Getting to know Felis

Cocktails or the reality of boat jobs

Every boat is different and comes with its own unique problems and challenges that mainstream life doesn’t prepare you for. In my experience, the first few weeks of owning a new boat are probably the hardest. Stamping my foot and saying, ‘I’m going home’, is a regular occurrence. It is not just getting to know the boat; it is also the massive lifestyle adjustment. You can no longer jump in the car if you have run out of butter or want to meet a friend for coffee. You have to adjust to a smaller living space. We downsized to an apartment after our last sailing adventure, so our catamaran is not much smaller than our apartment. What you do have to get used to is being with your partner 24/7. Sure, one of you can take the dinghy to shore or go for a swim, but you generally let your other half tag along, as no one likes to be contained in a confined space for too long. 

The first week in the marina was busy. Simon crawled into every locker and looked in every storage space under the seats and flooring. Surprisingly, we had plenty of storage so all the ‘stuff’ could be packed away sight unseen. We tried to attach the Webber to the back railing with the platform table we had brought from home. Unfortunately, we hadn’t accounted for where the dinghy would sit when lifted, so we need to come up with an alternative solution.  After speaking to some local fabricators, we realised it was not going to happen until Fiji.  

We checked the window and hatch leaks, the toilets, the oven, the water maker, and the anchor. We found numerous leaks in the windows and hatches. This took a few days to complete, as each time they were sealed with Sikaflex, more leaks were discovered. We also had intermittent issues with our air conditioning on the starboard side (fortunately, we are sleeping on the port side), the water maker was throwing an error, and the fridge kept freezing my birthday champagne. Just for the record, with the Vitrifrigo drawer fridge/freezer, the top is the freezer, and the fridge is the bottom…not the other way around 😊 

Then there was the provisioning. Starting from scratch, you have to do brain gymnastics to determine what you need as base stores. Do you make a list or browse the shelves, hoping you can find everything you need after translating the labels from French to English? Fortunately, we hired a car for a few days to transport multiple loads of groceries, including a freezer full of produce (now the freezer is working) and plenty of beer and wine, which we have already made a considerable dent in. The challenge is that each supermarket carries different types of food, so provisioning was done across three supermarkets. 

We did manage to have fun while organising Felis. We celebrated our arrival at a lovely beachside restaurant called the ‘Fish and Blue’, where you can enjoy delicious cocktails while your toes curl into the sand (hoping the curious crabs don’t take a nip), watching the sunset. We drove around Raiatea in search of a beach for a much-needed swim, but sadly, there are no public beaches; you have to visit the surrounding motus (sandy islands) to find a sandy beach to swim. We did have a lovely walk through the botanical gardens and enjoyed the island's scenic beauty. 

We both agreed we needed to escape the marina for a few days and visit the neighbouring island, Taha’a. As it was a public holiday, Teddy, a French national who had spent the last seven years in Australia while waiting for his residency, joined us for the day, along with his friend Mariana, who was visiting from Bora Bora. As this was our first outing on Felis, I was secretly thrilled to have people along to provide some much needed support. Our first stop was a bay across the channel where the Champon pearl farm owns several moorings. My first experience of picking up a mooring was hard going, and I was very pleased Teddy was at hand to assist. We had a lovely lunch, and Teddy made Pina Coladas before deciding to go snorkelling near the motu. Unfortunately, we had to abort the expedition because of torrential rain. We then motored up the west of Taha’a to a bay with moorings owned by another pearl farm. After being directed to their mooring (not to be confused with the pearl farm buoys), we successfully picked it up thanks to Teddy. As it was getting on in the day and a squall line was developing to the west, we said goodbye to Teddy and Marianna. Thankfully, they made it back to the marina in their dinghy before the rain hit. 

The next day, we visited the pearl farm and took the dinghy to the coral garden. It was nice enough, but very shallow in places where I somehow ended up in a dead end. I had to suck my stomach in and float over coral heads, while using my hands to guide me against the strong current. We then motored back to the south of the island, where we had visited the day before.  This time, I had to pick up the mooring on my own. After a few missed attempts, I quickly worked out that the only way I was going to reach the mooring was to lie on my stomach so the boat hook could reach.  

We stayed in the bay for two nights, enjoying its tranquillity and watching charter boats as they tried to pick up moorings, feeling very proud of my achievement. Sunday morning, it was time to head back across the channel to the Moorings base to get our hatch leaks fixed. We also discovered the water maker had stopped working. The wind had picked up, so we enjoyed two nights in the marina while the work was completed.  

I am going to add that everything was taken care of by Moorings. Although it was frustrating being in a marina, the phase-out support we received was exceptional. Unfortunately, it was not the last they would see of us.