We are still at the Boat Works – 12 days down and probably 5 more to go, maybe more. But there has been lots achieved, not the least Anui’s new look. We are wrapped!

Here she is! Reef inspired, bright and happy colours, and you can follow our white tracks through the blues and aquas of the beautiful ocean!

As we mentioned in our last post, it is a nerve-racking process. You hope the pattern and colours will work out, but even when Chris gave the okay to print, another sleepless night followed! You presume it will all be fine, however you don’t know until the design is printed and a 16 meter roll of colour is brought to the boat.

The nerves dissipated as soon as the team started unrolling the vinyl on the outside of the port hull and Chris saw that what had been in her mind’s eye and communicated to Troy had come to fruition!  Phew! Here is a few images showing the process.

Because of Anui’s long, thin and canted hulls, the wrap was brought on the inside all the way to the edge of the bridge deck, front and back. This part was done early this week.

And finally the white boot line, the Victorian registration numbers and the boat name went on! We are official!

Here are the Before/After pictures:

The team at Print Image Signs was excellent. Troy worked his magic with the artwork on Photoshop from an image we had provided, Rona and Seth did the wrap installation – a huge job – and MD Rob was overseeing the lot! We were impressed with their responsiveness, their patience and support throughout the process. Nothing was too much effort, every step was explained. The weather – rain and heat – made it tricky to get it all done, but over four or five half days, the job was completed and our boat transformed.

Anui always had a style of her own, but now she is truly unique, reinvigorated and reflects our love of the reef inside and out.

We are told wraps last a little less than paint – about 7 years instead of 10 – but at a third of the price it is a more economical option. After 8 years the wrap is harder to remove if you need to replace it. You must clean the hulls with pH neutral products so as to not damage the vinyl, use fenders with soft covers when coming to marinas, stay away from rough jetties and avoid dragging boats like the plague. We will be keeping our distance even more than usual in an attempt to retain a pristine Anui!

As we mentioned in the last post, we had the One Way Vision on our windows and hatches redone, also handled by Print Image Signs. The old film did not come off as easily as expected and it was a much bigger clean up job for Rona and Seth before they could apply the new film. Also problematic was the extreme heat. The guys found they had to work on it very early in the morning before it got too hot or the film did not stay on! By 9.00 am it was game over and they ended up having to re-apply it several times. But the result is great. No more looking through grubby windows, and the extra layer of clear laminate will ensure the dirt and salt can’t build up again in the perforations.

The rest of the maintenance has progressed very well, although we have had a major mishap, but we will tell you about that in our next post. We are scheduled for our splash back next Wednesday morning. We will see whether it actually happens then!