Guatemala, Rio Dulce – Boat repairs and maintenance

KISS – Keep it Simple and Stupid

There seems to be a direct correlation between the cost and availability of replacement parts and the place they decide to breakdown.

Cuba.  We lost the alternator and the depth gauge.  Neither would have been available, but luckily we had a spare.

Rio Dulce.  The humans thought they had brought all the spares and supplies we would need for boat repairs with us, but no.  Destiny has thrown a load of equipment failures at us.

To name just a few, the fresh water pump has gone.  We have had a look around, but it will cost a few hundred dollars to purchase one and get it shipped in from the States.  Guess we stick to foot pumps and a cup.  The deck wash pump has also gone.  That one would be even more expensive to replace.  Then finally, the biggest bank buster, the battery charger has gone.  We are not planning to be able to afford many Marinas again anyway.

While the humans have been working on the boat, I have had a chance to raid the Marina book exchange and found a few books written by fellow cruisers.

One thing all the long term cruisers seem to boast is that keeping the boat systems simple allows you to enjoy your cruising more.  Less time and money spent on repairs and replacements means more for shore side trips and fun.

As my humans spend another hurricane season working on the boat, I think they are starting to agree!

One truth we have learned:

No matter how much you scrimp and save the boat and it’s maintenance will be your major expense.

---

Boat Maintenance

After saying all that our boat is not simple.

It is our floating city.  It has it’s own water supply, power supply, grocery store and sanitation department.  All of whom rely on us to supply and maintain them.

If you are ‘well off’ financially you check your ‘city’ into one of the Marinas here, fly home to visit family for the hurricane season, and leave an assortment of specialists to repair and replace worn out parts.  Have your boat lifted out of the water,  cleaned and polished, and have every thing ship-shape for the your return for the next cruising season.

If you are on a ‘serious budget’ you anchor in the river, live on the cheap fruits and vegetables available here and hunt through the monthly jumble sales for that elusive broken part, living without if it can not be found for a bargain, and bidding your time until the next sailing season.

We live somewhere in between!

We are on a ‘serious budget’ but we can not see the logic of letting the boat fall into ‘disrepair’ when we aim to try and tackle the Pacific Ocean next.  It may also be a little ‘vanity’ too.  It always makes the humans cringe when they see a once magnificent vessel left to rot in the water.  Obviously a cruiser run out of money? Impetuous? Or lost the desire to head back out to sea?

So the humans are spending another hurricane season working on the boat.

I think I have already bored you with a list of all the repairs the boat needs.  The list just keeps getting longer for the humans.  As they complete one job, they find a whole list of new ones.

Some tasks can be competed on ‘rest’ days when we are back sailing.  But any work on the anchor and it’s systems, along with anything that needs us ‘off the boat’ or without use of the galley (kitchen) or head (toilet), needs to be completed while we are in the Marina.  That is a big list!

How did all this stuff wear out after only 3 years of cruising?

I will not try and bog family and friends down with too much technical jargon, you can always mail me your questions later, but instead I thought I would try and give you a ‘day in the life’ of my over worked and underpaid human slaves.

I get the humans up at first dawn here on the Rio Dulce river.  They take a little while to get ‘going’ and I need time to get a few coffees and breakfast into them first.   Thankfully the Marina offers complementary fresh roasted Guatemalan coffee by 6am.  The locals know this is the coolest and most productive part of the day.  But the humans need to take me for some exercise before the heat sets in.

After which is the Rio Dulce cruisers net on VHF channel 69 at 7:30am.  They share weather forecasts, tidal information, special events, restaurant deals, let cruisers ask other cruisers for information and best of all….buy, sell and trade…called Treasures of the Bilge.  Those cruisers on a budget, like us, enjoy this segment.  But there are not many cruisers ‘on their boats’ at the moment and pickings are slim.  This will improve come November, when all the ‘seasonal sailors’  return with their new purchases and are looking to ‘lighten their loads’ of old stuff before sailing away.  If they are going in the opposite direction, perhaps we can pick up charts and navigational aids at a bargain.

If it is a Tuesday, the humans head into the markets of town and get fresh supplies.  It is much easier to bring back the supply of fresh fruits, breads, cheeses and vegetables by river in the dingy, rather than walking in the heat and humidity.  The humans try to keep it down to once a week to save on fuel.

If it is not a Tuesday than it is ‘full steam ahead’ on boat jobs for the humans.  I get out of their way and take shelter in the Marina’s ranchito.

With many of the Marina’s cruising guests away the humans have started with the jobs that take up the most ‘space’.  So out comes all the floor boards and stairs for varnishing.

Anything that can not come off the boat is sanded and varnished in situ.  And yes, this means heat, humidity and lots and lots of mess!

 

 

 

 

 

Who was silly enough to buy a boat with all this wood?

Despite every effort to complete all repairs themselves, there are things that the humans must leave to those with the ‘right tools’.  One of these is gel coat spraying.  I am afraid sun, sea and sand have reeked their havoc on our top decks.  The non-skid is just ’embarrassing’.

Unfortunately the protective gel coating, especially on the gunnels (along the sides) is paper thin, cracked and even chipped right off.  It will not be long until we have some serious leaks below.

Luckily both gel coat and labour are relatively inexpensive here in the Rio Dulce.  The humans would be silly to let this opportunity pass them by.

So again, the boat swallows up what little savings the humans have.  Oscar and his crew, in the steaming jungle heat, complete in two weeks what the humans would have never accomplished in the entire hurricane season.  And they were laughing and smiling the whole day through!

With everything that is normally stowed on deck shoved below, and do not forget all the missing floor panels, the human’s ability to get jobs done is seriously hampered.  So one of the humans keeps busy vanishing the floor panels while the other competes an upholstery job for a fellow cruiser.

The boat has to stay sealed up against the sanding dust and gel coat spray.  Thankfully we have the Marina’s ranchito to ‘live’ and ‘work’ under during the day.  Unfortunately the humans still have to brave the stuffy heat on the boat to retrieve forgotten tools and make a quick lunch.  In the evenings, after another walk for me, we use the dingy to get aboard, so we do not step on the decks.   We can open the boat up now and let the evening air cool things down below.  But life is still restricted to the cockpit, balancing between the open floor boards in the galley, and the master cabin.

……….But it is a small price to pay as the top deck looks amazing in the end.  Is this really our boat?  WIth the new hatch covers, she is looking water tight and very spiffy!  But the work is never done.  Thankfully the river water is both clean enough to swim in and clear enough to find the multitude of items the humans keep dropping into it.

Just when the humans think they can not take anymore work one of their few neighbours will both inspire them and send them into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Obviously gloves are essential when working with spray foam insulation!  Oh well, it all wore off in a few days.  He just had to refrain from scratching his nose at night.

And it has not been all work.

I did let them go out on the evening of their anniversary.  Mind you, after the deck expense, it was burger and chips with a view.

……..And their lovely neighbor (of the spray foam insulation disaster) took some pity on them and treated them with a ‘ready, steady, cook’ basket dinner.

Yes, that really is a steak imported from the United States!

And all I got was the empty pan to lick.

---

We have company coming.

Aunty Helen and Uncle Steve and coming to visit us from England.

We are as excited as they are to see each other again and go exploring the interior of Guatemala. 

They are expected the first week of October, so the humans better ‘get their butts in gear’, because they are running out of time to get the floors all varnished, the plumbing in the head (toilet) all sorted and the boat put back together and habitable.

So I better get off the net and get back to whipping my human slaves into a frenzy of work.  At the rate they are working, compared to the speed at which things are breaking down and wearing out, KEEPING IT SIMPLE will be forced upon them soon enough!