{"id":61080,"date":"2025-09-11T08:49:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T12:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=61080"},"modified":"2025-09-11T08:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T12:49:34","slug":"boat-work-lists-made-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/how-to\/boat-work-lists-made-simple\/","title":{"rendered":"Boat Work Lists Made Simple: Lessons from Lin Pardey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image disable-lazyload\" alt=\"Man climbing up the mast\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Before the cyclone arrived, David had already gone up the mast to do an inspection and to secure new spreader end caps to protect the sails.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Lin Pardey<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<p>Gusting winds drive clouds of spray right across the bay. Deluges of rain blast across the long jetty that leads past the workshop and out to <em>Sahula<\/em>\u2019sberth. I watch through my office window as the boatsurges against its mooring lines. Tropical Storm Tam has moved south to cover our part of New Zealand and is now officially a cyclone, one that is forecast to linger for another two or three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe id=\"gkstfcayky\" src=\"https:\/\/cruisingworld.dragonforms.com\/gkstfcayky\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>I am making little progress on the article I am trying to write. Yes, the window-shaking gusts of wind are a distraction. But the real culprit? A sheet of paper titled \u201c<em>Sahula<\/em>\u2019s Work List.\u201dIt lies right next to my computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been 16 months since we last made an ocean passage<em>, <\/em>south from a season in New Caledonia to my home base in New Zealand. Earlier this year, we decided to set sail and cross the Tasman Sea. Our goal: a leisurely meander through the islands and waterways of Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef. Now we are just five weeks away from our planned departure, and <em>Sahula\u2019s<\/em> work list still has 27 items on it. Most of them require relatively calm weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday, I printed out a \u00adcopy and showed it to my partner, David. \u201cHere\u2019s what I need to get done before we set sail,\u201d I&nbsp;told him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNeed to or want to?\u201d he queried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His words echo through my mind as I try to work on an article about one of the yachts that my husband, Larry, and I delivered to finance our early cruising days.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back then, much of the cruising fleet was made up of smaller boats sailed by cruisers who looked for ways to earn as they wandered. Thus, there was a lot of competition for \u00addelivery jobs. When the owner of a big US-flagged ketch put the word out in Mallorca, Spain, that he needed someone to sail his boat back to New Orleans, a half-dozen cruisers wanted the job. The owner asked for a fixed price quote, one that would include the time and \u00adexpenses of getting the boat seaworthy enough to set sail \u00adafter \u00adhaving been sitting unused and neglected for two years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We really wanted the job. Our cruising kitty was getting low, and we welcomed the chance for an affordable visit to friends and family back home. We worked hard to come up with a competitive bid. We did a careful survey of the boat. The potential work list kept expanding: Haul the boat to remove a 2-inch mat of barnacles and growth, renew the upper shrouds that had broken strands just above the lower swages, repair two of the three bilge pumps, create a temporary whisker pole (the original had been lost in a blow). There was almost a whole page filled with faulty electrical items. The engine needed attention. By the time we sat down to work out our quote, the list was three pages long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lin-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Lin Pardey working on David&#039;s boat, Sahula\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lin-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lin-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lin-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lin-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lin.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Though my skills are limited, because of necessity\u00a0I have become the resident woodworker on <i>Sahula<\/i>.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Lin Pardey<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<p>\u201cOK, let\u2019s be logical,\u201d Larry said.&nbsp; \u201cWe need to ensure that the boat stays afloat, the water stays out of the boat, the mast stays up, the sails go up and down, the rudder works, the stove works, and we can get fresh water out of the water tanks. Everything else is either a convenience or a luxury.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then Larry began circling the items that fell into his \u201cessential\u201d category. With his cutback list, we figured it would take us about 15 days to get the boat underway, and 65 days to make the passage. The results: Our quote won. We got the boat to its owner within the time frame he\u2019d requested. We had to do some jury-rigging along the way. We did put up with some inconveniences. But a few months later, we returned to where <em>Seraffyn<\/em> lay waiting near Mallorca, with enough \u201cfreedom chips\u201d to cruise onward for another year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I often think of that delivery trip when I meet people who have had their cruising dreams delayed or missed weather windows or even abandoned their plans because of \u201cthe work list.\u201d That is why, when Larry and I presented seminars called \u201cPriorities for Successful Cruising,\u201d we would end the day by saying: \u201cTwo weeks before your planned departure, sit down and write out a complete work list. Add every job you think you should do. Then, go out on deck and let the wind blow the list away.&nbsp; Rush below and write down the first six things you remember. Those are probably the most important ones. Get them done and go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is the reality of caring for a boat, which is both your home and your adventure machine. There will always be things that could be done to make the boat easier to use or prettier. Things that might make life afloat \u201cbetter.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The truth is, during all my voyaging life\u2014which has \u00adincluded 100 or more ocean passages, included sailing with Larry on two different boats, \u00addoing delivery trips and, more recently, sailing with my current partner, David, on<em> Sahula<\/em>\u2014there was only one time when every item was crossed off the predeparture work list. That was only when I agreed to sail with Larry on board 29-foot, engine-free<em> Taleisin<\/em> from the Atlantic to the Pacific around Cape Horn. The one condition I had: Everything had to be checked off the list when we made our\u00a0attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was important to me for several reasons. It was highly likely we would face extreme weather. We might have to stay at sea for up to a month at a time. Our gear, our stamina would be severely tested. Crossing the very last item off the list just before we left Mar del Plata in Argentina and headed for The Horn helped ease the last concerns I had. (That last item? Put two changes of clothes plus a clean towel in vacuum-packed bags for emergencies.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the voyage I am now contemplating is not a bash around a great southern cape. It is the sixth time I will be sailing across the 1,300-mile width of the Tasman Sea. Even with unfavorable winds, it is unlikely we will be at sea for more than 10 or 12 days. With these thoughts in mind, I \u00adbecome determined to get something useful done despite the stormy weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I pull up my electronic copy of the <em>Sahula<\/em> work list. I put a check mark next to the items I know are essential to having a safer voyage: Add nonslip and paint the deck; sort the port vang line block; set up and test the Iridium Go for at-sea weather forecasts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-lin-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Lin and David\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-lin-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-lin-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-lin-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-lin-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/david-lin.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">David and I have been cruising \u00adtogether for nearly eight years, and I am still coming to terms with the complexity of his boat.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Lin Pardey<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<p>An \u201cM\u201d (for \u201cmaybe\u201d) goes next to a few other items that I really would like to get done if possible: Put trim over the new wiring in the loo, paint the compass, strip and varnish the&nbsp;companionway surrounds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I reluctantly put an \u201cX\u201d next to items that I realize might never get off the work list: Make a cover for the panel next to the companionway; add trim at the far end of galley. The list ends up with only seven check-marked must-do items and five marked \u201cM.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I am obviously not in the mood to write, I decide to brave the wind and rain, and head down toward the jetty. Though the wild weather precludes working on any of the check-marked jobs, there are two on&nbsp;the \u201cM\u201d list that I can do in the&nbsp;workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I begin cutting the first piece of foam which will ensure that my wineglasses and porcelain teacups will survive even the roughest sea, I think of David\u2019s words.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was right. I was letting myself feel trapped by a work list cluttered with want-to\u2019s.&nbsp; Cutting back to the need-to\u2019s set me free.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>After cruising more than 240,000 miles, US Sailing Hall of Fame inductee Lin Pardey is headed to sea again. Her latest book, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/outclick.co\/l\/01jt3vrv18m7m9393jjcfd2vt4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Passages: Cape Horn and Beyond<\/a><em>, encourages folks to go simple, go small, and go now.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Knowing what not to do before departure can be as important as finishing every job on your boat\u2019s work list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":61083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Lin Pardey","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"ad_targeting":"","alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":"","sponsored_image":false,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true},"categories":[164],"tags":[2044,1983,1225,183,295,319,199,2125],"class_list":["post-61080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-affiliate","tag-boat-ownership","tag-hands-on-sailor","tag-how-to","tag-lin-pardey","tag-maintenance","tag-on-watch","tag-print-september-2025"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}