Despite Boatbuilding Problems, Engle Sitting
Pretty
May 19 - Auckland, New Zealand
"I believe that last update regarding
the construction of our new 70-ft Shuttleworth cat was in late
January," writes Don Engle of Northern California. We had
just returned from the yard in New Zealand full of enthusiasm
for a late April launch. Truth be told, the builder was blowing
a little smoke - and before long it became obvious that the April
date was not going to happen. It turns out that the boat
has been more complicated and harder to build than the builder
had planned. They didn't truly understand the strength and engineering
necessary for an ocean-going sailing cat of this size. According
to the builder, they are very upside down in building costs so
far. They budgeted 27,000 man-hours to complete construction,
and they have spent 49,000 man-hours so far. Ouch! There
are about 12,000 more man-hours to go. The builder has tried
to hold the contract price and eat the over-run himself, but
this has caused the project to slow down. Now it seems the company
is running out of money. We have to renegotiate the contract
or he may go under. While this is not what we want to hear, it's
not a rare occurrence when building big custom yachts. So we
had to go back to New Zealand to try to get the project back
on track.
The gigantic cat at the yard in New Zealand
"We were to go to the yard in late
April to sort this latest drama out, but I decided to take a
sailing detour as a consolation prize for not having the boat
finished. Since Tonga was to be one of the first island groups
we planned to visit when we sail from New Zealand, I decided
to arrange a bareboat sailing trip there on the way to New Zealand.
I wanted a preview of what sailing the South Pacific would be
like. Three other couples wanted to come along, so I arranged
a bareboat charter on a Moorings 47 cat. The Plan was to fly
to Tonga through New Zealand, and then stop at the yard on the
way back. We left L.A. on April 23, and when we arrived in Auckland
airport, we found out that the Royal Tonga Airliner that was
to take us to Tonga has been repossessed! Welcome to travel in
the South Pacific! Traveling to out-of-the-way places is like
sailing - you get there when you get there. So you either chill
or really get uptight.
"After spending all day on an unscheduled
exploration of Auckland, we were able to get an Air New Zealand
flight to Tonga. That flight took us, with one stop in the capital
of Tonga, to the Vavua group of islands at the north end of the
Tongan archipelago. Flying in over the crystal clear turquoise
water dotted by hundreds of tiny tropical islands, we knew that
long hours of travel were worth the effort.
Don and Karen in Tonga
"Vavua is a group of about 40 small
islands all protected to the windward by a huge reef. This leaves
the water around the islands flat, while allowing the trade winds
to blow through - producing perfect sailing conditions! We had
seven full days of sailing, sunning, fishing - I caught a blue
marlin, which was surprisingly good eating - and diving.
Don and his blue marlin
Photos Courtesy the Engles
"Every evening we worked our way through
the coral heads to anchor off of a perfect deserted beach on
a different tropical island. There weren't too many restaurants,
so we cooked onboard about half the time. Each restaurant that
we visited was a unique experience. After the sailing trip, we
spent a few days on land in Tonga just to get a feel for the
place.
"By the time we made it back to the
yard in New Zealand, we were ready to work out a way to allow
the builder to complete the project. Several days of negotiations
and we have a new and, we hope, a realistic launch date - August
23."
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