Shipyard Visit: Week 43 - Upclose and Personal

This will be the first in a series of articles on the Taiwan and the visit to the shipyard.  There is literally so much to write about.  So without further ado.

Note: Diana opted out on this trip.  So I was solo.

I departed Chicago for Koahsiung Taiwan on October 10 at 10:30AM and 14 hours later (at 1:55PM) I arrived in Shanghai completing the first and longest leg of the 3 leg journey. After 2.5 hour layover I was off to Inchon South Korea (Note: General MacArthur's forces invaded Inchon on September 15, 1950 during the Korean war in a four day battle that stopped the North Korean advance.)  That flight was three hours. Another 2 hour layover and a two hour flight and, like magic, I was on the ground in Koahsiung.  I was met by a driver and 20 minutes later, at 12:30PM, I arrived at the Grand Hi-Lai Hotel where I caught up with my Week 42 Friday photos (see previous article for details).

Grand Hi-Lai Hotel, Koahsiung Taiwan

The flights departed and arrived on time, the food in business class was "first class" as was the wine (especially on United).  Except for the fact that I was 26 hours enroute (and lost a day) the entire process was flawless.  This was also true of the return flights.  (Side note: Why can't United achieve the same performance on domestic flights?). 

I spent Saturday and Sunday exploring Koahsiung, which I will cover in a separate article.  But first I will describe the shipyard experience and the progress made since last Friday's Week 42 article)

That said, I will digress with a side story about finding the shipyard.  On Saturday morning I thought it might be fun to go the shipyard on my own using public transportation and my feet.  I Googled the address and then asked the concierge for directions.  She could not locate the address.  Seems I came almost 8,000 miles only to find there was no shipyard.  The problem was an incorrect address.  Notice the similarity between the incorrect Google address, 492 Chung-Chou Road, and the actual address, 492 Jhong Jhou 2nd Road.  Oh well.

Promptly at 9:00 AM Howard Chiu collected Mike Schlictig and I and drove 20 minutes to the shipyard, which is located on Cijing island.  The island is reached by a deep tunnel at the east end that runs under the harbor (or by ferry port at the west end in Koahsiung Harbor).  See link below for the island's location.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cijin_District,_Kaohsiung

Tania Yacht Co. Ltd shipyard
Howard and Mike are standing by the tree worrying that I might get hit by a car

I will now describe the shipyard but again I must digress.  Over the years I have visited four shipyards prior to Tania.  Hinckley in Southwest Harbor, Maine (1978), Kanter (building Cape Horn trawlers) in Port Credit Ontario (1999), Apreamare in Sorrento Italy (2003) and Sea Ray's large yacht facility (2008) at Sykes Creek, Florida.  Tania was considerably different.  This is not an impressive facility from the outside and on the inside it is, well, quite frankly, an OSHA nightmare. Taiwan's workplace safety standards are worlds away from those in the US. 

Worker applying resin to fiberglass mat wearing only a face mask and gloves
OSHA minimally would require a respirator, eye protection and protective clothing

That said you quickly get past the appearance when you see what is going on.  This is one together place with an experienced workforce (going back generations) that builds beautiful boats (all Outer Reefs).  There were 7 boats in various states of completion.  A 70 awaiting shipment, an 84 almost finished, my 63 with 5 to 6 weeks away from completion, a 70 with the house attached to the hull, a 70 in lay-up, a 65 just of the mold and an 84 having the stringers installed.

63 mold next to a 70 mold in the process of hull layup

Guided Discovery viewed from the 70 hull in layup
to the left is a boat just out of the mold

Upstairs carpentry shop where the make doors and door frames

84 in the final stages of completion

The longer I spent at the yard the greater my appreciation of the Tania workforce's professionalism and dedication to producing a first class yacht.  The Taiwan culture (i.e., limited regulation) allows Tania to operate as they do.  Tania could not operate in the US and produce boats at anywhere close to what it costs in Taiwan.

Now to the 63.  Every week  I mention that progress  is occurring throughout the boat.  Now I saw it first hand.  At times there were as many as 20 workers engaged in some task, literally, in every area.  Speaking of progress, take a break, go to lunch or visit one of the other boats under construction and upon return to the 63 there was progress.  The yard is a beehive of organized chaos.  Below is an example:



Fuel manifold system on port wall taken on Monday

Fuel manifold system with newly installed cover and fuel polishing system fuel management valves (next day)
 

Steve Forrest, Outer Reef on site surveyor, Mike and myself by the 63

In the following article I will present detail views of the boat that we have not previously seen.  The articles will be entitled "going behind the scenes" and will allow you to see parts of the boat that are not visible in the usual Friday photos.

Finally, a word about Outer Reef and Tania Yacht Co.  These guys have their act together and build spectacular yachts.  Steve Forrest in the photo above is Outer Reef's on site surveyor.  He visits at the yard daily and acts as Outer Reef's quality control checking progress on the yachts and correcting anything amiss.  Steve spent considerable time educating me on the boat's equipment and maintenance.

Tania, while not an OSHA poster child is a well run efficient operation building spectacular boats.  Tania also quality controls each operation so that they, in combination with Outer Reef, ensure a quality yacht to the last detail.  I was really impressed.

I was also impressed with the hospitality and assistance I received during my visit.  In addition to watching progress first hand they exposed me to a slice of Taiwanese culture and some rather great meals.

Mike Schlictig, Outer Reef General Manager
Chaucer Chen, Tania Navel Architect
Les, Owner
Karl Lin, Tania General Manager
Howard Chiu, my guide and the man who takes the Friday photos

Post script:  Earlier in the article I told the story of not being able to locate the shipyard upon my arrival.  This was not the case on departure when the airplane flew right over the Cijin Island and, thanks to my new found knowledge of the area, and with a little help from the clouds, I was able to spot the shipyard.

Written by Les.