{"id":5629,"date":"2026-09-11T06:05:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T16:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/?p=5629"},"modified":"2026-09-11T17:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T03:13:13","slug":"it-didnt-take-a-village-but-it-did-take-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/archives\/5629","title":{"rendered":"It Didn’t Take A Village, But It Did Take A Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Or, more exactly, it took 372 days. This is Amelia above in the back seat on the way home for the weekend. Amelia is exhausted from riding back and forth from Bainbridge Island to LaConner every week. This is also exactly how everyone else in the truck felt that day. We were three weeks shy of splashing at this point and after nearly a year, all just so worn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A little over a year ago we brought Yohelah to the La Conner Maritime boatyard to remove her decks. I wrote a blog “Yohelah Gets New Decks<\/strong>“<\/a> about why we were doing this. We’re finally done with what became a major refit, and exceptionally happy not only with all the work we’ve done (and mostly happy about what we had done by others), but also happy to be out of the boatyard and back afloat again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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La Conner Maritime was a fabulous yard and perfect place to do this work. The managers and workers all knew us well by the time we left. The only downside to that yard was the daily layday price – it was equal to summer guest moorage in the Pacific NW. I’ve kept track of every penny we spent on this project, and the boatyard layday cost is one of the numbers that hurts. But, to offset that, they allowed me to buy parts on our Fisheries wholesale account and ship up on the Fisheries truck direct to their receiving department. I’ve never known another yard willing to allow that. Plus we were at the end of a row up against the fence with plenty of room to spread out, and that was great. Although, in the end, we learned the tiny little bugs (likely from the trees) had infested all the canvas and that required extra cleaning before we splashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What did we hope to accomplish with the deck project? Basically we were done with a high maintenance and very wet boat. We wanted to reseal all the fittings that had been worked so hard on our 32,000 mile Pacific Loop, and remove the failing decks. We knew that replacing the decks meant removing and rebedding all the hardware attached to them and the cabin top. We didn’t have teak on the cabin top, but the nonskid and gelcoat needed to be refreshed to match what was being laid on the decks. That’s all good and within the original plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then we pulled the mast and got a good look at it. It was not pretty, not even a little bit. Last year we hosted a wedding on the boat and somone went aloft the day before to clean the mast. His report was “it doesn’t clean”. And he was right (although I’m told no one noticed on the wedding day). After over 40 years the paint had completely failed and the mildew was part of the finish. We chose to take the opportunity to strip and repaint since it was off the boat, thinking we could just do all of the mast work concurrently while the deck work was ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The work to do the decks was expected to take 3 months. Maybe we can paint the mast while they’re working on the decks, we thought. Pretty soon it was winter in the Pacific NW and while the boat was all sealed up the mast was not. We had other obligations and the mast work waited. The deck work went very very slowly, and the tools for the deck work overtook the entire boat inside, so we didn’t have any room to participate in other projects. We weren’t unhappy with the slow progress, we understood curing time and sanding time. But suddenly we found ourselves at 5 months of a planned 3 month project. Plus all of the deck hardware had to be put back on and the mast was still sitting with hardware on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And added to the list early on, the handrail had been destroyed by the rigger (now former rigger) when he removed the mast and that had to be rebuilt. And the bowsprit was severly delaminated and needed to be rebuilt. And the samson post completely cracked at the deck level when the bowsprit came off and now needed to be not only rebuilt, but dug out of the chain locker where it was fiberglassed in to a bulkhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These aren’t great pix, but you can get a sense of the work Rob did in his woodshop over the winter. The handrails are stunning, the bowsprit an absolute work of art, and the samson post a rock solid piece of laminated timber strong enough to support all the forces of the rig. He’ll write up reports on the woodshop work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then it was boatshow time and we started thinking about Yohelah’s lifespan. We had last renewed instruments in 2005 before we went offshore. Maybe it was time, while the mast was down, to add a new lighting, radar and instruments to the list. <\/p>\n\n\n

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While Rob was working on the bowsprit, he had to pull the 40+ year old windlass. It was strong and sturdy, but still decades old. If we’re trying to get another 20 years out of us and the boat, this was a good time to replace the windlass. The best price I found was a guy on the east coast who worked with the importer, but FedEx ended up messing up and denying the receiving address in Fife for tribal sales tax exemption and shipped it back across the country twice. Hopefully Vince at AhoyCaptain was refunded by FedEx. Send some business his way if you can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While Rob was adding items to the refit list, I had one wish. While we were at the boat show we stopped at Marine Sanitation and I bought a fresh water flush power toilet. I hated the saltwater flush boat smell and was just done pumping. We’ll replace the batteries with lithium this winter and there’s absolutely no reason to avoid a power toilet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My wish list item on the last refit was a carbon spin pole, and we’re still grateful we have that. Although after nearly 20 years we realized it needed a refresh on its paint, which it got this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Item<\/td>Original Plan<\/td>Finished Now<\/td>Finish Later<\/td><\/tr>
Replace Teak Decks<\/td>Y<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Rebed Deck & Cabintop Hardware<\/td>Y<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Repaint Mast & Boom<\/td>Maybe<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Radar, Instruments & Lights on Mast<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Anchor Windlass<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Rebuild Handrails<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Rebuild Bowsprit<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Rebuild Samson Post<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Paint Anchor Locker<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Headliner in Forward Cabin<\/td>N<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Replace Toilet<\/td>Y<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Replace or Service Head Through Hulls<\/td>Y<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Install Drip Fuel Tank for Furnace<\/td>Y<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Replace Shelves in Standup Locker<\/td>N<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Refinish \/ Rebed Portlight Outer Trim Rings<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Chainplates<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Batteries with Lithium<\/td>Y<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Replace Galley & Cockpit Through Hulls<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Refinish Gelcoat On Dodger<\/td>Y<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Replace Halyard Winch with Power Winch<\/td>Y<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Replace Dorade Inner Structures<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Mast Deck Level Support<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Overhead Hatch Glass<\/td>Y<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Paint Spin Pole<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Cars & Line on Spin Pole Track<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Repair Gelcoat Waterline Blisters<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Wax Hull<\/td>Y<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Design & Build Drifter Tack<\/td>Y<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/tr>
Add Staysail Roller Furling<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Standing Rigging<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace Strongtrack<\/td>Y<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Repaint Bottom<\/td>Y<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Install Folding Cleats for Preventers<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Install New Foot Switches & Remote for Windlass<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Replace 2 each triple spinlocks<\/td>N<\/td>Y<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here is the final tally of what we planned vs. what we did now and what we have left to finish. It was a massive work effort. We traveled from Bainbridge to LaConner every Monday morning for 7 months, stayed in our little travel trailer 4 nights, then went home Friday. On the weekends we were busy in the shop and getting ready for the next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, how do we feel about all the time and work effort and money we spent on this refit? When we finished the last refit in 2005 we swore we didn’t have another one in us. And it was not our intent or goal to dive that deeply into this one. But once we started down the path, we both knew where it was leading. It was stunningly physically challenging, it was emotionally challenging, and far more expensive than planned. Not finishing was never an option, but it took all we had to bring this across the goal line. Happily, I have zero regrets that this work has been done. Rob has some other opinions on this matter and will write his up soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3 months before we finished we started looking for a helper. My niece married a wonderful woman local to the Skagit Valley, and her best friend was available to help out. She became the light we needed (our Chief Morale Officer) and worked hard and worked smart, and kept us on track and brightened the most difficult days during the last of this when we were both so exhausted that we woke up tired in the morning (not kidding even a little bit). It was Bree’s first venture into the world of boating and sailing, and now she’s become race crew on a small boat at Anacortes Yacht Club. The pic on the left was the end of her first day – we were sanding primer on the mast. When she showed up on day two we knew she was a keeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What’s next for Yohelah? What we have decided is that we are taking the boat offshore again, but not next summer. Our task list for offshore includes things like a new watermaker and dive compressor and liferaft. The “to be finished” items from this refit would keep us busy all winter, and we need to slow down a bit. So we’ll stay in the Salish Sea, finish these off and prep for offshore after a nice cruise to Haida Gwaii next summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Did we accomplish what we set out to do? 100% Yes. Was it easy? 100% no. But we’re happy it’s in the rear view and there are still a few weeks left to get some summer sailing in the beautiful Salish Sea. This is Yohelah on anchor in Quatsino Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And here she sits on the dock at La Conner while we finish up a few more things. We are all so happy to be back aboard. It was a hard year, but 100% worth the effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or, more exactly, it took 372 days. This is Amelia above in the back seat on the way home for the weekend. Amelia is exhausted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teak-decks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5629"}],"version-history":[{"count":80,"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5781,"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5629\/revisions\/5781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.svyohelah.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}