A hop, skip, and a jump from the Le Caudan marina to Taylor Smith boat yard.
As a reminder….the last time Slow Flight was out of the water was in Fiji about October of 2018. It was time to haul out again and take care of her “bottom” that desperately needs attention!
Ummm…I believe the first time I heard the phrase “grass skirt” was back in Mexico by our dear friends on SV Beach Flea…Lisa specifically…as a reference to a sailboats growth around her hull. I have used this term ever sense and boy howdy….it’s no joke on “Flo”!
We had been witnessing our bottom paint slowly degrade as we sailed in SE Asia and knew we would have to address it sometime soon…but where?! Time, money, and mental health all played a role in our decision.
The Decision
I had contacted multiple boat yards in the Maldives, Mauritius, Reunion, and Richards Bay, South Africa to gather information about costs and availability and in summary…..
- Maldives was not an option since our schedule was tight already to get down to Chagos and make sure we would have a good weather window to head south in the Indian Ocean (the later we waited to sail south, the bigger the seas and wind could be)
- Mauritius was more expensive to haul out but the paint and labor was cheaper than Reunion
- Reunion, besides the paint and labor being more expensive than Mauritius, we also had to think about the language barrier
- Richards Bay, South Africa was the cheapest and we had heard great things about the yard there. However, we would not be there for another 5 months (could our existing bottom paint last that long?) and we anticipated (because of low prices) Richards Bay could be very busy and we don’t want to have the mental pressure of missing weather windows to head around the Cape of Good Hope while we are working on the boat…additionally the ARC races are due in Richard’s Bay in November…about the same time we would be arrive as well.
So we checked out the facilities at Taylor Smith boat yard in Mauritius and to chat with the yard manager….Side Note: The funny thing is a day before we visited Taylor Smith we had watched a video of SV Brick House who is currently at Richard’s Bay doing a major refit. Their video showed the travel lift and how they had to remove their fore-stay to allow for proper lifting points on the boat. We are a heavier boat, we are a ketch rig (2 masts), we would probably have to do the same or disassemble our mizzen to be able to fit on the travel lift in Richard’s Bay, so when we saw the lift at Taylor Smith, we were SOLD and made arrangements to come into the boat yard for a week!
This travel lift has 2 hoisting mechanisms each are rated for 25 tons and we felt pretty safe it had the range to lift our boat without having to disassemble any rigging to properly secure the straps underneath the boat.
On Wednesday June 26th, 8 am ….the work commences!
The Crew
When we originally contacted Taylor Smith months ago, they responded within a day with a few follow up questions and then a few days later, a quote….it has been a while since we had experienced such timely responses and professionalism! When we finally met these amazing people, they did not disappoint: Kind, attentive, knowledgeable, and patient with our requests…what more could a cruiser ask for?!!!!!
Meet Armondo, the yard manager. He always had a smile on his face, checked in with us every day, and he even drove the lift! It was clear to us he had worked his way up the chain and this made us trust him even more. 
Meet Arlene, who gave me her personal cell number to contact hem when we were coming into the lifting berth at 8 am. 
Meet the diver who had to change the straps for us twice! He was patient and obviously wanted to get it right. We are grateful for his attention to detail. 
Meet some of the team who helped get us into and out of the sling…Johnny has a “thumbs up” who seemed to be responsible for managing the water usage which we used a lot of!
The Slings
I don’t think we have ever been hauled out in such a large travel lift and I suspect it may be a while until we do again. Even in the US, we haven’t been in one this large. Up we go…slow and steady!
We had to go in backwards, reversing straight is not something we do well. But the guys caught our lines and pulled us into the lifting berth with ease. 
They asked us to stay on the boat but sit aft to act as ballast….we couldn’t move around so we just sat there watching everything. 
Notice the straps in the middle position? 
The diver had to secure the 2 slings with a strap underwater….our hull forward slopes and often freaks lift operators out so to take cautionary measures, most yards do this routine. 
After many times up and down in the lift, it was determined the straps had to be moved to the outside position…they had to do it all over again…patient guys but we are grateful for it! 
Now we had the range to set the straps properly to lift the boat balanced… 
Doesn’t this warrant an anchor beer?!
The Preparations
On our stands and blocks we inspect the wear and tear on “Flo’s” bottom….
Yucky!!!! 
Super gross : (
“Say hello to our little friends!”
The Work
The main goal was to apply bottom paint but of course this also means any job we can’t do in the water needs to be addressed while we are on the hard. Top of the list was our cutlass bearing which supports the shaft to our propeller. A great project to do in the rain which it did the first day we were on the stands.
Wew had to take off the propeller…but before we needed to take photos of the settings so we can put it back together the right way (LOL)…see the dotted lines that match up? 
Hope we don’t lose a piece 
First time using the prop puller…at first it didn’t work so Trevor heated up the bronze with a torch and…POP…off it came. 
Trevor “gently” tapping on the old cutlass bearing out…. 
nicely done Trevor! 
Old vs. new 
Tight fit but we got it. 
Might as well polish the prop….it’s blinding! 
A perfect job in the yard when it’s raining….
After scrubbing the hull with water and scrubby pads, it was time to let the hull dry out in preparation for paint so Trevor thought it would be a good idea to polish and wax the hull before we paint. 3 days later, the hull was the shinniest we have ever seen her!
While Trevor did other jobs, I detailed the water line with scrubby…. 
My arms hurt!!! 
Trevor spent the better of 3 days buffing and hand waxing the hull…..I did help…a little… 
The scaffolding was very helpful! 
I don’t know if you can see the difference between the shinny polished bits compared to the chalky bit 
We have never seen her transom look this shinny…EVER! Thank you Trevor!
We also did a few small jobs…
Our Watt/Sea hydro generator lost it’s prop while we were sailing from Chagos to Rodriguez. Trevor put our old back up on with 5200! 
We caught a fishing line or net back in Sri Lanka and found a slice taken out of our rudder shoe…5200 that bad boy and let it cure before painting. 
This step ladder rarely sees any action which means we don’t look at it. It was time to address the rust on the stainless….. 
It literally took me half a day to accomplish it…but it looks so much better! 
Rasta chain again….last time we used colored coded zip ties in Thailand…it made sense for us to drop the chain and paint it…though it never lasts long : (
When we finally decided on a bottom paint (semi-ablative, type of primer, color, etc….), the company could not deliver it to us until the paint had cleared out of the customs warehouse. As we understand, the paint company does not have any “inventory” and until they sell the paint, there is no taxes paid to import it….hence no real inventory costs, except for maybe storage costs at the warehouse…pretty smart. Our paint was delivered on Monday morning and we did not stop painting until we were in the water the next afternoon!
ISOI was the paint company that was referred to us by Taylor Smith. We ordered paint from them and they were very responsive and timely. 
Of course we could not find the same brand of paint we applied last time so it can be a gamble on the ability of the new paint and how well it will bond to the old. So we opted for a 2 part epoxy primer just in case. 
The paint we used…however the lot was not the same across the 3 cans we purchased so we combined them first into 5 gal. buckets to make sure the color would be universal, then poured it back into the smaller cans overnight. 
Trevor’s MacGyver paint mixer 
1 coat of primer on by 11 am 
Cure time is 6 hours…. 
coverage was pretty good but you can still see a slight blue underneath..oh well…it is what it is. 
We originally wanted the “old blue” color we had before but nobody had it. So we went for a more “regal look”….what do you think? 
First coat of paint over the primer covered the tan (LOL) 
2nd coat of paint on by early evening… 
3rd coat on the next morning…looking good! 
Zincs back on…. 
Time to lift and primer/paint where the stands were. 
A frenzy of scrubbing, primer, and painting the stand spots… 
Unfortunately for us, the plastic fell a bit and the strap dug into our new paint. There were rub spots on each area where the straps were placed. 
We spoke to Armondo just to let him know what had happened. There was nothing we could do but let it ride but wanted to make sure for future customers who use this paint, that it may be a softer paint than he is use to. He was gracious and kind and even though we were slightly upset, we knew it was not his fault. 
Time to climb on board and get back into the water…they used this lift to get us up and down our boat when we were in the slings and no longer had the stairs.
Hindsight 20/20…we should of stayed in the yard for 1 more day to let the paint cure more but we were too anxious.
But with that said….SV Neptune’s Highway came into the yard the next day to also apply bottom paint (the same primer and paint just a different color). When they were ready to splash back into the water, Armondo had slip pads for them without even asking and they did not experience any rub marks on their new paint….a clear sign Armondo listened to our concern and cares about his service his yard supplies….Armondo…you are the BEST!!!!
Life on the Hard
Life on the hard is …”HARD”…..but you can do anything for 1 week…and so it goes….
We got “royal” treatment with this large staircase to get on/off our boat. Generally you get a ricketty and flimsy ladder that you are always scared to use. 
Inside the boat is always a disaster… 
The water that was available to us is rain water…however, the tank was empty by Friday so they had to call in a water truck…We didn’t fill our water tanks with the water just in case. I would alternate our “work clothes” and wash in a small bucket a load. 
The resident dogs would just hang out…usually would hang around our boat around 5 pm. There was 1 dog we heard every night that would howl…. 
Wildlife!!! Trevor accidentally put his artistic mark on it 
We can’t use our electric cooktop since we need our generator to run it and our genereator needs water to cool itself…so thankfully we still kept our camping stove…truly 1 pot meals! 
You though eating on a sailboat could be simple…well living on the hard…it gets simpler…. 
But wait…did you know there is a dinghy Uber service? Bruce and Laura on SV Neptune’s Highway were in the marina a short 5 minute dinghy ride away. They picked us up 2 times and we enjoyed hot showers and a lovely meal… 
…and BEERS….Thanks Bruce and Laura for giving us a “break” from “yard life’!!! 
And you meet cool boat neighbors: Patrick on SV Joko was a wealth of information. He has traveled the world for work and gave us some great tips on visiting South Africa. Met his wife, Natalie on their anniversary (36 years) and we even shared a meal together at a lovely brewery in Port Louis.
The Information
We stayed for 7 days and decided to do the work ourselves. We bought our own paint and own supplies. Total costs were:
- Paint:
- 10 liters of 2 part epoxy primer $181,
- 15 liters of anti-fouling paint $412,
- 15% VAT added $89
- Total = $680
- Taylor Smith
- Haul out $557
- Scaffolding $27
- Parking fee per day for 1-7 day $42/day….we stayed 7 days $293
- no VAT
- Total = $878
Visit their website at:
http://www.tsboatyard.mu
In summary, Taylor Smith boat yard has a variety of boat building facilities, welding, fabricating, diesel mechanics, upholstery, sail loft coming soon, and even a commercial surveyor. They even have a lunch program if you order lunch in advance at the office, it will be delivered to the boat yard…how cool is that? We didn’t use these services and can’t speak to any specifics. However, Armondo and Arlene and their team were professional, welcoming, kind, and helpful. If we needed to find anything, they were always willing to stop and figure out a plan.
Personally, I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to be able to speak English and get boat work done so quickly. For us it made sense to haul out here rather than Reunion or South Africa. Having a professional yard in the middle of the Indian Ocean was a true gem. Did I mention they have a Taylor Smith boat yard in the Seychelles?!
Thank you Armondo and Arlene for all your time and energy. We so appreciate all the hard work you do for us cruisers!
Up Next: Back to the marina: Road Trips, Fourth of July, and more boat work…