This last week has been more nutty than normal aboard s/v Bosco. We are living in a constant state of chaos. The inside of the boat looks like the aftermath of a tornado. The outside of the boat is not much better.

If you have ever remodeled a house, you can probably relate to this in some respect. It seems that no matter what a contractor promises for an end-date, its usually much later than promised (maybe double). Its also hard when you have to live in the space that you are remodeling simultaneously. Makes things more difficult to do and obviously harder to live in said space until all is finished. This is no different, and probably much worse, on a boat. What with the very limited space already and trying to live life simultaneously is almost impossible.

Jake and I have been in NC for two full months (and some change). We attempted to line up boat jobs from the get go. Our hope was that we could spread things out so that it would be easier to manage and maintain progress and be able to live aboard while all this is going on. We also figured that jobs would finish sooner than later and we would have time to travel around the coast a bit. But sadly we had issue upon issue that delayed progress (mostly weather). The timing for jobs kept getting pushed back. The culmination point was bound to happen.

And it has, just this past week. The weather cleared bringing gorgeous blue skies, sunshine and cooler temps in the mid-70’s. The humidity has dropped by over half the norm. Simply perfect…perfect for all of these jobs to get finished.

Imagine all of the largest storage compartments on a boat full of important things. These things are all required for safe travels and for the boat to work. Now think about having all of the things that normally live in those compartments emptied to the interior of the boat. I mean, its a small space to begin with. But with all the newfound stuff taking up temporary residence, its crowded.

On top of that, there are one or two extra bodies aboard every day doing work. There are tools and random parts all over the place. At most we have a couple hundred square feet to work with (if that). 1/2 of that space is occupied with stuff and another 1/4 is occupied with people working and more stuff. That doesn’t leave us much room to “live in”.

Lots of Projects in the Works

We are really excited for all of the NEW stuff happening though. Bosco’s electrical system has been COMPLETELY replaced with all new batteries, new cables (which are very expensive BTW – we didn’t know that until after the fact), new wind and solar power, new inverter and LOTS of new control panels and remotes to make it all ‘go’. The new SeaFrost refrigerator was another piece of that puzzle as well as the brand new engine which is going to be installed by day’s end (or so we were told).* And that’s just belowdecks.

Above decks we have the new semi-full enclosure and solar “roof-rack” being installed. We also decided to modify the rigging and add a stack pack to our main sail. The current setup is a royal pain and this will make for a much better and faster sail-prep experience.

We’ve been doing our best to live and work in the midst of the chaos. Jake has been doing TONS of work to help wrap up these jobs. He is starting to become a real craftsman and his woodworking skills are improving daily. Its a great skill-set and one that saves us a lot of time and money. Though he mostly complains how much he hates doing it, I know that he loves seeing it all come together in the end and the sense of pride from the accomplishment.

There are a slew of small (or at least smaller) jobs that need to be wrapped up before we go. We got a lot of new anchor chain, new halyard rigging, new furling lines, refurbished sails, a rain catchment system and lots of odds and ends in-between. I have been focusing on smaller jobs that I’m more adept at: more creative, delicate or innovative things. I was tasked to splice nylon rope (which is kind of like an art project) and a really cool new skill gained! I’m also the one who cleans and organizes the boat to a somewhat more livable space at the end of each day.

We are simply EXHAUSTED. But we are also THRILLED to see everything come together. Hopefully there will only be a few more days like this before the major jobs are complete and we can get back to our normal life and planning for the next phase.

****UPDATE****
We got the new engine in!!! Jake and Dave worked all day on Friday and its in – its not yet completely hooked up but its in. YAY!!!