Chapter 55: We’re Seaworthy!

Yep, we are. Almost 5 months after arriving here, Meraviglia is safe to go to sea. That doesn’t mean there isn’t work left to do-there is. But the remaining work doesn’t impact her safety at sea (or ours). The last item on the list was to get our foredeck repaired and a working windlass installed. The windlass is critical for us to be able to set and recover our anchor-it’s way too heavy (a 73 lb. anchor and 300 feet of 3/8 inch chain) to lift by hand. You may remember when we discovered our old windlass was corroded beyond saving and the deck underneath was rotten (Chapters 30 and 34). That was back in August. Kim and I started the repair but held off on the final stage (replacing the non-skid surface) because it meant gel coat work and using a mold because we lack those skills. The plan was to hire someone. That someone ghosted us. Repeatedly. Over and over. I REALLY didn’t want to tackle it, so I gave him waaaay more slack than I normally would. But finally, we decided we’d just do it ourselves. Much thanks to Andy Miller at Boatworks Today! With his emailed expertise, Kim and I got the deck repair all done. Does it look “original”? Nope. But I think it looks pretty good and better than I expected.

After completing the deck, we tackled installing the windlass. That took an entire morning and involved a couple things: drilling some big holes in the new deck and a lot of swearing. A lot. But in the end, success! I wired it (yes, I can read a wiring diagram now-weird!) and tested it and it works! We loaded the chain and anchor onboard and that project was all done! WooHoo!!!

After that, things got considerably less glamourous. I repaired the toilet in the forward head and spent a morning cleaning the bilge (again). Why, you ask? Well, I filled our diesel tank. And it leaked. Into the bilge. Nothing quite like diesel in your bilge to ruin your day. Fortunately, the leak was an easy fix. And with a couple hours of elbow grease, a few gallons of water, and some Simple Green, Meraviglia is sweet-smelling again. Cleaning the bilge morphed into cleaning and reorganizing the rest of the boat. It was…not fun. But necessary. And happily, the bunk we have devoted to “active projects” is now only 1/3 full!

Finally, I went for a swim. We needed an anode on our propeller shaft (it prevents corrosion from stray electrical current). Could I have discovered this while it was 95 degrees? Nope. 65 degrees. It was chilly. Fortunately, a dockmate let us some scuba gear (that was a new experience!) and in about 10 minutes, the job was all done.

T-minus 15 days.