Between our YouTube Channel and our blog, we share a lot of our life on the water. However, there are always things that go undocumented. Over the years, we have met plenty of new liveaboards who feel like they were “duped” into this lifestyle by its romanticized portrayal on social media. In our experience, living full-time on a boat is expensive, it is hard work, and it is time-consuming. Is it worth it? For us, yes. Is it worth it for you? I’m not sure!

So, in an effort to paint a more realistic picture of boat life, here is a bullet-point list of things we failed to document in August 2023:

• Ray changed the generator impeller and replaced it with a spare we had on board. 
• I polished our stainless steel twice. 
• We defrosted our front-loader fridge/freezer once. 
• Ray changed the oil in both engines.
• We replaced the bean bag chair we lost in a storm last month for ~$250.00. 
• The generator compartment ventilation hose detached after the plastic grate underneath the boat broke off. Its location is hard to access (behind the generator, underneath our water tanks), so we temporarily reattached the hose with a clamp and adhesive. We plan to repair it fully when we haul out this winter. 
• We had our 6-person Plastimo life raft serviced at the Sea Safety Service Center (Clarkes Court Marina) for $1,300.00. 
• Our dinghy davit system was squeaking when we lifted and lowered the dinghy, so we replaced one of the blocks for $126.40 and upgraded the line for $120.00. It doesn’t squeak anymore! 
• Our dinghy outboard finally bit the dust. We replaced it with a Yamaha Enduro 25HP for ~$2,800.00. We were able to sell our old outboard for $1,000.00. 
• The water pump for our generator failed. We replaced it with a spare we had on board and are planning on having the one that failed rebuilt to keep as a spare. This is the 3rd water pump we’ve gone through on this generator, which is very frustrating given how sparingly we use it! 
• The pressure guard on our windlass snapped off. We’ve used the anchor since and haven’t had any issues, but we will be looking to repair or replace the windlass soon.