US East Coast Trip Preps x2
With only 5 days until departure from my current home port, the pace has quickened and the stress level risen. There’s plenty of boat work to do to get a boat ready for a trip, even just a coastal trip, but for this trip, we’re prepping TWO boats. That’s right! …twice the time, twice the money, twice the worry, twice the fuel, the water, the spares, the this, the that… everything x2. Noah would be proud.
I’m sailing in company with Daphne, a Nor’sea 27. The plan is to tie a 200′ 1/2″ nylon rope between the boats so we can’t get too far from each other, in case of emergency1. But for now, we’re mounting Monitor Windvanes, installing LEDs, making outboard motor brackets, checking rig tensions, diving on props, building cockpit fillers (yoga platforms), and trying to just get enough things crossed off our lists to feel like we’re “Ready”. It’s a VERY relative term. I could go now of course…the boat is ready enough, but the list of things I’d “like” to have accomplished is long and lingering. I’ve resorted to the tactic of picking a departure date out of my LRF cap, and sticking to it… whether the list is crossed out completely, partially, or not at all. As one [not so] famous cruising couple [of loose cannons] once said, “GO SMALL, SCREW THE LIST, GO NOW!”
Seems my clients are also worried about my departure date, and they all want everything done before I leave. All of them; Everything! Why I’m wasting time here on this blog is beyond me… there’s so much work to do, and money to be made (aka spent). But, I plan to work along the way. This has been le plan grand since day one. Work while I cruise: have laptop, have dataplan, have work, have stress. I’m not independently wealthy, no trust fund or financial backer, I’m just a guy who knows how to use Photoshop well enough to make an interpretive living with it… a portable living. My goal is a seem-less transition from living aboard in one location, to living aboard in a new location each week. If all goes well, no one will know the difference.
Seeing as I’ve been helping to install the Monitor on Daphne all week, my list is rather light on “cross-offs”. All I can report today is that I have installed (and by install I mean placed) cockpit cushions and glued down some treadmaster, neither of which were actually on “the list”.
Notes:
1. Not actually doing that.
Wait, two boats, two people… seems like the same amount of work per person to get ready. What’s wrong with this equation?
Smart man, to pick a date and GO!!!! Barring terrible weather, you have to do that! Cruising is just “boat repair in exotic places” anyway.
Seriously, that piece of advice (pick a date and go, project list be damned) is one we learned last time we went, and is almost the first piece we pass along when meeting wanna-be cruisers. Yeah, there are the “must get dones.” But there are ALWAYS the “want-to-get-dones” and the boat is never finished.
So do the stuff that needs to be done for safety, or the stuff that requires tools you won’t take with you. And head off.
We’re hoping to see you at some point this winter, 2 BCCs sailing along in company somewhere warmer than here!
Cheers, luck, and have a BLAST!!!
Oh, and - don’t forget - cruising is as much a state of mind as a location. hard to remember, but might be critical!
Nica
Isnt it amazing how many thing you can get done that aren’t on “the list”?
Godspeed.
Benji! Go Benji! Yes, prepping two boats is a lot of work, but at least we get to do it together. I’ll take care of the sewing/sailmaking projects, we mount my monitor together, and enjoy the tandem sail even more. Our boats, and our trip. A trio of sailors.
Tee Ree and Dory
SV Daphne
Benji go benji!
Ben,
Have you ever said what size your BCC here on the site. Been reading your stuff for awhile. What length is your new boat?
She’s 28′ on deck, 38′ overall. Maybe I’ll work up a specs page, but in the meantime:
http://samlmorse.com/?a=bristol_cutter
It has been fun and interesting, watching your progress, with BCC Elizabeth.
You may find even more clients, along the way.
We all look forward to the photos and cruising stories that you will share with us.
I supose that the 200′ line will be a nylon line.
Good Luck and God Bless