Springtime and Boat Ownership
As I write this we are finally back in the water after what seemed to be a long winter and a spring that seemed forever elusive. I don’t know if the winter just seems to get longer and longer as I get older or if, as I get older, I am less and less tolerant to the cold. Either way I know that the winter is spent working on certain boat projects, going to the Toronto Boat Show, producing our videos, and catching up on the blog. All of these activities are designed to help us through the winter blues and give us some kind of boating activity to look forward to.
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| Buffing begins! |
Spring time brings on a lengthy list of tasks to accomplish in order to get Tropical Horizons ready for the upcoming season. Most of these projects are very much weather dependant as Tropical Horizons spends her winters on stands in a paved boat yard under her winter cover. We have limited power so installing a heater in order to warm the inside of Tropical Horizons is not always possible. The power is really to keep the batteries charged and power lights within Tropical Horizons as well as use various power tools individually. So we have a lack of power, add to that the angle that Tropical Horizons sits at when stored on land in order to allow any water within the bilges to drain, approximately 10 degrees, and you have a less than ideal place to work. We still make it work though and there are some jobs that we just need to farm out to the boat yard. So what did our to-do list look like? Here it is.
Pre-Launch Tasks
- Remove winter Cover
- Install canvas
- Clean, wax and buff hull
- Freshen up bottom paint
- Clean interior and bring out items from storage
- Check bilge pumping systems
- Change impellors in engines
- Change spark plugs
- Check oil levels
- Inspect all engine hoses
- Clean out flash arrestors
- Check battery levels
- Flush out fresh water system
- Install and check electronic systems
- Check navigation lights
- Install anchor
- Inspect deck hardware for wear and tear
- Inspect docking lines
- Inspect steering
- Inspect anodes
- Test bow and stern thrusters
- Check flares and replace as needed
- Inspect fire extinguishers and shake them
That is just our routine list with the most back breaking work being the cleaning and polishing of the hull. Now to add the project list to our pre-launch list:
Project List
- Change electrical inlet plugs
- Change duck bill valves in heads system
- Install new cabinets on port side in main salon
- Sand and oil teak bright work
- Mount solar panels
- Re-install the re-built carburetor
- Upholster wall panel in main salon
- Install CO detectors
- Install LED bedside table lights
- Re-locate chart plotter below deck
- Install chart table
- Install new house battery bank
- Install solar charge system
- Have props balanced
- Check shafts for trueness
- Have broken stanchions repaired
- Repair swim platform
- Install new fume sensor
What exactly did we cross off of these lists before being launched? Only a fraction of the tasks were accomplished before being launched. This spring was not terribly warm and the marina staff wanted to get us in the water so that they could launch other boats that were behind ours. So we prioritized our tasks and both Karen and I worked like mad for the better part of 4 weekends.
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| All taped up ready for bottom paint! |
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| Bottom paint completed...thank you Karen! |
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| Props, re-balanced, polished and tuned! |
Generally Karen and I like to have Tropical Horizons completely cleaned up and fully ready to go, unfortunately because of the late start, cold weather we were on our way before testing every system out. In spite of being rushed and feeling unprepared as we headed out from Belleville to Trenton, we did get to our slip in Trenton safely.
So the final completed list looked like this, the items in red were still yet to be completed.
So all in all we did get most things ready and we did continue to work on Tropical Horizons while in our slip at Trent Port Marina. Some items such as the solar charge system and new battery bank will need to wait until next year as we replenish our vessel maintenance funds.
Ultimately we ended up performing a few other tasks such as tuning the carburetors on both engines using a recently acquired vacuum gauge, changing out the heads vacuum pump (could not get a re-build kit for the old one) and a few last minute bits that we wanted to complete. Just in time for our July holidays we are finally finished most of the tasks that we wanted to have completed.
So the final completed list looked like this, the items in red were still yet to be completed.
- Remove winter Cover
- Install canvas
- Clean, wax and buff hull
- Freshen up bottom paint
- Clean interior and bring out items from storage
- Check bilge pumping systems
- Change impellors in engines
- Change spark plugs - Completed Dock Side at TPM
- Check oil levels
- Inspect all engine hoses
- Clean out flash arrestors
- Check battery levels
- Flush out fresh water system -
- Install and check electronic systems
- Check navigation lights
- Install anchor
- Inspect deck hardware for wear and tear
- Inspect docking lines
- Inspect steering
- Inspect anodes
- Test bow and stern thrusters
- Check flares and replace as needed -
- Clean and oil all interior teak - there is a lot of teak on this boat - Completed Dock Side at TPM
- Inspect fire extinguishers and shake them
- Change electrical inlet plugs
- Change duck bill valves in heads system
- Install new cabinets on port side in main salon
- Sand and oil teak bright work
- Mount solar panels
- Re-install the re-built carburetor
- Upholster wall panel in main salon
- Install CO detectors
- Install LED bedside table lights
- Re-locate chart plotter below deck
- Install chart table
- Install new house battery bank (we're just a tad bit short on cash for this)
- Install solar charge system (waiting for the battery bank)
- Have props balanced
- Check shafts for trueness
- Have broken stanchions repaired
- Repair swim platform
- Install new fume sensor The old fume sensor still works this was an upgrade.
- Change electrical inlet plugs
- Change duck bill valves in heads system
- Install new cabinets on port side in main salon
- Sand and oil teak bright work
- Mount solar panels
- Re-install the re-built carburetor
- Upholster wall panel in main salon
- Install CO detectors
- Install LED bedside table lights
- Re-locate chart plotter below deck
- Install chart table
- Install new house battery bank (we're just a tad bit short on cash for this)
- Install solar charge system (waiting for the battery bank)
- Have props balanced
- Check shafts for trueness
- Have broken stanchions repaired
- Repair swim platform
- Install new fume sensor The old fume sensor still works this was an upgrade.
So all in all we did get most things ready and we did continue to work on Tropical Horizons while in our slip at Trent Port Marina. Some items such as the solar charge system and new battery bank will need to wait until next year as we replenish our vessel maintenance funds.
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| Back in the water! |
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| New Cabinetry installed and new chairs....very comfortable! |
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| Corner curtains finally finished. This was not an easy task. |
Ultimately we ended up performing a few other tasks such as tuning the carburetors on both engines using a recently acquired vacuum gauge, changing out the heads vacuum pump (could not get a re-build kit for the old one) and a few last minute bits that we wanted to complete. Just in time for our July holidays we are finally finished most of the tasks that we wanted to have completed.
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| Back in our slip at TPM |
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| Now we can sit back and relax |
