Someone has been busy...

Well, I finally made it back to Palau and our reunion was just as great as I thought it would be...lots of hugs and kisses and stories.  I knew Andy had been busy while I was gone, but it was really surprising to see all of the results of his hard work.

Project #1 – New Sails

We’ve been putting off buying new sails for a few years now.  Since we were going to be in Palau for so long, we decided it was a good time to go ahead and knock that out.  After researching quite a few places, we decided to go with Lee Sails in Hong Kong.  They have a pretty good reputation around these parts of the world and we were not disappointed.  The process was simple, relatively quick, and it didn’t break the bank (at least not any more than we had planned).

Project #2 – Repaint deck

If you’ve been following us for a long time, you’ll remember Andy repainted our deck in San Blas, Mexico almost 3 years ago.  It has held up pretty well, but it was time for an update.  Not only did it need an update, we had run out of the original paint so the deck was two different colors.  They were close, but not exactly the same and it always bugged us a little bit.  So now, it’s nice and new and all one color.

Project #3 – Refinish captain’s chair

The captain’s chair was beyond need for repair.  It was ripped, moldy, dirty and just ugly.  Andy took it up to a local shop and for $75, it looks as good as new.  They only had the option of grey or blue.  We went with the grey and I think it turned out quite nice.  AND, even though it wouldn’t have been my first choice, I think it will hide the dirt and grime much better than the previous white.

Project #4 – Fix our rudders

When we hauled out in Yap last year, we noticed our rudders had a ton of worm holes in them.  They needed some serious repair.  Andy was able to use Sam’s boat yard to haul them out and fix them.  He cut out all of the rotten spots, drilled a million holes in them and filled them with GitRot epoxy.  After that dried, he sanded them down and finished the fiberglass work.  They weigh a gazillion pounds now but they still float!

Project # 5 – Refinished the countertops

Our countertops were looking seriously used.  Andy found the same kit we used back inSan Diego and decided to refinish all of our surfaces.  I have to say, it looks fantastic.  This was the cheapest way we’ve found to get all of our countertops looking the same.  It lasted almost four years and only cost $250.  The second kit was a little less than $200 and he used some of the leftovers from the first time around.  Looking good for another four years….

Project #6 – Rebuild head

Well, that was the worst job I think, but it needed to be done.  More maintenance than anything…

Project #7 – new sail bag

Bob on s/v Braveheart was kind enough to loan his sewing expertise  and machine to Andy and helped sew a new sailbag.  It took about 3 half days, a case and a half of beer and a bottle of rum.  The seams are pretty straight considering...

Project #8– dinghy engine…unfortunately, this one is still in progress

We’ve hit our fair share of rocks here with our long shaft dinghy motor.  The result is a damaged lower unit.  Unfortunately, it’s a European model and no one here has the part we need.  I checked while I was in the States and that turned out to be fruitless as well.  We found the part in Singapore, but the cost of the part and the shipping is almost reason to buy a whole new motor.  We’re going to limp our way around the Philippines in hopes of finding the part there.   If all else fails, we have a perfectly good kayak and paddleboard.

Project #9 – Transmission – also in progress…

Andy found a leak in our transmission and thought it was easy enough to fix.  After further scrutiny and a second opinion (Bob  and Andy spent many a beers contemplating this little issue), there may be more to it.  So, again, we’ve decided to limp our way for a little longer…we do have two engines after all.  We’ll just crank this one up when we need to maneuver and hope for the best.  We usually like to have everything in tip top shape, but sometimes you’re limited in your location and ability to find parts (not to mention we don’t have a bottomless cruising kitty, regardless of how we spend).  We’ve seen boats jury rig their way around the world….one or two ports hopefully won’t kill us.

Now we sit here waiting on our last few packages, getting ready to head out.  If they arrive tomorrow, we’ll check out Thursday.  Otherwise, we’ll wait until after Christmas.  The trades have kicked in and it should be a pretty fast passage to the Philippines.

If you don’t hear from us, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (or whatever it is you celebrate) where ever you may be.