I’m really glad we started our prep work early as the pace to get things done has not been a rushed one. With all the work we are doing we still have enough time to visit with friends and most importantly, rest. Even though we weren’t feeling rushed at all this week we still decided to hire some of the work out because we weren’t experienced enough to do the task or, as in the case of the varnishing, it would have been too time consuming. So we’re down to a couple of weeks now, David’s parents will be here next weekend and my parents the weekend after.
Engine Alignment - We had Jason from Mockingbird Marine come over to check the alignment of the engine this week. There was no indication that it was out of alignment, this was just a ‘peace of mind’ check. We had two new motor mounts put on last year, and at the time of that alignment we were advised that after using the boat for a while we should have them checked to make sure there was no settling of the mounts. They checked out just fine.
Boom Preventer - Installed a boom preventer and all the necessary hardware to make it work properly. The boom preventer helps to secure the boom in various situations such as light air sailing (keeps the boom from flopping back and forth) and it also helps when sailing downwind in preventing accidental jibes.
Spare Shaft Seal - We ordered and added to our inventory of spare parts a spare dripless packing seal. This is the seal that goes around the propeller shaft where it exits the boat and keeps water from coming in. Because it is possible for the rubber bellows to wear or tear, we wanted to make sure we had a spare as we suspect that it would be difficult to find in some of the areas we plan on cruising in. Without a spare or the ability to get one quickly the boat has a great potential of taking on to much water and sinking. It’s another of the ‘peace of mind’ purchases.
Varnishing - This is one of the projects that David and I do not enjoy doing so we hired Ann and her team to take care of it for us. We had the companionway doors and the trim around them stripped and they are in the process of putting on 12 coats of new varnish. They should be done next week and we have no doubt that they will look impressive.
Provisioning - We began provisioning this week with nonperishable goods. Rather than make one massive trip to the store we decided to break it down in multiple, more manageable trips. We still need to do another trip for non perishables and one to get some cold weather clothes (not many mind you!). The final provisioning trip will be a day or two prior to our departure and will primarily consist of the perishable goods.
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Defrost Refrigerator - It had been a while and was definitely time to defrost the refrigerator. Among some of the benefits of having it defrosted is that we can now open the freezer door and we’ll get back to normal energy consumption (the compressor won’t have to work so hard to keep the fridge cool).
More Securing - One of the problems of cruising is theft of boat equipment. We have started taking measures to ensure that it would be difficult for someone to walk off with any of our stuff. Some of the precautions we have taken is adding a cable and lock to the stern anchor, small cable and lock on the BBQ, new lock on the outboard motor, and made a canvas pocket inside the lazarette to store winch handles when not in use.
Seacocks - On the survey we had done last week it was recommended that we free up two of the cockpit drain seacocks located in the lazarette. This only took 5 minutes, but it took 30 minutes just to clean out the lazarette to get to them, and another 30 minutes to put everything back. Also on the survey was the recommendation to add a hose clamp to the bilge pump hose. Another 5 minute project.
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More Organizing - We did the last bit of organizing the cabinets this week. It was hard deciding what we didn’t really need, but we do have a lot more room on the boat. One of the areas that needed thinning was the sheets and towels. We had about 20 towels but by reducing that in half we have a lot more space in the linen locker. We also had bags and bags of rags, and that was also reduced by 50%.
Wills - Though we don’t have a lot, we wanted to ensure that what we did have was properly taken care of in case something should every happen to us. Aside from new wills, we also updated our Directive to Physicians and Power of Attorneys. Many thanks to Lauren (s/v Coin Toss) for her assistance!
Doctor’s Visit - I’ve been feeling pretty lousy this week so I decided to make a trip to the doctor’s office. Turns out it’s allergies. David’s pretty lucky as he doesn’t have allergy problems, and I haven’t had any allergy issues since moving aboard two years ago until this week. Hopefully it’ll be short lived.