Prolonging the inevitable

I put off winterizing the boat for as long as I possibly could. In my mind, winterizing meant that I had conceded that sailing season was over.

I finally got the motivation I needed when I came across a weather report that predicted snow and sub-freezing weather. On Saturday December 13th, I reluctantly pulled the sails off the boat, drained the water tanks, and took care of all the other things that would ensure that Amnesty would "breeze" through the winter

It turns out that I completed the job in the nick of time. On Sunday December 14th the cold front hit and the snow followed shortly thereafter.

In reality, the onset of winter is a blessing in disguise. I now have 4 months to take care of the projects that I need to get done for the extended voyages we have planned for the summer. Through "trial and error", I figured out what things would need to be changed/added in order to make a 2+ week trip safe, feasible, and comfortable.

The first thing I need to do is come up with complete add/move/change list and then determine the priority and sequence. There are some obvious tasks...the bottom needs to be repainted, I have to install a water heater and shower (Danielle won't go otherwise). Then there are the important but not absolutely essential...I would like to expand the battery banks (On a recent three day trip we depleted the house batteries in 2.5 days), install an integrated navigation system, and I would like to have a windlass installed to make retrieving the anchor easier.

I plan to spend the next few weekends building/prioritizing my task list and with the dawn of the new year the work starts. I intend to post progress reports and some photos of what I will refer to as the "Retro Fit" over next four months.





The photos above were taken during the lull between the winter storms that blew through Seattle in mid December. You can see that the sails are off the boat and safely stowed below. I managed to clear the accumulation just in time for the next storm. Down below she was an even 45 degrees and dry in spite of sub freezing temperatures outside. I have to keep the interior temperature safely above freezing, but not so warm that it causes condensation...a delicate balance.

Besides the portable ceramic heater, I also have two dehumidifiers running constantly, and some 75 watt light bulbs in the crawl spaces because the heat from the heater wont reach them.

Authors note: I small item of pride that I wanted to point out....the registration plate mounted on the bow pulpit. I didn't want to put the registration numbers on the hull and borrowed the idea of making a "license plate" from my neighbor....it took me a half day and I think it came out quite nice.