Sun damage on thread: The number of times we have repaired sunbrella stitching on our two headsails: 3. The number of times we have repaired the sunbrella stitching on our mainsail cover: 2. The number of times I have repaired stitching on our aging dodger: 2.
The impact of popping and rolling: One lower furler bearing. Probably contributed to the sacrificial suncover stitching going on the headsails as well. We also had some old thin attachment points on our running back stays (to the block and tackle) split through. We replaced them with real (new) shackles.
The impact of salt water: After burying our nose in the waves for two windward passages our windlass was so crusted with salt that it became unusable. While trying to use the unusable windlass I caused the chain to skip the gypsy while freeing it and dumped all of our chain overboard (still connected to the boat of course). Our relatively new chain has some rust as does our anchor.
General wear and tear: We have had minor chafe on several halyards (nothing has chafed through). We need to re-do some of the furniture tabbing which we will do this coming hurricane season.
Unusual breakages: Our spool valve broke on our watermaker. Also, our cockpit microphone stopped working (still trouble shooting).
In general I consider this a fairly normal or even light amount of breakage on a boat that has been used continuously for a year, covering a lot of open ocean miles.
Just wanted to say thanks for writing about these more practical but less fun aspects of cruising. It's sometimes hard to find information on what to realistically expect and your experience is very helpful to those of us just starting down the path.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement Mike.
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