D-Day - 7 Switching gears.

Sun is up, temperature are up, and wind is down. But the moral is up.
When the tension goes up, I have the remedy now.
I lace my running shoes.

Can you run in circles in a boat ?

The boat is almost ready, to the point I am turning in circles a bit.

Yesterday night, I managed to grab a grib file using the Sat phone.
Just as a backup, but an important one.

I managed eventually to connect to the Sat Phone and get a grib file. This is very expensive, but seems do able if needed. It takes 2 minutes to connect, and another 4 minutes to get a 10Kb file.
The unknown is the ability to aim to the satellite with the phone while at sea.
I guess it depends of the size of the waves and the rocking of the boat.

You can say you are switching gear when you go more often to Walmart than West Marine.
Costco is the starting line green light.

I have a last boat project - the reorganization of the lazarette space, but mostly starting to look into the provisioning, and weather. I want to take some emergency rations and water, but that takes tons of place. Specially if you want to add 10 gallons of water in jars.

But we will get there.

D-Day - 8. Living in a box

Now that the amount of things to do is going down, I have more time to think, and I begin to realize the enormity of the task ahead. The passage itself.
Of course, you don't want to see the whole picture.
This is daunting.
Like my first big wave.
Or my first Kitesurfing session.

You do it one step at a time.

You paddle out.
You turn around.
You drop.
You prey.

In any case, if you get caught in the full picture, this is daunting.

Maybe this is the weather that do not seem to be cooperating (no wind forecast..), the sat phone data I cannot get to work on my PC.

Who thoughts in 2015 that connecting a modem 2600 bauds to a PC would be an issue ?
Even a Satellite based modem.
Trying on Mac now.

The last minute switch to WeFax and SSB Receiver.
Or the chilly inside temperature (boat are not insulated - at all).
The change of daylight zone.

The VBerth.
The biggest part of the box.

Not sure, but this night, I got up really early, impossible to sleep.

Still bigger than those one.
We are in America, everything is bigger :)

And they was no Aerosmith playing.
I had really the feeling to live in a box.

I guess the fundamental fears are crawling in.
Like my first marathon. You train as hard as you can.
And you prey it will be enough.
Then you go.
And while you run, you only feel the pain, not the fears :)

D-Day - 9 The Small Stuff

Feel almost awkward to not be stressed anymore.
Having found the last fuel leak, and the boat being almost ready,  I am flying through the last items on  my list.
The next big step will be provisioning and the last minute checks, but overall, after the craziness of this last month, it feels like the calm before the storm.

Solved the traveler lines blocker issue,
by going down one size on the line.

Tracking fuel links with paper towel.
It was one injector that was leaking as a mad man.

Last step of the full engine service.
The coolant flush.

Oups.
Another **contained** spill.

Nice little cleat for the jib outhaul.
The backing plate for this one is bigger than the jib cleat itself :)

Safe Room.
Let's bring on the waves on the stern with full stainless steel gate.

9 items on my list !

At this pace, I should be done by the end of the week.

Now it is time to prey for good weather.

D- Day - 11. Pretty Pretty girl

Today, we have visitors.
Then we decided to make ourselves pretty.
After those month of fiber dust, oil spills, diesels fumes, that will be good !

Cleaning teak is always a pleasure.
It is so dirty, you can tell the difference !

Of course, the range of what can be done in half a day is quite limited. But you can tell.

Lights show !

Putting everything in order helps too.
We do not have the food and water, but everything fits so far. It is overall quite organized.
It is true that the boat got a lot of storage, relative to its size.

As clean as new...
40 years after.

There is even a Hamock for our dog, Barnaby.
And one for the guinea pig, Oscar.

Ready to go

The deck has been cleaned - briefly too. We might have some time during the passage anyway :)

Cockpit is now quite organized

Spent a decent amount scrubbing the cockpit. Way to go, but you can tell. You will have to trust me on this one.

Light wind sailing day.
10 to 15 knots, sunny.
that s what we call pleasure boating.

And we went out for a nice sail, with some waves 5ft, and light wind. But the boat handle very well lights wind, with his huge Genoa. On a beam, we were flying.
Engine behave good this time again.
I begin to have a little more confidence, it real starts on the spot.
Only issue, this fuel leak looks worst and worst and after only one hour of motoring, was quite sizable. Nothing that prevent us to use the engine, but it smells real bad and fill the rags pretty fast.
Well, I guess I know what to do tomorrow morning !

D - Day -12 : Stormy

California weas craving for water. Yesterday, I had my first storm aboard the boat - well protected in the marina - I forgot how loud a boat can be when it is raining a lot.

The bad news is the companion way boards leak quite a lot, but with some trash bags it ended up to be in control.

Ugly, still.

Humid...

The god news is almost all the ports are now leak-free. No need to try with a water hose. It was pouring.

It was falling buckets of water during one hour

Got up early, I still had some work on the engine, to try to fire it up without any lift pump. Ended up to work after another half day spent in the bilge and diesel fumes.
Outside, the weather was better, but not the water.

In the morning, the water in the marina was...
disgusting. Brown and dirty.

My second solo handing with the boat was easier than last time, thanks to the Windvane, but it was rocking outside the gate. 20 knots, 5-7 feet of swell. The beating part was - as always - quite impressive. Coming downwind and surfing the waves is always a pleasure.
I kept the main double reefed. Did not want to be overpowered while solo handing.

Finally, a nice sail !

Coming back to the marina was very stressful. Will it start ? What do I do if not ? I had my back-up plan ready, but it started right away without any problem.

It seems I still have some fuel leak (new ones, after all those fitting I played with), but expect that, all is good.

Another try tomorrow, and maybe one day, maybe, I won't be stressed by a potential engine failure at a critical time.

However, I am building confidence I can - I might - be able to fix it on the spot.

I might even start a new job of diesel mechanic.

It seems the good ones are rarity and make more money than me by the hour.

The list is down under the dozen of items.

Moral is up.

Forecast for tomorrow is good.

Isn't it a high in the rollercoaster ?

what happens next ....