This was urgently needed. The boat has not been out of the water since many years. The antifouling was basically gone, the anodes of the SailDrive too, and I still did not know whether the boat has any osmosis, which can destroy the laminate to an extend that the boat is ruined. The previous owner had won a fee haulout at PCYS in Papaya Cove, so that was one option. More convenient would be Watercraft in SBEZ since it is only 20 minutes drive from our home. But to enter Subic Bay, the port authority requires a boat registration and third party liability insurance. Initial that was a red line since the registration process was taking so long. But by March 3, 2026 we had finally been able to register the boat in Poland, and two weeks later we had the insurance. In addition, when inqiring about a mechanic who has experience in changing the diaphragm of a SailDrive, PCYS said that their mechanic just left and we would have to bring our own. So Watercraft at Subic it was.
After 3 unsuccessful attempts to sail from Pandan Island to Subic, we finally managed on April 14-15 and had an appointment for haulout at Watercraft on April 17.
The initial quotation we got was for haulout, power wash, sanding the underwater hull to the last primer, applying new primer, applying antifouling, and launching. The quotation said 2-3 weeks would be required.
But given the experiences on the Sail to Pandan Island cruise, it was clear that more needed to be done and the boat would be on land for much longer. Also because I have an invitation to attend the AGRITECHNICA ASIA in Thailand and an upcoming consulting assignment in May/July for FAO in Liberia, which would keep me busy until end of June.
What needs to be done, ideally on land:
- Antifouling
- Changing all through hull fittings and sea-cocks
- Checking for osmosis, and repair if needed
- Checking the rudder bearing, it seems to have a lot of play
- Changing the diaphragm of the SailDrive (part will be available only in the first week of July)
- Cleaning the fuel tank and re-attaching it to the hull
- Checking for leaks and fixing all of them.
Antifouling work
May 16, 2026
The second task of the antifouling work has been done. It took a lot longer than mentioned in the quotation, one explanation is the extreme heat we are facing. Temperature indexes on some days reached 42°C. The boys doing the sanding needed to take a lot of breaks.
There are a few osmosis spots, much less than I expected. But due to the long time in the water, and probably to the mechanical cleaning of the hull by a guy with scuba equipment before each regatta, there are a lot of spots where the primer is damaged and the gelcoat is visible. Both needs to be fixed, so I am asking for another quotation for this additional work.