Home Improvements

We’re off at last! We actually had thoughts of leaving early, say the first week of June, but that just wasn’t happening.

Don't mess with a man covered in bottom paint dust!

After two years of neglect, the boat needed some attention. Many things were expected, like the deck needed a thorough washing, the brightwork (varnished wood on deck) needed multiple coats of varnish, and the bottom had to be sanded and repainted. These are yearly tasks, and pretty basic maintenance for all boats.

On top of that though, unexpected problems were found. The fuel tank leaked and had to be torn out and replaced. The cutlass bearing (this holds the drive shaft steady as it exits the hull) had to be replaced. We needed a new holding tank and all new batteries. Rick plumbed a new seawater pump in the galley, refilled the floating compass, did some rewiring of the previous owner’s electrical follies, and a whole long list of small but pithy jobs.

Then there were the unnecessary aesthetic changes that Rick insisted on doing, like totally redoing the bootstripe. The bootstripe is a strip of paint, thin or wide, sometimes even two or more colors that wrap around the boat right at the waterline, separating the above water hull from the bottom paint. Rick has always been unhappy with ours, firstly because it was crooked and didn’t accurately follow the water line as it should, and secondly because he wanted it a few inches higher to give the boat the optical illusion of a sleek, less tubby body. This turned out to be an enormous job, made even harder by Rick’s having left masking tape on the hull for a few weeks. It turns out masking tape adhesive turns somewhat stone-like if left on too long. Rick ended up having to chisel it off!

Old bootstripe

 

New bootstripe

One big improvement that we made to the boat is a brand spankin’ new bimini! A bimini is a canvas area constructed for the purpose of shading the steering wheel section of the cockpit. As a fair skinned woman, I have long lamented the lack of proper shade on our boat. “Couldn’t we have a bimini, like that boat over there?” I would ask pleadingly, while under my little umbrella. “Look at the amount of shade those people have in their cockpit!” I would exclaim, giving sidelong glances in Rick’s direction.  All to no avail. Rick loves having an open feel to our cockpit, and doesn’t like having his sightlines diminished while under sail.

This year, he finally relented, recognizing that if we spend a year in the Caribbean as we are still planning to do next year, the survival of my skin might depend on a bimini, and he himself would probably benefit from a bit of UV relief. He also thinks we might install solar panels later on, and a bimini frame would be perfect for that.

The cost of a custom-made bimini frame and canvas cover was way out of our budget, so we decided to do it ourselves. Rick came up with a design that worked for our boat, and we ordered the stuff from Sailrite – a DIY marine sail and canvas company. They sell a video that explains pretty thoroughly what to do. The only problem was that our needs and boat were not exactly what was shown in the video and we had to improvise where there were differences.

I have an arsenal of old sewing machines, so I dug out an old Singer that I had bought on Craigslist for $35, switched out a more powerful motor that I pirated from another machine, and set up the machine’s table next to our ping-pong table. Voila! An instant canvas-making studio.

OMG - I look just like my mother...

                                        

Despite being a great sewing enthusiast, I was very intimidated by the task of sewing anything involving canvas. I did a lot of studying (procrastinating), leaving the actual sewing until the last minute. In the end, I put in some very long days, trying to get the bimini done in time for us to leave. But I was so excited about the result that I went the extra mile and sewed up a “connector” piece that will shade the entire cockpit while at anchor. We now have a shaded patio with an ocean view!

All those jobs finally completed, our departure was delayed a few more days when the boat travel lift at the marina blew out a tire. 

Note the missing wheel (someone else's boat, thankfully)

         

It turns out we needed those extra days anyway, for provisioning, last minute cleaning of house and boat, packing, forgetting stuff – you know, the usual. By the time we left, we were both covered in bruises and small scratches, and sore from head to toe. The boat is now two years older… 

and it turns out, so are we.

New and improved Valkyrie