Category: 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.

 

Banjo’s New Bottom: Day 2 – Boat Bottom Stripping

Sailor

Boat Bottom Stripping Thunderstorms set us back a few days, but we were able to make progress after the storms. Today, Crystal Coast Industrial Coatings, went into full force on our boat bottom stripping with recycled glass.  Johnny worked fast and did a great job, even working in the rain for a large portion of the day.  In the end, he was able to get our Banjo-girl all finished up and stripped.  Our epoxy barrier coat and bottom paint also arrived.  The plan is to apply 3 coats of the…

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Mantus Anchor Bridle with Chain Hook

Sailor

New Equipment: Mantus Anchor Bridle with Chain Hook Back in January, we upgraded our anchor gypsy, chain and anchor.  We opted to go with an 85-lb galvanized Mantus Anchor, upgraded to 3/8″ Galvanized G-43 High-Test Chain from Defender, and the more beefy 3/8″ Chain-Wheel from Maxwell Marine.  After doing our boat inventory, we noticed that we could also really use an additional piece of equipment to assist us with anchoring and mooring.  That other piece of gear was on our wishlist for a number of months and we finally decided…

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Season 1- Episode 2: Getting Banjo

Sailor
Getting Banjo

Getting Banjo We have uploaded our second story-line episode named Getting Banjo to YouTube and Patreon.  In this episode, with a LOT of help from some dear friends, we get all of our stuff moved out of the house at Lake Norman.  We whittle down more of our junk.  Also, we find out that we closed on Banjo. After a seven hour drive back to Brunswick, we spend our first night aboard.  Then spend a couple days loading all of our stuff, and have a few boat  drinks.  Shawn is…

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Quick & Easy Chicken Nachos

Shannon
Chicken Nachos

Taco Tuesday We enjoy going to the Taco Tuesday gathering at Prohibition Drinks & Desserts here in New Bern every week.  It’s an evening full of delicious tacos, comradery among fellow boaters, lots of smiles and laughter, and maybe even a salty story or two.  My kind of Tuesday night for sure! Well, since we aren’t going this week (enter pouty faces here), I thought I would share a quick and easy Chicken Nachos recipe instead.  Wait a minute, scratch that!  We decided to go to Taco Tuesday tonight after all.  Yay!! …

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Assembling and Installing Our New Mantus Anchor

Sailor
Shawn and Our New Mantus Anchor installed on SV Banjo

Assembly and Installation of Our New Mantus Anchor A week ago, Shannon and I upgraded our anchor chain from 5/16″ G-43 High-Test to 3/8″ G-43 High-Test.  We also upgraded our windlass gypsy to the correct size for the new chain.  The only thing left was the anchor, and our ground tackle would be in great shape. It is finally the weekend and we have been eager all week to get our new Mantus Anchor, created and produced by Mantus Marine, assembled and installed aboard Banjo. We opted to purchase the…

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