It’s All Fun and Games…

Life aboard Dea Latis is a blast but NO, it’s not all fun and games. There are requirements, chores, and maintenance issues that demand constant attention. The following is just a snapshot of the things we have to do to “live the life.”

Constantly monitoring the weather. We check weather once a day at anchor, twice a day when we feel the urge to get underway:

We have to plot a track to our new destination:

Keeping watch while underway so we don’t get run over by one of these:

Cooking underway can be a challenge:

We always have to find gas for the dinghy:

Have to feed the diesel engine too:

Repair the melted alternator wire harness…when you’re in a river… in South America:

Refinishing the brightwork:

Repairing sails and canvas:

Splicing lines:

Cleaning the raw water intake is always fun:

Yum:

Clean:

One of my favorite things to do in the tropical heat: “eat a greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray,” and then clean the shower sump. Mmmmm, don’t get any better than this:

Much nicer:

Have to clean the rust stains off the decks:

Nice white decks:

Engine and drivetrain maintenance:

Always fun to shoehorn yourself into the generator compartment to change a cracked exhaust elbow:

Beautiful new exhaust elbow locally manufactured in Grenada at half the cost of new:

Going snorkeling today? Nope, fixing the refrigeration:

Defrosting the freezer:

Fixing the head (toilet) vent. No vent-no flush!

Fixing the hand pump we use to empty the (toilet) holding tank. This repair and cleaning the shower sump are my two “fave” jobs!!!

There is always laundry to wash but our little blue washing machine really works well:

…and laundry to hang up:

Fans always break around noon on a hot sunny day:

Fixing the broken roller furler:

Replace the nasty wheel cover:

Maintaining the outboard:

…fixing the outboard:

We’re out of water? Well that’s great, the water maker is broken! About twice a year I have to fix the watermaker:

Replace the watermaker prefilters:

Haul outs are expensive and a PITA:

Bottom painting is fun too:

Finding food can be a challenge but cleaning up afterward is a real chore. “Damn, didn’t think this through:”

Barber? What barber:

And of course there is updating this website, whenever and wherever we can find internet:

This list is just a drop in the bucket! So is it worth it? Yes, absolutely worth it!