Ep44 - Real time update! How much longer will this take?
Ten months into the refit, we've crossed a turning point. The prep is done, the leaks are sealed, and systems start going back in.
We hauled out of the water in June 2024. It's now April 2025 — and if you've been wondering where things stand, this episode is the honest answer. Not a teaser, not a highlight reel. Just a real accounting of what's done, what's still in motion, and what comes next.
The short version: we've crossed a line. The destructive, tear-everything-apart phase is behind us. What's coming next is systems going back in — permanently. That shift is what this episode is about.
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Ten months into the refit, Shawn and Geri walk through what's done, what's in flight, and what systems go back in next.
What Happened
The prep phase is finished, and it was thorough. Leak sources were tracked down and eliminated across the entire boat — hatches, deck fills, handrail penetrations, fittings along the sugar scoops. Fiberglass repairs were made to the swim steps to enhance earlier foam-and-epoxy patches. The forepeak was sanded back to clean paint before anything new went in. Eventually, the whole boat was cleaned top to bottom.
The engine rooms got the most significant transformation. They came to us dark, stained, and full of places for problems to hide. After months of sanding and fairing, Geri primed and painted them bright white — a deliberate maintenance philosophy as much as an aesthetic choice. If you can't see a problem, you can't fix it.
The teak situation is still evolving. What started as a clean-and-reseal plan in Guatemala became a strip-and-decide situation. Affected sections are off, surfaces are sealed, and the boat isn't leaking — which is where it needs to be for now. The longer-term solution is still an open question.
Why It Matters
Doing the messy, destructive work first isn't just logical — it's the only sequence that makes sense. You don't paint an engine room before you've traced every leak. You don't run new plumbing before the hull penetrations are sorted. The prep phase on Roam was designed to close out every source of future problems before committing to finished work. That's now done.
Twenty through-hulls below the waterline. After reducing every penetration possible, that's where they landed. New skin fittings and seacocks are on hand. The goal was minimum viable penetrations without compromising any needed system.
The engines are close. Parts are inbound from the Netherlands and Louisiana. The saildrive units need paint and they're ready to go back in. The full story of the engine work is in the ongoing major maintenance series — linked below.
Related Episodes
The engine rebuild is documented across the major maintenance series — EP40, EP41, and EP43 — with reassembly and reinstallation episodes still to come.
Through-hull and seacock work picks up in EP45.
Teak removal gets its own full episode in EP52.
What Comes Next
Plumbing is first. Almost everything needed is already on board. After that, the mast and boom — all hardware was pulled and sanded clean before the season changed, and that work is waiting. Then engines back in.
After nearly a year of taking things apart, the rebuild starts here. It should move faster.
