Boat Improvements for the Technically Illiterate

For bluewater cruisers like Brett and Amanda, their boat is their home for much of the year. Boat improvements, while not immediately necessary, are key to making a small living space more comfortable and harmonious.

By
Brett Campbell
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Published:
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Replacing AGMs with Blue Nova lithium batteries. This was way above my pay grade! After trying to install twice with the help of
Replacing AGMs with Blue Nova lithium batteries. This was way above my pay grade! After trying to install twice with the help of "mates," I eventually found a brilliant young engineer in Cape Town. (Photo/ Brett Campbell)

My wife Amanda often asks fellow cruisers the question: Would you prefer to sail with an experienced mechanic who knew little about sailing, or an experienced sailor who knew little about mechanics? As an experienced sailor, I think I’d go with the former. In the last 11 years of living onboard we’ve managed to keep our Beneteau Oceanis 43 Leventeia moving with (very) basic technical skills.

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Boat Improvements for the Technically Illiterate
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Brett Campbell
Brett Campbell
Brett Campbell has been sailing since joining the sea scouts in Sydney over 55 years ago. He joined the Navy at 17, and after ten years resigned and moved into industry. During this time he sailed in many offshore races, including four Sydney to Hobarts, and cruised NSW waters in his Beneteau 39. He retired at 52 and bought a Beneteau Oceanis 43. After four years, he and his wife Amanda Gilbert escaped the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and Red Sea, spending three years off east Africa, then sailing around Cape Agulhas and across the South Atlantic to Grenada. They then cruised the southern and central American shores of the Caribbean, then Cuba, Bermuda, and Halifax in Nova Scotia. After wintering in Deltaville on the Chesapeake Bay, they sailed through Long Island Sound and are now heading to Newfoundland and the islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence. After seven years, they believe their very slow exploration of the world is about a third of the way through.

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