The next day we lifted out and and found the bottom in pretty good condition. When we bought the boat we found a lot of bubbles on the bottom. When cracked open they were found to clean and no sign or smell of osmosis activity. Over the last two years bubbles started appearing on the water line and this was a worry so now it was time to fix it up so we would know for sure whether a problem was present or emerging.
We engaged Pro Yachting to do the work on the boat. Jill and Pro are a well know couple here with a good reputation for getting the job doen well, but not the fastest job. The choice for a quick quality job would be Precision Shipyard run by Scott. But the prices his prices are significantly more. With the boat up and out the first task was to find somewhere to live. the units at Boat Lagoon are convenient and by western standards, cheap. A small motel unit is 7000baht (A$250) a month plus electricity (A$50-100). After three weeks of hunting we organised a larger unit for the four of us at 12000baht and settled into our 'temporary home'.
First up on the boat the mast came down. Then a tent was erected around the boat. Then just about every fitting on the deck came off. Most of them not without a fight as most had never been moved since installation around twenty years ago and many were sealed in with epoxy. The bottom paint was stripped off with paint stripper and then the epoxy layer was ground off. This took two weeks with two workers on angle grinders. One with a small grinder took the epoxy layer off and the other followed with a larger grinder and 'faired off' the fibreglass. Amazingly they produced a very smooth bare bottom. We could see a few wet spots but overall were please to find our bare bottom looking pretty healthy!
Over the next two months several areas started weeping around the ground out wet spots. These were chased out and five months laters we were satisfied all the problem areas were gone and the hull was dry enough to be sealed up again. They filled and faired the hull until it was very smooth and fair. Then on a near perfect day, a team of four worked their way around the hull applying and screening off the epoxy resin and went around the hull five times, moving fast enough to maintain a 'wet edge' all the time. So that's the hull story.
The collision with the ship at Port Klang left us with a twisted section of toerail. Attempts to find a similar section of toerail failed and we eventually got a stainless steel fabricator, Siphon, to repair the damage rail. This was pretty costly ($500) but at the end of the job we were very pleased. Pro replaced the damage timber board and while the scars remain (on the boat and within us!) the imprint of the Port Klang adventure was lessening all the time.
