Report from Robert Grant of SY Chance – 22 June, 2012
Visit to Apataki Carenage – April 2011
South Pass of Apetaki: The maximum draft limitation on entering the shallow harbor to the west of the wharf is 1.8m (according to locals). There is no longer swinging room due to mooring buoys.
Owners of Carenage: Alfred and Pauline Lau. Their son, Tony, handles slipping operations, equipment hire etc. and is careful and helpful.
Moorings: (5 at time of writing). Free. The 2 we were on consisted of suspended down chain and cats-cradle of chains & odd shackles around a coral head. Be prepared for 5’ seas if the wind is in the north-west. In these conditions we deployed an anchor in addition, as most of the moorings are close to other coral heads.
Haul out: The carenage agreed to haul us at 2.10m draft (10cm over that stated in website). To assist, we arrived at our notified ETA at the top of Springs. Due to other boatyard commitments, they were unable to haul us for 4 days after High Water Springs. At the nominated time we touched on the trailer, only to be told to come back the next day as we were too deep by some measure. Next day (with even less tide height), Tony blasted away with an underwater Karcher until we floated on to the trailer.
Haul out is by “Parklev” trailer, using a common 70hp front end loader with backhoe. The prime mover provides hydraulic power to operate the trailer rams etc. The pads on the trailer consist of two large pads aft and a ‘V’ pad arrangement forward for monohulls. This forward pad, on our conventional fin keel hull, produced locker jamming high local loading as it did not, by its design, lend itself to conforming to our hull shape and had minimum load area. The backhoe was used to haul the loaded trailer over a “hump” in the runway, by hooking the ripper claws into a bight of chain attached to wire anchored in the earth. Given the poor state of maintenance of the prime mover and the attachment, this arrangement gave us (at 10t displacement) some concern. We witnessed this chain fly off the claws whilst slipping a heavier monohull, causing some loss of control.
Hardstand: Well laid out in crushed and small coral top surface, on earth. Access ladders were new aluminium. Check planks and trestles closely before use. We stood in the yard with nine adequate supports driven into the ground with plywood pads and wedges to the boat.
Pests: The area is infested with sand flies and mosquitoes and was very hot with little breeze. Rats were seen, as there is a copra drying operation adjacent to the hard standing. We lowered our ladder at night.
Equipment: We hired the Karcher, a standard 14mm Makita sander/polisher, orbital sander and a Makita polisher. All of which were fine.
We ordered and paid for antifouling in advance. On arrival, an attempt was made to pass off 12 litres as 3 months old, when in fact, by the batch number on the rusty cans, it was over 3 years old. Ameron (USA) uses a 9 digit/alpha code. First 2 #’s = month. First letter = year. (V-2011, U=2010, T=2009 etc). So 01V20735A = January 2011.
Facilities:
– One flushing toilet – at peak capacity during our visit queues were forming.
– Showers – dipping from a barrel in the open or by what you could arrange on board.
– Power – provided most nights by generator 1800-2000 approx. and at other times by request.
– Water – power needed for non-potable water, via hose. Drinking water obtainable by jug from rainwater tank whilst we were out of the water.
– Groceries – only store is at the village at Niutahi at the south pass.
– Slipway shop – brushes, rollers, roller covers, paint buckets (not trays), epoxy, thinners, discs etc. Some items were expensive.
– Laundry – 800CFP (about $8) per small load – wash only – take your own soap.
– Internet – unavailable.
– Swimming in the lagoon is free.
Charges: As advertised for carenage & hard stand. However, we were surprised to see a charge for $75 for a night on the trailer, (prior to launch at 0900hrs next day) and an un-itemized bill for extras. From the itemized version we were able to strike off several charges. We paid by credit card.
Be aware: In order to minimize our launching draught, we took no carenage drinking water during our two-week stay. When we came ashore to take 270lt rainwater from the full tank, we were astounded to find that, having left the slipway, we were expected to pay for the water.
Report from Colin Price of SY Pacific Bliss – 21 May, 2012
We recently hauled out at Apataki Carenage in the Tuamotos.
For those who need a haul out, this is the most brilliant yard in a beautiful location. There are limitations on the boat size that they can lift using their hydraulic trailer (new in 2009): Max lift weight 20 tonnes and max draft 2.2 metres.
The family here are super helpful, they have a shop with all the basic paints and rollers etc., and spare parts can be flown in from Tahiti easily. Water and electricity available.
Meals can be arranged if required.
It is a do-it-yourself yard, but I believe that work can be organized if required.
They have a buried-chain system for boats laying up for the cyclone season.
It is the cheapest yard in FP (where nothing is cheap).
Report from Reini Gelder of SY Ave Gitana – 15 June, 2011
I want to inform all sailors that there is a new haul out/ antifouling /yard/ boat storage facility in the Tuamotos in the Atoll of Apataki, in one of the most beautiful and safe environments you can imagine.
The chariot/carriage can handle Yachts – Mono and Multihulls – up to 20 tons, 2-meter draft and up to 14 m(!) beam. We hauled our boat there 14 days ago and were very satisfied with the professionalism and quality of service.
Family Lau who operate the yard are very nice and helpful in any matter. They also operate a small restaurant and a pearl farm. The climate in the Tuamotos is very dry which makes the yard also a good place for long term storage. Cyclones are very rare in this area of French Polynesia, especially during El Nina years. The big Motu where the yard is located is exceptionally high, being up to almost 5 meters above sea level.
The drawbacks of the place are possibly its remoteness, although antifouling and all the other things (including electrical tools) you need for this job are available in the yard. If you want to do a bigger job on your boat, you can order anything from Tahiti and heavy items are shipped every two weeks by cargo vessel. To get to the airport of Apataki is a 1-hour boat ride through the beautiful lagoon that is fully navigable in good light conditions. There are only a few coral heads. On the west side, there are two deep passes into the lagoon, the northern one is easy. Flights to Tahiti Airport are 3 times/week.
The boatyard has a website: www.apatakicarenage.com for more information, or contact:
Tel: (+689) 727 813 / (+689) 714 529
Fax: (+689)829 183
E-mail: alfred@apatakicarenage.com or apatakicarenageservices@gmail.com
Pauline Lau speaks fluent English.
The customs regulations for French Polynesia allow boats to stay up to 2 years without being taxed. When the boat is stored and the owner leaves the country this time is interrupted and extended.
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