Blog

We’re back, baby! After 4 months off the boat, we are back on board Meraviglia and prepping to head out. In the time away, I learned a few things. First, I learned that, after 2 1/2 years away, I can still practice medicine. That’s a bonus. Second, I learned that I missed “our people” more than I realized. It was great to reconnect with our friends back home. They are a blessing to us. Third, I learned that it’s possible to live a lifestyle in which something is not always broken. What’s more, I went for 4 months without bleeding, which is a streak that’s about 3 months and 3 weeks longer than I’ve ever gone on the boat.

We’ve been back now for almost two weeks and we’re working our way through the list. What list, you ask? Why the “list to get ready to leave” of course. And here’s the list:

• Reconnect propane tank to the boat.Turn propane on at the tank
• Refill propane tank
• Fix sink
• Turn on the fridge/freezer
• Unpack up baking supplies/spices/pasta in plastic storage containers
• Open thruhulls/ cockpit drains
• Remove any screens across any ventilation that is being left open
• Reinstall dorades
• Install new coolant tank
• Engine checks
• Flush and refill water tanks
• Reinstall genoa
• Uncover main sail and remove plastic on sail and in boom
• Clean bilge
• Check all bilge pumps
• Reinstall dodger/bimini
• Uncover and reinflate dinghy
• Reattach boarding ladder
• Run outboard motor
• Unpickle the watermaker
• Open the fuel valves
• Check ignition switch and replace if needed
• Reinstall chart plotter
• Clean interior and exterior
• Provision
• Check prop
• Clean bottom
• Check/change anodes
• Check running rigging
• Check standing rigging
• Update any software for electronics
• Check safety equipment
• Inspect steering cable and gear shift mechanism
• Test nav lights

Yeah. It’s long. And incomplete. It does not include, for instance, discovering that all the refrigerant had leaked out of the fridge and freezer units while we were away. So that required a technician visit to recharge the systems and fix the leaks. It also did not include the shifter/throttle for our engine being completely seized. Happily, some PB Blaster and some (not so) gentle persuasion with a hammer rectified that situation. One of our water pumps failed, so that neded to be replaced. And the heat exchanger for our engine was partially clogged, so we had to clean that out. I’m generally against overheating the engine.

Overall, though, we’re pretty happy with the progress we’ve made. Last week, we took Meraviglia over to the haul-out and had her lifted and cleaned the bottom. She was extremely sluggish and not very maneuverable on the trip over, which I assumed was because of a lot of marine growth. Turns out, not so much. Instead, we had a plastic bag wrapped around the propeller. If you’re wondering, such a thing does tend to impair performance. In any case, after a power wash and a couple of hours of scraping, we were back afloat and much more nimble. Well, nimble might not be the best way to describe 16 tons moving through the water, but definitely less ponderous. Really, we’re ready to go with one big exception: our sail. We ordered a new genoa and I only had one requirement: IT MUST BE IN NEW ZEALAND BY APRIL FIRST! We’re still waiting. I mean, technically, it IS in New Zealand. It’s just been stuck in Customs for the last 2 weeks. Hopefully this week. Maybe. In the meantime, more boat projects, please!

If there is one change for the better I have noticed, it’s in us. Somehow, we seem…competent. Up until now, it’s seemed that everything was new. New skills. New experiences. New problems. New solutions. Now, it feels like we actually know what we’re doing. There’ve been a few problems that have come up where we actually KNEW how to fix them. That’s a pretty good feeling. I took a marine electrical course over our hiatus and that too has been helpful in terms of confidence. Of course, now I’m looking around going “Oh, Bob, what WERE you thinking?!” And then ripping it out and rewiring it. Correctly. It turns out that electricity is not actually magic. Who knew?

Anyway, hopefully this week will see a new genoa installed and the last bits finished up. Weather gods permitting, we may even be at sea! WooHoo!