The last three days before departure we got a lot of preparation projects going on that were necessary for a save and comfortable voyage. Those included a few Home Depot runs as well as trips to other equipment stores. Steve and Charlie were setting up a running light system for the powerboat, wiring red, green and white lights in order to attach it to the motoryacht. Furthermore they installed an electric windlass so that we do not have to bring up the anchor all the time with muscle power. We were inflating a lot of fenders which we will use to keep the two boats apart from each other as we are going to tow the boat alongside as long as we are manoeuvring in the rivers. Furthermore we might need those for docking both boats in case we have to go into harbours or marinas on or way. We also pumped up some air mattresses, so that we can sleep on deck in suitable weather. We had to glue some holes with epoxy before they finally kept the air in but there isn't anything that can not be repaired. Especially Steve is an expert in repairing things instead of reemplacing which I greatly appreciate.
Unother project was the construction of a bilge pump which we hopefully won't need but in case of emergency might be a good thing to have. Obviously the Sundancer is equipped with a bilge pump like every functioning boat should have. The powerboat though is completely out of function and therefore needs to be a 100% under our control. In case it should have or get a leak under way we will be prepared to pump water entering the boat out again.
We also set up all the towing lines that will be necessary to keep the boats at the right distance from each other and making the steering safe for the moment once we get into open waters. Speaking of water, we topped off all the seven water tanks of the Sundancer, holding a thousand gallons of water in total. Furthermore we recharged all batteries aboard and got an additional 2,000 liters of diesel which we hopefully won't have to burn. Besides, we made plenty of runs to get ice for keeping all the groceries refrigerated and had the boats own ice machine running as well. We even decided to bring a washing machine aboard.
Before we were able to depart we also had to bring the boat 180 degrees around, including two more sailboats, which were tied to the Sundancer. This worked out easier than I had thought although there was a little bit of current of the river as well as some wind which
Write a comment