Summertime & The Livin’s Busy
Early Saturday morning at the SC Boardwalk.
This week, the blog post is short & sweet. -Mainly because it’s summer & we are starting to really crack down on boat projects. The cockpit panels are slowly coming together. Teak is getting cleaned & oiled. Harriet II, our backup autopilot, has been configured in case we need to replace Harriet I. Other ideas are coming together. And we are planning on getting back to MerSea, in the next day or so, to continue checking things off our list.
Stern panel is getting there.
It was a shorter stay this last weekend. We got on the boat Friday evening & motored out on Saturday morning. We thought about sailing later on in the afternoon but projects were underway & we didn’t want to have to re-anchor in 25 knot winds.
Matt pared down a cutting board so we can use it as a moveable countertop.
It did turn out to be a pretty day. However, the wind was brisk & icy. Therefore making it really only comfortable outside if we were bundled up or laying down on the cockpit cushions.
Matt teaching Zephyr how to fish.
This time we’re on the east side of the pier.
Luckily, we spent a bit of time enjoying the anchorage before getting to work.
Our solar system has been pretty inefficient lately. Matt says that our current solar panels are getting old & probably not as efficient as they could be. He found a couple of flexible 200W panels that should fit really well onto the deck just forward of the dodger and on the dodger itself. So hopefully that will solve the issues after we get them & install them.
Solar panel troubleshooting. What everyone desires to do on a Saturday afternoon. At least the view is nice.
It’s definitely a different dynamic that our dog is able to actually sit at the table with us during meals. He’s even a really good boy. -Unless your back is turned.
After scanning for months, we found the second to last (working?) Autohelm pilot 3000 in the world in England(?)! Matt wired up each autopilot with the same 12V SAE connectors to make easy the substitution of parts on the fly, when they are apt to break. He affixed a counterweight that had loosened itself inside of the autopilot control box. It still needs one more connector & then we can fully test it.
Unlike the weekend before, it was gloomy on Sunday morning. So it was a bit easier to get back home & back to work.
Matt & I, oh & also Zephyr, just finished watching the documentary, “Untold: The Race of the Century”. It’s about the 1983 America’s Cup & what transpired during it. I won’t say anything more because either you’ve seen it, you know what happens or it’ll be more fun just watching it if you don’t know anything before-hand. We thought it was a great watch. It’s on Netflix.
It does feel good to be checking things off the list. -Especially since we have a ton to do in the next 3 months! I’m not freaking out though. -Yet. It basically comes down to the fact that we’ll get everything needed to get done before we leave because we have to. I know there are some things that we can get done along the way. So, we’ll put those items at the bottom of the list. For now, it’s just nice to be using the boat & working on it.
My snuggle buddy.
Thanks for reading! Come back next week to see what else we have gotten done. Plus, we’ll be releasing a new video.
