Week in Review

This week we have been head-down trying to finish up projects so we can leave the dock in Deltaville and head towards New England. We have been working on boats for almost 6 months straight and we have only anchored out for two nights!  Ugh!  

It is so important to reflect on the progress we've made so we realize we are closer to our goal (sailing away - somewhere) than it might seem, especially when something on the boat stops working.

Our projects this week have included:

1)  Install new Xantrex amp meter (which then told us our batteries were barely hanging on and needed to be replaced.)

2) Replace old batteries with (2) new Mastervolt 6v AGM, 340 AH

3) Complete the Kyocera 245 solar panel install.  Complicated by a sloping hard dodger and a rigid very large panel.

4) Add canvas to the dodger glass to shade the cockpit when the sun is beating down at noon.

5)  Rebuild the aft head (ohhh - so fun!) This was a total disassembly and rebuild of the aft pump system. Too nasty for us to take photos this time.

6)  Replace the air intake valve in the forward head.

7)  Install dive tank holder in the cockpit lazerette so we can dive under the boat as needed - for those who don't know, this isn't just for pretty clear azure waters (though that's a nice benefit), but also in case anything gets caught on the keel/prop/shaft and has to be fixed immediately.

8)  Build a method/process for storing 12' stand up paddleboards on deck - fun doesn't just happen, you have to plan for it.

9)  Install a Simnet cable from our Simrad autopilot to our chartplotter so we can navigate course up (see previous post for how if you're going south this can be frustrating unless you're sitting upside down on top of the helm.)

10)  Got up close and personal with our bilge - just because we wanted to see what it was all about.  We learned a lot - more than we really wanted to know, but better to know now.

In the mean time, Steve, who Baxter sailed with up from Marathon, Florida on SV Chandara, replaced things that stopped working during their passage and is on his way to Maine now. We expect to see him again at the end of June.

Solar panel install complete.  Since the panel is so large, it is important the mount is solid and doesn't flex.  One of the pending projects includes a "guard" so in case the topping lift gives out, the 17 ft boom doesn't slam into the solar panel!

Solar panel controller.  It indicates the amount of charge from the panels.

Xantrex amp meter - we bought this so it could tell us that we needed to buy new batteries.

Baxter made this cable himself (crimp the ends with the metal connectors and then heat shrink the ends)

Aren't they pretty (funny how my perspective has changed)?  All 75 lbs!!  These are our new Mastervolt 6v 340AH AGMs.

Batteries installed and holding all 340 AH! Yes, we'll have them secured shortly!

The bilge light that should indicate it is running (not shown lit because we like our dry bilge)

Paddle boards cinched down and new canvas on the hard dodger (other side not snapped in yet for before/after effect)

Tank holders installed on lazarette - Bonaire, here we come!!

After all that work, you have to have SUP fun!

Steve leaving the dock on his way to Maine.