When we came here we had 5 major projects and a few minor ones. There are a couple of projects that we should have classified as major, and the list of minor ones has grown. Many of the projects I classify as minor are things that can be deferred... mainly cosmetic.
The reality is that Sandy sees them as major because they make the boat homely, and 'ours'.
Some of them have already been achieved, and the boat is better for them.
We have a new quilt for our main cabin, and it does look so much better. Just in time too because the nights are getting colder.
We've found some great fabric for curtains, and Sandy is considering dying the upholstery navy blue, which will match well. It all zips off but it will still be a huge job.
She decided she liked a basin we saw on a boat in our boat hunting days. But we have 3 basins around the boat. She eventually found some on the internet and we now have 3 gorgeous looking basins, sitting on the bunk in one of the guest cabins. It is a major undertaking to fit and tile the benchtops, and right now time is the one thing we don't have.
She has also made a start on stripping the disgusting gloop that is on the exterior teak. It's a huge job and we have a lot of it.
I've always found the best approach is to take something, say the cap rail, and strip, sand and coat it. It's a big but manageable job and the reward is seeing it finished. Then move on to the next area such as the cockpit surround.
Sandy decided to just start stripping everything. 'It's all got to be done so what difference does it make?'
A few days into it, and they've been long hot days, and she hit a brick wall. Totally overwhelmed by the task, and the time it takes, she quit at lunchtime today saying "I just can't do it...", and disappeared to the cabin for a few hours. This is not like her at all.
I had been working on the windlass, but went and spent a few hours scraping off the old coating. It wasn't too bad if you just take a small area and stick with it.
Unfortunately I have a mountain of work that HAS to be done before we can sail out of here, so I can't stop that to do brightwork. (Nautical term for varnished timber on boats).
When she surfaced we decided that we'd spend a couple of hours in the cooler mornings and evenings working on the teak. It goes better with 2 working together, and we'll do sections at a time. This evening went quite well so we'll see how it comes along in the coming weeks.
In the mean time the 5 big projects are creeping along at a snails pace.
1) Ground tackle. The chain and anchors are at the galvanizers and should be back next week. The newly built rollers and heavy stainless steel fabrications for the bowsprit are nearly complete and should finish next week. They will NEVER distort or jam the anchors or chain again! The windlass is stripped off the deck and new switches will be wired in and the whole thing bedded down by the end of the weekend. When the chain gets back we will reshape the deflection board in the chain locker so it finds its way to the deepest part. That should be the end of the first big project.
2) Boat power use. The analysis of what we use in amp hours is done. We now know the battery bank is big enough, solar panels were ordered and arrived along with a new controller. We've worked out the design for the brackets and Tom has started working on them. Hopefully we will get this project completed soon too. 600 Watts of Solar panels should cut generator running time a lot, particularly in the tropics.
3) New sails and roller reefing. We realized before leaving the Cayman Islands that if we are ever going to be able to handle this boat as a couple, we'd have to do something about sail handling. The main is huge and the boom is ridiculously high off the deck. After a lot of research we've decided to get rid of the main and mizzen stackpacks and lazyjacks, and sails, and install Facnor roller furling on both masts. Of course it means new sails too. The roller furlers have been ordered and will be shipped from France in the last week of September. Negotiations for sails are underway, but it looks like it will all come together in the last half of October. We will have to install it all, iron out the gremlins, and we want to be sailing for Bermuda early in November!
4) Fuel and water tanks. There are leaks to be repaired, but the big issue is to set it all up so tanks can be selected for use and monitored without having to fiddle with a little pump with crocodile clips to move fuel from tank to tank!
The original system that has been disconnected looks very good. I spent hours in the bilges tracing pipes and filters until I had the old system drawn out. We'll be connecting it all back together again, and I've almost decided on a monitoring system that gives accurate tank content levels for water and diesel as you switch the monitor from tank to tank. It can handle up to 8 tanks and we have 6. The big plus is that it is also easy to install. Just a small hole drilled in the top of each tank.
5) Davits. The last of the 5 big projects is the operation of the dinghy davits. The current system is almost inoperable. We have the benefit of a friend who designed a clever system for himself and with a few modifications it may work for us. Having a simple system to get the dinghy out of the water and stowed is an important part of cruising, both to protect the dinghy from overnight theft in some areas, and also for longer passages.
Apart from the 5 big projects we need to decide on and buy a dinghy, haul the boat out of the water for antifouling paint and replacing anodes. Then there's fixing a faulty bilge pump system, installing a new cockpit drain, making a shelf in the galley for the new microwave, installing a new drain in the shower floor, and painting the shower, replacing the element in the hot water system, getting the registration transferred to an Australian register, making a new name plate, getting a variety of instruments working that aren't, repairing the solenoid for the engine stop to be able to work from the cockpit etc. etc. etc.
Well, that little exercise didn't do much other than raise my stress levels to even greater heights!
But the reality is, in spite of the enormous challenges ahead, we are having fun. It will be a lot more fun when we are actually sailing, particularly with all the big issues of the boat's needs behind us.
This little old ship is like owning an old house that you love for it's character. It will never be perfect, the work will never end, but every little thing you do is an improvement.
Until next time...