2 Years Later... ROAM Is Finally Back in the Water Ep. 72 #sailboatrefit
Two years ago, we hauled ROAM out of the water expecting a six-month refit.
This week, we finally put her back where she belongs.
Getting to splash day wasn't nearly as straightforward as we'd hoped. In fact, we were supposed to relaunch two weeks earlier—until we discovered a critical missing part: our starboard lower rudder bearing.
The bearing had been removed when we hauled out and, after deciding not to replace it, we asked for it to be reinstalled. Somewhere along the way, that never happened. After two years in the yard, it was gone for good.
What followed was a frantic search for a replacement. In the end, the only realistic solution was ordering a new bearing directly from the original manufacturer in France. Once we finally made contact, they identified the correct part and shipped it across the Atlantic. Two weeks later, it arrived—and thankfully fit perfectly.
With the bearing installed, we were back on the launch schedule.
Because of our draft, we needed a midday high tide to get back into the water, which meant the yard had only a few hours to lift us, suspend us over a drainage ditch, reinstall both rudders, and get us launched.
Needless to say, it was stressful.
There has been a lot of turnover at the yard over the last two years, and many of the operators handling the lift were young and relatively inexperienced. Watching our entire world hanging being lifted onto a trailer is nerve-racking under the best circumstances. Watching it happen while you're wondering whether everyone involved has done this exact maneuver before is something else entirely.
Thankfully, the launch went smoothly.
After a slow and careful lift—with plenty of hammering on the hull to locate bulkheads for the lifting straps—ROAM was finally lowered back into the water.
For the first time in two years, her hulls were wet.
Then came the moment of truth.
Over the course of this refit, we replaced every underwater thru-hull, removed and rebuilt both sail drives, serviced countless systems, and opened areas of the boat that hadn't been touched in decades. As soon as we were floating, we began moving from bilge to bilge checking for leaks.
The good news? Everything stayed dry.
Well... almost.
We did discover one issue waiting for future us: one of the keels is taking on water internally. It's not leaking into the boat and poses no immediate danger, but it will need attention the next time we haul out—hopefully somewhere warm in the Caribbean.
For now, though, we're floating.
After two years of hard work, setbacks, delays, redesigns, and more than a few moments when we wondered if we'd ever get here, ROAM is finally back in the water.
And what a relief that feels.
⛵ One step closer to sailing.
00:00 Zero days to go
00:39 Channel intro
00:57 Unexpected splash day
03:16 Splash Day take two
07:17 Starboard rudder install
08:24 Heading to the ditch
09:31 Port rudder install
11:23 Heading to the ramp
12:09 Getting her bottom wet
12:45 Checking for leaks
13:24 She’s floating!
13:59 Wrap up
14:20 Like/Subscribe
14:40 End Card
☝More about us, our adventures, and how we do all this on our website.More about Roam here
⛵️https://sailingroam.com/our-sailboat/
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WE'RE GERI AND SHAWN. A couple travelers out chasing the horizon, meeting the people, and capturing it to share with you.
We’ve chosen to Roam the world by boat because, let’s face it, the most interesting path is rarely a straight line.
As we learn to let go of our American drive to finish, and embrace the meandering routes across islands, oceans, continents, and people, we hope to gain a better sense of our world and our place in it.
The path won’t always be comfortable or easy to find but, it will always #roam
#SailboatRefit #BoatLaunch #SplashDay #CatamaranRefit #BoatyardLife #LiveaboardLife #DIYBoat #BoatRestoration #CruisingLife #SailingLife #Catamaran
Sailing Roam
👋 Hi, we’re Geri 👩🏻⚕️(a retired nurse) and Shawn 🤓 (a not retired technologist). We’ve gone on the greatest adventure of our lives instead of living the comfortable and predictable suburban world we left behind. Living aboard Roam, our cruising catamaran, we explore and immerse ourselves in new cultures, do boat repairs in exotic places, and get up to all kinds of shenanigans. Roam isn’t just the name of our boat, it’s kind of a philosophy. We’re not taking the shortest routes or using a formula to sail around the world. We’re not in a hurry either. We’re meeting the people, seeing the places and getting distracted by things we find interesting along the way. We’re unconventional and we’re living the best life we can imagine! Join us as we turn our 11-year old catamaran into our perfect adventure platform and see what’s over the next horizon. We can’t wait to meet you wherever you are! Clamptite Tools link: https://clamptitetools.com/?sld=syroam 10% discount: gerischaffer10
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