The saying goes…the happiest day of boat ownership is the day you buy the boat and the next happiest time is the day you sell it. We have for the most part enjoyed taking a 1986 Beneteau and making it our own. We spent huge sums of money getting her ready for the trip and tried to prioritize what was most important. We didn’t want to be the people that talked about cruising but still had “another” something to do on the boat before they left the dock which is sadly what happens to many.
We / “Martin” updated two of the three heads on board with Vacuflush systems and holding tank. He built a new refrigeration and freezer box in the galley. We spent many hot weekends replacing most of the hatches. Martin re-fit and installed new propane lines that are much safer and easier to use than what was initially onboard. We purchased a state of the art life raft on the deck and installed safety lines / “life lines” and bolts in strategic places allow us to conveniently tether ourselves in the cockpit and on deck in bad weather conditions.
Safety is a number one priority for us so, we ended up spending more money to upgrade the “EPIRB” Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon is used to alert search and rescue services in the event of an emergency.
Some of the more expensive items are a new foresail, mainsail and all new rigging and a new C-9ft Caribe dingy. New technology for navigating and self-steering were paramount. The self-folding Max Prop was upgraded to give us more efficient sailing.
A boat doesn’t appreciate and at best a few boats “hold their value”. As I log the money spent on this older boat it’s clear that this is the worst financial investment yet, hopefully the best spiritual investment!
Critical before heading out was the Haul Out. We spent a week grinding, filling and sanding the bottom of the boat and installing new folding Max Prop

Finally, the most difficult yet the most well spent time, money and energy was investing in a new hard dodger cover for the cockpit. Martin built a hard dodger in our backyard over the course of three months. Working with his buddy Enrique on evenings and weekends he built a reinforced fiberglass hardtop for the cockpit. Sanding and grinding many layers of fiberglass was a tedious and dirty job. I am sure our neighbors weren’t to happy to have the fiberglass dust on their cars over those months. The result is a solid, well insulated and reinforced top over the cockpit.

Initial frame of the dodger

The final product!

Martin enjoying the benefits of the dodger underway