I'm a tinkerer. I’m not sure if I should admit it, but I get just about as much satisfaction from working on my aging Catalina 27 as actually sailing it—particularly when the weather isn’t conducive to being out on the water. And the weather this past winter was about as appealing as sanding off 20 layers of bottom paint.

Now a Catalina 27 is a pretty simple boat. Its fibreglass construction means minimal maintenance. An outboard motor means there’s none of the complexities such as thru-hulls, cooling systems, exhausts and shafts. The single-spreader rig with only a mainsail and roller furling jib is about as uncomplicated as it gets.

But I’ve still got a to-do list as long as my arm. The few bits of teak trim need to be stripped down and built up with varnish. I should pull the mast to give it a good going over, the sails could do with replacing, the upholstery is…well, let’s just say it’s reminiscent of the ’70s. The canvas for the dodger is also on its last legs. I worry that the Danforth anchor is a bit too small, and there’s that the tiny gap between the keel and hull…

But, of course, none of these are essential for now. I can still go sailing and have just as much fun with the boat as it is. As well, if I did all the jobs on my to-do list, the cost would probably match the purchase price of the boat. But as we all know, we don’t buy boats to save money or for their investment potential. We buy them for fun and adventure, the value of which—as the credit card ad says—is priceless.

I’ve been thinking about all this during my latest project, installing a 110-volt AC shore power system and battery charger.

Originally, the boat had a simple extension cord running from shore through the companionway to a power bar. This ran a small cabin heater in the winter. There wasn’t even a battery charger on board. Nice and simple, and I probably should have left it alone.

But I didn’t, and about $1,500 later, I’m doing the final cleanup of the new system, which includes a Blue Sea electrical panel with voltmeter, multi-stage charger and two 110-volt cabin outlets. As well, last summer, before heading off cruising, I bought a second 12-volt backup battery. After cruising, I had to install it properly and add a couple of bus bars so there weren’t half a dozen wires hooked directly to the old battery terminals. Not being an electrician, I had to study up on 12-volt systems (none of the books I skimmed had an appropriate schematic); spend hours looking, pondering and sketching wiring diagrams; and, of course, make the requisite number of screw-ups. But it’s done, and now all I have to do is tidy up the wires. So, I may not have been out there getting myself blown around in winter storms, but I sure had fun tinkering.

So, with cruising season just around the corner, maybe it’s time to get out that todo list. Doing it now has to be better than spending our summer cruise sweating over an unexpected breakdown or trying to find a mechanic in Desolation Sound. And there’s that added joy of having done things ourselves, which means we know how our systems work if things go wrong. 

And now, I’m going to start staring at those rusty keel bolt nuts and see if I can really get into some trouble…