RCWings is Ready to Go....

We are almost ready to go!  Woohoo!  The date we

are hoping to leave our dock is Thursday, September 8th, weather permitting.

The preparations for our big adventure have been numerous and varied. From personal education to boat installations to buying every piece of safety gear known to man, we are just about ready to go.  Just about. 

To start the season, we had to remove the shrink wrap, install the batteries and the lifelines, put up the frame for the bimini and dodger, and check the engine oil and antifreeze. We also had Bill install a new sea cock in February.  Then, it was time to install the new water filtration unit. Picture standing on your head while your body is twisted like a pretzel, and sharp things are sticking into your sides. Carey loves that part.  Luckily, his brother Craig offered to share the misery.  While the guys worked on that, I tipped up the fire extinguishers, made up the beds, and finished an inventory of our tools and spare parts locker. 

A major job was to change our bottom paint to one that is suitable for salt water. We hired T&M Marine to soda blast the bottom of our boat and reset our water line. Once they were finished, Craig, Jo-Ann, Carey and I painted on two coats of red anti-fouling paint and three coats of black. It was a big job made bigger when I had to strain the paint for lumps!  Picture a very squishy, very messy, mesh bag. Kind of like squishing pumpkin guts in October, except with paint. Yup, I liked it. 

Finally, it was time to have the boat lifted into the water and we docked it in our slip. Our next jobs were to wash the entire boat, put up the sails (always a joy to try to remember how this thing is rigged!), put on the canvas, and rinse out and refill the water tanks.  Once again, Jo and Craig were a huge help. 

Our second major job was to install the AIS.  Perhaps this wouldn't have been so difficult and full of issues if we hadn't purchased all different brands of electronics (i.e., Standard Horizon VHF radio, Simrad chartplotter, and ICOM AIS).  They all have to talk to each other, but it takes some gentle counselling to get them there. Live and learn. 

When we got to the point of installing the Foghorn/PA we thought, no problem. Not so.  Big problem.  The foghorn wouldn't work at the same time as the AIS. Both are essential when it's foggy, so we had to problem solve...again.  Also, getting the wire strung up the mast and the foghorn mounted up there meant that Carey had some more air time in the bosun's chair and Craig had more work.  

Since then, we’ve purchased tons of safety gear and had to find places to stow everything, i.e. a lifeboat, flares, ditch bag, Jon Buoy, personal locator beacon, Iridium Go satellite communication system (which will allow us to keep in touch, even during the ocean passage), and lots of other stuff.

In the last weeks of August, we have been swamped with boat preparations.  This week it's lots of engine work, such as oil and oil filter change, fuel filter change, drain the fuel/water separator, check and equalize the batteries, clean the exhaust elbow, etc., etc.  In addition to that, we have had to order all medications for a four month period, buy extra medical insurance for an extended period, create a blog page, fix the onboard wifi,  update our info online for the ARC Carib 1500 passage, etc., etc.  Soooo much to do and not enough time to do it--unless we eat, sleep, and walk it--which we are.  

Lately, I have been removing all labels from food cans and all cardboard packaging from our food items. Cockroaches love to eat the glue on packaging and labels and then they lay their eggs there. I do NOT want a cucaracha nursery on my boat!  Ugh!  

Finally, two of our last big jobs are complete.  Carey and Craig built the cradle for our mast (which will be taken down and laying on our boat when we go through the Erie Canal locks), and Jo-Ann and I cleaned, de-oxidized, and waxed the taupe areas on the boat. It looks so pretty!

Here is our proposed route going south:

Go down the St. Clair River, through Lake St. Clair, down the Detroit River, and through Lake Erie to Buffalo.  At Buffalo, we will take our mast down, store it on our boat (yes, we’ll look like a huge narwhal) and motor through  the Erie Barge Canal to the Hudson River.  We will take the Hudson River south to New York Harbor (putting our mast up in the Catskills, NY), then go down the coast to the Delaware Bay.  We’ll sail up the Delaware Bay, through the C&D Canal, into the Chesapeake Bay.  We’ll go to the Annapolis Boat Show in October, then cruise our way down the Chesapeake to Portsmouth, Virginia, which is where we’ll join the ARC Caribbean 1500 Rally for our offshore passage to the BVIs.  We should leave Portsmouth on November 8 and be in the British Virgin Islands around November 18, and ready for some Caribbean cruising for the winter.