Wash … Rinse ….Don’t Repeat!

As I sit at the Canadian flag table in our cockpit on this very rainy Sunday afternoon I think to myself … “this bimini isn’t that old – why are there so many leaks?”

In this photo you will see one of our kayak oars and a life jacket pushing up our bimini so that water doesn’t pool there.

The answer to that is simple but it has been suggested to me not to dwell on the many, many, many issues we have had over the past almost two years and focus more on the future.

So here goes:

I look forward to repairing the holes and rips and broken zippers and snaps on the bimini that were caused by the incredible incompetence of a business that I had trusted to store our boat and keep it safe. Biminis aren’t designed for heavy, wet snow.

I look forward to replacing our generator after the same business charged me for repairing and painting said generator and then handing it back to me in pieces. Here is a photo I was send in July of 2023 showing my newly painted and intact genny. Sure looks pretty!

Here is that exact same generator in my warehouse the past April. Not so pretty!

Let’s just say this will be going the legal route in the fall.

I look forward to paying off the not-insubstantial debt that I have acquired over the last 22 months. It would have been enough to just pay for the repair to our port engine had we been lucky enough to be dealing with an honest and upstanding individual but we didn’t get that opportunity. In fact we didn’t get that opportunity … twice!

We were taken by two different businesses to the sum of about $70,000.

This is a much longer story and, if you ever see us out and about on the water and want to hear all about it, I will be happy to oblige.

There … I’m good now. It feels great getting that off my shoulders.

The last 2 years have been stressful and, even though having issues with the engines on our sport yacht is the definition of a first world problem, it is still stress. I am now allowing myself to believe that.

But it is time to move on. Leanne has been my rock and we both still love the boating life. We look forward to fixing the leaks and getting a new generator and testing out our 2 “new” CAT 3208’s .

I chose the title of this blog for 2 reasons.

A few weeks ago I was cleaning our swim platform and Ryan (one of our dock neighbours) walked by and said “Wash – Rinse – Repeat”. He was of course referring to the fact that I could clean the platform today but would be doing it again tomorrow because of the dirt and flies and spiders and whatever else ends up on a boat.

Anyone who has ever sat on a boat at a marina has most likely watched someone clean their boat. It is pouring rain right now and our neighbour opposite us is cleaning her boat in the rain. There are serious boaters out there.

To me the title of this post means to not to repeat the past and also learn from it so it won’t happen again. Pretty true for any bad experience one might have in life.

I still want to trust people but I think I will be more careful in the future. The experience I have had over the last few years has given me a good basic knowledge so at least I have a much better chance of not being scammed again.

I am officially ready to move on now. Thanks for letting me vent a bit!

Now on to the positives.

It’s still raining but we are on our boat and listening to The Tragically Hip so life is very good.

We took our boat out this past Thursday for our first lake … bay … H2O trial. It has been pointed out to me by my extremely pedantic friend Kevin that we are NOT in salt water and so it can’t be called a sea trial.

Regardless … our engines passed and they sounded great. It was so very nice to be out on the water again. If even just for 20 minutes We will be doing another test next Friday.

I docked for the first time in 22 months … in a breeze …. with a new boat opposite my bow and I have to say I nailed it. Definitely a bit stressed.

Leanne and I had dinner at one of our favourite restaurants. The Wiarton Inn is a great Chinese restaurant. If you are ever in the area it is worth stopping in.

We managed to get out on the dinghy last night. It rained all day but the sun came out long enough for us to enjoy a sunset cruise.

I’m currently trying to fix an issue I am having with our vacu flush system via a video call from my friend Jason. I of course amuse myself because I used the work “currently”. Both Kevin and Jason are trying to teach me about how the electrical systems on our boat work.

I took drafting in high school instead of electrical.

Here is what I call the “egg” or “pill” of the system. The sensor that tells the pump to stop pumping seems to be stuck.

A while ago I removed the sump pump for our shower and cleaned it out. Yesterday I reinstalled it and it works! I think I am getting the hang of this.

The rule on this boat is I work and Leanne relaxes.

She decided to take on a puzzle and also brought 4 books for the weekend knowing it would be raining. She starting on her third.

I am more comfortable with the fact that finishing this boat will take me a few more years. Yes … so many have said you are never finished … I know that. What I would consider finished is completing the projects we planned on doing from the beginning. Once those are done there will be others to redo and new ones added.

Wash … Rinse … Repeat!

I hope to be finished the interior by the end of next summer and then focus more on the exterior for 2026.

But … as we all know … plans change!

Until next time stay safe.