Home improvement update

We have been working hard – Here is a little summary what we have been doing.

There were a couple of points on top of our priority list: Fixing leaks, replacing broken port propeller, replacing the V-berth mattress in the guest bedroom. As it was getting very hot, making sure all the AC units are running , find out why the generator is not working (so we could stay offshore overnight) and last but very important: paining the stairs and furniture.

(1) Fixing leaks around the windows and the back balcony. Our neighbor Don showed me how to apply Silicon on the window frames to seal the windows, so I spend a couple of days to remove the old caulk and apply the Silicon, also I re-sealed the wood/fiberglass on the back of the boat. First was the master bedroom window and I can confirm that this is now sealed, for the rest I have to wait for the next big shower to test if it was successful. This was already a big achievement as the wood in the bedroom started already rotting away.

(2) During our trip from Maryland to NYC last year the boat hit ground and the propeller got damaged. As it was getting warmer now we had a diver replacing the prop with a spare one we had on the boat as well as getting the damaged repaired. I was surprised how damaged the prop was – did not expect that a part of the propeller would be missing.

(3) We will have some visitors in July so we decided to replace the mattress in the guest bedroom. The old one might has been as old as the boat itself. I was cutting the foam according to the old size and a friend of ours did a beautiful job sewing the cover. Now we are all set for the visitors and they will have hopefully a nice comfortable bed.

(4) Our other neighbor Frank works in the business of air conditioning and he identified that the compressor of our unit for the master bedroom is not working any more (the previous owner told us that she never got the bedroom aircon running). I did some research on the internet and found a company based in Florida which sells replacement units the installation was straight forward since the connections were all the same as the original unit. I would recommend Aquaair
http://www.aquaair.net/ any time, only thing they could improve is the handling of the shipping which took a while and I needed to call them a couple of times to get the shipping date and tracking number.

(5) The generator might be a long term project, the engine is running but the motor only produces minimal voltage. Good thing is that there is some measurable voltage, bad thing is that this thing is very big and heavy. Getting that part out and services might be a big task. I will keep you updated. If anyone has some tips please let me know.

(6) Most fun part was the painting of the outside stairs and two tables on the flybridge. Jolanda’s first attempts to paint a $10 table with $50 paint :-). I think she got better and had fun in the end, our neighbors was admiring her paining skills.