Lessons Learned Part 2

Continued from Lessons Learned Part 1. We do it the hard way, so you don't have to:

-When you put your wooden boat back in the water, pull up the carpets, make sure all of your bilge pumps are working properly, and get the shop-vac ready. Then go buy another manual bilge pump just in case.

-Diesel engines make the whole boat smell like… well, diesel. Glade Plug-Ins, drawer sachets, and open windows are your friends.

-Painting the grey decks white makes them look about ten times better. And then they get dirty about ten times faster.

-Add two hours to every project time estimate for every 3 minutes you think it will take to complete.

-Clean up dog pee ASAP. Then dry it out again. And again. Then make sure it is dry. That way your girlfriend doesn't step in it in her socks.

-If you buy walkie-talkies so the captain and first mate can communicate while docking, make sure the radios include headsets. No one ever has a free hand to hold onto a radio.

-When you twist up the radar cable to get it out of the way so you can paint the roof, be sure to untwist it before you turn on the radar. (Recommendations for a good Seattle-area radar technician are welcome; leave contact info in the comments section.)