We have a 2003 Caliber LRC 40 sailboat. We chose the Caliber because of its reputation as a sturdy, cruising sloop with collision impact zones, large, integral fuel and water tankage, and its capability for sailing closer to the wind than most cruising yachts. Also, we wanted a cutter-rigged sloop which would makes for an inside sail plan for heavy weather sailing. The LRC in the model name stands for long range cruising due to its capacities of 212 gallons of diesel, 190 gallons of water, and 70 gallons of black water. Our particular Caliber was well-equipped (by the previous owners) with a 4.2KW generator (250 Amps), 2 alternators (290 Amps), a 17 gallon-per- hour watermaker, an ICOM single side band radio with a Pactor modem for data, a Globalstar SAT phone, and stainless tubing for lifelines (top and bottom), among other nice-to-have options. We cut into the stainless tubing to integrate a new stainless steel support structure for the bimini which also supports 4 solar panels ( 2- Kyocera 135 Watt and 2- Solarland 65 Watt) and dinghy davits. We parallel-wired all of the solar panels to a Blue Skies Charge Controller. Also over the dinghy davits we installed a KISS Wind generator wired to a Morningstar Charge Controller. We estimated our daily Amp-hour needs to be about 135. In the Caribbean we can get ~122 Amp-hours from the 4 solar panels and we get the balance from the wind generator, if wind blows at all. Of course, if we motor we are also putting Amps back into the battery bank (3 Life Line 210 Amp-hour house/1-100 Amp-hour starting). So far, we have never had to start the engine or generator to charge the batteries; the solar panels and wind generator have topped off the batteries daily. So we have 4 charging sources of power: 2 alternators, a generator, 4 solar panels, and 1 wind generator. With the batteries good to ~50%, that gives us about 2 days of battery life to bring over cloudy, windless days, if they occur.
While doing the bimini support work, we also completely enclosed the cockpit with removable Strataglass panels. We also added mesh (Phifertex) screens for the entire cockpit to replace the Stratoglass when we want a sunbreak on any side of the cockpit. We upgraded some electronics as well. Besides the usual TV/stereo set up, which the boat has, we completely replaced all of the navigation electronics with the latest Garmin wind, depth (2), radar, chartplotter, local displays, and card reader. We added a WIFI system from IslandTimePC.com. This company does a great job of kitting the entire system and it has worked very well. It uses an Ubiquiit Bullet M2HP amplifier with a 8 dbi 2.4 Ghz antenna (with weather seal enclosure) and a MikroTik router. On the boat deck, we also have an Ultra 60 lb. anchor with 275 ft. of chain and a Bruce 33 lb. anchor with 50 f.t of chain/250' 5/8' rode combo. We have a 16 lb. Fortress just to hold the stern against tide swings when we need a stern anchor. The Ultra works first time, every time. Other features include a 6 man Viking life raft; an Achilles 9.2 Hypalon dinghy with a Yamaha 15 HP, 2 cycle outboard and a Nissan 3.5 HP, 2 cycle outboard. We think we chose the right boat and have equipped her well for our cruising environment. So far, she has performed very well.

We though we would be in Sunny Florida by now by Mother Nature had other plans for us. We decided to stay put thru the Artic fronts that came thru giving Houston new record setting temperatures for the lowest high temp recorded.

Yesterday evening, we had an impromptu birthday celebration for Ed with our friends at the marina. Thank you Kerry, Donnie, Dean, Katie, Chris, and Tammy for helping me make Ed take a break and celebrate.

We have provisioned the boat and are planning our departure any day now so check back often for our trip progress.

Finally, we have a blog set up. We will try this one and if we like the output, we will keep using this site. Once we get underway, we will mark positions on a map.
Above is a picture of our first Gulf Crossing in May 2011.
More to come later.