Outfitting

iNavX is (as I’ve previously mentioned) a terrific product. It’s one greatest shortcoming is it’s inability to import grib files when the iPad is not directly connected to the internet. Since this is going to be our primary electronic navigation device, I needed to remedy that before we left. Luckily, the solution is neither painful, nor overly technical (one in the same?). It does require jailbreaking your iPad though, so if you have trouble breaking the rules, you had better stop reading here. ...

Convivia is one heck of a sailing boat. I love her dearly, but she is sadly lacking in two areas (no binnacle, no nav station) that made my navigation/chart plotter system decision somewhat harder than the typical, 1. Buy Raymarine, 2. Install Raymarine, 3. Enjoy Raymarine, process. Add to that the fact that I am a dyed in the wool hacker with a natural distrust of the closed and proprietary, and you have a recipe for innovation. ...

Today marks three months until departure. Or at least until the earliest possible departure. We’ve got 97 items on the list, so while we are still fighting a deficit (if one item = one day), at least we aren’t loosing much ground. This is a work weekend, so I hope to cross off a few big items. Wish me luck!

Convivia was ship shape and ready to sail by the time my work day ended. We decided in the morning that today would be the day that we tested out the North Sails QuickCover (similar to a StackPack) and Monitor windvane. I was a little worried about the monitor because I had to guess on where to attach the control sheets and I hadn’t had time to read the instructions on how one actually sails with the thing. I was worried about the QuickCover because I have heard all sorts of complaints about the sail getting caught and other related issues. ...

We just passed the 100 day mark. On the upside, the anticipation of this 90º course change in our life has all of us sparkling. The recent addition of two Blue Latitudes cruiser’s guides to our library has us ooohing and ahhing over lovely color photos of turquoise bays and vibrant seaside towns. I’ve also become enamored with the laid back, islandy sound of my ukulele, often playing it all evening instead of knocking items off my todo list. ...

Today I got home to find several large boxes waiting for me. Okay, true, I did have to walk 1/4 mile up to the marina office to pick them up, and I did have to call Ed (the security guard/awesome guy) to let me into said office and then wheel those large boxes back to the boat; artistic license. In said boxes were: a) A Ukulele. Which I have been wanting for a long time but didn’t quite get over the hump until Merileigh (our boat neighbor) got one. ...

I just got a note from Kevin at New England Ropes. Our Dyneema® line will ship from the West Marine rig shop today. With any luck they will arrive before the end of the week. I should be able to get at least the sheets installed before the long weekend. If so we’ll be able to test our new vang and some beautiful new line on our long weekend cruise. That will take some of the sting out of not getting the Monitor installed.