Our Boat After 1 Year Away!
Our experience as travelers has taught us to hope for the best and plan for the worst. Because inevitably, nothing ever goes as planned. Especially in boat life. Yet, we naively didn’t apply this knowledge to leaving our sailboat for cyclone season.
We planned to see family, load a crate full of supplies, and return in 3-4 months. And that was it. Facepalm! Green as grass we are!
One helluva year later, we have finally returned. It’s been a solid 8 months longer than we planned and Curiosity surely shows it.
Today we’re taking a grand tour of the boat’s current condition. We’re sharing what we did to prepare our sailboat for long term storage on the hard, what worked, what didn’t and what we never even considered.
Failing to Plan
Pandemic and COVID-19 aside, there are a hundred different scenarios that could have led to a delayed return home to Curiosity.
We initially planned to be gone for 3 months. Then Jason’s uncle unexpectedly died just before Thanksgiving. RIP uncle David💗. So, we stayed in Dallas a couple of extra weeks. Then we decided to stick around for the Miami Boat Show because it was only another couple of weeks away. We needed to research refit items, so it made sense. And then we found a cheap flight to South Africa. Why not go spend a month with our sailing friends Kate and Rufus, the opportunity might not ever arise again?!? Presto, 5 months gone in a flash.
Now add in 6 months of being stranded in Fiji and almost a month of being quarantined in Tonga thanks to Coronavirus and now its been a year. 🤯
When we prepare for a passage we provision for 2-3 times the amount of time we anticipate we will be at sea. If it’s a 10-day sail, we’ll provision for a month! Because, hope for the best, plan for the worst.
We should have prepared the boat with the same mindset and we didn’t. We are so very fortunate it wasn’t a harder lesson learned…or perhaps I am speaking too soon. I’ll revisit that statement once we’re splashed. 😉
Resources!
Curious about our batteries, solar, water purification, or anything else related to living Off The Grid? We have a whole page dedicated to the subject!
- Living Off The Grid – gonewiththewynns.com/living-off-grid-rv-sailboat
Boat Storage Prep That Worked
Baking Soda is amazing stuff. Helps with odors, cleaning, bugs combats mold and mildew….its wonderful!
Diatomaceous Earth is all-natural, pet, and kid-safe bug control. We sprinkle the stuff in every nook, cranny, and at the back of every cabinet.
Sealed storage tubs and Vacuum Storage Bags coupled with silica packs and a sprinkle of baking soda worked for everything from food to electronics.
- Storage tubs – https://amzn.to/2GMnqbt
- Vacuum Storage Bags – https://amzn.to/2SGQio0
- Reusable Silica Packs – https://amzn.to/34NGL4g
Painted Cushions?
Yes, I used chalk paint 4 years ago on our old cockpit cushions to extend the life of the existing fabric and modernize the style. It has held up better than our 3-year-old sunbrella canvas on the helm seat! I will no doubt end up painting more fabric in the future.
- Full details on how I painted fabric and the sealer I used here: gonewiththewynns.com/diy-cockpit-sailboat-makeover
🙏THANK YOU!
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🎥CAMERA GEAR USED TO FILM THIS VIDEO📷
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All From Artlist
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Artist – Duce Williams
