Well, we have no exciting stories like sometimes in the past. But, for us, it's a breakthrough.
We've had this boat 2 years and finally made it out into the open ocean. Not far, just 5 miles out. But, as far as I can determine, it's not only the first time for us to go out in it, it's the first time this boat has been in the open ocean - ever. And, for a 1974 40' Cheoy Lee, that is quite a deal. Now, after spending a few days on the hook, we're evaluating what we've learned. We learned that good working autopilots can quit at any moment. I should have realized that, as I can't recall any deliveries where the auto pilot worked the whole trip. Wait - I think the one on the boat I took from Long Island sound to Jacksonville, Florida just before 9/11 still worked when I got off. We learned we are big power hogs. I thought our 550 watts of solar would come close to keeping up. It probably would for real conservationists, but that is not us. Our 125 amp alternator that puts out about 65 amps doesn't do enough. So, we're scratching our heads and sharpening our pencils trying to decide what is the best next step. We're about solared out - it would require covering the entire cockpit to do much more, and that has been veto'd by the first mate. Carrying our little Honda generator might help. But, I think I need to build a jackshaft and hook up the big old 180 amp alternator Lew talked me into buying some time ago. That would certainly help. We learned that, although the draft is listed at 4.5', when the depth sounder says 5.3', brace yourself. We already knew that putting this 13' beam boat in a 13.1' slip is quite a chore, so that wasn't new. We've noticed that the fridge runs about 95% of the time, and don't see why. We learned that our new fuel tank and fuel system works very well. Nellie learned that, away from shore power, we can't run the tv, microwave and toaster at once. We learned that downwind sailing without an autopilot is quite a bit of work. But, we learned that on any other point of sail, balancing the boat with the 3 sails (ketch) is just a joy. Anyway, more new lessons to come, I'm sure. Gene Gruender Sun Chaser
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