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. ...
I wasn’t at home when we were tied into slip A58 in Monterey Harbor. I was homesick. Surprising yes, since I was on my own boat, tied up with my usual dock lines, cooking in my own galley, and sleeping in my own bed. I spent my time in Monterey constantly checking the three forecast areas on NOAA to find our perfect weather window to head north. Again, I was surprised at myself. The trip north is usually hard, wet, and cold. Our boat is in great shape and we could actually (foolishly) cash in Tucker’s retirement accounts and head south for at least a year. I always want to go south, or anywhere warmer than wherever I am. But I wanted to go north, to go home. ...