18 days and counting

On September 28, Mandy and I and our neighbors, Chris and Beth, will drive to Kent Narrows on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay where our boat lies waiting. Chris and Beth will return home in our van without us. We will be waterborne with no transportation other than our boat and our feet.

After years of "running out for coffee" in the always-waiting van, we will have to get used to either having the things we need on board, walking a few miles to find them, or doing without. It's a little unnerving.

The question that all retirees have "will we have enough money" also unnerves us. Surprise!! Surprise!! We might be paying an unexpected $1050 per month for COBRA health insurance because no insurance company will cover us because we take prescription medications to help keep us healthy. "How the hell did you think they paid for those shiny buildings?" was our family doctor's comment when I told him. "There's too much risk in insuring someone who might need insurance."

Anyway, I installed four T-105 golf cart batteries as bank number one along with the four aging group 31s on bank number two that I already have. We probably have about 1000 amp-hours available to us now allowing us to lie at anchor for at least three days before we have to go to a marina to recharge. The ship's alternator will help but at only 35 amps of output we would have to run the engine for 30 hours to fully recharge the system.

The wooden steps for the swim ladder was a complete flop. They fit just fine but the ladder doesn't hang low enough in the water to get a foot on the first step. I bought a folding 70 inch ladder to mount on the side instead.

I also bought my first chart plotter which is a GPS system that shows a chart (a map for you lubbers) of the area where we are sailing and an icon of our boat showing where we are on the chart. I've never used GPS, loran, or RDF (radio direction finder) to navigate preferring to use paper charts and compass to find my way. But our depth sounder is dying and I find that the chart-plotter with built in depth sounder is cheaper than replacing the old sounder. I'll install it later.

We bought a microwave and a 1000 watt inverter so we can use it at anchor. It'll be far more convenient that firing up our propane stove just to heat up some leftovers.

Enough for now.

Fair winds to all.

Max and Mandy
s/v Foxglove