You know how some cultures will name a year after a dog or monkey? I’m naming this year the year of sailboat maintenance. I have several nagging maintenance issues to deal with. My fresh water pump for one. It had decided to stop running a couple of weeks ago and it is close to the top of the list for repairs. Trying to go off for any length of time with the kids would quickly turn into a nightmare without water to wash things. I suppose we could resort to a bucket over the side though.

The good thing about the pump not working is now my galley faucet does not leak. I spent 30 minutes one afternoon trying to figure out how to get to the washer and from the schematics available it should have been rather easy. I guess I gave up too quickly but after putting kids’ Christmas presents together over the holidays my patience had run out.

I am also adding to the maintenance list fixing a very slight leak in one of the hatches. I don’t anticipate this to be too difficult but often a 1 hour repair turns into a 4 hour one. I would also like to add a second bilge pump. Redundancy is good when it comes to bilge pumps. Of course there is always working on the teak, and cleaning the bilge, and maintaining the stainless deck hardware. Should I go on? You get the idea. It should turn into a year of scraped knuckles, reading and rereading Don Casey’s Sailboat Maintenance Manual, buying multiple sailboat parts and hardware, and enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done.

Happy New Year my sailing friends. Have a prosperous, healthy, and productive 2008!