Rehua - Let’s sail again

Who: Seathan, Audrie, Tyrii and Enée
Where: Singapore
Multihull: Antares 44
www.svrehua.wordpress.com

We hauled out earlier this year for some much-needed bottom care. Given the uncertainty on where we might be able to haul out next, we decided to go for the longer lasting Coppercoat paint. After completing the antifouling, we looked into other necessary upgrades. First of all, we required a new suit of sails. Our previous set had served us 7 years but had started falling apart recently. The UV damage in the tropics is definitely a huge factor and sails tend to not last very long out here. We got a new mainsail as well as two new genoas (the second one we need for goose-winging downwind). Next upgrade was to increase our solar power. We replaced the old solar panels and added a few extra flexible panels on the newly reinforced aft cockpit rooftop. Several weeks after we installed them, we noticed the flexible panels had started showing some signs of early degradation (in the shape of weird bubbles forming). The supplier was extremely helpful and provided replacement panels. We opted for the heavier but more robust nonflexible type this time. This of course meant we had to re-install and re-wire everything again and also required further adjustments to the rooftop. Hopefully these panels will be long lasting, and the power output should give us a significant increase. We also wanted more water. Who doesn’t like to take a fresh-water shower after a dip in the ocean? Other onboard luxuries like the washing machine and the fresh-water toilet use up a lot of water too, so being able to produce enough water makes a big difference and enables us to be self-sufficient while still enjoying some everyday comforts. Our old watermaker had served us well, however, the last few years we spent more time upgrading components and buying expensive repair kits and the output was still not enough for a family of four. It was definitely time for an upgrade. We opted for a more robust system with a larger output capacity and less electronic interfaces. The installation was another big project completed recently. Adding to the major upgrades above, there have been plenty more smaller projects including a new cockpit enclosure, new sunshades for the saloon windows, new trampolines, …Rehua 2.0 is almost ready to go. So where to next? Unfortunately, we missed the weather window to cross the Indian Ocean this year. We hope to at least be able to visit some of the nearby countries here in South East Asia which have excellent cruising grounds and plenty of remote islands to explore. We can’t wait to swim in turquoise water again!