It’s not what you think!

I’m pretty sure that there are lots of folks out there who think living and traveling on a boat sounds like nothing but white sandy beaches and umbrella drinks. I’m here to tell you that is NOT remotely close to reality.

While there are those special times when everything falls into place and we visit a beautiful spot, with all systems functioning properly, and no immediate issues like food or laundry. Those times are dwarfed by the hours debugging problems, figuring out workarounds, shopping for parts, figuring out how to get things delivered, and finally fixing the problems.

Mind you, I’m not complaining. This is what I signed up for, and I actually enjoy the process of solving each day’s “problems”. Deb is correct when she says “Jim doesn’t do nothing well.” I do like to stay busy, but I also like beaches and umbrella drinks!!

I’ve been asked several times to give talks about our travels, and honestly I struggle to come up with a format that would be both interesting and useful for any audience. Most talks like that end up devolving into “we were here” and then “we went there” and “look at the pretty pictures”. Boring and not useful.

I’ve been trying to come up with something along the lines of “Real life vs. The dream”, to talk about what folks will most likely be faced with while looking for that perfect white sandy beach (it’s in Barbuda btw). This sort of presentation might talk more people out of cruising rather than into it. But, a dose of reality about what is likely to break, how to solve onboard system problems, what tools to bring with you, and how to prepare by stocking the right spares might just be useful. I’m not sure it would be all that interesting.

The bottom line for those thinking about pushing off on a year-plus cruise is you will either need to travel to populated locations with lots of money to pay others to fix your problems, or you will need to be prepared to fix your problems on your own.

To give you an idea of what even a well prepared and maintained (in my opinion) boat goes through, here is a look at the problems that we’ve faced since the beginning of August when we pushed off for Maine.

1. Engine coolant leak – turned out to be a pinhole leak in the engine coolant hose that ran back to our hot water heater. Replaced with new hose.
   
2. Engine diesel fuel in the engine bay 1/2″ deep – turned out to be a pinhole leak in one of the fuel pipes running from the high-pressure fuel injection pump to an injector. Found a diesel shop in Maine that could order and replace the pipe in less than three days.
   
3. Outboard Engine fails to start when warm? Vapor lock? No. Fuel filter? No. Carburator can’t be we just replaced it! Spark plugs. Installed new still no joy. Are spark plugs sparking? No. Ah ha!! Walked through the electrical system step by step until we found a loose wire that was in a crimp connector. Installed a new crimp connector and all is good!
   
4. Fresh water pump cycling every 10+ minutes. Normally would suspect a water leak somewhere in the system. Inspection showed nothing so we fell back on an old trick and put blue food coloring in one tank and red in the other. After a few days of not finding any colored water in the bilge, and lots of consultations with Google we decided our 20-year-old pump needed replacement. The pump was purchased and awaiting installation. Our showers are a colorful affair!!!
   
5. “Mens head” clogged. Yuck!! Luckily we have a spare but Deb doesn’t like sharing. Tried a great trick taught to me by Emanuelle Renoir when he had to fix a similar problem. Do not work too hard to force the clog through. It only wedges it tighter. Instead, undo both ends of the system. Tape the dinghy pump hose to the end of the “exit pipe” with duct tape. Make it airtight. Tape a plastic garbage bag to the end of the “entrance pipe”. Then pump hard on the dinghy pump and voila your clog reverses course and ends up in the bag. No muss no fuss. I only wish that worked in this case. Ultimately, it was put on the biohazard gloves and take the system apart piece by piece until you find the roadblock. Not fun.
   
6. The engine not charging batteries. Checked the alternator no charge current. Checked the Balmar regulator. Not showing any power at all. Check the wiring and fuses all look good. The red power wire to the regulator shows no voltage when plugged in, but 12v when disconnected from the regulator. Call Balmar support. Need new regulator. None immediately available in Portland but can get one the next day. Pay the marina another $270 for another night at the dock while we wait for next-day delivery. Wake up the next day. UBER to Hamilton Maine Warehouse (impressive place). Purchase a new regulator. Return to boat. Take a picture of the old regulator and all the wires so you know how to install the new one. Install the new one. Damn. Absolutely no change. WTF? Decide there must be a problem with the existing power wire. Make a new one complete with a ring terminal, 15amp fuse, and crimp connector. Install new power lead from alternator to regulator. Yahoo!!! Everything works!! Now I have a spare regulator!! Finally, swap the new regulator back out for the old one so my spare is a brand new unit.
   
7. The lower window of our instrument displays are occasionally going blank? Still have not figured this one out.
   

See what I mean?? Not very interesting and would talk a lot of people into staying home!!