Between Success and Setback

Today was our first day back on Tauha.
Tahiti wakes early. By three in the morning the roosters are crowing, cars are starting, dogs are barking. Luckily, we’re anchored a little farther away from land, so I usually don’t hear much of it. But with a touch of jet lag, those sounds woke me anyway.

Three a.m. definitely wasn’t the right time to get up, so I turned over and fell back asleep. Around half past five, the first rays of sunlight tickled my nose. Time to get up before the sun rose fully over the island and the heat set in.

I went down into the galley while Alex was still asleep and started opening the water valves and turning on the power. Apparently I was a bit too loud, because Alex woke up to the sounds. A few minutes later, we were both on deck brushing our teeth when the first turtle of the day surfaced to say hello. I think that moment will never stop feeling special, no matter how many times we experience it.

Afterwards, I made Alex a coffee, we had a small breakfast, and enjoyed the peaceful morning. It was the first time Alex really experienced how easy mornings are now. Coffee without any electrical problems, at least not yet. A small piece of normal life that felt simply wonderful.

After breakfast, we got to work: the dinghy needed to be untied and turned around. The small hole at the back, where water is supposed to drain out, had so far been sealed with a sponge. Alex had now bought a valve that would hopefully keep it watertight and let the water out properly. It was a one-way valve, meant to let water out but not back in.

While Alex worked on that, I inspected the traveler, the mechanism that lets the mainsail move from port to starboard. The rollers were completely worn out and definitely needed replacing. I took the whole traveler apart to see if we could fix it somehow. I had brought small replacement rollers, but unfortunately, they didn’t fit. So I set the problem aside for now, maybe we’d find parts on land later.

Alex was still busy with the dinghy. I started feeling a bit dizzy. It was getting hot, I hadn’t eaten much, and the gentle rocking didn’t help. So I sat down in the shade and helped when Alex needed an extra hand. The valve was slightly too big for the hole, so Alex began filing the metal of the dinghy to make the hole larger. I’m pretty sure our neighbors were thrilled we were back. 😄 The valve itself also needed to be trimmed and filed until it finally fit. When everything was ready, we inflated the dinghy and lowered it into the water. Did the valve hold? Let’s just say: it could have been worse. It wasn’t perfectly straight or tight yet, but for now, it was good enough. At least no more sponge!

With the dinghy back in the water, we decided to head ashore to fill our water jugs and buy groceries. The store was packed, maybe a fresh shipment had just arrived, or maybe everyone shops on Sundays here? We bought fresh fish, vegetables, fruit, and a few snacks, enough for the next few days.

Back on the boat, it was already noon. We had fresh raw fish with bread, simple, but delicious. Then we started on what was probably the biggest project of this trip: the engine mounts. All four had torn loose on our last sailing trip.

TRAVELLER

BROKEN

In short: the engine is attached to the boat by four metal mounts, each with a rubber core that absorbs vibrations. Ours were old, rusted, and brittle. On our last voyage, we had discovered one morning that the engine had shifted completely and almost had fallen into the bilge. The metal had separated from the rubber, leaving the engine barely attached to the boat. Before we could start it again, the mounts had to be replaced.

The only question was how.
We had four new mounts but no easy way to lift the engine. Normally, you’d use lifting points on the top of the engine, but above the engine is the cockpit floor. The plate there can’t just be removed, it’s heavy and glued down. And even if we could remove it, how would we lift the engine then?

We had one wooden beam and two ratchet straps, so creativity was required.
In the end, we decided not to lift the engine completely but to hold it in place. We ran the straps through the lifting eyes on the engine, fed them through the hatch in the “Hobbit Hole,” across the cockpit, and back down through the batterie hatch again. With the wooden beam, Alex gently lifted the engine while I tightened the straps. Then it was time: ready for mount replacement.

BROKEN ENGINE MOUNTS

We started on the front port side. Since it was the first one, it took a bit of trial and error to find a good technique, but after about three hours, the first mount was successfully replaced. We still had enough daylight, so Alex moved on to the front starboard mount. That one was trickier. He had to climb into the engine compartment with little space and poor visibility. After another two hours, that one was done too. The sun was setting, so we decided to call it a day and took down our setup.

To celebrate and because we thought we’d made it halfway, we jumped into the cool water. It felt amazing to swim again, the Pacific warm and crystal-clear, the sunset glowing across the surface. We shared a beer and watched the sky fade from gold to deep blue.

When the sun disappeared behind the horizon, I started tidying up while Alex began preparing dinner. After all that work, we’d definitely earned it. But not five minutes later, Alex called up from below: “Hey, how do you turn the gas on again?” Normally, you just flip the switch on the switchboard. It switched on, but instead of the gas working, only the bilge pump warning light came on. That usually means there’s water in the boat and the pump is running to drain it. But this time, it wasn’t. And not just the gas, even the lights refused to come on properly.

What on earth was going on? The bilge was dry, the pump was off, but nothing worked. The evening ended with us in the engine room, flashlights in hand, searching for the problem. Everything had worked perfectly that morning. Something must have gone wrong while we were working on the mounts, but we couldn’t find it.

After two hours, we gave up, ate some bread with goat cheese, and crawled into bed, exhausted, proud of our progress, and frustrated about the new electrical mystery. Still, we were optimistic: tomorrow, we’d find the problem and make it right again.

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