Slow Progress

I finally made it back to the boat for a week. Although it was essentially a work-related trip, I did try and get some things accomplished on the boat itself. As usual, however, nothing is easy. My main projects of the moment are the completion of my ongoing solar power initiative and the search for a reliable autopilot solution. On both counts, I have fallen short.
The last time I was in Nanaimo, I ordered some fittings for the stanchions that would allow me to run a new stainless steel rail above the life lines, on to which I was going to mount the solar panels, one on each side of the cockpit. When I went to pick up the fittings it turns out that they were not quite the same as the pictures in the catalog. It now appears that the fittings as pictured do not really exist. So back to the drawing board.
I have come up with a new idea for stringing the life lines through a 1" stainless steel pipe, attached with some fittings that do exist, although no-one actually has them in stock. So I have orderd these fittings and it is back to the waiting game - I will continue the battle next time I can get back to the boat.
Meanwhile, the autopilot project is totally going nowhere. Getting the specifications for every autopilot on the market, and taking careful measurements of the current steering setup, it is becoming more and more apparent that there is nothing on the market that will meet out needs. The simple wheel pilots are not powerful enough, there is no room for mounting an actuator for a below deck unit, and all of the existing hardware hanging off the back of the boat makes it impossible to mount a wind-vane system. I have asked the local expert to take another look but am not hopeful.
I did book the boat for a haulout and bottom paint for next week, so at least we may be able to go sailing in the near future.

Getting nowhere fast

Having made the decision to do some serious sailing, we remain mired down in the seemingly impossible task of leaving our former lives behind.

Susanne has given her notice, effective the end of June, but for now is working harder than ever to try and finish all of the work she has committed to do before she leaves.

Myself, I have let go of my business, selling out to a friend and colleague, but have promised to continue to work while I train someone else to take over the clients. Hard to say how long this will go on.

Add to this our pitiful attempts at getting rid of any of the accumulated junk in a house we have lived in for 25 years, it does seem hopeless sometimes.



Meanwhile, I have been unable to spend any amount of time at or near the boat, so it sits, neglected, in the marina many miles away.



The list of projects keeps getting larger and nothing is really getting done.





But I remain hopeful. Our plan now is to ignore a lot of the projects on the "want" list and concentrate on doing some sailing during the nice summer weather, possibly leaving in mid-July for an extended cruise. By the time we get back we will have a much better idea of what, if anything, we really need to do to the boat before any serious off-shore jaunt.
These projects could be done during the cold, rainy winter season, with us taking some time to do some conventional travel to places we might not get to by boat for a long time.
South America is calling...

How it all began

I guess you could say it began with an irrational thought.

For reasons unknown, some time in the late 1990's, I (Richard) decided that sailing was the perfect way to see the world and live out an adventure fantasy at the same time. The fact that I had never set foot in a sailboat was of little concern, although my wife (Susanne) did express some misgivings.
So, with unusual persistence, I researched the topic to death, reading magazines, browsing the internet and generally making a nuisance of myself at boat shows and yacht brokerages. Gradually I came to the conclusion that, while there was a bit more to it than I had originally thought, it was not impossible either.

I determined the best way to learn about boats was to own one, and with that in mind, I began a 5 year process of looking for the perfect boat. Each year, my knowledge was greater, my requirements more refined, and my expectations of what a dollar would buy reduced.
Meanwhile we did take some action to learn more about this sailing stuff. We both took a Basic Cruise and Learn course, and I followed this up with Coastal Navigation and Intermediate Cruising courses. We even dedicated a vacation to this endeavour, joining a flotilla charter in Greece one summer. This just confirmed to us that we could do this.

In the year 2001 we finally found the boat, and have spent the last 7 years learning to sail and adding or modifying those systems that we felt necessary before setting out on the actual adventure.
For shakedown cruises, we have explored the inside passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland from one end to the other, and completed one circumnavigation of Vancouver Island in 2006. Due to our work schedules and the fact that we live 1000 miles from the boat, our travels have had to be done in September and October which are not always the best weather conditions on the west coast of Canada. However, this should prove to be a good training ground for wherever our travels take us in the future.

What follows is the story as it picks up from the time the decision was made to actually turn this dream into reality...