ABOUT: Chris & Manuela departed San Francisco, California, on April 18th on their J-40 sloop to sail to the South Pacific and points west. We think we'll be sailing 2-3 years, and then return to our normal lives. ARCHIVES:   Tuesday, June 10, 2003   We have been in Hawaii for over a month now, much of it spent working on the boat. It initially was a rude awakening trying to get work done here, after being used to the plentiful resources (half a dozen boatyards, overnight mail/parts delivery, etc.) of the San Francisco bay area. Here there are only two boatyards, and because both are substantially smaller than even the small SF yards, waiting-times to be hauled out of the water run between 3 and 6 weeks. The hauling itself is always exciting; a giant 'travelift' places slings around the hull, then raises the hull very slowly out of the water and places it somewhere on land on a bunch of stands. Argonaut in the Travelift After being hauled out, it became clear that the yard had substantially underestimated the complexity of the job to replace the rudder bearings. Out went the plan to fabricate simple delrin (a wonderful modern plastic) sleeves for the rudder; instead we ordered "drop-in replacement bearings" from the mainland. The "drop-in" part consisted of over a week of 10 hour days, cutting the old bearings off, grinding the fiberglass rudderpost down to accept the new lower bearing, building up fiberglass on the hull for the new upper bearing, etc., etc.. Chris grinding on rudder post (old bearings on floor) Due to the complexity of the job, we had really not! wanted to do the job ourselves, but the yard didn't have enough people to do the actual work any time soon. So, with the input of one of their experts, we did it ourselves, learning much in the process. Everything went back together well, we have no more play in the steering, and sea-trials have shown everything to be water-tight. Cool. Pineapple plant During a visit to a pineapple farm (a total tourist trap), we learned what a time and manual labor intensive growing process it is. The plants need well over a year to grow a fruit, and after two to three crops of one fruit each, the plant has reached the end of its fruit-bearing life. No wonder these puppies aren't cheap. Wonderful to see are all the various reef-fish, which live even in this supposedly dirty harbor. Everyday when we walk along the dock, we stop and watch the fish go about their business. The only dangerous creature we've come across was a shark in a giant mixed-fish aquarium in Waikiki. One day, while we were watching him, he opened his large mouth, and swallowed a complete reef-fish. It happened so fast that Manuela and I could hardly believe it. It was as if one of us had just picked up a cookie in passing and said 'yum'. Then life in the tank went on as if nothing had happened. Hawaii'sNorth Shore While in the yard, we had also sent all of our electronic instruments for full analysis and repair to the manufacturer in Canada. Despite receiving 3 different sets of replacements, we still do not have a working depth-meter at this point. Since the depth-meter is critical for navigating and finding passes through reefs, we cannot leave until this is resolved. Apart from that, we are packed, provisioned, and ready to go. So one of these days (hopefully tomorrow), the last part in this puzzle is going to arrive, and then we are off to Samoa. So 'til then, .... Chris & Manu Christoph 5:27 PM