In March of 2020 we scheduled a haul out to upgrade our bottom job to Coppercoat Anti-Fouling. Just before the haul, while doing regular maintenance to our diesel engine we discovered the heat exchanger was completely shot and would require significant custom machine work to replace. This turned the bottom job into a repower which eventually became a refit.

It was a harrowing two year job made miserable by a terrible contractor and some businesses with predatory practices. We persevered and redid much of the faulty work ourselves, reaching so much higher than we initially hoped that what we have been left with can only be described as our dream yacht. In the last two years we:

  • Upgraded our anti-fouling to CopperCoat, which required grinding down beyond the barrier coat to apply
  • Added a stainless arch/pushpit now carrying 900 watts of solar
  • Added a 7.5 kW diesel generator
  • Removed and replaced our diesel engine with a 20 kW inboard electric motor
  • Replaced and repaired two thru hulls
  • Upgraded from 1.8 kW hours of lead acid batteries to 24 kW hours of Battle Born LiFePO4 lithium batteries
  • Added inspection ports and a fuel level sender to the diesel tank
  • Replaced propane stove with induction cooktop and electric convection oven built into a custom gimbal (designed by Nora)
  • Replaced the dorade/cowls with low profile deck vents
  • Replaced dodger fabric and windows
  • Installed a Blue Sea breaker panel with many other additions and upgrades in order to have a ABYC compliant system running both 48v and 12v
  • Installed a 5 kW 48v Victron Quattro inverter/charger

Due to all of this work keeping Ayala out of commission, and COVID keeping us off of other boats, we spent less than eight hours underway and traveled fewer than ten nautical miles between May 2020 and March 2022. Since getting back on the water, we are making hundreds of nautical miles, finally exploring the Channel Islands, and testing out all our new systems.