CETUS SAILS HOME

Heidi, Terry & Carly Kotas set sail aboard Cetus (Hull #71)_. from their home in Gig Harbor, Washington in August 1998. Some of their adventures sailing down the west coast of the USA, and their cruise to the Marquesas, were written up in previous Fantasia Flyers, ^With Cetus back in her home waters as ofJuly, 2003, Heidi has kindly shared their most recent adventures with us. She writes:

 
After exploring the Marquesas and Tuamotus in 2001, we reached Tahiti where  we'd planned to leave Cetus and return home during the South Pacific cyclone season.  We pulled her out of the water and buttoned everything up really tight in order to keep out any unwanted visitors (of the bug or rodent variety). We left Cetus in July 2001 at the Tahiti Nautics Center in Taravao, Tahiti, with plans to be back aboard and cruising again the following April. Plans changed when a family member's failing health compelled us to stay Stateside for a longer period, so we took a short interim trip back to Tahiti to make sure all was well aboard Cetus.

 In January 2002, we discovered what a mistake we'd made by closing up Cetus so tightly: there was mold everywhere! We'd left a boat in the tropics before, boarded up tightly, and didn't have this problem, so it was quite a surprise. I'm sure it's partly due to the amount of the teak below.

We cleaned, threw out some things that were ruined, and added rodent proof ventilation (metal mesh with bug screen over the dorade vent accesses plus the portlights in the head and workroom).

We also hauled home stuff that might be ruined if everything got moldy again.

   Our new plan was to return to Cetus in August for a 3 month sail around the Society Islands, and then once again leave her in the boatyard in Taravao, Tahiti. Cetus was in much better shape when we returned to her in August 2002 - ventilation had done the trick. We busied ourselves putting every-thing back together so we could start our sailing vacation in French Polynesia, but when Terry tried the engine on our 2nd day (before we were back in the water), it was frozen up! We optimistically had Cetus put in the water and she once again felt like home - even with the engine sitting in the middle of the main saloon! Yet, with help from a fellow cruiser and a Tahitian mechanic, we were still un-able to get the Yanmar 30QM3 raw water cooled engine running. One of the pistons was in bad shape.

 
We discussed our options with the Yanmar dealer in Papeete (the big city in Tahiti). It's very expensive to have an engine rebuilt in French Polynesia, ours was 20-years old and had been rebuilt once before, and a little research re-vealed that the local dealer could deliver us a new engine for $2,000 less than in Seattle (plus from there we'd then have to pay shipping). We ordered a new Yanmar 3JH3E freshwater cooled engine that the Tahiti agent promised would be delivered by February 2003. We again buttoned-up Cetus on the hard in Taravao, and flew home. Planning to return to Tahiti in March 2003, install the engine, and be ready to set sail by the end of cyclone season in April, Terry spent the months in Washington preparing for the installation. He bought all the parts we would need and built a jig to help position the new engine pads before it was installed in the compartment. The new engine has more horsepower than the old one, but is much smaller (and lighter), so we had adaptations to make.

We arrived in Tahiti in March, but the engine didn't make it until the last week in that month. We had plenty of other cruising preparations to make, so the delay was not wasted time. Unfortunately, and uncomfortably,

Terry had prepared and planned so well, he was able to install the engine and have it running in just 3 days. We were back in the water and off to the anchorage at Maeva Beach soon after! Cetus was no longer a tree house, but a cruising boat again.

We then began our long trip home. We spent a month in the Tuamotus, exploring Fakarava, Toau, and Manihi before heading north to Hawaii. We wanted to reach Hawaii by the beginning of June for 3 reasons. First and foremost, June is the beginning of the North Pacific Hurricane season. While Hawaii is not often hit, many storms do run south of the islands, making summer a difficult time to sail north from the equator. We'd had enough of hurricanes on our first cruise in our Golden Gate 30, Cussiopeiu. When Hurricane Iniki stormed through the is-lands, we were anchored off of Maui. Secondly, we wanted some time to relax in Hawaii before setting off for the final leg of our journey back to Washington, a trip we wanted to have completed before the end of August - we wanted the best weather for that long journey and Carly wanted to begin her junior year of high school on dry land. Lastly, the TransPac arrives in Hawaii sometime the end of June, making it nearly impossible to find moorage or services with the influx of those huge boats.

We reluctantly left the Tuamotus on May 10, 2003 and set sail for Honolulu. That 20 day trip wasn't nearly as idyllic as our trip to the Marquesas two years before. Instead of a pleasant downwind cruise, we were close hauled most of the way. Instead of quietly gliding over the ocean, we were constantly heeled over and crashing into waves. We were so happy to be in our big strong Fantasia with her center cockpit keeping us mostly dry. Still, some days the waves would crash right over the boat, and the only dry places were tucked in under the spray dodger. I couldn't do laundry for days, as there was no where to hang it to dry. We also had more cloudy, gray days than we had expected - it seems the tropical convergence zone traveled with Cetus for a few days. Crossing the equator, it was so cold at night we wore fleece and rain gear! That was a totally new experience for us, as our other two equatorial crossings had been so hot we were doing what ever we could to cool down!

In Hawaii, we learned that Terry's boss had a job for him beginning the first of July. We decided to ship Cetus home aboard Matson lines. Cetus was placed on board the ship on June 12 and was in the water in Washing-ton on July 1, even after being trucked north from LA. The "hidden costs" of shipping surprised us, however, and the whole experience cost almost twice what we expected.

Our plans now are to enjoy sailing Puget Sound while daughter Carly finishes high school, then head out cruising again once she's off to college.