Hello all,
Happy Easter from Adagio!
It’s been quite a while since my last post and as anyone following this blog knows we have finally cast off the dock lines and headed south. I am writing this post while anchored off of San Martin Island which is about 100 miles south of Ensenada. We arrived here at first light this morning and dropped the hook with the anchorage all to ourselves. The trip here from Ensenada was an overnight one that took about 20 hours so we were a bit tired and took advantage of the opportunity for a long morning nap.
The anchorage here is a bit “rolly” today (meaning the offshore ocean swell is running through the anchorage causing the boat to rock quite a bit from side to side.) so we implemented our “Slow your roll” device otherwise known as a “Flopper Stopper”. What a difference that piece of gear makes. Without it, doing any kind of cooking or other chores becomes much more difficult because you are first trying to keep your balance and then hope you don’t lose control and make a huge mess.
The delay in my posting has been caused by the tremendous amount of work it took to complete all of the projects necessary to get the boat ready to go. And there are still some that need to be completed. Here’s a list of the things that we have completed in the past few months.
” Installed new custom mast steps
” Installed new door latch with custom removable security bars
” Finally finished the galley with new counter tops, sink and custom top loading fridge/freezer box. ” Installed new Seagull water purification
” Built custom rail mount for the new outboard engine for the dingy
” Installed new custom bracket to hold the dingy in place on the foredeck when at sea.
” Installed our Iridium satellite system that allows us to send and receive e-mail, text messages, phone calls and also download weather data for the areas we are traveling.
” Installed new Hydrovane which is a hands free steering device that doesn’t use any electrical power. It steers by the wind which is way cool.
” Installed a new electric auto pilot that gives us another option for hands free steering especially when motoring long distances.
” Installed an AIS transceiver which displays other boat traffic near us when we are at sea. A great piece of collision avoidance gear because it provides some critical information like the speed, course, length, name, closest point of approach on current course, time to closes point of approach and more.
” Modified the anchor chain locker to hold more chain by adding a new bulkhead and drain.
” Purchased all new sails (Main, Staysail, Yankee jib) and added roller furling for the staysail which allows us to fly and douse the sail without leaving the cockpit. Also added all new running rigging to control the staysail.
” Installed new Lofrans windlass on the bow. A critical piece of gear for lowering and raising the anchor.
” Purchased and installed new batteries. One dedicated for starting the diesel engine and six for running all of our other electrical devices.
And as Forrest’s friend Bubba would say “And that’s about it”. I’m sure there are some that I have failed to mention but you get the picture.
Well that’s it for now. Hope to be posting more regularly now that we are on our way and add some more pictures once we get to a stop with wifi. Next stop is the Islas San Benitos about mid-way down the Baja peninsula.
Peace.
Captain Mike.