Friday, September 10, 2010

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

(Steph)
     I started off my day with a visit to Dr. Shreedhar to check on the progress of my hernia repair.  While exiting the tight confines of the engine room where I was securing one of the four batteries we carry, I twisted and felt a tug at my abdomen.  Doc said not to worry, in a couple of weeks I'll be 100%.  Not bad, since I'm usually only 98%
     I stopped at West Marine for some electrical connectors and rubber hoods for the battery terminals.  Since the boat can roll significantly in all sorts of directions, the batteries (and most everything else) needs to be stowed securely.  This means acidproof straps screwed to the engine room floor and belted around each battery.  Insulated "hoods" cover the terminals and connections to preclude accidental arcing and sparking. This is a "before" picture.
     Judy with Dave, our marine advisor and hands-on mentor had Bentaña at the dock by the time I arrived .  We reviewed the long list of safety items and upgrades we needed for our open ocean passage. We contacted I-COM to order our single side band radio which we will need for off-shore communication. We finished hooking up the RADAR which was disconnected last year when we recommissioned our fatigued mizzen mast.  It looked great when we turned it on.  We removed our queen-sized mattress to check out the emergency tiller.  It is an iron tiller that goes directly on the rudder post in case the cables that respond to the steering wheel should fail.  We will need to re-enginner it, as it will not work in its original configuration.  What where they thinking?  I guess, nobody has ever come back to complain.
     We are installing additional utility ports AKA "cigerette lighters," to access the 12 volt power system in each of the state rooms, the dinette and the nav station.  Judy had launch duty this evening, so I continued on my own with this and that.  I cleaned the aft hatchway to replace the rubber watertight gasket .  the boat must be able to withstand a roll-over without catastrophic failure.  Issues at sea need to be more fail-safe than in coastal or inland cruising.  Although the dangers are rare and prudent mariners are prepared, we need to be ready for the unanticipated. Lots more to do, and we're headed upstate for Judy's Class Reunion tomorrow, so I'll close now.  We'll keep you posted

2 comments:

  1. You may want to look into USB charger ports to complement the cigarette lighter plugs.

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  2. I really like the blog guys and I am looking forward to reading more. Good luck with all of your preparations.

    Mike

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