It's been a while since my last update. Not because nothing's happened - quite on the contrary. I've just been too busy to update the blog.
High time to try and make amends.

I am very pleased and relieved to report that Carly (the Pacific Windpilot) truly is a treasure. I was amazed how simple (and intuitive) she is to operate. After the rather strained relationship I enjoyed with the Monitor on my previous boat this is a huge weight of my shoulders.

Another plus is that when it's reasonably sunny, my solar panels can more than keep up with my power requirements. Just running the fridge and instruments I need about 6-7A whereas I get about 8A from the solar panels. However, I do need to take into account that I will not always be sunny and that as I head further south the fridge might need more power.

As long as Carly does most of the helming, I am sure that I will not need to run the engine for more than 1 hour/day. The engine fuel consumption is a rather frugal 2.6ltr/hr and the fuel tank holds 100ltr (and I will be carrying an additional 80ltr of diesel in jerrycans on deck). All this amounts to quite a bit of autonomy.

I delivered my previous boat (and her new oner) to Falmouth last week. This gave me the opportunity to put my Iridium Go through its paces. Some quirks still need to be ironed out, but by and large I can say the test run was successful. Some email problems remain to be resolved (later today or tomorrow) but SMS works fine as does Predictwind (though downloads are at times frustratingly slow). The tracking feature also seems to work OK.

The last few outstanding boat jobs have also been sorted: engine serviced (spare set of filters bought) and with the help of my ever-faithful sidekick I can report that the mainsail car issue has now been resolved. As has the AIS issue - problem traced to a sticky switch (which can be bypassed).

Also got the paperwork sorted (ships papers and insurance) as well as personal admin (EHIC). EPIRB has been tested, installed and registered. And I received all my paper charts for the journey - always good to have a backup in case the electrics go down.

I can also recommend the Imray Atlantic Islands (2021 edition) cruising guide - very well written and full of practical info.

My schedule for the rest of the week: bring the boat from her swinging mooring to a pontoon berth so that I can take bulky stuff aboard (victuals, clothing and bedding). Once alongside, I will also fit a couple of planks to the port & starboard stanchions - this will allow me to secure my four 20ltr jerrycans of diesel on deck.

Maybe I am deluding myself, but I feel though the boat is as good as ready to go.
However, I think I might require a few more days to get mentally prepared. After all, this will be my very first solo offshore passage. And I must admit that the thought of what I about to try scares me sometimes. This trip will be my personal Everest to climb.

Baring any last-minute mishaps, I plan to set sail this Sunday (29/05). Fingers - and everything else - crossed.