what to do…first

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” ~ Peter Drucker

There is no doubt that we fell for her enchanting beauty but that being said, a girl can use a makeover every now and then. We were grateful that “boat” hadn’t been updated but we also needed to pick and choose which of the long wish list would come to fruition.  Many of the systems needed to be addressed as she was a summer sailor and not a full time liveaboard. We’ve both agreed that we can live without but we don’t necessarily want to. It would be lovely to have all of the conveniences of our land home but that isn’t why we chose to live on a boat. Our land life was filled with excess and waste of energy, resources and convenience. These are things we will now do without when living aboard.

First things to address are the most important because without them, we don’t sail. New sails and rigging, check those off the list right away. We got many recommendations but ended up going with Mack Sails out of Stuart, FL. We met the guys while at the Annapolis boat show and they were so easy to work with! The ground tackle (anchor and chain) were inadequate for our adventures so Shane didn’t hesitate for a moment to order a new, slightly oversized Rocna anchor. I believe there were streams of light shooting out of the box when he opened it and proceeded to gently caress it. One of my biggest fears is that our anchor will drag or worse yet, the anchor of a neighboring boater. This anchor should help us sleep better at night. It’s a beast so Shane also ordered an electric windlass which is used to haul up the anchor and chain. Because of that addition, we needed to have a custom bow roller made and some modifications made to the deck at the very front of the boat for the chain as well. The electronics, that is on Shane’s list and he was very excited to start working on that setup!

Before we left from that first visit, we arranged to have a dodger and bimini made for the cockpit. We (ahem, Shane) waffled on having it fully enclosed so we started with just a “roof” of the cockpit to give us some shade and a bit of protection from rain.  We also had them add a couple of rails that we will mount solar panels to when the time comes. Bob the broker recommended a guy who could do the rudder repair for us and another who could take care of the cutlass bearing while we waited out yet another winter in the midwest. While the rudder was off, we would consider adding a feathering prop as you need to remove the rudder to attend to that. It’s kind of like that timing belt on your car. Once they get into that part of your engine for something, you might as well have everything taken care of because who wants to pay for that labor twice! Oh and if you were like me and asking “what the heck is a feathering prop and who needs one?” well, the blades of the prop fold in when not in use so that it causes less drag in the water. Essentially, it makes the boat go faster and when you are generally traveling at the speed of a brisk walk, every little bit helps!

Next, we’d address as much of the boat smell as possible.  So out come the original cushions which we’ll bring back to MN. We’ll replace the foam and have the covers cleaned. The smell wasn’t bad on the boat with some ventilation but as soon as those cushions aren’t combined with fresh air, the smell becomes overwhelming. After removing the cushions, you could really smell the waste hoses, so next on the list was to check and replace the old and smelly hoses.

The original stove would also need to be replaced as it used compressed natural gas. CNG is difficult to find in most parts of the world so we will switch to propane. We’ll need to replace all of the lines and connections as well as move the tanks to the outside of the rails until we decide if we want to add proper storage inboard for them.  If not, the tanks will be just fine on the rails

Until we are able to be aboard for an extended period of time, the list will essentially remain as-is. Or so I thought…Shane quickly went to work changing that!!