Ep 159 Am I Cursed With My Boat Projects? Frustration in Sint Maarten
The cruising life is full of challenges, and truth be told, it would lessen the enjoyment were it not for both the failures and the successes.
And there are times when you almost want to give up, but you can’t. These are necessary and important tasks that must be seen through to completion. Should you neglect to do so, your life and that of those you love could be put in danger. Passed over projects simply make enjoyment of the boat harder, or worse, build to a point where nothing works as it should.
For me, keeping Talisman in top condition is an almost obsessive process. Having even a single system not functioning as it should grates on me. Even a small list of repairs will haunt my dreams, especially if I lack a path to success. And when I look at the spreadsheet of fixes and improvements that we’ve made over the years, totaling over $200k in hard costs alone (not including our own labor and that of others, plus the little items I never bothered to count), it’s nothing short of an enormity.
I generally avoid the topic of money, since it distresses me. And I know that if I wanted to gain more YouTube views, the easy way would be to reveal the secret of how to sail the world inexpensively. It’s what every young couple dreaming of escaping the rat-race is looking for. Hoping against hope that there’s the perfect boat out there or list of components that would allow them to sail endlessly across the seas worrying only about GRIB files and whether there might be a fish on the line soon. But such is not to be.
The truth is that this is a grinding life that takes a lot out of you. In every harbor you’ll see dilapidated sailboats that were once shiny and polished, ready to head over to the next island at the whim of their owners. Now they’re floating apartments for a singlehanded owner hoping to eke out a small living beneath the prying eyes of the local officials. Eventually, these boats might be abandoned or even sink from lack of supervision. It’s a sad thing to see, and I try my best to pretend it's not as it appears.
Such visions keep me awake at night, and moving forward on my own repairs come morning. I quickly become absorbed in the crisis of the moment, eventually declaring success and celebrating knowing that I have succeeded where others would have failed.
On a more upbeat note, I should add that cruisers are the best of the best when it comes to running to help a distressed fellow sailor. And the various local Facebook pages are a Godsend. A quick shout-out to the rest of the folks on “the net” in an anchorage will call forth a parade of knowledge-filled dudes with the tools and expertise to fix nearly anything. You just need to find a way to obtain the replacement parts.
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Sailing Talisman
RYA Yachtmasters Kevin and Wendy Kelley have transitioned from their Oyster 485 to a new Nordic 40, 'Lulu'. Explore their 2026 vessel transition and technical journey.
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Ep 159 Am I Cursed With My Boat Projects? Frustration in Sint Maarten Locations
- Sint Maarten (18.04248,-63.05483)
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