In preparation for moving the new sailboat on May 20th, I purchased some handheld electronics to help with the navigation and passing the time. Before departing Jacksonville for the final time I’ll have installed a full boat-wired electronics suite. But I’m still taking this 5-day trip seriously and wanted to make sure the electronics side of things was...
I’ve been running hot all April (a poker term, meaning gettings cards and breaks going your way). Everything seemed to just line up for the purchase of my new boat. The boat was actually in better condition than I expected from the pictures posted in the for sale ad. Key components made this an easy decision, such as a working autopilot and standing rig in...
After getting the settlement check for the boat accident I took a look through the websites that list boats for sales. A quick search found a 1979 Morgan Outisland 415 (41′ foot) for sale in Punta Gorda in SW Florida for just about the same amount as the settlement check. I took the Greyhound down. There was no convenient schedule down so got stuck sleeping on...
Sunset pictures from the cockpit of the sail boat Palani
So seven months after Hurricane Matthew they’ve reopened Dock 2 at the marina I keep my sail boat. I moved back on Saturday. Completely different experience from being up in the cove. The area is much more open, so it makes the boat seem bigger. There is better airflow so fewer bugs and not as swampy. It took them a day to get the electricity figured out, but...
Finally, old man Winter is dead. It was great to get some warm days and plug away at my lists of sail boat chores to get done. Life Lines I decided to remove the life lines from the boat. These are the wires that run about waist high around the edge of the sail boat. As the Palani is an older model, the side decks are narrow. While the lifelines define the outline of...
I’ve been taking care of a bunch of small boat projects around the boat. I’m still waiting on the insurance company to submit an offer to settle for the damage done two months ago. It’s been a long and frustrating process as patience isn’t one of my virtues. Once the insurance payoff happens, I have to move the boat about 4 hours up the coast...
I’m slowly working through replacing all the running rig (ropes that control the sails) as I redo the sail plan. I have no idea the age of the existing lines so this way I’ll know when they need to be replaced next. For the main halyard, I need it to terminate in an eye to attached the headboard on the sail. The place I buy boat supplies from wants $20 to...
Finally, Florida started holding up its end of the bargain for 2017. Gorgeous blue sky and mid 70 temps for the weekend. This motivated me to get out and do some boat chores. The first was figuring out why the knotmeter wasn’t registering. I recently found it located in a locker that was screwed shut (instead of fixing the broken latch they just bolted it shut)...
Since I’m having to hold off on any sailing and some of my outside projects I’ve decided to move up the rework of the internal wiring system for the sail boat Palani. Also since adding the refrigeration (I was running it with the 12v system) I’ve noticed that the charger is either too small, malfunctioning or both. The charger converts the 110v...