Bermuda at last!

I can't believe this is finally happening! The hurdles that have been jumped are unbelievable. Someone on here asked what it took to prepare for a solo voyage like this in the maintenance and mechanical forum while I was searching for tips on replacing the engine head gasket. I would have replied if I had an answer but I have never gone more than 5 miles off shore!

I thank the sail gods as the head gasket was the last big necessary repair. It really gave me a good feeling of confidence too. I now know this enging inside and out. This past winter I also made a new aluminum fuel tank and replaced everything fuel related up to the high pressure pump. Purrs like a kitten now. And buzzez like mad with the new oil pressure/over temp alarm. When your never at the helm who's looking at the temp gauge?

While the fuel tank was out I also replace the shift, throttle and kill cables. Sand blasted the binacle top and poweder coated it, gave it a new set of bushings for the levers and topped it off with the most important instrument on the boat! A Ritchie compass with Led lighting. It teally make the boat look new!

I replaced both the jib and main halyard, climbed the mast and inspecting all I could see and tapped off the spreaders and cleaned it up a bit. I added two additional 57mm blocks to the mast ring to redirect the reef lines to the existing mast mounted winches. This was to prevent slippage of the boom cam locks in high winds. I would have liked to redirect them back to the cockpit but ran out of time.

I totally copied Christians fuel tank holders! Except I used velcro strapping to secure it to the grab rail and a combination of 1/2 inch pvc conduit straps and velcro to secure them to the stays. I modified some basic sinch straps and eye bolts to secure each jug and each side also holds 2 gallons of gasoline for the backup generator and new lightweight 2.5hp mercury outbard for the dighny.

Iridium Go with the boat install kit will keep me in touch with mother nature and the shore. A new set of Renogy solar panels will keep the fridge up and running and hopefully keep the engine charging down to an hour of run time every 12hrs or so.

In a last minute sanity check I grabbed a used series drogue off of ebay. It is the exact specifications for my size vessel and in perfect shape. Someone must be looking out for me.

I will be exiting the NY Harbor around 10am This Saturday the 26th. When I get onboard this afternoon I will try and drop a link so thoes wishing to can track me via Iridiums tracking. Fair winds all. And thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences.

Dave