Getting ready for this year's journey

Wayne and I arrived in Brunswick today, ready to stock Cool Change for this year's journey down the Intracoastal.  I'm a little bit baffled by the large amount of "stuff" that filled the car.  This is our second load, after having brought an earlier carfull down several weeks ago.  I seem to have more sewing supplies and projects and Wayne seems to have more tools and boating gadgets.  Hopefully, we can still move the boat through the water with the weight we've added.  Our plan is to work on cleaning and some minor jobs and to head south no later than Thursday, December 1st.

Several friends and relations have commented after our last year's trip, implying that I (Colleen) am extremely nautical, very wifely, admirably adaptable and even adventuresome.  Now, last year's trip was certainly enjoyable but not for any of the above reasons.  I really must point out that the real reason for my willingness to accompany Wayne on this dream of living and cruising on a boat was all about him.  Not only do I like being with him a lot but he made an enormous effort to make me feel welcome and involved in his adventure.  He realized that I would be most content on this trip if I was able to pursue my hobby of sewing on our journey and right away he gave me generous space to do so.  He added the inverter so I could run the sewing machine (well, yeah, he did want to watch the TV too) and he worked hard to make sure that Cool Change has many creature comforts that make her appealing to a woman (new carpet and customized storage areas to name a few).

So, if you're a guy who has read of our adventures and you've said to your maybe a little reluctant significant other, "Look, Colleen took to cooking in cramped quarters, taking chilly Navy showers, giving up her king-sized bed for four months and hoarding quarters so she could wash and dry clothes in some pretty horrible marina laundry areas," I think you should try another approach.  Think of all the ways you can make living on a boat fun for her, just as Wayne did.  Good luck. 

The time to depart Brunswick, GA for Florida is rapidly approaching.  The planned departure date is Dec. 1^st.  Since mid-March, we have made trips to Cool Change about every 3 weeks or so.  Recently the visits have been about every 2 weeks. 

We have made a number of upgrades to the boat during these 7 months.   The most significant of the changes was the replacement of all of the carpeting aboard.  The carpet was so soiled that I believe that the previous owners must have spilled more drinks than they consumed.  All of the carpet was glued down and stapled at all edges.  Great fun removing the old carpet!   The floor of the main salon is made up of 6 lift out floor sections and surrounding permanent sections.  The galley and aft cabin had a total of 6 combined inspection hatches.  Each section was ringed with staples – thousands of staples.  I swore that I would not use that many staples when I did the job.  But to get the carpet to pull around the floor sections and stay in place for the carpet glue to set, I shot more than 4000 staples with my air gun stapler.  The carpet replacement required 5 visits to the boat to complete.

Lighter new carpet and older dark carpet during installation

We also upgraded our VHF radio and antenna– the bridge tenders in south Florida kept saying they could not hear our transmissions.  Even when they could hear us, I think that they sometimes paid little attention or barked at us for some transgression.  The new antenna is a much higher performance model than was originally aboard.  The new VHF radio is a DSC (Digital Selective Calling) model.  It is linked to our GPS so that our GPS position can be automatically transmitted.  The VHF radio is registered in the Coast Guard data base so that information about our boat is automatically transmitted continuously.  The information that the Guard receives includes a description of our boat as well as the boat name and most of all our, GPS position.  The radio has a distress button so it can even transmit a selectable type of distress to the CG.  Other boats and especially big ships with DSC radios can also see this info as well as being able to see our position plotted on their GPS and radar if they have linked their VHF radio, GPS and radar systems.

After using the inverter system last season, we realized that we needed more battery capacity to generate 120 volt electricity without the noise of the generator.  The two deep cycle batteries would only last part of the night before shutting down about 3AM.  Two more deep cycle, 95 pound batteries were installed in the hold along with associated cables.  The cables used are ¾ inch in diameter to carry the high current loads.  We re-wired the 12 volt battery system so that the 4 inverter batteries became battery bank #2 and now will charge while the engines are running.  The remaining three original marine batteries are now bank #1.  Bank #1 is now connected to the bow thruster battery via a solenoid when the starboard engine is running.  A separate starting battery is designated only for starting the generator.  So – 9 batteries are now aboard Cool Change.

Two larger fire extinguishers have been added in the salon and the galley.  The original small extinguisher in the galley was relocated to the aft cabin.

 I have started replacing the vinyl in the side curtains.  This involves ripping the stitching from the canvas curtains and sewing new vinyl into each section.  Four side curtains have been upgrade so far.  The rest will be a winter project.

During the last trip to the boat, a new, all stainless steel dinghy tilting system was installed.  The old system involved hitch points that were glued to the rubber tubes of the dinghy.  Needless to say, they would not stay glued and the glue costs $60 for a half pint.  The new setup includes a front and rear arc system that bolts into the fiberglass hull of the dinghy.  Three hours were spent just lining up the positions for each piece and determining where to drill through the fiberglass hull of the dinghy and the swim platform of Cool Change.  It was difficult to commit to drilling six holes through the bottom of the dinghy.  But that was the only way to provide a permanently secure attachment.  The new lift eliminates a major concern for the dinghy while traveling.  We are now OK storing the dinghy for extended periods without worry that deflation will dump the dinghy in the water.  See picture  attached:

New dinghy lift - note bolted brackets (Arcs)