Titusville - Boat chores

There are still Manatees in the marina, here's a favorite fishing spot for the locals

We've met people who are not boaters that think 9 months on a boat is like a 9 month vacation. Well not exactly. You still have to do all the things you would be doing if you stayed at home like laundry, groceries, paying bills, doing taxes plus things you may not think of at first such as being the all around mechanic for the boat. Things break on a boat. It's a marine environment and along with the vibrations and stresses of sailing (think pounding through waves), things break or at least age more quickly than on land. So on this trip we had to buy a new outboard, the charger is acting up, the VHF is being replaced and maintenance was required on the fresh water system. I had to repair the A/C unit (it didn't produce heat, only cooling) by adding an switch to provide 120v AC to the reversing coil as opposed to buying an entirely new unit. Time on a boat is not always sunsets and wine in the evening. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's just that you have to be aware that you will be doing more maintenance than you typically do while at home.I might also add that there's no dishwasher on board other than the crew.

Evening time in Titusville

Regardless, we love cruising and intend continuing as long as we can. Your repertoire of boat knowledge expands as you gain experience, not voluntarily! It's necessity. At least along the ICW you always have the option of pulling into the nearest marina and seeking outside help although that can be very expensive if pursued often. The typical hourly rate varies from $100/hr to $160/hr. It's often less expensive to just replace a unit than repair it due to labor costs - unless you repair it yourself - your time is cheap.

We'll spend one more day here getting the boat ready for an extended trip north and head out Tuesday morning when there's a south wind predicted, good for going north. We plan on anchoring out at Daytona where there's a dock for Hoolie.