Long time no sea!
It has been several months now that Maya has been waiting for me on Apataki while I was in Bangkok. I was all the more pleased when I arrived and found that the boat had survived the time without any major catastrophes. The boatyard on Apataki is probably one of the most remote boatyards in the world. Not only is Apataki, a less central island in the Tuamotus, but even on Apataki the boatyard is relatively remote. It is on a motu opposite the pass and the only village on the island 🏝️. There is only the boatyard on this motu and nothing else. The nearest grocery shop is in the village 10sm away. There is a small airport on Apataki, but flights are scarce and tickets are hard to get, as the locals often buy up all the contingents early. To get to the boat, I, therefore, flew from Tahiti to Arutua – the neighbouring island. From there I was picked up by the boatyard (for a fee, of course).
The boatyard on Apataki is actually quite suitable if you want to store the boat for a while. The climate there is very dry. This is important because otherwise, everything will quickly become moldy, mildewed, or rotten. Beyond just storage, however, the services are limited because there are not so many facilities. The boatyard offers various services, but I’m not sure about the quality of the work. Therefore, it is a fortunate thing that the most important spare parts, which I had brought with me from Germany, fit (see also an extra article on the subject of spare parts in 3D printing).
It took about a week to prepare Maya. It was not only about repairs but also about cleaning, preparing the sails, and so on…. Sailing is sometimes just a lot of work. But after Maya was back in the water, the anchor was dropped and I enjoyed the first sundowner, I remembered why I do all this ☺️.
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