Up next in 10
We’re calling it—for now. The constant maintenance, the endless repairs, and the relentless grind of being full-time liveaboards on Agua Azul have hit a wall. We aren't living the "vacation myth"; we live this every single day, and right now, we’re burnt out.
This is a pause, not an exit. We have plans to sail to Puerto Rico and beyond, but life beyond the hull demands our attention. We’ve been away from our sons, Nolan and Brandon, for too long. Danielle has a massive milestone—her 50th birthday—and she deserves to spend it with her twin, not fighting a clogged bilge. To make matters worse, traveling with Bella, our 13-year-old senior dog, has become a logistical nightmare due to restrictive, overreaching CDC regulations.
This video is raw, honest, and unfiltered. We’re showing you exactly what goes into deciding to take a break and why sometimes you have to prioritize family and peace of mind over the life aquatic. We’ll be back on the water soon enough.
What's in this video:
The Breaking Point: Why we’re prioritizing family time and Danielle’s birthday over boat projects.
The Logistics Nightmare: The truth about traveling internationally with a senior dog under current CDC policies.
The Pause, Not the End: We are taking a break, but we still have our sights set on Puerto Rico and further adventures on the horizon.
Connect with us:
Website: www.chrisdoeswhat.com
Channel: Chris Does What
#LiveaboardLife #BoatLifeBurnout #AguaAzul #FamilyFirst #TravelWithPets #ChrisDoesWhat
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0:00
Okay, so as part of a plan to leave the
0:02
DR, we're stacking up. This is all our
0:06
uh well, that's my wife's uh bag to
0:08
travel, but we've got all that vacuum
0:10
sealed stuff.
0:11
And uh
0:13
and my wife is in here, and she's got to
0:15
clean the wall in this room.
0:17
>> I got to clean the ceiling.
0:21
That really bad. Honestly, some of these
0:23
just dirt.
0:24
>> Yeah.
0:25
>> But that wall
0:28
That got cleaned with
0:30
Dawn Powerwash.
0:32
But we didn't get all the way over.
0:34
But look, it's still kind of clean. So,
0:36
I'm going to clean this entire area with
0:38
Dawn Powerwash.
0:39
>> Mhm.
0:40
>> Like all of that somebody must have done
0:42
that.
0:43
But what is this?
0:45
>> I have no clue. It was in with that uh
0:47
that dog carrier thing.
0:49
>> It's like
0:53
I don't get it.
0:55
>> But
0:57
I don't know. But yeah, I got to go
0:59
outside, and I got to clean rust and
1:01
stuff. That's my job. And hopefully we
1:03
can use our dog carrier there cuz uh
1:06
they said
1:08
>> that
1:09
air you can't have one that looks like
1:12
that.
1:14
But she's flying
1:16
a different way, so I'm wondering if
1:19
this will be allowed or this other than
1:20
that we just spent $200 to get another
1:22
one.
1:24
>> Yeah, expensive.
1:27
It barely fits through.
1:29
>> Yeah, I know that. I'm I'm just This is
1:31
just getting like
1:33
>> [laughter]
1:37
>> And those are our water filter things.
1:40
>> I'm going to get another one.
1:42
Me and my
1:43
all my glory and
1:46
>> You know what?
1:47
You know what? My wife is inside getting
1:49
to enjoy that.
1:51
No sunburn. I'm going to be outside
1:53
cleaning rust.
1:55
This is where I'm starting on. Stuff
1:58
like this.
1:59
So, I have that.
2:01
I have that.
2:03
Just all around the boat. Let's see I'm
2:05
going to start with this.
2:07
And see how uh
2:10
this Rust-Oleum dissolver
2:13
takes care of it. And then of course we
2:15
have to polish it.
2:17
So, my babe is in here hard at work. And
2:20
that was all
2:22
really bad up there.
2:26
>> [laughter]
2:28
>> Stop trying to get me in compromising
2:30
positions.
2:30
>> I'm not. I'm not, baby.
2:32
>> and you, too, baby.
2:33
>> No, I'm not.
2:36
Okay, guys. Look at that wall. Much
2:39
cleaner. Boy, my babe did a great job.
2:43
And now my babe is out here doing the
2:46
winches.
2:47
So.
2:48
>> It looks prettier. I'm I'm trying to
2:50
figure out hoping that this isn't
2:52
weathered or something. I would I don't
2:54
know why.
2:55
We're not in a very salty area.
2:57
>> No, but we were. So. And now
3:00
>> already cleaned them since then.
3:02
I've had them looking great.
3:06
>> And then here's
3:07
what my stanchions look like.
3:13
And then you'll see where these cracks
3:15
were.
3:17
Got the rust out of the cracks.
3:20
And this one where I started. This is
3:22
the worst one. And it's going to help
3:24
pretty good.
3:26
So, I'll just get back to work again.
3:28
Yeah, it's uh
3:30
gel right here. I like it.
3:33
Working pretty good. So.
3:36
Yeah, uh
3:37
>> [sighs]
3:37
>> used this before, but Tracy and
3:40
Paula Tracy
3:42
our friend said uh try on the stainless.
3:45
And uh gel coat. And it removes It
3:48
removes the rust down to the gel coat
3:49
really good.
3:52
Okay, guys. Right before I was going to
3:54
leave,
3:55
the water pump goes out. And she's final
3:58
wrenching the shower and uh
4:01
I haven't taken a shower.
4:03
>> shuts off.
4:04
>> And I still have to go number two, which
4:07
that's kind of important, so
4:09
>> TMI.
4:10
>> I'm fixing the water pump, putting in a
4:12
new one,
4:14
as I I am I'm pinching, dudes.
4:17
>> [laughter]
4:18
>> We got to We got to
4:20
run to poor Plada, get some and very
4:23
important paperwork for Plada.
4:25
>> Yep.
4:26
>> So
4:26
>> He's uh
4:27
>> We got to go catch our guy who's going
4:29
to who's wrenching us a car, so we got
4:31
to go.
4:32
>> Hopefully we're getting close to
4:34
done with this so we can get back to the
4:36
US.
4:37
>> Let's see see something else.
4:41
>> So, we're getting ready to go. She's uh
4:43
looking for the car and uh yeah, it's a
4:46
amazing that
4:47
we had to be here We were supposed to be
4:49
here around 9:00. We beat 9:00 and I had
4:52
to replace the water pump.
4:54
So I could take a shower
4:55
and the other things.
4:57
But uh didn't get to finish my coffee,
4:59
which is bad day. But uh
5:02
yeah. We're going to have some fun.
5:03
>> No, it's good.
5:05
>> [laughter]
5:08
>> Okay, so we're looking at the car here.
5:10
It's got a mirror's damaged.
5:13
The front
5:16
It's got some
5:17
good dings in it.
5:23
It still starts.
5:26
Cracked window, of course. This is
5:27
usual.
5:29
And
5:34
yeah.
5:36
Okay.
5:38
Okay, me and uh
5:39
puppy
5:41
She's uh in the window looking at all
5:42
the people.
5:43
But uh we're sitting here. We've got our
5:45
paperwork for the vet.
5:47
And now we're waiting uh for my babe.
5:49
We're at uh Serena right there
5:53
to uh get food and uh
5:56
also uh go check out our uh new release.
5:59
It's a Fog of Complexity. It's a new
6:01
song and uh I think it's great and uh
6:05
there she is.
6:06
She's been barking at the the people
6:08
passing.
6:09
But uh check it out. Here it is. Here's
6:11
a sample.
6:13
So
6:14
Let's see. Did it play? No. Who's in the
6:17
the night
6:22
while the shadows hide from the coming
6:26
fight.
6:27
>> [music]
6:30
>> They say it's fought for the dirt and
6:33
the stone.
6:34
>> [music]
6:36
>> Okay, guys.
6:37
Bella's done.
6:39
My babe is making us lunch.
6:41
Stopped at Serena.
6:43
>> I always do it this way. These are like
6:46
this big old bag of
6:48
yummy
6:49
rolls are like
6:51
I think they're like 45
6:53
pesos. Like they're under a dollar.
6:55
>> Yeah.
6:56
>> And then I'll pick up some meat
6:58
and cheese.
6:59
>> Good to go.
7:00
>> That way we don't have to stop anywhere.
7:02
>> Yeah. Well,
7:04
now we're going to head back to La Paz.
7:05
She's got her a new kennel. She's ready
7:07
to fly.
7:08
Look there. She's so excited. She's been
7:10
barking at all people right watching out
7:13
of the store.
7:15
>> Imagine.
7:18
>> Okay, so we're back on the boat. There's
7:20
my babe.
7:21
>> Oh, I'm already
7:22
>> Here's the puppy.
7:23
>> I'm already
7:25
starting into my cake job.
7:27
>> [laughter]
7:28
>> And that's all she's worth.
7:31
>> I'm not.
7:33
Don't be gross.
7:34
>> But uh yeah, I have to finish putting
7:35
together that water pump. But my wife
7:37
picked up some
7:38
some special containers for all our
7:40
documents we picked up.
7:41
>> I have two.
7:42
>> Cuz we're spending a ton of money on
7:43
documents for this dog.
7:46
>> And
7:46
>> [snorts]
7:46
>> she's not this dog, she is our dog.
7:49
>> Our dog.
7:50
This dog.
7:51
>> want anything ruined. I mean, this is
7:53
you you you you pay $300 to get a
7:56
signature from the government in the in
7:58
Dominican Republic.
8:00
Need it protected.
8:02
>> [laughter]
8:02
>> And then it goes into another
8:03
protection, and then it's going to go
8:05
into another protection.
8:08
>> Yeah.
8:09
So, and uh
8:11
yeah. Well, she's Well, she's uh putting
8:13
away groceries and crap.
8:15
And uh that dog is outside uh
8:18
fishing or whatever and stuff. Yeah, she
8:20
>> drove me insane. Jeez.
8:23
Oh my goodness.
8:25
>> I'm uh finish this uh water pump. I'll
8:27
show you what I'm doing here.
8:29
>> I felt like I just fell over.
8:32
>> [laughter]
8:34
>> I thought it was nothing.
8:35
>> I don't see the Yeah, the boat didn't
8:37
move.
8:38
>> No, it's just me. I I didn't sleep well
8:40
last night.
8:42
>> Yeah, she can't sleep well when you have
8:44
uh you have to set the alarm clock.
8:46
She doesn't do good with that.
8:48
>> Well,
8:51
you woke me up three times.
8:52
>> Oh, yeah.
8:54
Well, I don't sleep good all anyway. My
8:55
back goes out and I can't I have to roll
8:57
out of bed and all that crap.
8:59
>> we just sound like pity party over here.
9:02
>> Let me go finish that. Let me go finish
9:04
that water pump.
9:05
>> So, this right here is the old pump.
9:09
I've got the new pump down here.
9:11
I think uh since I opened this up, it
9:13
came with this new uh filter. I'm going
9:15
to replace the old filter
9:17
because the bottom blew out on that
9:19
thing and so
9:21
probably be better even though this
9:22
one's smaller. We use uh um
9:26
we make our water, so it doesn't have
9:28
any crap in it.
9:30
Yeah, I had to move a lot of things
9:31
around.
9:33
Let's see.
9:37
But,
9:39
I had to move these over,
9:41
the whole block over,
9:43
and so I could get this little one in
9:45
because this big one
9:47
was bigger. So, it took up more space. I
9:50
didn't want to put that on mine.
9:52
And now I have one screw in it,
9:54
but we have water working. So, we're
9:56
good to go.
9:57
All right, the job is done. Don't judge
10:00
me if I make a mess in the house.
10:02
I got to pick all this up.
10:05
I think the longest part about doing
10:07
projects on a boat,
10:08
other than filming this,
10:10
is actually um
10:13
clean up. Finding it first, finding all
10:16
the crap because in a boat, your garage
10:19
is every nook and cranny you can find in
10:22
a boat.
10:23
And then of course picking it back up.
10:27
So, as you can see here,
10:30
that looks really good.
10:32
The stuff works really well.
10:34
Down here, that's all gone.
10:37
And of course, all the way down the boat
10:38
is gone now. Yay.
10:42
We are leaving, so I went ahead and tied
10:44
this up. I'm not going to pull down my
10:46
head sail cuz we're going to be down in
10:48
a
10:48
down in a little bit,
10:50
but I am tying that so it doesn't
10:51
unspool itself.
10:53
Even though
10:55
up there I've got super coiled, so
10:59
and uh tied with both my winches.
11:03
I do have the generator running. So, my
11:06
wife's inside cleaning and uh we're
11:08
trying to stay cool.
11:09
But, now I have to go back here and
11:12
got to cover up these fuel cans. That
11:14
fuel can's right there.
11:16
I'm going to take that tarp down and I'm
11:17
going to cover them.
11:21
Okay.
11:22
I got my fuel cans covered up right
11:24
there.
11:26
And then uh
11:27
yeah, there's my dinghy.
11:30
It's leaking the oil,
11:31
but
11:33
double tied on both sides.
11:36
Now tied underneath it
11:38
and it doesn't move.
11:40
So hopefully it'll ride out for the
11:42
little time we're gone.
11:44
Okay guys, so we're on our last day,
11:47
full day on the boat.
11:49
Wife over there, she's been cleaning up
11:52
a storm. No, yeah, not forever, just
11:54
temporary. We're going to be coming
11:56
back, but a lot of prep going on. So
11:59
think of the war maker, my wife has been
12:02
cleaning up a storm in here. She's got
12:04
her tin gear going because she's over
12:06
cleaned.
12:07
>> Hold something.
12:09
>> [laughter]
12:09
>> And I'm still not done.
12:11
>> But yeah, so that's happening. Now got
12:14
the generator running again still again
12:17
and uh
12:18
cuz I'm burning through the last of the
12:20
fuel we have, so we don't have it
12:22
sitting in fuel cans.
12:24
But uh I got to go out here and uh move
12:26
the latch because uh
12:29
I think it's a really safe harbor, but
12:31
my wife this morning said, "Oh, there's
12:33
a guy running around looking at people's
12:35
dinghies."
12:37
>> That's what they're saying.
12:38
>> That's what they're saying.
12:39
>> I I joke.
12:40
>> We don't know if that's true or not. You
12:41
know, people make up crap out here, but
12:43
uh
12:44
you know, an ounce of prevention is
12:46
worth a pound of cure, so I'm going to
12:48
go do that prevention now.
12:51
So I have this right here. This is
12:53
broken on my bottom lazarette down there
12:57
and I'm just going to replace it.
13:00
Cuz uh I do have a camera up here, so
13:04
it can see all that and it follows
13:06
movement and all that stuff. So up here,
13:10
I'm getting notified. Down there, I
13:12
won't.
13:15
Okay, so these things had nuts on them.
13:17
So
13:18
yeah, they're they're actually
13:21
bolts and not uh just uh
13:24
screws.
13:27
Okay, so I got all these tied. See this
13:29
one's broken.
13:31
So, yeah, these work great.
13:36
Now, as you can see, my camera is still
13:37
staring at me.
13:39
So, good. You can see everything up
13:41
here.
13:42
I've got it mounted to this guy right
13:44
here, so it doesn't come off. But, I'll
13:47
explain this more when we get back.
13:51
That if it does its job, I'll review it.
13:56
Okay, my babe.
13:58
Almost got the entire house clean.
14:00
Cleaning up our fridge in here.
14:02
It's going to be empty. We're going to
14:03
turn that off.
14:05
And uh yeah, she's got all these things
14:07
laying around here.
14:10
Her damp reds.
14:12
And we're excited.
14:15
I have to fix that when I get back.
14:19
>> What's going on Mother's Day?
14:20
>> [laughter]
14:21
>> Happy Mother's Day.
14:23
>> Boat's rocking.
14:27
>> Okay, my babe. Finished cleaning the the
14:30
fridge.
14:30
>> always get me all slob?
14:32
>> Hey.
14:35
>> I look like a slob.
14:36
>> You do not.
14:37
>> Yes, I do.
14:37
>> Let's show off this fridge. Look at
14:39
this, guys.
14:40
Oh, yeah.
14:41
Look at that.
14:43
Look at that right there.
14:46
>> [laughter]
14:50
>> Okay, we're off the boat. Everything's
14:52
secure.
14:54
Here's my babe.
14:56
There's uh relaxant.
14:58
Waiting for a ride.
15:00
>> It's been a
15:04
3 months to get to this point.
15:07
Four four months? Five months?
15:09
>> Yeah.
15:10
>> To get to this very point right here.
15:12
>> And it's all cuz
15:13
>> not in the states.
15:20
>> We wave goodbye to the front porch
15:22
light.
15:22
>> [music]
15:23
>> Say see you later, this is [singing] our
15:24
flight.
15:25
The kids are grown, the house is too
15:27
quiet, [music] yeah. Empty nest and out,
15:29
ready [singing] to ride.
15:30
Traded the lawn mower [music] for a
15:32
salty breeze. Found a new home between
15:35
the palms and the trees. It's Chris and
15:36
Danielle charting a new course from the
15:39
comfort zone [music] to the boundless
15:41
source. No schedules, no rush. Just the
15:43
sun in the sky. Got a budget to balance,
15:45
[music] keep the dream flying high from
15:47
the dockside markers to the open blue
15:49
water. Every new flavor we can't be
15:51
denied.
15:54
Aguas
15:56
Azules. On to fortune, [music] that's
15:57
the base. Blue waters calling, moving at
15:59
our own pace. We discover the world one
16:02
wave at a time.
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