We’ve only got ONE WEEKEND LEFT to finish the necessary boat projects and be ready to cast the lines and head for Astoria. Ten days from today, we will be leaving our home slip in Portland Oregon, the only home we’ve known since moving into our 40-foot sailboat over two and a half years ago.
Since moving aboard, we’ve been prepping, fixing up the boat and trying to gain some skill at this whole liveaboard lifestyle, and sailing, and we’ve been doing it all from home base in Portland. Now, the real adventure is about to begin as we finish final preparations for moving the boat up to the Puget Sound.
To see just what we’ve been up to for the last couple months, check out this post with the project list at the two-month mark.
So, I’m sure you’re wondering what’s remaining on our list right now! Well, here’s where we’re at…
- Tape wooden bungs to all thru-hulls, replace old hose clamps *have all supplies for this project
- Install new chart plotters and VHF radio *have all supplies for this project and a plan in place
- Prop shaft alignment(?) *still deciding if this even needs to be done or if it can wait until we’re up in the Sound…
- Stern pole fabrication & radar installation *definitely one of the biggest projects still remaining… we’ve got the bracket, fabricated by my dad, to install to the stern this weekend – hopefully this goes to plan!
- Rig running backstays and inner forestay *this one will require that I go up the mast. We’ve ordered or have all the parts for both of these tasks and are just waiting for delivery, hopefully the implementation goes smoothly. I’ll also install the pad eyes for our flag halyards while I’m up there…
- Service mainsheet winch *have all supplies for this project, just need to do it
- Replace heat exchanger annode *still need to source this! Hopefully can find it locally…
- Anchor system to functional *we inspected our old anchor chain and rode and decided to bite the bullet and replace them. The old rode only had about 65 feet of chain and a further 175 feet of rope rode. Last weekend we ordered a new 200 feet of chain and 200 feet of rope rode … yikes, that was a big ticket item, but we will now be confident in our ground tackle…
- Dinghy storage on deck and outboard rail storage system *still trying to figure out exactly what we’re going to do with the outboard as it looks like we will need to build a custom mount for it …
- Spare parts kit *I think we’ve got everything we need now, just need to get it all put together in a deliberate spot ….
- Jack lines *ordered, just awaiting their arrival and we can test setup
- Fix leaky deck drain *have an epoxy putty to try, hopefully this works
- Lee cloths *have the supplies, just need to get out the sewing machine to make these
- Preventer setup *have a plan in place, may not install final setup before we leave but will have it to functional by the time we leave Astoria
- Boarding ladder *have our old clunky boarding ladder that came with the boat, may try to figure out another option, maybe even just a fender step or two together for now? I’d rather not take the big wooden boarding ladder that we have with us – it’s not practical for real cruising
Here’s the old anchor chain and rode. It should serve well for our backup/secondary anchor.
Phew! It still seems like SO MUCH stuff, but we’ve got a good start on nearly every project on there, or at least a plan, so I think we’ll be fine.
After all, they say you’re never really ready … you just have to be ready enough! We’re in the home stretch. Keep cheering us on! It’s much appreciated! Cheers. ~Rachel
Here, Kali and Doggy helped me with some splicing for our new Dyneema lifelines!