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For those of you who have a vision of Rae and Sharon, lounging in
the sunshine, spending sweet blisssome filled days with
whispering winds, caressing our fine silvering locks ....think again!
Sailing is work. Very high priority work. Our lives depend
on it. There are
no gas stations on the ocean. Although one may be able to get
emergency help up to about 100 miles offshore, we take complete
responsible for our own safety. Powerful
motivation to stay ship shape!
We do most of the work on the boat ourselves.
We hire help when we need extra skills,
but in order to sail around the world without going broke, we have to do
most of the work ourselves.So it is in our hands, to insure we are safe. We
like to think of this in terms of boat Karma.
Mustang Sally has reservoir of Karma. We add to the Karma
reservoir by preparing ourselves and the boat. When we are at sea
or in challenging sea conditions, we draw upon the Karma to stay
out of trouble.
The more Karma we put in, the more Karma we can take out.
With a full reservoir of Karma, we can cross oceans with few worries and
we will be safe.
So in preparing for departure, we fill up the Karma reservoir
by fixing everything, checking everything and doing our best to
insure all systems - including our bodies and minds are 110% functional.
That, friends is boat Karma. Boat Karma is worth about 100
times more than boat insurance. Insurance is good, but in terms of
looking after yourself, boat Karma is way more valuable. By
June 1 we will have several thousand hours of boat Karma. And
while underway we will keep that Karma reservoir topped up.
So
here are some of the Karma, Sharon and I put into Mustang
Sally before we cast off on our adventures:
Haul Out: We lived in a boatyard in Bellingham for 10 days.
It is like living in a gritty dirty tree house, with a pulp mill
for a neighbor. The first 7 days are cold and rainy, But the
Colony Wharf people are great. We
fix everything on the bottom side of the boat, paint, stripes,
props, legs and dings in the bows.
Click here to see some of the work and my Rainy Day Boat Yard Blues lyrics.
Heavy duty autopilot. In order for two people to sail long
distances a good autopilot is essential. I have worn out 3 Raymarine autopilots. So, the
current one will be a backup for the new heavy duty pilot from ComNav.
This will provide the toughness and reliability and durability we need.
Radar: Installing Nobeltec's digital radar.
Sealing Aft Compartments: These are empty floatation compartments
but the darn things collect water. The design is flawed, so in
addition to recaulking everything we redesign to be water tight.
New Ships Computer: Plus wiring for twelve volts, big
industrial strength 17 inch monitor, back up disk and notebook
backup.
New distribution panel: Gotta power all those new gadgets.
Rigging Upgrades: Rebuild Profurl unit. New running
rigging (ropes). Checking all standing rigging and upgrading as
required.
Shoot!! The Espar furnace blew up! Got to install a new one.
Charging control system upgrade: At the dock, the batteries are topped up adequately via 110 volts
when we are plugged in. Strangely, it turns out
the boats charging system is governed based on the
engine batteries. Away from the dock, that means the most used
battery - the house batteries - are rarely charged up unless you run the
engines days at a time. Fixing that with new controllers from BlueSea !
I could go on, but me thinks your eyes are glassing.
A karma status report is posted here.
It is going to be tough to get it all done by June 1. So I better
get to work and quit fiddling with the web site.
But don't let me spoil your fantasy. Go ahead and think we do nothing
but sun tan, swim and enjoy endless blisssome sun sets.
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