Next winter's boating plans

It's funny. My lovely wife and I can have the car packed for camping and out the door in 20 minutes. We've done it. We've also taken days to pack. The difference? Good enough and perfect. With the 20 minute pack job we forgot a few minor items and either did without or bought them along the way.

Leaving with the sailboat to head south in the winter should also be one of those 20 minute departures. It's not that unreasonable. All we have to do is keep all the boat stuff in the boat and the van packed for camping. When we do decide to depart it's just a matter of throwing some clothes and food into the van, hooking up the trailer and going.

Unfortunately the boat and van are no way ready for a 20 minute departure. In a pinch, I could get the basics done in 3 – 4 hours, but the boat wouldn't really be ready.

Right now it's fine for messing around on fresh water lakes. It's going to need some upgrades before heading to the ocean. The hull needs fresh bottom paint. It's trailer could use new tires. A couple more deep discharge batters and another solar charger would be great. However, what it really needs is a new mainsail. That's the high dollar item.

Looks like we most likely will be taking the Oday 19 south again in the winter. With that decision out of the way we can work towards getting the boat and van ready for the trip. The van shouldn't need anything major. That's a big relief.

While we were tempted to buy a bigger boat this year, it doesn't look to be in the budget. If we pace our expenditures for our existing boat it shouldn't hurt the budget too bad. Knowing our boat inside and out, surprise expenses are kept to a bare minimum. The money we are spending on rehabbing the Oday would be a good start towards buying a bigger boat, but no doubt that boat would have unexpected problems.

At the end of our long trip on it two winters ago we made a list of the things that would improve comfort on the boat. I figured it would be a good idea to write it all down while it was still fresh in our minds. Looks like that list is going to come in handy. With any luck by the end of fall we'll be ready for a 20 minute departure.

-Sixbears