By Rich

It’s pushing 7PM on Tuesday night, and I’m lying on my side, on the sole of the Sabre, with my arm submerged halfway in cold, smelly, oily bilge water and extended to its limits under the flooring as I work to fasten a new bilge pump float switch to the hull using only feel and instinct. My fingers work in the darkness while I stare up at the headliner and reflect on the percentage of fix-it projects we’ve had to take on aboard the Sabre through no fault of the factory but as a result of past over-confident / under-skilled do-it-yourselfers or lousy “professional” yard work. It’s got to be the vast majority. Two of last winter’s biggest projects, in fact, were taken on for just this reason: replacing one of the cracked holding tanks and re-bedding the poorly installed stainless opening portholes. Those projects are still only half complete; this winter the aft holding tank gets replaced and two of the six portholes are left to go.  Continue reading Lesson Number 5,000(?) In How Not To Repair A Boat →