August 2021, we received a recommendation on a gentleman that was known to perform brightwork and other topside tasks. We viewed some of his work and were excited to get in touch with some work we wanted done on the boat. We later contacted him and was given a quote to sand and repaint our topside decks with new non-skid paint. The quote for the topsides came to roughly $3500, with an additional $1000 if he were to include the cockpit. This person, we shall call him F__, assured us…
Read MoreCategory: Boat Life
Boat Life
These are the day-in, day-out experiences of boat life cruising on SV Banjo. Sometimes it is mundane, sometimes it is thrilling. There are even days that test the patience of the crew. But every bit of it is real, unscripted, and authentic.
Life Aboard
A large portion of our daily boat life revolves around taking care of our two dogs, performing maintenance, and upgrading the boat. We love to sail and travel at every possible opportunity, but the reality aboard a cruising sailboat involves fixing things, inventing things and creative problem solving. However, we always try to take advantage of moments throughout our day to be grateful and to enjoy the day. You will find that sunsets are some of our favorite things and we video them almost daily.
Want to see what life aboard a sailboat is like? Explore our experiences. We hope you enjoy and find these posts helpful.
Thunderstorm: Dockside
Marine Diesel Engine: Banjo’s Full Story
A Few Shots of the New Boatyard
After today’s news, we thought it would be good to post something happy and positive. We took a few photos around the boatyard to do something creative. Hope you enjoy. Check out more of our boat project articles.
Read MorePost-Hurricane Michael Sunset
Tonight’s sunset literally had Shannon call me out of the rack to come see. After being up all night on anchor watch during Hurricane Michael’s passage through North Carolina, and our visit by Chuck Courtney (EDIT: 2019Jun25 PLEASE SEE THIS POST FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS TECHNICIAN), I was beat tired. Shannon was down cooking up some dinner and she hollered, “You have GOT to come see this!” Our first sunset since Hurricane Michael did not disappoint. We have seen many spectacular sunsets since bringing Banjo to…
Read MorePerkins 4.236 Engine Repair: Water in Oil
Background A few weeks ago before Hurricane Florence hit New Bern, we had a problem starting our Perkins 4.236 Engine. The starter would barely turn over and then stop. I’m learning, but I am not a good engine guy yet, but I am slowly learning how to do some basic Perkins 4.236 Engine Repair myself. We had a friend look at it and they noticed that we had more oil on the dipstick than usual. A LOT more. A couple of people looked at it and the proposal was given…
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