Someone reminded me that I had once said that cruising was “fixing your boat in exotic places”. If, as I said our time in the Yasawas was a microcosm of what we like about cruising, the question was then asked what “boat repairs” have we had to deal with this year?

Well, the fact is that we did have a few boat repair issues that we tended to. I have been reminded that there will always be a list. You just hope that they have minimal impact and don’t impact your cruising plans (like happened to us last year). So to make for a more complete accounting here is a quick list of the “issues” we have dealt with this season (so far).

Maretron WSO100 Weather Station. Replaced the Maretron WSO100 Weather Station at the masthead - again. It seems that a component on the PC board was bad on the replacement we brought back with us to NZ. It worked for about a month before failing. The good news is that I had a great excuse to go up the mast and the view is always great from up there. It also reminded me that I don’t really need those Apparent Wind Direction/Wind Speed displays to sail the boat (although it is nice - especially at night!). And as I write this the Apparent WS/WD output has gone offline again!

Water Maker. Replaced the impeller in the boost pump, which would not come on when I commissioned the system this year once we made it to Fiji. Product water quality (fresh water) has dropped off a bit so I worked with the good people at Cruise RO Water to troubleshoot the cause. We have determined that the pressure relief valve on the high pressure pump is bad (reduces the flowrate of water to the membranes) and the membranes themselves likely need to be replaced. These are both things we will do once back in NZ where we can more easily get the parts.

Washing Machine. We have actually been able to make the washing machine work on a pretty regular basis this year to Cindy’s joy. Apparently the Express Cycle setting doesn’t like to work, but the other cycles work ok?.

Outboard. The carburetor got a little gummed up after a few months of use and needed a cleaning. Unfortunately I didn’t have the kit I needed to do it myself, but the good folks at Baobab Marine took care of it for me for $30USD. I’ll order a carb kit to keep on board for the future, and follow the mechanics advice and service it annually.

Jib. We had a bit of a tear develop in the head of our furling jib. And unfortunately after that was fixed the leech line came undone inside the sail. This is our workhorse, so I worked with Alan Marshall with Marshall Sails in Vuda Point to get these issues fixed. They did a great job and worked with us to get it and deliver back to us.

Paddleboard. Cindy’s paddleboard blew out a seam the day we inflated it - she did get to use it once. After talking with Red Paddleboard Company, they acknowledged that they had quality control problems with the series of boards that included hers, and they sent us a replacement. It is great to work with a company that stands behind their product!

The friction hinge on one of our Lewmar hatches broke. Cindy brought back a replacement and that is all back in working order.

One of our Touch Light reading lights quit working. Again, Cindy brought back a replacement and we have light again at the Nav Station.