One (Project) Done, Sixty To Go

 

Kent taking a break with Trooper 

Many of our friends and family wonder what we do on our boat all day. Sure, Kent and I spend time sailing from fabulous island to fabulous island, usually anchoring, sometimes docking, lingering over coffee in the morning while watching for turtles off our stern, sinking our bare feet into silky white sand, snorkeling with colorful sea life, running with Trooper on uninhabited islands, swimming in clear, turquoise waters, sunbathing lazily on our trampoline, reading, fishing for our supper, taking late afternoon naps, drinking rum drinks and the local beer, looking for shells, watching sunsets, listening to music, playing guitar, walking and exploring the culture of the islands, taking photos, welcoming guests, and meeting new friends. 

And then of course there are the mundane tasks of life, like catching up on email, paying bills, taking the dinghy ashore to get groceries, cleaning Bangarang, etc. 

 

Paula and Kent on the beach at Treasure Cay, Abaco in the Bahamas

 

The view off our stern at sunset

But in between all the best parts of this crazy cruising liveaboard life we lead, we're busy working. On projects. Bangarang has a long to-do list. Luckily, Captain Kent moonlights as the electrician, plumber, mechanic, technician, rigger, boat bottom cleaner, teak rehabber and more. 

 

Kent doing some little plumbing work

 

One of the hatches Kent resealed

Our list of to-dos falls into five major categories: easy, medium, hard, need to research, and a wishlist. Six categories, if you count the "completed" items separately. Unbelievably, I count 276 items on that list!

 

Kent installed our new cooktop

 

New fixtures in both guest heads

Many of those to-dos are small and easy, like fixing a snap on a curtain, replacing the bungees on the sun covers, recaulking the trash receptacle, and tightening a hatch handle. Luckily, these types of small to-dos account for about half our list. 

 

Cool magnetic locks on our galley drawers so they don't slide open in rough seas

 The double USB chargers and 12-volt outlets Kent installed in the guest cabins

There are some "medium" effort items on the list: replacing veneer strips on the bulkheads, installing drawer locks in the galley, and constructing additional cabinet shelves. There are only a handful of medium to-dos on our list. 

 

We are hoping it won't be too difficult to find replacements for these handles on the emergency hatches, which are leaking slightly 

 

The old diesel feed pump. Still waiting on the new one, after the wrong one was delivered.

The bigger, more difficult to-dos fall into one or more of four categories: time-consuming,  costly, needing hard-to-find parts, or critical to the operation of Bangarang in terms of moving from place to place. We have to hire someone to replace the diesel feed pump on our port engine, fix the switch on our generator--again, and replace the standing rigging (next year). But the Captain, thankfully, can replace the lifelines, install new head sink fixtures, replace the hardware links on the trampoline, replace hatch seals, clean out the hoses in the port heads (yuck--a horrible job), install a deck vent in the port aft head, cut a hole into a bench for new storage access, rig the furling gennaker (heavy!), re-engineer the dinghy solar panel, and install a new stereo system, to name just a few. 

 

The Captain did a great job replacing veneer stripping on my closet trim

Our list of things to research when we get a chance: do we need/want a security camera for the outer salon (maybe), why do we have trouble getting Chris Parker's weather report on our short wave radio (it's a mystery), should we change our state residence for tax purposes (likely), and what needs to go into a more comprehensive medical kit (do we need Rx's and a suture kit too?). 

 

Kent replaced the failing hardware on the trampoline

 

All 28 of the lashing link on the trampoline had to be replaced

 

Perfect!

Our longer-term wishlist is the one I like to  slobber over: replacing all the lights throughout our vessel with LEDs, fresh canvas on cushions and curtains, installing a new kitchen counter top, replacing the trampoline with one more comfortable to walk and sunbathe on (what, and sacrifice performance?), installing throttles on the starboard helm (maybe not), and replacing the Edson wheel covers at the helms (I don't get why these cost so much!). I added installing some pretty blue lights under the boat for looking at the fish at night, but the Captain has nixed this wishlist item (no holes under the waterline, honey!) All it will take is time and money. Mostly money!

 

Our helm wheel covers are looking shabby and need to be replaced

 

Our rigger in Fort Pierce replaced the smaller winches on our stern with our new, bigger ones (and sold our old ones too!)

So you see, we're very busy every day on Bangarang! We have 60 items on our to-do list right now. 

P.S. What do I do, you ask? OK, I'll admit that Kent does all the work while all I do is sunbathe with Trooper and manage the list. NOT. Actually, I'm the Admiral, Chief Financial Officer, Technology Expert, Director of Operations, Domestic Engineer, Chief of Procurement, Social Director, Project Manager, Mixologist, Photographer, Blogger, and Anchoring Queen. 

 

The Admiral