Sep 24, 2026 · 20 min · 11 segments
I don't think anybody is born practical. Irenka and I talk about learning to fix our own boat: the pub conversation I couldn't follow, the dead outboard I bought for 25 quid, the mechanic who rang me…
So on a boat, how much fixing actually goes on?
Well, it's like that old cliche, isn't it? Cruising is just fixing boats in exotic locations.
And as funny as that may seem, it is kind of the truth of the matter, I think, wouldn't you say?
Do I agree whether it's just fixing boats in exotic locations? Percentage-wise, probably 25%, 30% of a day.
Every day? If you did it every day, yeah, it's the maintenance.
I
suppose that's right.
If you're doing ocean passages, maybe not, but when you're in a boatyard, it's every day.
But I think as you're going along, it's part of the day, isn't it? So it's like boat maintenance, schooling, shopping, cooking, entertainment with the kids.
I suppose a lot of it depends on the boat you buy, the previous owner, what survey you had, what your capabilities are.
So a lot of it can be preloaded, I think, by your purchasing decision in the first place.
Yeah, I think possibly if you had a brand new boat, it would be less maintenance.
But I think there's that thing about doing a little bit every day because you've got to be on top of it.
Otherwise you end up in crisis management and you haven't got a time to do it every day because you're going out and about.
Do it more on one day and miss the other day.
It's a bit like schooling.
We do it every single day.
Or if we sometimes wanted to have a few days off, we do more schooling at weekends.
So on a boat, how much fixing actually goes on?
Well, it's like that old cliche, isn't it? Cruising is just fixing boats in exotic locations.
And as funny as that may seem, it is kind of the truth of the matter, I think, wouldn't you say?
Do I agree whether it's just fixing boats in exotic locations? Percentage-wise, probably 25%, 30% of a day.
Every day? If you did it every day, yeah, it's the maintenance.
I
suppose that's right.
If you're doing ocean passages, maybe not, but when you're in a boatyard, it's every day.
But I think as you're going along, it's part of the day, isn't it? So it's like boat maintenance, schooling, shopping, cooking, entertainment with the kids.
I suppose a lot of it depends on the boat you buy, the previous owner, what survey you had, what your capabilities are.
So a lot of it can be preloaded, I think, by your purchasing decision in the first place.
Yeah, I think possibly if you had a brand new boat, it would be less maintenance.
But I think there's that thing about doing a little bit every day because you've got to be on top of it.
Otherwise you end up in crisis management and you haven't got a time to do it every day because you're going out and about.
Do it more on one day and miss the other day.
It's a bit like schooling.
We do it every single day.
Or if we sometimes wanted to have a few days off, we do more schooling at weekends.
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