Hi Taru,

I'm curious, how many dollars/ euros do you think you've put into this boat so far? It seems like there will be very little left of the boat you originally bought when you finish?

One of my favourite quotes about boating is from an old Martin Cruz Smith novel - Havana Bay, where the hero notes the irony of boats is that they give the appearance of peace and tranquility, where the reality is you have to work like hell to keep them afloat.

Enjoying your trip and perspectives. Please remember to stop in the Galapagos :)

Nothing sexier than a man fixing something!

All I can say Alex you are a legend - I wish I had your knowledge and skills around a yacht - I admire your ability so much - if you ever make to it Oz love to go surfing with you both - PS Taru your English is great - take care Namaste - stewie

It's very true Joe, I think only if you are rich enough to buy a brand new luxury boat and have people solving your problems when they appear, then you might obtain that peace and tranquility that we all dream of. But for us who aren't wealthy at all and who've chosen to buy a 40 year old run down vessel to that, that sort of reality is hard to even imagine. But we live for the occasional moments of peace in between, for the great and fulfilling achievements along the way, and the hope and dream of maybe getting this boat in order in not too distant future. Human beings needs challenges and projects after all, and some more so than others.

I think we've spent somewhere close to $35.000 USD since got her 16 months ago. Add to that around 1000 man hours of Alex time. We would never have been able to purchase this boat wouldn't it be for his knowledge and capability of taking care of everything. It wouldn't have been worth it for anyone else to buy this boat either I think, except for someone with his skills. Alex is absolutely determined to make this boat safe and strong and he is really going through every inch of the vessel to make sure it meets his requirements. It's a bit crazy everything but very interesting to follow the process, both the boats and Alex's, from an objective view. It's a great mental challenge after all.

Em: Especially so when it is a complete home that is being fixed and your life literally will depend on his "fixing-abilities"..

Stewie: How we'd love to get to OZ and surf one of these days.

nice haircut, had to look three x's to make sure it is him in the picture!

I think so too. Went to a new hair dresser who cut his hair a bit too short but at least Alex got rid of the curls that are annoying to him while sweating and working in this heat.

Sorry, in the comment above it should say around 3000 man hours, not 1000... it is in fact ten hours per day for a year that he has put into this boat so far.

A minor English correction - that title should probably be "Additional installations". "Instalments" is what long stories come in, where you get a little bit of the story each week, or alternatively, people sometimes buy a car "by instalments", where you pay off a small part of the price each week.

Thanks!

We need to see photos of TAUR working on the boat, working the jobs, and helping Alex with all these boat rebuild jobs. Nothing like a model with some boat tools...
:-)