As Steen said, the crew of Radiance is temporarily split up. Malou and I are in Joplin, Missouri visiting my family and friends. Malou is almost four and hasn't seen her grandparents here since October of 2006. Even though the crew is not together, it is great to see Malou spending time with my Mom and my aging Dad.

I will probably start a separate blog about what it's like coming back to the Midwest after living on the West Coast and after traveling across the Pacific Ocean, meeting people from other cultures with different lifestyles and viewpoints. I would like to explore the ideological differences as well as similarities between people living on the American West Coast with those living in the Heartland. I grew up in Missouri and have a little insight into the mindset of the hard-working, no-nonsense, generous and sometimes skeptical attitudes of the local population.

The other reason for the blog will be to write about the lighter topics of what Malou and I are up to, and anything we think might be of interest.

On another note: some answers to the question of Most Valuable Boat Equipment.

I think Steen and I would both agree that in addition to the obvious necessary equipment onboard, like working sails and sturdy rigging, our most valued piece of equipment on board is...

1. Wanda, our self-steering wind vane. It is an Aries, purchased used, our second one actually; the first one was stolen along with our old Toyota Camry station wagon which happened to be full of boat parts.
We also used an electric AutoHelm 4000 coming down the U.S. west coast when we were motoring, but had trouble finding a replacement belt after our belt broke somewhere in...? I don't remember where.

The next few items are listed in no specific order of importance.

2. Watermaker: definitely glad we bought it. We used it all the way across our first passage from Mexico to The Marquesas. We tried to only consume the watermaker water as we made it, saving our 90 gallon main water tank for when we were either low on power or when we arrived in an inner harbour near other boats and didn't think the water was clear enough to use the watermaker. We continued to use that system and it worked very well for us. Every time we made a little passage of a couple days or more, we tried to use the watermaker, which did two things: 1. Saved Steen from having to pickle the watermaker, (which you need to do if you're not going to use it for awhile (ask Steen for definition of 'awhile'), and 2. Gave us more freedom as to how long we could stay at anchor in one place without having to worry too much about water. I think Steen also occasionally poured the watermaker water into the main tank to top it up. Otherwise, we just kept it in jugs in the fridge.

We bought our watermaker supposedly 'new in the box' at the Fisheries Swap Meet in Seattle. It was sold as a Power Survivor 40 , but is actually a Power Survivor 35. ( I notice there is one currently for sale on Craig's List Seattle). We functioned well with the 35, but Steen might want to shed more light on what he thinks is sufficient watermaker capacity.

Note: for us it was great using the watermaker when we were sailing because we had an effective tow generator that trailed behind the boat, wired to the batteries, that powered the watermaker and anything else we needed. That tow generator converted into a wind generator but wasn't as effective, partly because of the design and partly because it wasn't always windy enough in the inner harbours or bays to be effective.

3. Speaking of water: something we did not have, unfortunately, was a proper water catchment system; meaning durable fabric specifically sewn and designed for catching rain water and diverting it into a water tank. We tried using lightweight sail fabric from our old torn drifter sail, but it was way too light and would either rip or blow around in a breeze. For those times when we were in a crowded bay or in not so clear water and couldn't use the watermaker, or were low on power... and were in a torrential downpour, we would have LOVED to have a good rain catchment system. We would recommend putting some thought into this if you're planning on being at sea or at anchor somewhere.. anywhere for a long period of time.

4. Think Power: Wind and Tow Generator and Solar Panels
I have to end this posting now, but will get back to it later.

Back with a few more things we thought were necessary:

5. Mosquito coils. We must have used 100 mosquito coils by the time we got to New Zealand. I think we bought most of them in Mexico. Can you buy them in the islands? I can't remember but I think so - (I know we bought some in Fiji). I'd recommend stocking up just in case.)

6. Tamanu Oil helped keep the horrible no-no sand flies from biting. This is a seriously annoying and uncomfortable problem in parts of Mexico and in parts of the Pacific Islands, including New Zealand. I bought some freshly made tamanu oil in The Marquesas, because of a tip I received from a local in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas who saw the horrible state of my sand-fly bitten legs. I see that you can buy it online too. I don't know the quality of the stuff online, but I'd say it's definitely worth the seventeen bucks to find out. Also, when you get to the Marquesas, buy some freshly made. I paid about fifteen dollars for a bottle that is still half full. It doesn't take much oil to work. A fellow cruising friend used Avon Skin So Soft lotion to help keep biting bugs away. It might be worth having onboard also. And general mosquito and bug repellant is recommended too. And the lightest weight sunscreen you can find. You'll probably sweat it off, or else be so hot, you won't want anything on your face, but try anyway.

7. LED bulbs: We love our Sensi-bulbs that Steen ordered on-line. They give a warm light and use virtually no power. Steen will have more info on those.

Ok. That's my list.
8. Add a sunshade of somekind. We used our torn drifter and it worked well for that unless it was windy.
9. Also some kind of awning for the port lights would have been great. Sounds dumb, but when you're boiling up inside and it's pouring down rain, it would have been heaven to be able to open the ports.
10. A fan: how could I forget that? We had the Mexican bus driver's version. We could have used something quieter.

You get the idea? It's about comfort, and I'm not talking luxury; I'm talking livability without going crazy.

And don't forget a good digital camera and laptop.. and a backup laptop.
Oh! I forgot
11. our Icom SSB with Pactor Modem. Definitely worth the money. It's a lot of money, actually, but we never regretted it, not one minute. Weather forcasts and Email communication onboard is invaluable.

Ok that's really all for now.
No it isn't.

SAFETY:
All of the above is in addition to the safety equipment we have on board, like an Epirb and a 6-man life raft (wish we had gone with the canister instead of the bag), and what else? a Preventer for the Mail sail, SOSpenders PFDs, good tethers.

GPS and backup GPS. We actually miss our ancient Magellan. It was huge and easy to read from the helm and we liked it's features. Steen will know the model number. If any still exist, they could probably be picked up for cheap.

Steen? you can take over before I ramble on too much. But I know you're busy working on the boat, so we won't be too hard on you if you don't answer right away.

OK. Take care.