We’re back!
After a long winter hiatus, we’ve finally returned to the shipyard and to Isola Naida to begin our spring maintenance. Like many boat projects, progress over the winter was… aspirational at best. Work schedules, weather, and life in general got in the way, so most of our “boat time” went into planning instead of executing.

That planning time wasn’t wasted. It made us more eager to get back aboard Isola Naida and start bringing those ideas to life. Now, with spring finally here, the real work begins.

Winter Break: Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Our last update was at the end of October. Before stepping away, we tackled a few key jobs. We cleaned the hull, removed the sails, and created a plan to protect Isola Naida through the winter.

Unfortunately, our winter cover didn’t live up to expectations.

Within a few weeks, we realized the setup wouldn’t hold up to the elements. It worked temporarily, but we couldn’t rely on it long term. We’ll treat that as a lesson learned.

This year, we’re building a proper winter cover. We’ll document that process in a future post.

Spring Plans: Spring Maintenance & Refit Checklist

Instead of tackling projects at random, we’ve divided the work into two groups. Some tasks need to be completed before launch, while others can wait until we’re back in the water.

Before Splashing

Before we launch Isola Naida, we have a long list of jobs that require us to stay ashore or are much easier to complete on land.

Hull Work

This season is all about giving Isola Naida a refreshed look below and above the waterline. That means prepping and painting the bottom, removing the old vinyl decals, and bringing the hull back to life with a full polish and wax.

We’ll be cutting and applying a new set of decals before the hull is waxed. We’re still narrowing down our preferred look, but we have a few weeks left to make that decision.

Water Systems

Above all else, we want to make sure the essentials are solid.

We’ll be inspecting and cleaning all three water tanks, and refinishing them where needed. Isola Naida has a massive amount of water storage onboard and we want to ensure that it is accessible when required, and safe to consume, and that starts with clean tanks.

Motor & Drive System

While we prefer to be under sail, the reality is that nobody wants to be caught out without a reliable motor. Our Yanmar 4JH4E is one of the most reliable motors out there and we want to do everything we can to keep it that way.

We’ll be getting the motor ready for the season, checking the packing, and replacing anything that looks questionable. It’s much easier to deal with these things at the dock than out at sea.

After Splashing

A few of our projects this year can don’t need to be completed before we’re in the water. In fact, some of these projects may take most of the year to actually accomplish, but that’s okay because we get to make our own timeline with these projects!

Fuel Systems

The Reliance 44’s primary fuel tank is integrated into the fiberglass structure of the keel. Isola Naida’s keel tank has a history of water contamination which her previous owners were unable to mitigate successfully. As such, her keel tank has gone unused for some time.

We intend to flush and isolate the keel tank before refilling it with biodegradable antifreeze to provide the intended ballast and to provide colour indicator incase we find that the tank is compromised.

We’ll also be replacing the fuel pump which feeds the liquid pre-heater in order to provide on-demand heat throughout the boat.

Topsides

We’ll be sanding and refinishing the toe rails, hatches, and cockpit brightwork, followed by multiple coats of varnish to bring everything back to life. There’s nothing quite like freshly varnished wood to make a boat feel cared for again.

We’re also planning to pattern and sew custom hatch covers to help deflect rain weather and protect the brightwork of the hatches over time – and don’t worry, we won’t be completely preventing air flow with these covers, we’ll share more about the design of these covers in a future post.

Salon

Inside Isola Naida, our focus is on making the space more comfortable, functional, and bright.

Not only is a deep-clean in order, we’ll also be progressing storage improvements and refreshing the look and feel of the interior by making all new salon cushions using a light-coloured, durable canvas material to really help brighten the space.

Looking Ahead

There’s no shortage of work ahead of us this season. Some of it is routine, some of it is long overdue, and some of it will almost certainly take more time and effort than we expect. That’s all just part of the adventure.

We’ve already started making progress on a few of these projects, and we’ll be sharing those updates in upcoming posts as we go. There’s something satisfying about finally moving from planning into executing, and it feels good to be back aboard again.

This will be our first full season with Isola Naida, and we’re looking forward to making the most of it!

If you’d like to follow along in real time, you can find us on Instagram and Facebook, where we share more frequent updates from the yard and beyond. And if you haven’t already, consider joining our growing community! We’re glad to have you along for the journey.