Continuing preparation of "Every Day" Part 12

Cruising is supposed to free us from schedules. It allows us to choose our weather windows so we can avoid being in a storm at sea. It allows us the time to explore the places we visit. But the reality is we impose our own schedules on ourselves. We have set a departure date and hope to keep it but we are not sure we will have everything we need to get done both on the boat and in our lives by then. Just like choosing that weather window, we are looking to prepare our lives to make it possible to go and choosing the right time to go.

They say if you want to get everything perfect you will never leave. We agree with that idea but there is a minimum amount we want to feel safe and comfortable.

The boat is put away for the winter and we have had the generator removed from the boat. Now we need to choose the size and manufacturer for its replacement as well as the new watermaker. We are going to take advantage of our indoor heated storage and we have cleaned out the boat to allow us to re-bed the toe rails. This is a major project but we will also take the opportunity to remove, inspect and replace (as needed) the chain plates. We have the solar panels but need to build the arch over the dodger to mount them. We also are going to install a wind turbine to round out our alternative power generation. We want to bring the boat to the dock as little as possible for fuel.

As you can see there is a lot of work to get done. We will try and get it all done by our starting date but if it does not happen we will have to wait for the next weather window.