It was Sunday morning. All I wanted to do was come out and clean up Wilparina, and the weather was crappy - rain in July. The boat needed attention. Kathleen and I had been gone for two weeks, and she was in a state of shameful neglect. She was covered in dirt and smut from her time in the boatyard, and those crappy birds, and a general lack of tending. Plus, our esteemed friend, Captain Dave, will be arriving later this week to visit and see the new boat. She needs to be looking her best.

But in spite of the gloomy weather, I made it out to the marina by 11 am. Cleaning her up - inside and out - felt good. I went through the lockers. I crawled through the engine room and bilge. I went through several drawers and lockers and found junk that should simply be removed.

Many of the mysteries of my boat are buried in dark recesses that surround the engine and extend into the bilge. I spent a good amount of time working my way into these recesses and sitting in awkward positions. Critical components of some of a boat's most vital systems are located in the dark nooks and crannies of the boat. You look into these dark little abysses, and you wonder, will I have to go in there, enduring pitching seas of a major storm and try to fix something? As I'm lying in the hull, peering with a flashlight into the bilges and recesses of the boat, with my spine twisted around in a way that only a Chiropractor could love, I start thinking: whatever we equip this boat with, it should be with ease of maintenance in mind. If you can't reach it, you can't fix it.

After we bought Wilparina, our first priority was to have her mechanical systems brought up to standards. There had been a lot of deferred maintenance on Wilparina over the past few years. We found Adam, the head mechanic on this job. He's tended to this project well. While the budget expanded along the way, it was always with good cause. The final result is that the 33HP Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel looks great. Nice new coat of silver paint. A clean drip pan. All the belts, filters, hoses, mounting brackets, fuel lines, fuel tank, are new and in great condition right now. The shaft, coupling, bearings, stuffing box, screw, have all been replaced and/or repaired.

The next major budgetary item was the rigging. The standing rigging was original when we bought her. The boat was launched in March of 1984 in Taiwan. All the rigging was well past its prime. We want to go offshore in a few years, so it made sense to replace it all now. Carey at the North Sails loft helped us with this. We brought Wilparina over to the Danish Marine boatyard and hauled her, unstepped the mast. Adam also finished the mechanical while she was on the hard, replacing the shaft and bearings.
So now, the major work has been completed. For the first time since we've owned her, Wilparina is actually safe to operate, and ready to take passengers out upon the Columbia.

There are still many more repairs and fixes waiting, particularly with the electronic systems. But as we check off one item after another, it's helping us gain confidence as we look to that day when we head out over the bar for the first time. This stout little cutter will be ready and able to stand up to a mighty good blow.