I have so many different projects going on at the moment, it's hard to keep track of them all, but there is something about the instant gratification of painting and seeing an old area look new again. It could be the paint and varnish fumes making me happy or its the ability to paint and varnish without the entire crew leaving their accidental hand prints in my hard work, mine are quite enough thank you, but I feel like things are going well in Project Land. You can see the difference below. 1/2 the step has new paint and the other half is in need of some love.



Of course just because you have the projects you want to do, doesn't mean the typical surprise projects don't come up. I was in the shower and was a bit surprised that no water came out of the shower head when I turned it on. I knew something was wrong because I didn't hear the water pump that pressurizes the ships water system kick on and I hoped it was just that the breaker was turned off. But no, of course it can't be that simple. It looks like the pressure switch on the pump died, so in goes my back-up unit and out comes the mess of fittings to plumb in the new pump.



I'm still avoiding taking the heat exchanger off the engine and cleaning it in hopes of solving my engine over heating problem...oh didn't I mention that? The other day when I went to Malaque, with Jack form JAM as crew, the engine temp was up at 200 when it should be at 185-190. On the way there I was telling myself the problem was all the growth on the propeller, but when the same thing happened on the way back after I cleaned the boat bottom and propeller, well a dirty heat exchanger is the hopeful culprit. I'm hoping it's the heat exchanger, because it will be the easiest and less costly thing to fix, but I really won't know until I take apart the galley island to gain access to the back of the engine and remove and clean the heat exchanger. Oh the fun.

If you don't like working on your boat, then don't own one. It really is that simple and it doesn't matter if you buy a new boat or an old boat, every cruiser always has his running list of projects. In fact, you know it's either time to quit cruising or sell the boat, when the project list ends because what else would you do out here but fix and work on things?