Preparing to Make Way

Our sailing plans all began in Spain as we walked the Camino de Santiago back in April/May. We have settled on the following loose itinerary: Biscayne Bay, FL Keys, Dry Tortugas, FL West Coast to Tampa & St. Pete, Marathon, Miami, FL East Coast to Indiatlantic, then to the Abacos for the June 22-28 regatta. After the Bahamas, we are eyeing either Luperon in the Dominican Republic or Rio Dulce in Guatemala. We have lots of choices. It'll depend on which way the bind blows, so to speak.

Getting ready to depart has been a long process consisting of projects, maintenance, upgrades, and repairs. It's taken a considerable amount of sweat equity and money. Our first project began in June with replacing the original Fico traveler and adding a rigid boom vang from Garhauer. While waiting for the both to arrive, we turned our attention to the deck and mast winches. The original Barient 25's were long overdue for service. Both cabin top winches were dismantled, cleaned, greased, and reassembled. The mast winches proved to be more difficult and were removed by drilling out the SS mounting bolts. The main halyard winch was replaced with a used Lewmar 48ST purchased off eBay. We had third reef added to our mainsail by Nance & Underwood.

The unexpected repairs are an ongoing and never ending. During one afternoon daysail, our raw water pump failed. A replacement was purchased, and the faulty pump was rebuilt as a spare. The starter battery also went south and was replaced. Other spare items we purchased include starter motor, fresh water pump & belt, alternator, refrigeration fans, commode pump assembly, zincs, lines, and so on.

When the traveler arrived, we discovered that the track bolt holes did not match up with the SS riser. I did not take careful measurements, relying on hole spacing from the Fico track. In the end, Garhauer fabricating a replacement track that fit perfectly. The boomvang arrived in August. Installation was straight forward.

Our MaxProp Classic 3-blade propeller had about 1000 hours under power. At low RPMs, a noticeable blade chatter could be heard. We ordered the new new Easy version from PYI. That was installed in December during haul-out for bottom painting. We also installed a new NMEA 2000 Airmar depth, speed, and temperature transducer while Imagine was on the hard.

Although our Garmin chartplotter continues to work fine it's no longer in production. Garmin will not repair it any longer. We decided to upgrade it with a B&G Vulcan unit. The new chartplotter includes autopilot control, and we updated our charts with Navionics covering SE USA, Mexico, Caribbean, and beyond to Brazil. The Garmin unit was relocated to the nav station. We also purchased a new handheld VHF radio.

Our primary anchor is a 73 lb Rocna with 3/8" chain rode. It's not something one would enjoy hauling by hand. It was discovered that our Lewmar V3 windlass was slow to deploy or retrieve the anchor. The windlass battery tested with a marginal state of health. It was replaced with a 105 Ah Lithium battery and dedicated charger. Unfortunately, that was not the issue. In the end, the windlass capstan was found to be bound up. With that and motor case corrosion, we ordered and installed a new V3 unit.

Although we will not be sailing across the Atlantic, we will be making some offshore passages. Safety and survival are not to be taken lightly. I am confident that Imagine will keep us safe, but one can never be certain. Unforeseen events can and do happen. We purchased a new Revere 6-person offshore life raft in the event the unthinkable comes to pass. With that, AIS, GPIRB, VHF, and our other safety gear, we are prepared to abandon ship as a last resort.

To keep in touch with friends and family, we installed a Starlink mini with the roaming package. With that, we'll be able to make voice and video calls. Internet... anywhere & anytime. WhatsApp is the go-to application for communication. If you've never used it, give it a try. Call me.

Cooking aboard is fueled by propane. We carry two six-pound aluminum tanks to supply the galley stove, and two eleven-pound composite tanks to power our dinghy engine and BBQ grill. Our previous Smoke Hollow grill did not weather well in our saltwater environment. We have replaced it with a new Cuisinart model. Time will tell how well it holds up to marine environment, but I'm not holding my breath. We are provisioning Imagine for a long term adventure. Our lockers will be full with canned goods and beverages. The freezer will be well stocked with beef, chicken, pork. The refrigerator will carry fresh vegetables and other perishable items. We will not go without. Brenda has done another spectacular job of provisioning Imagine for the long term.

There are hundreds of details I have omitted from above narrative, but I think you get the picture that Imagine is we'll prepared for our pending adventure. Weather permitting we will slip lines at the end of the week.