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| Marathon has a garden maintained by boaters by the clubhouse with free spice plants |
A boat receives a lot of stress, especially if you sail it 9 months of the year. As such, things fail on a boat and need to be replaced. So far I've replaced my genset (switching out a Panda 4.2 kw for a Kohler 6.0 ks), my air-conditioning unit in the main cabin, the refrigerator/freezer compressor, the fresh water supply pump, the anchor washdown pump, two maceraters (one for each head), a transmission, the windlass motor, a rear oil seal on the main engine, one hatch (it got caught on a jib line), had the jib repaired, had the main sail repaired, sanitation hoses (what a job!), forward head, starboard side electrical wiring, switched all lights to LEDs, pumpout valves, the wind indicator atop the mast, had the wind vane head display repaired, replaced the radome, repaired the radar display, replaced the autopilot display, replaced the VHF, replaced the three 4D batteries twice, installed two echo chargers for the starter batteries, replaced vinyl windows in the cockpit dodger, replaced air lift on engine door, replaced the dinghy motor, and installed an all-around cockpit enclosure. All this happened in bits and pieces over 12 years. So don't think that once you buy a boat you can just sit back and enjoy the ride without some investment in time and money. Of course, all the while you're changing the oil and replacing the oil filter and impeller and fuel filters and zinc (main engine and genset), polishing the hull, painting the bottom and finishing the teak plus a few other things I didn't think to mention. A boat is not maintenance free!
However, cruising in a boat is a load of fun! You just have to be handy in doing things yourself as much as possible. While cruising you have lots of time to think up things you want to do to improve the boat, the to do list grows and grows.
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| Our last sunset in Marathon |
The weather forecast is holding and it appears we will have two calm days for the trip east to Marine Stadium by Miami. We still plan on overnighting at Rodriguez Key on Tuesday and head out the next morning for Marine Stadium. You can follow our progress on the blog by clicking on "Follow Fleetwing on Google Maps" at the left in the blog to bring up our position transmitted via satellite updated every 6 minutes. I hope the weather doesn't change.
2 comments:
Hey ya have be keep up with ya for 2 years great blog
live in Elizabeth City NC . dO YA EVERY STOP THERE?
Ernest Davenport
Ernst, I usually do but not this year since the Dismal Canal was closed. As far as I know, it's still closed for the spring migration. If it opens in time, I'll be passing through.
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