Countdown!
06 April 2009 | Gig Harbor, WA
A friend of ours said we should start doing daily blogs on our preparations now that departure date is nearing, so here it is Dave!
Back in August of 2007 we made a list of everything we knew we needed to either do to the boat or buy for the boat before setting sail. Then we took that list and prioritized it and scheduled everything month by month and have since been checking things off one by one.
April's list included getting a new dinghy. We chose West Marine's RIB 310. It's a rigid bottom (fiberglass) inflatable dinghy made of Hypalon like our old Avon that we had for about 15 years. Hypalon boats cost a bit more than PVC, but they hold up better in tropical climates, and since that's where we're headed that's what we needed. A dinghy is an important part of cruising boat -- it's basically your car since it is how you get anyplace off your boat. So we picked up our "new car" last Thursday and we took it out for a spin this lovely spring weekend! Couldn't be more delighted! It's basically the same style as our old dinghy, but the tubes are larger and the V of the hull is deeper so it is much roomier inside and is able to effortlessly get up on a plane to travel across the water smoothly.
The other project on the calendar for April is to change over from "live aboard at the marina" mode to "cruising mode". This means going through every cupboard, closet, nook and cranny on the boat to reorganize and get rid of anything that won't be useful to us away from the dock, thus making room for things we will need. Off goes the microwave and other 120 V appliances since we won't be able to plug them in when we no longer have shore power. And back to the boat comes extra sails and other equipment that we don't need here on a daily basis, but will need as we are off sailing the deep blue seas.
We've also begun provisioning, but the bulk of that will be done in May. That involves not only stocking up on food, but spare parts as well. We've purchased plenty of spare zincs, filters, cleaners, etc. so we will have what we need when we're off in remote areas without a West Marine down the street.
We've set May 31st as the day we'll leave Gig Harbor -- first stop: Blake Island. Then we will spend June and July traveling through the San Juans and Gulf Islands -- maybe getting as far north as Desolation Sound. We plan to be in Neah Bay by the 1st of August, waiting for a good weather window to start our trip down the coast.
The countdown has begun!