Leander's been ready to go all along. We just wanted to make sure that we had a lot of the conveniences of modern technology to ensure that we had safe passages and that our mothers can sleep at night.

We have added all new electronics to bring her up to date with current technology. We now have a chartplotter at the navigation station, as well as at the helm. This way we can plan our routes in the comfort of our cabin, safely navigate while at helm, and continue to be able to monitor progress while on deck thanks to a swiveling helm mount.

We also added a new autopilot that should ease the burden of being at the helm and make life much more comfortable. Additional upgrades include a new radar, gps, vhf and an automatic identification system (ais) that will allow us to monitor traffic around us and keep informed of the intended course of vessels around us. We have also installed new depth, speed and wind direction instruments that will integrate with the rest of our electronics.

I went through the galley with a fine toothcomb to decide what we could keep and what we had to replace. The plates that are simple and elegant, stayed, cutlery and other cooking utensils were replaced by our own. It is a boat, but I will be cooking in the galley more in the next two years than I have in the last 10 years combined, so it needs to be comfortable, and inviting. After a test run with the existing pots and pans collection, I made the executive decision to purchase a new set. Our new nesting cookware recently arrived and the food is a lot tastier and not burnt ;-)

Paul raided his dad's basement and got himself a good variety of tools for the boat. We spent some time cleaning and greasing them, and they came out beautifully. In the process I got to learn the names of a lot of tools while also teaching Paul some tool names in Turkish.