, and deck with a million dollar view for FJ$120 (US$68.40) a day. Add 15% VAT to total.
It wasn’t hard to make the choice, because cooking our own meals is enjoyable. Sitting on the deck drinking not only cold drinks with ice clinking in glasses, but drinking in spectacular sunsets, watching the comings and goings of silent boat traffic in and out of the channel, and the coming and goings of guests and workers at the Sunset bar.
Management is firm on price and does not consider weekly rates, nor the fact that we are bedraggled yachties who pay them 7.5% overhead just to have work done on the hard, and could do with a ‘yachtie’ rate! But they DID come through in the end with a monthly rate of FJ$104/day (US$59.28)
I call the apartment a ‘bird cage’ in that all, too, can see the comings and goings of us through the windows of our world.
The apartment—‘bird cage’—we rent for 5 weeks while Zulu is on the hard. I give it this name as all outside can see the comings and goings of us through the windows of our world, as we can see them. The paddle and surf boards are privately owned, some are for rent.
Here are the million-dollar views I was telling you about—from the ‘bird cage’ apartment we rented!
View of the channel into the marina from our living room.
View from our actual bed.
Views from our deck of boats making their way through the marina channel. Reflection and a rainbow follow an afternoon shower (offices, café, chandlery, and general store are located in building under the rainbow). I capture spectacular sunsets over the Sunset bar on the very point of Vuda Point and beyond. This is our front yard for 5 weeks! I can get used to living in ‘the bird cage’ for sure!
Uninvited apartment guests
I will not leave you in sunset heaven without telling the truth of the matter. Our uninvited apartment guests are an eternal variety of ants, mosquitoes, and TOP of the list MICE!
I ignore the ants as Elenoa wipes them away on her cleaning escapades and I do so in between. The mosquitoes are quelled with a plug-in container of Good Knight double-barreled with burning coils on the decks when needed.
But the MICE are persistent and upsetting. When you think you are about to settle in for the night, I hear them scurrying around: seemingly behind the fridge or under the
The Good Knight would allow sleep to overtake , like a gentle veil. But then I’d hear a dish fall and would awake and make for the kitchen like greased lightning, with a torch. And the miserable rodents—one or two would scurry the length of the kitchen counter toward the back of the fridge.
Every night I seal all food, wash and pack away all dishes, and wipe counters, but one night neglected in putting the fruit bowl away and cloves of garlic and ½ a lime. Russ’, too, with midnight nibbling habits and snack packets left open etc., gave gilded invitation for a rodent party.
Morning dawns with left overs of the mouse feast. Garlic skins all over, bananas eaten into, limes nibbled down to the core, chip bits scattered across their party territory and mice poop left as change in appreciation.
This is a spoiler. I was on the brink of blowing up when Mili, the manager, appeared and I poured out my abhorrence of rodents and that something has to be done! One month of mice!! She suggested a cat in the future. But now is the time. TODAY! I’ve had ONE MONTH of mice. I can’t wait for a cat.
Elenoa appeared ready for combat! Down with poison and glue strips and tidbits for them tonight. We’ll see what happens.
“This is a bummer” I said. “Yes, Obama” Elenoa says. Smile.
I hear Russ grinding coffee. He is leaving early to see what happens with the Satrday paint crew. I sleepily enter the kitchen thinking coffee on the deck a ritual for waking up.
About to open the fridge door when Aaaaaaaaaah!! Two hung over party mice are stuck in the glue and wiggling desperately. I run out and find Jerry, my favourite security guard.
He marches in boots and all and takes the wiggling mice out to their final destination. Mice heaven. Then back he comes with a Felini’s Feast platter that looked like breakfast for me. But it was more glue and —enough for rodent city—with accents of cubed of bread. That should get the rest of them! I hope.
Service people
The service people at the Boatshed restaurant and Sunset bar are for the most part so accommodating. One of my favourite waitresses is Maritha. Her skin is honey-coloured, her eyes chocolate, and she wears her crinkly hair up in a high top notch with a flower tucked behind her ear--while in the black and white uniform required for servers.
Her hours are long and she moves fast—back and forth—between the kitchen and guests at picnic tables on the lawn or under the unique thatched-roof Sunset bar. She always calls me by name—Marilyn-- and is so genuine and attentive. She’d do a double-take when she saw me and wave with a smile.
Then one morning I saw her casually dressed and she said she was leaving that day to go back to Suva—where her mother was—and to finish her studies in Business Management. I asked where her father was?
“He is with the British army in Iraq” she said. Wow! Incidentally I had just heard recently that the British army was cutting a large number of Fijian’s in their service. Wonder how her father would fare. I wished her well and tucked a tip long overdue into her hand for the road.
Then, next I heard from Anna, another service person, that Maritha had postponed her studies and took up a New Zealand Christian family’s offer to go to Christchurch, South Island for a visit. They would pay her way? Hmmmmm. I wonder what for?
I never did take a photograph of her, but thought if ever there was a girl I would want my son to meet, it would be Maritha--an island girl with a magic smile. I carry an image of her I had one night on the beach in front of First Landing resort.
Her long hair was hanging loose down to her waist with the ubiquitous Frangipani flower clipped in behind the ear, a long island-print dress billowed around her slender body in the sea breeze. She held the hand of a tiny child—her cousin. “Hello Marilyn” she called as she waved and smiled! I’ll keep that image for always.
Then there is Jay: tall and thin and animated with a string of shells around his neck and a Frangipani blossom tucked behind his ear. He is from Lautoka, and plays two roles: a waiter at the Boatshed restaurant and Sunset bar, and a chef in training. He is quick-witted, funny, polite, and on his toes always. He has ambition. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t call out to Russ and I Bula! Hello!
I sit watching the presidential debate on the verandah of the Boatshed restaurant across the lawn from the bar. Jay streaks back and forth between kitchen and bar.
“Who do you want to win?” he asks in Fijian-come- Kings English lilt.
“Obama.” I say. Next having watched zero of the debates he pops by and says:
“Obama is winning! He must win!” So funny. I do love the Fijian accent. They enunciate so clearly. It makes you smile.
Jay from Lautoka, another of my favourite waiters and chef in training: quick-witted, funny, polite, and always on his toes. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t call out to Russ an I with a Bula! Hello! Jay took this picture of me after I snapped the shot of him. It has been awhile since I ‘featured’ in my blog. Thanks Jay!:)
There are so many more lovely people around us so not lastly, but for now there is Elenoa. She cleans Vuda Point accommodations and the Boatshed restaurant –really a long open verandah. She always brings flowers when she comes to clean the apartment we are in: carries them in her cleaning bucket. And comes and goes with a big smile.
She worked 7 years at the Beachcomber resort on a small island. There she met her husband and they have a little boy named Sam. He lives with her sister in Suva, who is a teacher and has Sam and her own daughter in her class. Elenoa calls Sam ‘she’, as she calls all males. Her husband and her live in the nearby village of Viseisei.
On her two-days off a week, she goes to church on Sunday and on Monday she goes fishing in the river with a net.
“I catch the small fish.” She points from hand to ½-way up forearm to show measurement.
“I boil them or fry them and serve with breadfruit or kasava”. She smiles big and gives a hearty laugh. Throwing her head back.
“In Lautoka I get 10 small fish off the dock for FJ$10.” She thinks that is good and glad Fiji is not fished out.
Elenoa cleans twice a week and each time picks and brings flowers to arrange for the finishing touch. She is from Viseisei village, as are most of the workers at Vuda Point. Flowers in her cleaning bucket bring joy to the job. She pronounces Russ as Rush! Smile.
Zulu with her new makeover!
I will leave you and I in suspension as Fiji Time prevents me from unveiling Zulu with her new makeover.
See you next time! Maybe never with Fiji Time!
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