Sailing Arcas

More Planning

The boat arrived in Florida on Friday morning - hopefully undamaged. Hill is planning on flying to Florida in a few weeks to check out the boat and line up the work that we need done to make it ready for ocean sailing. When we woke up on Saturday, it was very weird to not have to get up to go down to the boatyard or work on the boat. I didn't know what to do with myself (but I got over it).

On Saturday afternoon, we put together a tentative schedule for our trip, which has us setting sail for the Bahamas around January 25, and arriving in Cozumel around May 27 (click on the image to see our proposed route). From there, we still need to determine if the boat's final destination will be Texas or Florida, but it's looking like Florida for now. The schedule looks awesome, except for the leg between Turks & Caicos and Jamaica, which could be up to 4 days of sailing, although it will hopefully be less. It's the part of the trip that Hill is most looking forward to, and that I'm most nervous about (if anyone wants to volunteer to take my place, feel free to speak up). The leg from the Caymans to the Bay Islands of Honduras is also long, but there is an island in the middle where we may be able to stop, and it won't be my first time doing a long sail.

We also went through our list of items we are supposed to complete this month. I'm putting our first aid kit together, and Hill is researching solar panels and purchasing the rest of our charts and guides. I may  start sewing our lee cloths this evening as well.

I Never Thought I Would Spend Money On...

I just spent $300 on materials to make an awning and lee cloths for the boat. Although I technically know how to sew, and I have a sewing machine, I usually time my sewing projects for weekends when my mother comes to visit.

She'll be visitng in early December.

As we've been preparing for the trip, I've researched and purchased all sorts of strange items. For example, there's an entire online store dedicated to sewing materials for boats (www.sailrite.com). Today, I researched wall-mountable knife holders that will completely cover the kitchen (i.e. galley) knives so they won't go flying around the cabin if the boat heels over in a storm. I also recently purchased a stunning pair of waterproof foul weather overalls.

No Turning Back - Almost

On Saturday, Hill and I drove down to Crowley's Boatyard to finish packing up the boat before the transport company takes it off to Florida on Monday. It was cloudy and 40 degrees - I wore fleece long underwear and wool socks, two things that I don't plan on bringing with me to the Caribbean.

Crowley's is a popular place for boat storage in Chicago, but it's not because of their customer service. A typical encounter was an incident last summer in which they came out to Arcas to fix a leak in the head and broke the door to the head in the process. Fortunately, they tend to be more forgetful than incompetent and usually they simply don't do what they've been asked to do.

On Saturday, they demonstrated both sides of their approach. The boat is supposed to ship out early Monday morning, and Crowley's was to have packed and prepared the mast for transport. When we arrived on Saturday, we found that not only had they not packed up the mast, but the mast they had placed next to Arcas was not in fact ours. Of course, their offices are closed on the weekends, so we have no way of contacting them other than through paper notes and voicemail until Monday morning. I'm a little nervous about what will end up in Florida.

On the other hand, Hill and I did a killer job of packing up the inside of the boat. My 16 moves in 15 years have taught me a few things about packing, and I'm fairly confident that at least the interior of the boat will arrive in good shape.