I have come to the conclusion that owning a boat and working on a boat together intensifies a relationship. Both the good aspects and the negative aspects of a relationship seem to be magnified in a boat partnership. Or perhaps it is just our boat partnership. We work extremely well together and are so completely congruous on many things. And diametrically opposed as well.
I am the happy-go-lucky grab life with both hands kind of person and Shawn is much more reserved when it comes to new experiences. We both enjoy working and accomplishing tasks but many times it is with a different goal in mind. I like to finish a task and when the task is complete, go out and grab an experience and enjoy it. Shawn likes to complete a task and then begin the next task and the next and the next. While I am very task-oriented and a hard worker, I have to have down time to recharge my batteries so to speak. I am really hoping that we blend work with fun this boating season. Relationships are the most important to me and I love spending time with friends and family. I also need to experience a variety of activities; I am not a one dimensional person.
Our original plan was to use the winter time to make some road trips to warmer climates over long weekends to explore them together but we did not. I have a list of places and the list gets longer every year! *sigh*
Shawn completed several improvement projects, both large and small. The benefit of being a task-focused personality! One of his many talents is his ability to analyze the physical space and visualize the possibilities.
Electrical Work
I wanted an inverter for the microwave and coffee pot. We had house batteries in the front of the engine compartment and the start battery was aft.
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| original configuration |
Shawn added the inverter and moved the house bank all behind the engine where there was unused space. He built a panel to hold the remote battery switches for the engine and inverter plus an automatic charging relay for charging of the house bank.
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| new switch panel |
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| reconfigured battery storage |
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| inverter |
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| inverter and batteries |
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| source selector |
Shawn put an AC source selector (shore power or inverter) switch beside the AC panel and also the remote on/off switch for the inverter and inverter power.
He changed the AC panel so that anything run on the inverter has green indicator lights and anything not on the inverter has amber indicator lights to help ME visually identify which power source to use.
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| AC panel |
Galley Work
As I mentioned, one of Shawn's talents is his ability to analyze, envision and mentally reconfigure the storage space. From the beginning of our acquisition of the YellowBird, he has poked around and noticed many areas that could be better utilized for storage (the stairs leading to the galley are the best example thus far).
In the galley, Shawn noticedwasted space outboard of the refrigerator that could be used for the air conditioning unit, so Shawn removed the refrigerator and cut out the bulkhead.
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| bulkhead removal |
Then he installed shelf for AC unit. This was a multi-step process since he had to actually fiberglass as well as build the shelf.
Once the shelf was complete, he then installed the AC unit. A great fit and a much better utilization of the "dead" space.
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| AC unit |
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| AC unit |
Shawn next turned his attention to the refrigerator space. Our "new" refrigerator is 6 inches shorter than the original one we removed. Shawn decided to install a shelf for new refrigerator in order to have storage space below in the now available 6 inches of space.
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| refrigerator space |
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| shelf for refrigerator |
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| newly installed refrigerator |
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| refrigerator |
Our next improvement in the galley will be the stove area. We removed the electrical stove with the intent of adding a gas stove top and storage space. We determined that between the microwave and the stove top and a yet to be acquired grill, we will be able to cook what we need AND use the space where the oven was for more storage.
I admit that I am frustrated and impatient. I was so looking forward to cruising this spring and summer and now it is going to be Spring 2020 before we are able to cruise. I want to go on short weekend cruises and longer week cruises to see if we like it BEFORE we make more of a time and money investment. I did not realize that to even go out for a weekend overnight, a boat needs everything it will need for long-term cruising. I want my friends and family to be able to go out on the boat with us and have FUN! And it keeps getting further and further away as the list of what is needed appears to get longer and longer!
