Tag: cats

Getting Go Back on the Water

After our “Worst Wave” incident, Go was stuck in Port Macquarie for almost five months. Go was a mess. Everything got soaked from our windows being smashed in. Our electronics, engines, books, appliances, and more. We knew early on that getting Go back on the water would be a massive effort. Here’s what it was like.

Getting Insurance Approvals

The good news was that we got Go to safety in the marina in Port Macquarie. In between trying to get the insurance company to help us, we cleaned and dried what we could and moved off the boat for a few weeks.

We tried to dry things out the best we could but we were hampered by the seasonally terrible weather. Over the period we were there, Port Macquarie had floods at least twice, and a lot of rainstorms. With our smashed front windows it was hard getting and keeping things dry.

Go's cabin after being smashed by the worst wave
Go’s cabin after being smashed by the worst wave

Once our insurance company realized the size of the job, they sent an assessor to look at the boat and report on the damages. He took a few weeks to submit a report and then we waited. We went on several trips while for insurance.

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Exploring Nuku Hiva Marquesas

Our first stop after crossing The Pacific was Marquesas’ biggest island: Nuku Hiva. While exploring Nuku Hiva, we anchored in two different spots and drove around on a day tour. Two weeks in Nuku Hiva gave us a great introduction to French Polynesia.

The Marquesas are impressive! The islands rise up straight out of the sea into majestic mountains. Lush green rolling hills are full of fruit trees with some of juiciest citrus we have tasted. The hiking is great and the water is warm and full of amazing sea life like mantas and dolphins. Add to that lovely people with a great culture and I love it here.

About Nuku Hiva

Nuku Hiva is the largest island in The Marquesas, which are a group of islands in French Polynesia. Nuku Hiva is located in the northwest of this island group.

exploring Nuku Hiva Marquesas Map
You can see Nuku Hiva in the northwest of the Marquesas

Maybe because of Nuku Hiva’s size, the government designated it as the only port to clear in since the pandemic began. So, even though it is further west and thus farther away than other ports of The Marquesas, we had to stop there first from Panama.

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We Made Our Boat Nicer To Live On

After almost two years sailing and anchoring in the Caribbean, Sava and her crew needed some TLC. Sava moved to Curaçao Marine for bottom paint and more while we moved into an apartment in town. We only took two weeks away from the boat, but it made a world of difference! During that time, we made our boat nicer to live on, which is good for all of us.

Improving S/V Sava

We’ve done a lot of work on Sava over the years, but we didn’t focus on cosmetics. Fixing the engine, batteries, watermaker and everything else was more important, but since we know how that stuff works now, we can make life on Sava better! While in the yard at the marina, we prettied her up inside and out! Since we made our boat nicer to live on, she’s like a new boat to us and we love her all over again.

S/v Sava
Sava didn’t look terrible when we took her out of the water
Getting a new coat of bottom paint on our sailboat
But the new bottom paint on S/V Sava is an improvement!

Cleaning Sava

We rented a one-bedroom apartment while Sava was in the yard, which meant a thorough boat clean. First on our list was emptying the boat: we took out all the food, defrosted the fridge and freezer, and scrubbed all the cupboards and storage lockers. We vacuumed the boat multiple times since we had shore power and did such a good job cleaning Sava I was almost sad to restock her!

Staying in An Airbnb

While Domino took a few days to get used to living on land, she eventually made herself comfortable.

Domino our cat on the pillows in the airbnb
Domino liked the bed in our Airbnb
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