Bote. It’s pronounced like boat. No accent on the e. We like their stuff. Can you tell? In May 2022, Leopard hosted an owners’ flotilla in the Exumas. We were going to take off and head to Eleuthera, but we opted to stay. And we’re glad we did. They had about 15 boats there, parties Read More
Category: Boat Upgrades and Repairs
Boat upgrades and repairs are necessary evils of owning a boat. Well, not really evil, but totally necessary. Someone once said that sailing is the most expensive way to get somewhere for free. I agree.
We’ve spent our share of time at Just Catamarans in Dania Beach (Ft. Lauderdale) getting boat work done. When we brought Wind Therapy home from the BVI (British Virgin Islands) in January 2020, we dropped her off there for seven weeks. We worked closely with the designers, electricians, carpenters, and others to make Wind Therapy our home. And it worked.
The list of boat upgrades and repairs is very long and includes everything from widening a door to transforming a cabin into a laundry room/closet/tool storage room to re-bedding sky lights and replacing port lights. We added solar panels and a custom made solar arch. We had a complete helm and aft cockpit enclosure sewn, and added shelves, access panels, drawers, upped our inverter, and so much more.
After a few more trips to Just Catamarans for warranty work, more upgrades, and some training on things we added but forgot how to use, we are extremely happy with all the upgrades we made. We even fell in love with a few restaurants – Gilbert’s 17th Street Grill for one. Best hamburgers EVER! And the largest, most original Rice Krispie treats I’ve ever seen.
Thank you for reading our blogs. And if you’d like to see more about the upgrades we made to Wind Therapy in detail (we even tell you how much it all cost), visit the Our Vlogs page. Or you can view our YouTube channel directly.
Sacrifice the Keels!
What’s it like to have your floating home hauled out of the water before your eyes? Weird. Just weird. What if a sling breaks? You see that happen all the time on YouTube. What if they block it wrong and damage a bulkhead or put a hole in the hull? What if the damage that Read More
Time to Become a Diesel Mechanic
Your engine won’t start. What do you do? Call a mechanic, unless you happen to be one. Or, if you’ve taken a diesel mechanics course, try and find your notes. Over the last year, this has happened to us a few times. We get ready to sail for the day or a weekend, and the Read More
To Replace or Not to Replace
When you get a new boat, all the lines are beautifully coiled and wrapped. They’re soft and flexible, and virtually silent when stressed. Over time, because of wear, salt water and UV degradation, they get stiff, they begin to fray, and they make terrible squealing and cracking noises. I hate that. We just replaced our Read More
Too Close for Comfort
I always praise Jeff for his comfort and ability when driving in and out of tight spaces; mooring fields, anchorages, but especially marinas. It scares the hell out of me. I’m scared to death of hitting a dock, a piling, another boat, you know, things that make that awful scraping sound which result in paying Read More
Surviving Eta
Well, this was exciting. We are docked at the Harborage Marina in St. Petersburg, FL. We love this marina. It’s a little pricey, but we always felt it was worth the extra money. We were actually offered a slip at a nearby marina for less than half the price. When we went to see it, Read More
Clutch Bank Blow-out
How do you destroy a Lewmar triple clutch bank? Oh, that’s easy! Step 1 Start sailing in 28 knots of wind and 4-6′ seas coming at you from about 45 degrees off your starboard bow. Single reef your main and jib. Put up with that kind slop all day until the sun starts to set. Read More
The Weakest Link
We had a choice; either buy a chain counter or mark the chain every 25 feet. We never really knew how much chain we let out at anchor. It was always just a guess. Jeff got into the dinghy and floated it under the anchor locker. I lowered the anchor, VERY SLOWLY, into the dinghy Read More
Plummers and Carpenters and Electricians, Oh, My!
I think I know why people hate building houses. It’s stressful, nothing ever goes as planned, and it takes longer and costs more than expected. But in the end, if you’re lucky, you get a really cool home that serves all your needs and wants. I hope it works out that way for us and Read More
How Much Stuff Can You Pack onto a Boat?
2020 will bring lots of exciting things for us in the boating world. We have a mile-long list of upgrades we are having Just Catamarans take care of. I’m pretty good mechanically, but all things electricity just don’t seem to make sense to me. So I’m looking forward to learning everything about our new solar Read More