Farquhar Blog: Pre Season 26 Feb – 9 March 2013

It feels like we’ve just left, but after a glorious festive season we’re back at Farquhar and this season we’ve come prepared. Those of you who are boat owners know that no matter how much you look after your boat, the maintenance piles up and soon a major overhaul is inevitable. We’ve been allocated 2 weeks to work exclusively on boats before our first clients arrive.

We’re one week in and so far the only trouble we’ve had was getting the 310kg’s of boat spares onto the plane. Somehow we got all the spares onto the Island and with our mechanic, Allen Babich, leading the charge we plunged straight into graft.

To illustrate exactly what “overhauling” entails: motors off; hulls patched, sanded and antifouled; every hinge, hatch and fitting taken off, sanded and refitted with new stainless steel screws; new fish finders installed (this entailed fabricating a new dash for the console); Re wiring and installing new bilges; epoxying and filling cracks and holes and broken rod holders; re painting and cleaning until the boats look brand new. Most steps require us to move the boat from a stand onto a trailer, then back onto the stand and then BACK onto the trailer, with pure guide power! Allen serviced the engines and could add a list of things like the one above.

It may not sound like much, but consider it was done with a bare minimum of power tools and mostly with man power in the humid tropical sun. We’re halfway through. Two boats are done, two more to go. And the guiding hasn’t even started! Next time you think romantically about how cushy our jobs are as guides, have a second look at the boats we use, and how much work has gone into them.

We’re keen to get the job done and start the season with mint boats, so we can put all energy into finding the fish. Hope you can join us.

James Topham