Refit Diaries: 1/15/2026- 2/01/2026

We’ve been at the boat seven days a week since our family left the country. It’s been dirty, sweaty, and frustrating as we battle the summer heat and spend hours wedged into tiny spaces working on electrical projects. There’s barely enough room for a headlamp, let alone a camera, so our return to YouTube will have to wait until the workshop is finished and we have at least some space and organization aboard. For now, writing is much easier… 😂 

Emergency Plaque 

If you’ve ever been part of a regional cruising Facebook or WhatsApp group, you’ve probably seen plenty of posts like, “Does anyone know the owner of this boat?” followed by concerns about a dragging anchor, a chafing mooring line, or something else going wrong. To make it easier for people to reach us quickly should they need to board the boat, we had Kelly from Wave Designs create a custom acrylic plaque for our helm. It’s bright red and clearly displays our boat name, phone numbers, and email address so we can be contacted right away in case of an emergency or suspicious activity. We are so pleased with her work that we’ve also asked her to help us make a new dash panel that will house our generator controls, battery monitor and alarm system, remote battery switches, underwater light switches, etc.

Rig Update 

Removing the tangs to access the channel for the new conduit in our mast has been challenging. All of the bolts were stripped during the process, so the mast was moved into the yard’s shed where the team could continue drilling them out during last week’s storm. Progress has been slow, but we’re hopeful they’ll be able to get everything sorted soon.

Hatch Replacement

We realized the hatch in the starboard aft cabin, where we’re doing extensive electrical work, was leaking badly. During last week’s storm, some areas received more than 285 mm of rain in 24 hours, which is more than a typical whole summer’s worth. This intense downpour caused flooding and landslides (which they call “slips” here), so the leak was extra obvious and especially concerning.

We had ordered replacement hatches weeks ago but had not yet received a shipping notification. I contacted the company, and they explained that they were waiting for our full order to be in stock before shipping. However, they did have one of the sizes we needed for our cabin available, and it was on our doorstep within 24 hours. Ray installed it immediately, and thankfully, the leak stopped (we’re slowly switching to the hatches without the raised vent = one less thing to fix, one less thing to trip over…). 

Workshop Update

The cabinetry is in and the countertops are finished. We’re just waiting for the installation. I’ve made a template for the flooring, which we’ll be cutting and installing ourselves. The end is in sight, and we’re hoping to have this project wrapped up next week. After that, we’ll move our tools and spare parts in and start getting everything organized. We can’t wait to show you the final product!

Electrical update 

Our new air conditioning units arrived, and Ray hooked up the solar panels, which means we officially have no excuses left to delay the electrical work. He’s been working tirelessly and got us powered up for the first time this week. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re hoping to clean up the wiring and then switch gears to carpentry to build the top of our custom compartment so we can put a mattress on it eventually! 

New Anchor

We dragged anchor more during one year in French Polynesia than we have in our entire time sailing combined, likely due to frequent strong shifting winds and reversing tidal currents in the atolls. Our current anchor struggled to reset. The replacement is a SARCA Excel, known for its excellent ability to reset quickly after wind or current changes. In preparation for its arrival we lowered our current anchor. We will re-paint our reference marks while the chain is on the ground and attach the new anchor when it arrives. 

We had a long overdue cleanup day yesterday and are feeling really good about our progress heading into next week. Sabado is slowly coming together!

Cheers, and thanks for following along! We hope you had a great week. 🙂