My lovely wife, Brownie the Sailor Dog, and myself took the boat for a shakedown cruise. I'm glad we did.
The rigging needed a bit of untangling after 1700 road miles but everything checked out. My coaxial cable for my base radio got wedged between two hard metal surfaces and got cut. We made do with our hand held marine radio. Good to have backup. It will be repaired before the next trip.
We did some navigating in skinny waters among the rocks. It was good practice with the GPS, compass, charts, and binoculars. I'm glad to say we didn't hit any.
Rock markers in the distance.
The outboard ran fine. I'm glad I put new spark plugs in it. We only used the outboard for about 3. 5 miles to navigate a channel. Without it, we would have had to wait a couple hours for the tide to turn. Although it doesn't get a lot of use, it sure is handy to have.
At the end of the day I noticed a crack in the outboard bracket. That will be fixed or replaced before we head out again. '
The shakedown cruise brought a couple problems to light. I'm glad we decided on a day trip. Besides, a day on the water is a good day.
-Sixbears
Yes, a day on the water is always a good day, especially if you get back.
ReplyDeleteThe getting back is key.
ReplyDeleteA shakedown cruise is always a good idea! Sounds like yours was handy!
ReplyDeleteWe got in a good day of sailing just before the seas got too rought for my little boat.
DeleteJim took the words out of my mouth. Always a good idea to do a shakedown before venturing too far out/away. Yep, the Gulf can get pretty snotty in short order, especially early afternoon when the breeze really kicks in. Shallow depth makes for short and steep waves. I'll take 10 foot rollers over 4 foot chop any day!
ReplyDeletePlenty of that 4 foot chop in these waters. Shakedown found some problems. Doing repairs and hunting for parts now.
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