I don't really have anything substantial to do this year to get ready. Two years ago I refinished the cockpit teak table and had the foam replaced in the bow sunpad, in addition to making a bunch of phone calls trying to ID a mechanic who had some idea how to diagnose our uneven fuel consumption (answer: none of them had a clue).
Last year it was refinishing the cockpit carpet backing (again, this time more or less permanently) and then making a new flag staff out of some stainless tubing, and then a last minute updating of the anchor chain to make use of the original 25' of chain from the original anchor and rode setup the boat came with.
This year? Replacing the bungee line that connects the Lilypad to the boat, as the original from about 5 years ago is badly frayed in spots, and chasing that thing down in the wind is not something I want to do. And that's already done.
The old one was made with a product called "EZ Splice", which is a kind of clever product that uses a splicing gizmo the line passes through. Steel pins are driven through it and through the ropes, creating a firm splice a lot more easily than more manual methods (which are probably stronger). You can only "pin" the bitter end, and you've got a line that will cinch. An online review as critical, saying the breaking force was substantially less than the line itself, but I don't use it for anything so critical, plus there's no way to manually eye splice half-inch bungee cord, it can't be unwound and re-braided like actual rope.
In making much smaller eyes in much smaller (1/4") bungee, I kind of invented my own method which is a combination of brass nails and Ancor adhesive-lined shrink tubing. I use two pieces of closely sized tubing, one at the bitter end and one about 3 inches down the line (or roughly 2x whatever eye size you want).
The heat-shrink glues and gets quite hard on the line. Next I make the loop, and drive the brass nails through, about 3 per side. The last couple I've tried to enhance the strength by spiral wrapping stainless wire around each end of the loop and the entire loop in addition to the nails. Then 1 or two larger size lengths of heat shrink go over the joint. The spiral wrapping is problematic, as it's kind of hard to get it as snug as I'd like.
Near as I can tell, this makes a pretty strong connection. Testing the newest one I made for the Lilypad connected to a fixed object and I can stretch the main line of the bungee without any apparent movement in the joint. The bungee has a slight advantage (over say rope) in that it has give in it, which reduces shock forces which might strain the joint.
Of course, none of this is really meaningful "boat" maintenance -- the bummer with outdoor marina storage in Minnesota is not having access to the boat. Otherwise I have a laundry list of stuff:
- Sanding and painting the stern and outdrives with copper-free anti-fouling paint
- Replacing the foot switches for the windlass
- Adding an ammeter for the house batteries
- ...and more
Some of this could be done on the water in the marina (other than painting below the water line), but it always competes with summer use or risks some kind of screw-up that might blow a good weekend.
