<div>Lenny and my fellow Morganeers,First, I want to thank you all for the advice and kind guidance
you've provided over the months preparing for this cruise.
Second and once again, I want to thank Lenny. If it wasn't for
him and this board, this whole process could have been much, much
more painful and I wouldn't be ready to go now. I think this cut
the prep time 6 months. The research and experience from gear
found on this board has been invaluable. Deep felt thanks.During the last 6 months, I've outfitted as far as my budget
could go and within reason. I've gone bow to stearn with a fine
tooth comb and fixed what I could and thought was really
necessary for the cruise. I've researched, studied, learned,
screwed up, tried again and again, but I know what is what on
my boat. I've built a v-berth, shelves in various lockers,
painted all the lockers and bilge, fixed some minor blisters,
painted the bottom, buffed out the hull and deck completely,
Cetol'd the wood, tied the mast to the deck, wired in another
electric panel and rewired not all but many circuits, installed 2
bow rollers with appropriate Bruce and CQR anchors and 80%chain
rode on the primary, electric windlass - Lewmar Ocean concept 1,
rebuilt the Stearns furler, new full batten main with Battslides,
bought a used/damn-near new cruising chute, all sails revamped,
installed Furuno 1621 radar, '99 Air Marine 403 windgenerator,
Aries lift-up windvane, installed a station GPS Garmin 128,
Celestaire Astra III Sextant, Grundig SSB receiver and WxFax
software, software and more software, purchased a Para-anchor
with a 200' rode, bought a new dink with Yamaha 8hp, bought and
installed a liftraft, 406 EPIRB with emergency light, Charts and
more charts between here and the Med, etc etc etc...the list goes
on like crazy. I figure I've dropped about $14k +. I don't have
the exact figure and don't want to know it, if you know what I
mean.
I ran out of money to buy the SSB transceiver and that will go on
maybe next year as well as solar panels.
I haven't tried to be super yachty nor jury rigged anything. I've
used a conservative realistic approach that I found on this board
to get the boat ready for extended cruising on my budget as a
military retiree.
I look forward to hearing from you down the road. I'll let you
know what's worked and what's failed - if you like. Very sincerely - thank you! You guys have been my support.
</div>
you've provided over the months preparing for this cruise.
Second and once again, I want to thank Lenny. If it wasn't for
him and this board, this whole process could have been much, much
more painful and I wouldn't be ready to go now. I think this cut
the prep time 6 months. The research and experience from gear
found on this board has been invaluable. Deep felt thanks.During the last 6 months, I've outfitted as far as my budget
could go and within reason. I've gone bow to stearn with a fine
tooth comb and fixed what I could and thought was really
necessary for the cruise. I've researched, studied, learned,
screwed up, tried again and again, but I know what is what on
my boat. I've built a v-berth, shelves in various lockers,
painted all the lockers and bilge, fixed some minor blisters,
painted the bottom, buffed out the hull and deck completely,
Cetol'd the wood, tied the mast to the deck, wired in another
electric panel and rewired not all but many circuits, installed 2
bow rollers with appropriate Bruce and CQR anchors and 80%chain
rode on the primary, electric windlass - Lewmar Ocean concept 1,
rebuilt the Stearns furler, new full batten main with Battslides,
bought a used/damn-near new cruising chute, all sails revamped,
installed Furuno 1621 radar, '99 Air Marine 403 windgenerator,
Aries lift-up windvane, installed a station GPS Garmin 128,
Celestaire Astra III Sextant, Grundig SSB receiver and WxFax
software, software and more software, purchased a Para-anchor
with a 200' rode, bought a new dink with Yamaha 8hp, bought and
installed a liftraft, 406 EPIRB with emergency light, Charts and
more charts between here and the Med, etc etc etc...the list goes
on like crazy. I figure I've dropped about $14k +. I don't have
the exact figure and don't want to know it, if you know what I
mean.
I ran out of money to buy the SSB transceiver and that will go on
maybe next year as well as solar panels.
I haven't tried to be super yachty nor jury rigged anything. I've
used a conservative realistic approach that I found on this board
to get the boat ready for extended cruising on my budget as a
military retiree.
I look forward to hearing from you down the road. I'll let you
know what's worked and what's failed - if you like. Very sincerely - thank you! You guys have been my support.
</div>