March: Shipyard and Boat Projects
Boat life is not always about smooth sailing and beautiful anchorages. It is also about boat projects and shipyards !
The infamous boat project list !
Life on a sailing boat is not always so glamorous, in particular when you spend a few weeks at the shipyard working on boat projects. “Boat projects” is part of boat life, everything from small fixes to major upgrades makes it to the boat project list which then has a life of its own and tends to grow throughout the season. Even if you do tick off a few things here and there while sailing, it is most likely that you will finish your sailing season with a long list of “things to fix”: replace radar belt, adjust closet door that does not close, investigate why tank gauges are not displaying anything, setup new front sail furling lines, top up engine oil level, check outside shower leak … To that you need to add all the regular maintenance items (systems check, tank cleaning, hull paint job) and your great upgrade ideas (new sound system with disco lights on the mast?) to end up with your final boat project list !
This year, it took 3 full weeks to go through our project list before we could start sailing again, and this is with hired help from the shipyard. During these 3 weeks, you live on the boat but not on water and you need to climb down a ladder to go to the bathroom. Not very glamorous as I said. The only time you leave the shipyard is to go hunt for spare parts, which is a major challenge when you are on a remote island in the South Pacific Ocean. The trick is to stock up as many spare parts as you can back home and bring them along with you. More than 50% of my luggage allowance was spare parts and tools (another 40% was kite equipment, leaving only 10% for actual clothes !). I spent a good amount of time riding my bicycle (bought and sold during these 3 weeks) to the different DIY shops around Raiatea, going back and forth to find that one specific screw that I needed. Great way to get back in shape after a few months of winter…
One last thing about the Boat Project list, sometimes (quite often actually) it continues to grow while you are doing boat project work, either because this nice-to-have upgrade would be really nice to have after all… or because to fix item #25 on the list, you broke something else which is now a new item #52 on the list ! You get the picture.
Upgrading Wallis
We have now owned Wallis for 3 years and have spent weeks at sea and on anchor, building up our own lifestyle onboard. Soon after we moved in, back in 2022, we decided to make a first major upgrade and replaced the old lead batteries with a 660Ah Lithium Ion setup, half the size for more than double the capacity. It was a no brainer. We then realised that we needed more power to charge the new batteries and upgraded our old solar panels (2x180W) from 2015 to a brand new 425W single panel, what a leap in technology in less than 10 years. We are now fully autonomous on sun and wind power, with a lot of spare capacity.
This year, we decided to further invest and make 3 new upgrades to Wallis. After almost 10 years of good service, we retired the windlass that was getting a bit old and grumpy. It was a straightforward upgrade to the same (more shiny) model, which should have been an easy swap (if it was not for the faulty engine that was delivered to Tahiti and shipped back to Germany a few weeks later, nice paid beach holidays!). Anyway, after a few creative DIY sessions, we do have a new shiny windlass which has already made our anchoring around the lagoon much easier.
The more visible upgrade is our new sun cover which is now beige colour (from the original blue). This upgrade includes the bimini top (protecting us from the sun), the spray hood (protecting us from the waves), sail covers (protecting sails from the sun) and dingy cover (protecting the dingy from the sun). Everybody is now nice and cosy, and it looks way more classy !
The final major upgrade is the least visible, but probably the most important one. As you may have ready from our 2023 season blog, one of our main challenges has been water. Our ability to live off the grid without the need to come back to “civilisation” was not energy (thanks to our new solar setup) or fuel (both diesel for the engine and cooking gas can last us for months), it was water as our 350L tank would not last more than a couple of weeks (and that is with us being very cautious about water consumption). This constraint had a direct impact on our cruising decisions and ability to explore some of the more remote islands of Polynesia. Well not any more since we installed our new water maker! It is a small 12V powered system that can transform 50L of sea water into fresh water per hour. We run it every other days to top up our water tank and fill up our bottles of drinking water. It is definitely a game changer…
Yamu is back !
While Seb was busy upgrading Wallis, I was on the other end of the world in our second home (our apartment in nice). It’s the first time in a long time Seb and me were away for so long. We missed each other, but work, friends and French pastries kept me company. I worked hard on 2 work projects: a face to face seasonal wellness coaching called winter wellness and an online course for women called cyclic living (a collab with a friend).
Though we would talk everyday, Seb and I were in two different worlds!
Life on land and life on the ocean cannot be compared. In fact life on the ocean cannot be explained, it has to be experienced. Ok fine, Seb was having a life on the shipyard which is not the same as you may have already read! We love our life in Nice, but on land you need to make an effort to connect with nature and disconnect with the virtual world. You get used to the abundance and predictably of everything. I couldn’t wait to reconnect with Seb, Wallis and nature. Maybe this month away made me realise how much Seb and I belong to the ocean and to this simple lifestyle we have built for ourselves.
So as soon as I got my US visa renewed, I was in a flight to Tahiti. I spent a lovely day by myself in Tahiti and then was joined by my friend Trina for a girls staycation. On the day of our 5th wedding anniversary, I was back on Wallis and reunited with Seb. Couldn’t ask for anything better... Life is good !
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