Log XIII - Artemis 1 (Re-conditioning)

As mentioned in my earlier post, re-conditioning your boat in the US will generally be cheaper because of the huge boating industry over there. However there are certain things that I will recommend you to do it locally such as the installation of marine electronic equipment i.e. chart plotter, radar, fish finder/ sounder, auto-pilot, etc. because the warranty for these equipment usually do not cover overseas.

You will also require the technician/ electrician assistance once a while to troubleshoot your electronic equipment. It will be good to know the local agent well by purchasing your equipment from them.

So what are the stuff you can ask the US yard to do for you? The most important thing is to ask them to clear all marine life i.e. barnacles from the hull.

This is crucial because there are laws forbidding foreign marine life to enter the borders of some countries. I'm not very sure how strict it is in Singapore regarding this, but if your boat is going to be shipped from US to Singapore, it will definitely stop by many countries. A wiser decision is to clear the barnacles before shipping to avoid any trouble with the law. And if you are clearing the barnacles, you might as well ask them to apply the anti-fouling paint too. This is essential if you intend to berth your boat in the water. Barnacles attack the hull very fast even with the anti-fouling paint, not to mention if the hull is unprotected.

Looks much nicer after application of the anti-fouling paint isn't it? These are the rest of the services that I had asked the US yard to do for me prior to shipping.

- Replacement of water heater (it's hard to get 110V rating water heater here, so I took the risk of changing it there. Foresee that water heater will not spoil so easily.)

- Installation of sound insulation in engine room.

- Replacement of tachometer.

- Repair windshield wipers (just some troubleshooting of the wiring to make it operational again.)

The list was not long but it took 3 months to complete.... It was last December when the boat sailed to the ship yard. Shortly after was the Christmas and New Year break. This break was further extended when the repair guy went for a 3 weeks road trip in his caravan. And finally when he was back, delivery for some of the parts were delayed due to the harsh winter.

Anyway long story short, I was very happy and excited when everything was done and I thought that I could just turn the key and happily sail into the sunset when the boat arrives, but I was wrong. All the above repairs were just the tip of the iceberg...