Prepping DAKOTA ROSE for the Trip
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| Although DAKOTA ROSE was still in great shape and ready to sail off, there were a few improvements we wanted to make to remedy some of the (relatively minor) inconveniences of our prior voyage. |
| First came a cosmetic makeover as well as a much-needed bottom paint job. We had this done at Baja Naval boatyard in Ensenada, Mexico, in May, 2006, following our participation in the annual Newport-to-Ensenada yacht race. We had the hull painted a dashing Corinthian Blue, with gold and red striping, and the name emblazoned jauntily on the port and starboard quarters. In addition, remembering the broken through-hull fitting that could have sunk us back in St. Thomas, we had the yard replace all of the through-hulls with brand new. |
| The staff at Baja Naval couldn't have been more helpful. Oscar stayed in close touch with us throughout the work |
| Some of the other upgrades and installations we made before leaving: Back-up GPS 12 volt refrigeration system in the cooler box, augmenting the engine-driven compressor and holding plate system. Now we can actually freeze our own ice! Wind generator, so we won't have to run the engine so long and so often to keep the batteries charged (especially with the new refrigeration system) 150 amp alternator. If you recall, we started our last trip with a 100 amp alternator which burned out twice because it was overloaded, then we upgraded to 120 amps. This larger size will charge the batteries even quicker when we do run the engine. Link 10 battery management system, sort of a "gas gauge" for our house batteries, but measuring amp-hours rather than gallons. Now we'll know exactly how much capacity we have left and how efficient our charging is. New sails, including a very-colorful cruising spinnaker. We actually ordered the sails in Tortola, they were built in Barbados, then shipped to California and installed after we got home. New anchor chain (160') and 3/4" rode (260'), and we had our main anchor sand-blasted and painted. |
| Some things we considered but decided not to do: Generator - no convenient place to put it, too heavy, too complicated, just another piece of machinery to maintain. Solar panels - bulky, add windage and (in my personal opinion) ugly. Water maker - once again, something else to maintain, finicky, draws power, and from our previous cruising we never suffered water shortages with judicious use of our 210-gallon onboard capacity. |