The Boat List never ends — and that's the point
There's an old saying: a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. The Bethke family chose to throw skills instead. They did 90%+ of all maintenance, repairs, and improvements themselves — from designing a 2,100-watt solar system from scratch to repairing a carburetor with epoxy and a cordless drill used as a lathe.
The Boat List is a living document that every cruiser knows intimately. It never empties. You fix one thing, two more appear. But the list became a source of satisfaction rather than frustration — each completed project was a new skill earned, a new system understood, a new story to tell over sundowners with fellow cruisers.
2,100W Solar System
Designed from scratch: a 22-foot stainless steel arch by TechNick in Grenada, 8 solar panels, and 3 redundant Outback MPPT charge controllers. Replaced $7,200/year in diesel generator costs. The arch doubles as dinghy garage, SUP rack, lounging deck, and BBQ area.
1,420Ah Lithium Battery Bank
52 CALB LiFePO4 cells in 4s12p configuration. Designed the entire system including charging from solar, generators, and alternators. 80% usable capacity vs 30% for lead-acid. One discovery: a wiring mistake made only 2 of 12 battery strings do 40% of the work. The boneheaded mistakes are how you learn.
AIS Transponder & Digital Network
Installed a Digital Yacht iKommunicate to bridge all NMEA2000 instruments to any screen aboard. Added AIS transponder, 8TB cloud drive for movies/photos/music, and a new 12V sub-panel. All completed in a "killer productive week" in Sint Maarten.
Generator Impeller Repair
Diagnosed and replaced the raw water impeller on the diesel generator. 70 minutes from symptom to fix. What once would have required a marina technician became routine. The key: understanding the theory, having the right spares, and not panicking.
Custom Bow Roller
The factory bow roller was inadequate. Commissioned FKG machine shop in Sint Maarten to fabricate a custom stainless steel bow roller. Removed the old one, designed improvements, and reinstalled with the new piece. Also fixed the windlass counter.
Watermaker Rebuild
Replaced the brushless feed pump after failure. In Klein Curacao, dramatically recovered a dropped watermaker o-ring from the seabed via SCUBA — because the nearest replacement was 100 miles away.
Stanchion Re-bedding
Removed and re-bedded all stanchions on the starboard side to fix chronic deck leaks. Each one required removing hardware, cleaning old sealant, applying new butyl tape and sealant, and re-torquing. Tedious but essential.
Auto-Pilot Troubleshooting
Ordered $4,000 in auto-pilot parts thinking the computer was dead. Turned out to be three bad cables. The lesson: always check the simplest, cheapest possibility first. Those cables cost about $30 total.
Carburetor Repair with Epoxy & a Drill
Repaired a cracked carburetor with epoxy and a brass nipple, using a cordless drill as an improvised lathe. When the nearest marine shop is a 2-day sail away, you get creative.
Butane Cooking System
Installed a butane cooking system in parallel to the existing propane system. Propane refills in remote Caribbean islands are unreliable and sometimes dangerous. Butane canisters are available everywhere.
Dinghy Restoration
Hypalon patches, navigation lights, custom oar handles, new 20HP Tohatsu engine, bumper, planning planes, anti-skid bottom refinish, and Racor fuel filters. Exit Strategy went from tired tender to speed machine.
Rope Splicing & Rigging
Learned to splice rope and made an all-new Super Bridle for the anchor chain, plus Dyneema lifting straps for the dinghy. Replaced broken batten with sail thread and epoxy. Rigging the bowsprit and gennaker became routine.
• Diesel engine maintenance
• Electrical systems & 12V design
• Solar panel installation
• LiFePO4 battery engineering
• Fiberglass gelcoat repair
• Plumbing & watermaker service
• Sail repair & batten fixing
• Rope splicing (Dyneema)
• Marine electronics (NMEA2000)
• Zincs replacement via SCUBA
• Refrigeration troubleshooting
• Canvas sewing
• Epoxy work & improvisation
• Outboard engine maintenance
• Anchoring & mooring systems
• Navigation & passage planning
Always check the cheapest possibility first ($4,000 in auto-pilot parts vs $30 in cables)
Carry critical spares for every system — the nearest chandlery might be 100 miles away
If you get stuck, set it aside for a few hours or days — a new line of attack will present itself
The cordless drill is the most versatile tool on the boat
YouTube and cruiser forums have saved us more than any manual
When you do 90%+ of your own work, you understand your boat intimately
Replace zincs while diving and you save thousands on haul-outs
Today means this week. This week means next week. This month means 8-10 weeks. Just bake it in.
•
Zen and the Art of Marine Generator Maintenance•
The pay-back will be on the order of 3 to 4 years.— Erik, One-Year Anniversary