It didn’t happen

I spoke too soon.

Just after I put up the last post, we received an email that set in motion the possibility that the plans would change again.

UGHGHGHGHG!!! Ok… frustration released. Be zen. Deep Breathes. Go with the flow. Om and all that jazz.

The email we got was from Rosshaven Marine, the boatyard where we were due to haul out on Tuesday and it contained the work contract that we had to sign prior to them lifting all 12 tonnes of Batty out of the water. We have hauled out many times and each time had signed a contract so this was not abnormal. But this contract was different.

Haulout: Hervey Bay - September 2013

One perk of having a husband who used to do contracts in the real world, is that he reads them and reads them again and again before putting his name on it. Upon reading this one he saw that the contract said that the boatyard was not liable for any damages, including those caused by the boatyard’s own negligence.

I think this is INSANE and it’s kind of infuriating to think that they can do something like that. That’s basically like saying there was a fuel leak that we hadn’t gotten around to fixing yet and it accidentally leaked onto your boat and then someone was doing some welding nearby and a spark flew over and blew it up but it’s not our fault! Not cool! (The preceding was a hypothetical situation. It did not actually happen to us or anyone we know.)

According to our insurance company, there are only a few boatyards in Australia that have this clause. Normally (if the boat owner bothers to read the contract), the insurance company contacts the yard, asks them to remove the clause, they oblige and the work carries on. However in this instance, Rosshaven refused (for whatever reason) to remove the clause. Our options were either that we didn’t sign the contract and didn’t haul-out or we did sign the contract and waived our insurance and were unable to haul-out anyway (as a requirement of the yard is that all boats are insured). Lose-lose situation for us but at least we found out before we got there i guess.

So we are back at square-one. We still need to haul out so are looking at our options again. We are intending to head south, and there are yards in Airlie Beach, but because of Cyclone Debbie and the huge losses sustained by boats down there, the yards in Airlie Beach are unable to take non-cyclone damaged boats for at least a year. Our other option is to head north to Cardwell to haul out there. Coincidentally, the yards in Airlie Beach and Cardwell do NOT have negligence waivers in their contracts. We have already checked.

Please note that in all of our interactions with Rosshaven, they were very professional and everything was on track for our haul out on Tuesday. While we had heard reviews from all over the spectrum about this yard, we hadn’t experienced anything negative ourselves. I am not naming and shaming here. Truthfully, their hands may have been tied with their underwriters calling the shots, just as our insurers were. I get that. But all I’m saying is please do your due diligence, get the contract early and read the contract before you get to the yard and sign it. If in doubt, get your insurers involved so that there are no surprises down the track!

Biding our time

We had been due to haulout the boat several weeks ago but at the last minute cancelled for a variety of reasons. It was fortuitous that we did cancel as our time out of the water would have coincided with the days that Tropical Cyclone Debbie was approaching our coast and due to make landfall. While we luckily survived Debbie unscathed, there was a time during her approach that we were in for a direct hit. Having Batty out of the water would have added an extra layer of stress and effort to our cyclone prep in addition to none of our planned work actually getting done while we, and everyone else, prepped for Debbie’s arrival.

Picnic Bay, Magnetic Island

Since then we have diligently been plodding through our endless to-do list as we waited for a new date for our haulout. Due to Easter, Anzac Day and May Day, it seemed like April did not have a single 5-day work week. With our prior luck with haulouts, we were gunning for at least a 4 day week that did not end in a long weekend, should we be stuck out of the water at the end of the week. Boatyards charge you for the crane lift in and out of the water and then a per/day fee for just being in the yard. This is on top of any work you have done (Coincidentally, they don’t work on the weekends either!). We finally received confirmation late last week that we are on the books to be hauled-out this coming Tuesday.

Babyproofing

Though certainly not as much fun as being at anchor, life is much easier in a marina so we elected to stay put while we waited it out. I will admit I am a bit nervous about being at anchor with the baby purely because I know our water won’t stretch as far. Bryce and I have been able to make our water stretch for more then a month when it was just the two of us in conservation mode. This is not going to be feasible anymore with an extra crew member on board. A watermaker is on our wishlist but it’s still likely a fair way off.

Marina Sunsets

We are still posting to facebook frequently and now have an instagram account where you can see lots more of our day to day life. We have some other projects in the works to share with you all soon so stay tuned!

The First Glimpse

I was sorting through some old photos awhile back and came across this video and thought I would share it. 

The backstory:

In June, 2012, we had left Australia boatless with the intention of finding and buying our boat in either the US or Europe. Bryce came back to Australia to meet a new nephew in December and happened to find Batty for sale just one hours drive from Brisbane. She ticked a lot of our boxes so he went to check her out. His interest piqued, a survey was commissioned and the ball was rolling in the direction of Aquabat becoming ours. If we bought this boat. I would not get to physically see her before the purchase. I was full of questions and requests. Some >>very<< detailed videos of the boat were high on my list. 

This video, narrated by Bryce, was one that I received and gave me a glimpse of what was to be  our new home. For the record, this is the cleanest and emptiest I have ever seen Batty. Something to strive for again! :)

You can watch the video here. 

Enjoy!