Monday, December 23, 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS and MORE

Pinoy Boat Yard
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

Twas the day before Christmas and finally I have hands on the keyboard and am again updating the blog.

First a MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Since the passing of typhoon Haiyan or as it is known here Yolanda things have been quite busy. Thankfully we have been hardly impacted here in this area of Cebu. We do still after six weeks see trucks with aid supplies passing by as the road access for the Leyte ferry goes right past the boat yard. A fellow yachtie here in the yard has a business in Leyte and for now he has moved some of his extended Philippine family here.

Just prior to the arrival of Haiyan we had made the decision to have quite a bit more work done here as the new paint did not match the old and this seems to be one of the last places to find affordable boat work. As of last week a complete paint job except for the non skid was completed. As I read of other's having quotes of 20 to 30 thousand for this kind of a job we were very pleased ours was just over $4,000 US. It was were busy just keeping the painting crew of 3 supplied with dust masks which they pretty much wouldn't wear anyway, drinking water, sandpaper, rags, masking tape etc. The yard has most supplies but would occasionally run out causing either a quick trip to Danao only 10 minutes away or at times to Cebu itself only an 1 1/2 hour bus trip. There are some drawbacks to having work done here. With the painting complete we had one worker stay another week to polish the stainless, finally we are now worker free. Having workers aboard five and a half days a week gets a bit tiring.

Next for us is getting everything put back together and caught up on all the regular little boat jobs that are ever ongoing. Kathy can also get back to her recovering of the cockpit cushions that has been on hold since the painting got underway. I also have a long list of other to do jobs.

Tomorrow, Christmas, Kathy has organized dinner for us and the other yachties in the yard. The menu will feature both turkey's and ham along with all the goodies including Philippine dishes. More on that in the next blog.

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LINES DOUBLED UP PRE HAIYAN

GLAD TO HAVE LOTS OF CLEATS

ALMOST READY

THE WIND IS BLOWING

OUR VIEW FROM THE REFUGE OF THE BAR
WHERE WE WATCHED THE STORM

PO ROCKING WITH A GUST



FIBERGLASS WORK BEFORE PAINTING

SOME WORK ON SCUPPERS PRIOR TO PAINTING

A DIVERSION FOR ANCHOR
WASH WATER

A NEW SCUPPER TOO

LOTS TO MASK OFF

A FINAL COAT ON THE
NEW HARD BIMINI

A FIRST COAT OF GLOSS

OUR STRIPES ARE BACK



Done at last and ready to move on to new projects and other stuff.




Friday, November 8, 2013

WE'RE SAFE

Pinoy Boat Yard
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

With luck this goes thru on a very sporadic internet connection. Yesterday was a bit trying. Super typhoon Haiyan barreled thru our area with the eye passing just thirty miles to the north of us. We did not spend the day on the boat but perhaps 20 yards away in the upstairs bar here in Pinoy Boat Yard. We were three couples who had boats here along with Zeke the yard owner and several of his workers who were dubbed Hero's. Two other couples stayed aboard and several others moved to high ground at one of the local schools.

During the day the winds veered from the ENE all the way around to the ESE. We have no accurate anemometer reading but a best guess was over 100 knots with higher gusts. Most of our day was spent watching the boats move and stretch there mooring lines. All were secured bow and stern with a minimum of 8 lines. None parted but there was lots of stretch and several trips were made from the bar to one or the other of the vessels to make adjustments to the lines.

Finally by 4 PM things had calmed to perhaps 25 knots and Kathy and Blue Cat returned to the boat. I stayed in the bar having a few beers and perhaps a rum while the winds continued to calm.

This morning we awoke to clear sky's and calm winds, this was followed by a brief rain shower to help wash the leaves that were covering our boat. Next Zeke arrived and directed the workers to start on clean-up. We've all been busy and the entire area is cleaned up and all of the yachts here have been put back in order. It was quite amazing to see everything put back in order so quickly. The entire are is without power and will be for perhaps a week or more. In talking to the workers most have severely damaged homes but all reported that their families were fine. They were all happy to only work a half day and to have gotten paid today and in addition they received a raise. I would expect that most will make repairs to their houses tomorrow and be here for work Monday morning. The Philipino people are very resilient.

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

TYPHOON HAIYAN

Pinoy Boat Yard
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

This has been preparation day for the expected coming of Haiyan, meaning the seabird Petrel in Chinese. The Philippine name is Yolanda. We were fortunate in that all sails had previously been removed and stowed away. We began the morning with clouds but calm winds. The yard workers were taking care of the stern lines which are secured to bollard's across the channel, they normally have weights to in the middle to hold them down. These were removed and we added two more. Two more bow lines were added along with running the anchor chain to a bollard. As all the yachts here are doing the same we appear to be in the center of a giant spider web. Anything that would provide windage was taken off and we stored two of our solar panels normally secured to the lifelines, the on deck fuel cans, canvas bags etc.

It's now just after 3 PM and as I write the barometer is 1014 and steady, the sky is cloudy and we have had some light showers but only about 10 knots of wind. All the workers have gone home to take care of there own houses. It's now just waiting to see what will be. The forecast has landfall bout 75 miles to our northeast tomorrow morning with winds of 130 knots.

We along with most of the others here will stay aboard and do what we can when Haiyan arrives. I'll try to update things once the storm passes depending on electricity.

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GOOGLE EARTH OVERLAY
WE'REJUST ABOVE CEBU CITY
IN ZEKE'S NEW YARD

ON IT'S WAY TOWARD US

Friday, November 1, 2013

PROGRESS and SOME NEW DECISIONS

Pinoy Boat Yard
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

As this blog title says "progress" on the new hard top progresses and with a bit of luck we hope to have it installed sometime next week. We recently added a third worker who does both sanding and painting and just yesterday added a fourth as a result of an important decision that we have just made.

The supporting frame work was finished on the boat, and our original plan was for me to brush the final top coat rather than dealing with the difficulty of masking a significant amount of the boat and having it sprayed. I managed two coats but we found that the new color was quite a bit different than what was on the existing cabin top and would never look good. Kathy and I discussed what options we had and then made the decision to go ahead and do a complete paint job even though the cabin and decks were done just over a year ago. This of course leads to budgetary questions and has an effect on the timeframe that we had previously planned on for leaving the Philippines. More talks and we have now decided that we will most likely stay here in the Philippines for another year getting projects done. The costs of getting work done here is so reasonable in comparison to anywhere else in the world especially back in the states we need to spend the time here and get it done. An example regarding wages this past week our workers compiled 117 total man hours, the labor bill will be 8,900 pesos or just over $200 US. that's and average of $1.76 US per hour.

The yard was on holiday schedule today, All Souls Day, so we had only one worker, Jing who sands and paints. He did the final sand and paint of the frame work and then managed the first coat of finish on the top side of the bimini. The other side was done previously so it should be just one more coat on each side and then installation.

We continue to come up with more projects for Lando our carpenter. Kathy bought a teak drink holder perhaps ten years ago and we have been storing it ever since as we could never figure out how to best mount it. It took she and Lando about ten minutes to figure the solution and the bracket has been made and after several coats of varnish it will be installed. Lando is now working on redoing a cabinet top and the navigation station top in the same manner as we had done for the saloon table. We have several more projects lined up for him.

Our plan is not to spend the whole of our extra time in the Philippines here in the the boat yard but for now we'll be staying busy here.

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PAPER & PLASTIC TO COVER EVERYTHING

LOTS OF MASKING PREP

TRYING TO LIMIT OVERSPRAY TO OTHERS

MIXING

NOTICE EDDIE'S OSHA APPROVED T-SHIRT RESPIRATOR


BOTTOM SIDE OF BIMINI




LANDO AT WORK

OLD FORMICA TOP IS GONE

FITTING OF THE NEW TOP

A NEW TOP FOR THE TABLE
AND NEW PANELS FOR THE REST

MOST WORK IS DONE WITH A GRINDER

OR A CHISEL



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

EARTHQUAKE,TOPLESS and DUST

Pinoy Boat Yard
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

Here in Port Carmen just 20 miles north of Cebu City and 40 miles from Bohol Island where the quake was centered we were fortunate to only get shaken about. On the boat it felt as though a large boat wake had rocked us. The only damage that we have viewed has been that on the internet.

The new top has been removed and is back up in the shop for the work to finish the tabbing that will allow it to be removed if necessary. The workers continue to add fiberglass to the supports. The carpenter has been using the old teak from the aft companionway ladder to box in the top of the redesigned splash guard combing. Lately there has been lots of grinding and sanding in the cockpit meaning dust everywhere. When we are aboard it's confinement in the cabin with all port lights and hatches closed. Both our 12 volt and big shore powered fans work overtime. Every afternoon We use the saltwater wash down pump to clean of the fiberglass and wood dust so all is clean to start the next day. A regular hose would be nice but the freshwater from the hose bibs on shore only produce a dribble.

We have begun the project of recovering the cockpit cushions but it is on a bit of a hold till as it is so warm inside the boat and not very comfortable for Kathy to be chained to the sewing machine.

The photos just show more of the process as work continues.

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LANDO FITTING WHAT WILL
BECOME ONE OF THE TABS
HOLDING THE TOP

SANDY GLASSING THE INSIDE FRAMWORK

tABS READY TO BE GLASSED TO THE TOP

GLASSING THE TABS

BACK IN THE SHOP FOR ADDING MORE
GLASS TO THE TABS AND FAIRING THE
INSIDE

THE SPLASH GUARD COMBING


lANDO CUSTOM FIT TEAK FOR THE TOP PIECES

THE HEAD CARPENTER ALEJANDRO
BUILDING FLOORING FOR ANOTHER
BOAT HERE IN THE YARD

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

A FITTING

Pinoy Boat Yard
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

Today was the long awaited day when the bimini supports had finally been epoxied in place and it was time to bring the new bimini aboard. We're not sure of it's actual weight but my best guess at this time is two hundred pounds. As it is a rectangle approximately eight feet by nine feet it's a bit unwieldily. We first doubled up on our gang plank giving extra width and a handrail on each side. Lando and Sandy carried the top down and then having a line through what will be the window we attached a spinnaker halyard. The guys carried the top down, there was a tense moment when it dropped but was saved by the halyard. Once alongside, the main halyard was attached and with the guys and I moving the new top and Kathy controlling the weight with the halyard it was moved into place. After removing the line used for lifting and sliding the top around the fit was almost perfect. Quite amazing!!!The rest of the day was spent making small corrections in the fit and adding more fiberglass to the support structure.

Next the top will be removed again so the inside can be fared and painted. There is still more fiberglass work to be done on the boxing in of the splash combing along with the tabbing on the inside of the top to make it removable. We at least have now seen what the top in place looks like and are quite happy.

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KATHY AND BLUE CAT ARE PLEASED WITH  THINGS

LOOKING FROM FORWARD

SIDE VIEW

OUR HOPE WAS TO FOLLOW
THE LINES OF THE COCKPIT

LOOKINF FROM THE HELM SEAT

LOOKING AFT FROM THE
COMPANIONWAY HATCH

LOOKING FORWARD FROM OUR STERN SEAT






Thursday, October 3, 2013

CONSTRUCTION MOVES ALONG

Pinoy Boat Services
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

It's been ten days since our last update and progress's keep moving along. Sandy, who is the fiberglass and prepare to paint worker keeps busy sanding and then adding "bog" which is epoxy mixed with different type of fillers to then sanded to give a smooth finish. Today it was a mixture of epoxy paint and talcum powder to fill the smallest of pinholes. This gets sanded further and more fill applied until perfect.

During this same time Lando, the carpenter, has stayed busy building what will be the support for the top. This has involved lots of input from both Kathy and I as we will be the ones who must live with the final result. One of our main concerns was that the final product did not look like a box set on top of the center cockpit of Po oino Roa. We have been thinking of this "room addition" for a number of years and want it to add to the look of the boat not detract. To accomplish this our idea has been to keep all the supports at angles. So far as we look at the framework that Lando has built we seem to be on the right track. As each and every support has been cut and held up both Kathy and I look at it from various locations trying to get a feel for what the final outcome will be. Lando has an excellent eye for how things ought to look too. The plan was to box in the splash guard combing and for the supports to then be attached there. This involved first putting up some of the supports at what we thought was the proper angle and then having Lando make a model of the front part of the bimini top as it had been laid up in the honeycomb material and fiberglass. This gave us a two foot wide replica. We then spent time looking and adjusting until we were happy. This same process was done for the aft section of the new bimini. Lando then was able to complete the boxing in of the space in front off the splash guard combing.

That was finished yesterday. Today all was removed as the new wood needs to be encapsulated in fiberglass and then re-installed on the boat. It will then be fiber glassed to the existing cabin top. Once the structure was removed this morning Lando used the grinder to smooth away the areas on the cabin top so the new construction has something to adhere to. Tomorrow the re-assembly process starts.

I'm very impressed with the carpentry skills we have seen here, most all is done the old fashioned way with hand saws, planes and chisels. They do use a power grinder and planer but most is done with the simpler hand tools. It may take them a bit more time but we pay 800 pesos or $20 US per day for Lando, in the USA a carpenter with his shill would more than likely command $40 to $60 per hour. I was speaking to another yachtie here who has eight workers daily on his boat. He figures that there daily wages approximately 5,000 pesos equal what the same as for one hour of a shipwright in Australia.

Now after a proof read by Kathy I'll send this off to publish and then with luck be able to add some photos.

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THE FIRST SUPPORTS


SUPPORTS WITH TGHE START OF THE BOXING

A VIEW FROM THE BOW

SUPPORTS AND THE BIMINI TOP MODEL

NOT BOXY TO MY EYE!!!

THE V-BERTH IS BACK AS A GARAGE

HAND FITTING

GRINDING AWAY

SANDY MIXING BOG FOR THE ENCAPSULATED
FIBER GLASSED SUPPORTS YOU SEE IN
THE BACKGROUND