Boat Projects and Maintenance

Sunspot Baby at the dock in Ocean Marina

Even though our boat came right from the factory, there were a few things that we wanted to modify to make it our own (ok, maybe more than a few....).

Here is a list of some of the boat-improvement projects that have been keeping Randy very busy:

- Building some new fiberglass shelves in the bathroom and one of the cockpit benches

- Adding stainless steel handles and a lock to our door and window

- Installing mosquito screens on some of the hatches

- Trimming and installing a new memory foam mattress topper:

- Replacing the dinghy with a lighter version:

- Installing curtains in the berths to keep them cooler

- Had a sunshade made for the sides of the boat to keep the hulls cooler

- Adding 2 small fans behind the fridge units to keep them cooler

- Installing weather stripping around salon doors and window (to keep us cooler)

- Replacing pumps in both air conditioners so that they run properly (and keep us cooler)

🔥🔥🔥 Notice a theme?? Its flipping HOT in Thailand!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥

Here are a few more things that we marked off the list:

- Wiring/re-wiring some speakers (so that our neighbors can also enjoy our American tunes)

- Relocating the watermaker so that it runs better and is easier to maintain:

- Modifying the teak table in the cockpit so that it closes properly

- Re-sanding and finishing the salon table and navigation station

- Installing a new drain for the shelf in the starboard shower

- Miscellaneous wiring and re-plumbing projects

- Changing engine fluids (for 2 hybrid/diesel engines)

Remember when we were in the US, and Randy would run to Lowes or Home Depot for project supplies? (Sometimes more than one trip per project...) Well, here in Thailand we have no vehicle, so the favored mode of transportation is called a 'baht bus'. Basically its a small pickup truck with seats and a rack installed in the bed, the cost is 20 baht per person (which is about 58 cents). You stand by the road and wait for one to drive by - usually every 15-20 minutes during the day. You signal to the driver that you want him to stop, then climb aboard. When you want to get off, you just press the button, and pay the driver. If he turns down a road you don't want to be on, you just get off, pay, and catch a different one. Our record is 23 people on one bus - I'm not even kidding!

Here are some of the warranty work items for the boat, some yet to be completed:

- Reinstall the autopilot system

- Replace the anti-skid surfaces on the decks and cabin top

- Replace headliners throughout the boat

- Reinstall/rebalance the washing machine

- Replace rusty metal grommets on the trampolines with stainless steel

- Replace faulty windlass switch, and set up wireless windlass remote

- Relocate the seawater pumps in both engines

In order to replace the anti-skid surface, the old one had to be sanded off, then the new

surface reapplied. We had to take the boat out of the water to have this work done.

The marina staff use an enormous boat lift, and we just backed the boat over 2 slings, then they lifted it right up out of the water, and transported it to a 'parking' spot in the boatyard. It was amazing!

While the boat was 'on the hard', we had a new thru-hull put in on the port side, so that we can install an additional air conditioner for the salon (you know, to keep us cooler - see above!). We also cleaned the propellors, and had new anti-fouling applied to the hulls, keels, and rudders, to help keep the barnacles at bay. After 2 weeks of apartment living, and a quick visa run to Laos, it was good to get back in the water and onto the boat.