Zen and the art of boat maintenance…why there’s nothing half so much worth doing as messing about in boats
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It’s endless. It’s frustrating. Boat maintenance can be repetitive to the point of inducing Alzheimer’s.
But as Water Rat said to the Mole in The Wind in the Willows “there is nothing—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”
Different attitudes to boat maintenance
There are different ways of approaching boat maintenance.
A friend told me about the idea of looking after your boat as if you have a superyacht crew. Hard work but your boat’s going to look schmick and run well. (You hope.)
Another couple have a strict schedule of “One job per day, perhaps”. And that’s between two people.
I aim for work/life balance. It’s not all beer and skittles though. Sometimes it’s all beer. I follow the tools down at happy hour rule if I can.
Confessions of a boat boy
When Yana de Lys was moored at Yacht Haven in Phuket we had friends who had boat boys – locals who looked after their boats for them. Keeping the boats clean. Taking care of regular maintenance. So when they went sailing all they had to do was show up.
Most sailing boat owners have to do their own boat boy work. Like me.
It can be fun. It can be tedious. It can be frustrating. It can be satisfying. Despite the poor pay – well the no pay – it’s better than working nine to five any day.
Even the interminable cleaning is okay. Any job involving water when it’s stinkn hot is fine by me. But I had to laugh the other day when I saw the boat boy for a small motor cruiser on my jetty hosing down his boat in the rain. Under an umbrella. Really.
