Photo - Chipoka Port - Wednesday 25 April, 2007. Once
again it's maintenance time for M.V. Sandra Lane. The ship has
covered a lot of sea miles and planking needs to be restored and
refixed - especially after the submerged bows section. All
looks serene, easy, peaceful in this photo - but this does not
reflect the battering in south-easterly storms that Sandra Lane has
experienced over the past sixteen months...
Chipoka Port (50 kilometres from Senga Bay/Kambiri Point) is ideally
located for boat maintenance and repair. The system of
crane-lifted "trays" means that in less than an hour a
boat can be on the hard, ready for repair. However the
services - "in" and "out" of the water plus a
daily charge all mount up. And other charges (electricity) are
also applied. The main Port building is behind Sandra Lane.
The gantry crane at Chipoka can easily carry 10,000 kilos. In
the past the slipway facilities have been used at Monkey Bay but
this Port is too far from Kambiri Point. And access to the
under-surface/hull of boats
is easier on the hard/tray than semi-hanging/suspended in a cradle on a slipway as would be the
case at Monkey Bay. The electricity at Chipoka enables light hand
power tools to be used - drills, saws, planers, angle grinders and
welding machine.
Past experience shows that the first quarter of the submerged
hull behind the flared bows is the main maintenance spot for
planking/repair. The rear two-thirds of the boat are
invariably in perfect planking condition - demonstrating clearly
that it is the pounding in weather/storms that causes planking
to fail and need replacement.
