The final lift

The day finally dawned when our shipping transporter arrived in Tahiti and our time for loading and saying goodbye to our yacht was very close. Continued COVID related delays meant we had been expecting and patiently waiting for the ship since mid-April, it was now mid-June…

Stress – do we really have to take the back stay down? It holds the mast up!!

We were ready (back stay removed and everything tied down to avoid the crane lifting strops) and waiting for our 9am call on the radio to proceed. But with an 85ft catamaran being lifted ahead of us the time slippage continued. A rather patient 26 hours later we got the radio call to proceed and we quickly motored out to the massive container ship. That’s when you feel small!

We tied up alongside the enormous ship and soon it was all go. Simultaneously the most exciting and terrifying time possible.

Divers checking the lifting strop positions

No one is allowed to remain onboard whilst lifting and with the agent’s promised water taxi nowhere in sight, we all had to climb up a rope ladder running down the side of the massive container ship.

It was slightly terrifying to watch your seven year old son inch his way up it. We all made it and soon we were clamouring on deck trying to find a safe place to stand whilst the lifting took place above us.

The yachts are all lifted and placed on the deck within inches of each other and strapped down for their journey home.

Lifting onto a moving boat with kids around to watch!

Terrifying to watch unless you are aged 7!

A cradle is welded onto the deck to hold them. The whole process took several hours and then we had to find our way off the container ship and through the container terminal to get back to Papeete, not quite as simple as it sounds on foot. It was quite a day.