Life in a marina

What a change a single day can make. We went from finding a quite place to drop a hook at night with the only worry being which way the wind was coming from or how strong the current might be to living at the dock, a car, neighbors (5 feet away) and becoming a ‘working stiff’ again. Within a day of arriving I was offered the dubious honor of removing a rotting bulkhead and replacing it in a power boat. I think I like the Bahamas better!


getting "suited up" to grind fiberglass



Old bulkhead out, new one in

                                                                     We (meaning "I") have several large jobs to do on the Snow Goose. The bimini must come off for refurbishment so, the solar panels need to come off from it first. The rubber on the deck still has to be finished and (of course) the  round of spring varnishing needs to be done.

strange place to put a solar pannel

The underside of our cockpit cover (the bimini) needed varnish and it's much easier to do it upside down.

First though, our trusty 2.5 hp outboard needed attention. A bolt had come loose in the engine letting the magneto hit the flywheel (Ding, ding ,ding) and there’s also a leak from the thermostat cover. It turned out that under the cover is a sacrificial anode (the owners manual doesn’t say anything about it in) and over the last few years, it has sacrificed itself. As it slowly corroded away it pluged up the cooling water passageway and pushed the cover gasket out of place resulting in the leak. $20 in parts later (and 3 hrs of work) and the dinghy motor is good as new again. I truly believe that to be a cruiser you have to be part mechanic or inherit lots of money! Alas, since we’re deficient in one area, I am forced to work on the things that break on our boat.