A staple of return to grade school was the annual “What I did over summer vacation” essay.  If we were writing that essay after this summer, we’d include our fantastic exploration of inland Mexico (Mexico City, and Guanajuato, and back to Mexico City, among others), a trip to England to see Mike’s sister and family, and a visit from Angie’s brother and family.

Certainly less exciting, we’d also include some of the work we did to keep the boat running well, and hopefully make it even better:

  • Removed and rebedded one forward vent in search of a tiny deck leak (seems like we found it, because it’s not leaking anymore)
  • Cleaned and lubed both toilet pumps (what a fantastic job that was!)
  • Replaced wind indicator at top of mast after a seabird broke it
  • Cleaned dirt and grime off all of the wires holding up the mast
  • Changed the oil in the main engine and transmission
  • Changed the oil in the outboard engine and transmission
  • Replaced all motor mounts and realigned engine
  • Replaced valve in aft head that directs “output” to either holding tank or overboard (another fantastic job!)
  • Added anti-chafe gear to all of our fenders
  • Added new covers for our companionway hatch and chartplotter
  • Added a dedicated bail on boom for attaching a preventer
  • Overhauled the main engine cooling system – new impeller and gaskets for raw water pump, removed and cleaned main heat exchanger
  • Overhauled and repainted burners on galley stove (took a long time to grind the rust out of hundreds of tiny gas holes…) and replaced worn gimbals
  • Ground rust and what’s left of the galvanizing off of our Spade anchor before recovering with 5 coats of epoxy paint
  • Cleaned and rinsed bilge
  • Installed a new bilge pump monitoring system – pump counter, high water alarm, and excessive running alarm
  • Removed, cleaned, and regreased top end of windlass
  • Added new cleat for dinghy painter
  • Replaced main halyard, staysail halyard, and dinghy engine davit line with new
  • Replaced stainless wire running backstays with Spectra line
  • Repaired sun cover on staysail
  • Replaced all interior cushions and built custom interior carpets
  • Tested, pressure checked, and rearmed inflatable life jackets

It was a busy summer!

 

Replaced a holding tank y-valve

 

Sewed a companionway cover

 

Removed the galvanizing and rust off our anchor to prep for paint

 

After a few coats of paint

 

Applied 5 coats epoxy paint to our anchor

 

Taking a break and cooling off under a palapa on the beach with a cold cerveza

 

Sewed a lot of chafe guards

 

Worked on a staysail repair

 

Sewed the patch on the sunbrella sun cover on the staysail

 

Installation of the new bilge pump alarms

 

New bilge pump alarms

 

New bilge pump counter

 

Angie made an additional trip home to visit her parents and bring back boat parts

 

Deep cleaned the freezer

 

Installed a new sea water strainer

 

Taking a break and cooling off in the pool

 

Removed some old hardware and installed bungs in the toerail prior to new varnish

 

Juanito did a great job varnishing Madrone’s toerail

 

Cleaned the heat exchanger

 

Replaced the impeller

 

Sewed new surfboard covers

 

Lifejacket on & ready to jump in the pool

 

Both PFDs inflated automatically when we jumped in the pool. We kept them inflated for 24 hours to make sure they held air before repacking each one with a new CO2 inflator

 

New CO2 inflator cartridges

 

Repaired a little worn area on the PFD

 

Replaced the CO2 cartridge in our automatic inflating PFDs