During one of the news interviews aboard the Southern Wind
So it has been about two months since my last post and things have been absolutely crazy here. We are FINALLY about to get out of here, but it is amazing how much we have gotten done. Most of our main systems are fully operational now. Plumbing, Engines, Rigging, Fuel, Hydraulics, and ALL major construction. All that is left is the electric but I am still trying to find the last of pieces I need to finish it. I have only gotten as far as I have because of Rick, Tom and Cheryl at Polaris Marine in St. Augustine, Bob Matson from the HAM radio club here in Palm Coast, and because of Blue Sea Systems. The folks at Polaris Marine have given us wire, fittings, and electrical accessories at cost, they are donating a 15KW Onan generator, and have made the trek down to Palm Coast over and over again to help us figure out how to install and connect the thousands of feet of wire I have had to put in. Bob—besides training us for the upcoming FCC license exam, coordinating our Single Sideband Radio installation, and helping us repair and troubleshoot our system—has tirelessly worked on our behalf trying to get us support.
A few months ago, Christmas came early for me when Blue Sea generously gave us some very vital components (350 Amp Fuse, Battery Switches, several top-of-the line Distribution Panels, Bus bar, and our Bilge Pump Control Panel). On a personal note with their equipment, I have been continually impressed. The equipment from Blue Sea has not given me one problem and has been the easiest stuff to work with. Several other products we have used have fried and we haven’t even left the dock yet. But the Blue Sea Systems have gotten our system running and running effectively.
This panel controls all foward lights on-board
This Blue Sea Panel controls our bilge pumps.
This makes isolating our battery banks possible
This piece keeps our inverter/charger from overloading our battery bank.
You should see the boat, it looks entirely different. Supporters here who have seen the boat when we first arrived here, and who have dropped by to see it now, are shocked at the transformation. The Salon…wow. The benches are padded and covered, walls painted, cupboards sanded and stained, charting table sorted out, and Editing Suite completed. It is incredible to think that we did ALL of it—and it is amazing what you can do with pressure treated wood, stain and varnish—our boat will never be a yacht (nor should it be), but it actually turned out to look really good. Over the past few weeks, especially just before Christmas, when it was just Rachel, Sky, Noah, and I here we took to watching DVDs in the salon every night. It has become quite a comfortable place to relax. Pretty much all of the crew has moved themselves into their cabin on-board and sleep there every night.
The Bridge-the main electrical set-up is done, the solar panels are fully operational and refilling our battery bank, the captain’s chair, navigations, and basic communications are all completed. One thing left though is our SSB radio. However, in Bob Matson we have had an angel on our shoulders. Bob Matson has been an electric and communications expert throughout his crew in the Navy, and is an honorary member of the Navy seal association, and he has been a blessing to us. He is reviewing all the knowledge with the crew on getting our HAM radio licenses, has helped advise me on how to set up various components of our system, including our emergency lighting system, and is helping me set up our radio antennas (which is quite complicated, as our backstay is pretty much an antenna but needs to properly adjusted). It is actually really fun, but when we unpacked our HAM/SSB unit he and I strung up a 10ft. make shift antenna and just tried to find something, anything, on the air, and even with that little thing were listening to Morse code and transmissions from Texas and as far north as Maine. So that night I got a program for my computer so that I could plug my laptop into the unit which would then automatically translate the Morse code so I can actually understand what is being said. Now if only I was fluent in the abbreviations they use. O well, I will get it in time.
Putting up Christmas lights on the boat
The galley is looking great. We put down padded linoleum which makes it feel much more homey, the walls are freshly painted, we put a different freezer in there that Habitat for Humanity provided, which doubled our freezer space (very handy on a boat!), and we are in the process of getting our atmospheric water maker from Generative Planet setup. Now this is one cool toy! All it needs is a certain humidity (and we will be in the tropics!) and it condenses that humidity into fresh drinking water. How cool is that? It makes enough to sustain the crew’s drinking water throughout the day, and will also help keep the boat dry and prevent rot.
Most of the cabins are done like I said. Nick is living in his. I have been working with him to help put “sexy lights” in there for him. We were digging around in the garage and found some low power, very nice nautical lights that flush-mount and so I distributed them where they were needed and he got the extras. They are going to look GOOD. Rachel is also living down in her cabin. She has come along quite nicely in the area of carpentry too. She actually built most of the storage areas, and helped modify her cabin in every aspect that needed to be done. I was quite impressed and she was very proud of herself, as she should be. Now the crown jewel cabin has got to be sky’s. The bed was extended so the whole room is either bed space or storage space level with the bed, a closet, or more storage space under the bed. They re-stained the some walls, and padded/upholstered the other wall so that it is a comfortable backrest, as she does A LOT of computer work in there. It is covered in pictures and just feels like a home. Especially when you go in there and find our boat dog, Giles McCoy, lying down, sleeping right next to her.
Sky, Rachel, Noah, and I decorated a tree in our salon, with construction material
The heads are fully plumbed. The Hydraulics are working, and the steering system is primed and ready. For a while I would actually go up to the wheelhouse and turn the wheel back and forth just because I knew it worked and it was a good feeling to have something on-board(the rudders) that was fully operational that I can play with.
So as far as most of the boat goes, we are just finishing up small odds and ends, but the electric still needs some help. We are still using home AC circuit breaker panels for our 110v system, which is okay, but marine units would be better, and I still need to get the rest of the bilge pumps up and running, I need to find a couple new gauges for our engines, and the rest are just little projects here and there. We are going to try and haul the boat out of the water the Saturday after next to paint it, check the through-hull fittings, and load the boat for departure.
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