Work, Work, and More Work

The summer has passed by quickly and we are finding ourselves nearing our departure. The past four months have been spent in Onset, Massachusetts, where we have grown comfortable with the friendly people and beautiful scenery. While residing in our parents’ cottage, everyone has been extremely supportive of our upcoming trip and we appreciate the generosity of the many people that have helped to contribute to our preparations.

We are especially grateful to our grandparents who have not only given us full use of their home and vehicles, but have also welcomed our numerous friends who have visited us over the past months. We are sure that they are looking forward to all of the food in their refrigerator not disappearing (the amount of ice cream consumed over the past several months has been obscene). Yet, despite our nomadic lifestyles, Onset has always felt like home and we have decided to list Onset, Massachusetts as our home port.

In preparation for our trip, we have completed a number of the projects intended to upgrade our boat in order to ensure our safety and comfort while we are far from home. Among these projects are the following:

• Hired a mechanic to install a below-deck autopilot that will automatically steer a course, thus freeing us up to stand watch without having to steer. In addition to our windvane, this should make the trip much more enjoyable.
• Installed a single sideband radio that will enable us to receive weather updates while at sea and to send text e-mails from anywhere in the world. This project required us to cut the backstay and insulate it in order to convert it to an antenna. Surprisingly, it worked.
• Purchased and installed an EPIRB, which is a safety device that will send out a distress signal if our boat is sinking. Hopefully, this beacon will never be deployed, but, if necessary, it will allow the rescuers to locate our life raft. The Bergman family made a donation toward this item, so we now consider Crystal Classics to be one of our initial sponsors.
• The Thermometer Man, Dick Porter, (listed in Guinness Book of World Records for holding the largest collection of thermometers) contributed a thermometer to our boat. We look forward to providing the temperature (hopefully high), the barometric pressure (again, hopefully high), and the humidity (hopefully low) as we record our experiences at different locales.
• The dinghy was patched after the chafing from the towing lines wore a hole through the rubber bow. Despite the pleasure of vigorously pumping up the dinghy every time we needed to get to the boat, it is nice to no longer be greeted with the pathetic sight of our deflated dinghy floating flacidly at the dinghy dock.
• We were forced to remove our jib to repair the frayed sunguard, which was apparently overlooked by the incompetent sailmakers at The Sail Loft in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Unfortunately, a storm hit while we had the jib removed and we had failed to secure the jib halyard (line used to raise the jib). As a result, the halyard worked its way up the inside of the mast and came out the top of the mast. Despite hours spent in the bosun’s chair at the top of the mast and an array of strategies, we were unable to fish the line back through the mast and had to settle for the acceptable alternative solution of running the halyard down the outside of the mast.
• Installed a battery monitor and pathmaker that allows us to better manage our energy. While this was a fairly simple installation, we still don’t have the faintest idea of how our electrical systems work or how to fix it if anything goes wrong. Basically, our father said that this would be useful and that is good enough for us.
• Uncle Scott, Aunt Laura, and our cousin Alix have provided us with about 50 paper charts that will allow us to navigate the waters of the Caribbean. In addition, they have provided flags and gear to help us on our way.
• Grandpa Gerbetz has contributed two deep-sea fishing poles that we are counting on to provide us with the food needed to survive. Our two fishing experiences this summer do not indicate any particular talent for fishing, but we figure we are due.

There were a number of other minor projects that consumed the summer and early fall. We continue to stumble through our clumsy attempts to learn the many facets of offshore cruising, but we are enjoying the chance to learn something new.

Thus far, we are extremely happy with the performance of the boat and we are growing to depend on her more every day. With the weather turning cold, the leaves have changed and the cranberries have been harvested. It has been a pleasure to spend so much time in Onset; although we expect to visit some beautiful places, it will be difficult to top the simple beauty of Onset. However, it is time to head to warmer climates and we welcome the changes ahead.