Stray Cat is on the hard. We pulled her out of the water after the Thanksgiving weekend. After reviewing the list of 25 items we wanted done at the shipyard we hopped on the ferry headed back home and now we wait.
We have used Raven Marine and Blackline Marine at Canoe Cove on Vancouver Island for annual work and upgrades for several years. We trust them and they do excellent work for a fair price. This one though, is different. This time the list is huge and this time I’m not doing much of it myself.
Normally I would be happy to do the annual bottom clean and paint, hull wash and wax and other boat stuff myself but this time we are having an arch fabricated, the standing rigging replaced, a new double helm seat installed , solar panels installed, dynaplate installed, rudders basically rebuilt and the sails taken to a loft for a tune up just for starters. The boat will be out of the water for a while (probably a month or more)
Its a tough decision but it was better to bite the bullet and pay someone to do the work while I go back to my job and keep earning and try and keep the cash flow in, somewhere close to the cash flow out.
Ha! Who am I kidding that’s not going to happen.
Cruisers have their own language. When it comes to spending money on the boat. We talk in “boat units” not dollars. One boat unit equals $1000. The upgrades this time are going to be many, many, many boat units.
I hope I don’t chip a tooth biting the bullet 🙂
That’s the thing with heading off into the unknown you need to try and plan for any eventuality. You end up looking at equipment that is working now but nearing the end of its useful life. Then the question becomes do you think it will last? Or to quote Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, “So are you feeling lucky?”
If it fails out in the ocean how are you going to fix, replace, or work around it? Or do you change it now while it is easy and convenient? And that’s how a new mainsail, re-bedding the port and starboard secondary winches, moving and replacing the fuel filters, and various other smaller items got added to the list.
I’m starting to feel like I’m hanging on to the caboose of a runaway train.
Oh well it’s only money er …. boat units.