PRACTICALBeing liveaboards on a 16.8m (55ft) kauri Warwick in New Zealand isn’t necessarily as idyllic as some people might fancifully imagine. Kathryn Hunt
describes the trials, traumas and triumphs of living aboard in boatyards
O
ur friends think we’re living the high life. We live aboard a beautiful kauri Warwick,
so in one way they’re right. But not currently; not in the way that they imagine. High, certainly, because a 55ft cruising yacht,
we’re 13 rungs up a ladder, about 15ft in the air, propped up on a cradle in a boatyard.The annual haul-out is always a diffi cult
time for cruisers. In my experience, most boatyards make an effort to welcome us by providing basic kitchen facilities and showers. Some even provide laundry
facilities and others, like my current home – Nelson Hardstand in South
Kathryn Hunt and her husband Anthony own a Warwick 55 and are based in New Zealand, cruising the Pacificontributes to c Islands during the southern winter. Kathryn Cruising Helmsman and Blue Water
Sailingand newspapers in New Zealand. and has been published in several magazines
ABOUT THE AUTHORIsland, New Zealand – even provide nearby picnic tables to let you enjoy a relaxing drink at the end of a diffi cult day’s toil. When we had our kids on
board, boatyards took pity on us and provided us with substantial stairways, making us look like the barricade from the set of Les Miserables. Nowadays we
have to haul everything, from cans of antifouling paint to the grocery shopping, up and down a wobbly ladder. I use big plastic tubs on lines which I let down like
a modern-day Rapunzel.Being on a retirement budget, we try todo as much work as possible ourselves. Pete, the travel lift operator, cleaned off the hull with a pressure wash straight after the haul-out, and the run-off was
collected to keep the sea poison-free. Gone are the days when we could scrub off against the seawall; I remember many a happy day in Dartmouth,
antifouling between the tides. painting. I use a clever, swivel-headed abrasive pad on a long stick which My fi rst job is to prepare the hull for
makes the job much easier. The black gunge runs down the stick, not my arm – a great improvement. Meanwhile, my husband Anthony removes what’s left of
the old anodes. Dressed like vagrants in old clothes saved for the purpose (we are breaking rules here by not wearing white, hooded, disposable overalls), we
roller on the new antifouling paint. We reverted to our usual trusted brand after a brief fla cheaper NZ-made substitute, which irtation one season with
resulted in a hull like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. I’m short, then I brush carefully I roller round the keel, because ➜Living the high life?Kathryn rollering antifouling paint round the keel