Today was another day of getting the boat ready. We’re getting down to the nitty gritty, though they are all important.
A lot of today was taken with dealing with the makers of Opus’ primary radio/AIS system. A lot of crossed connections, missed communications, and just plain confusing information provided. However, eventually, a nice person called me and we worked it out over the phone. Due to the delays, though, Opus will have to sail without her primary radio. Instead, her secondary one will be put into service. Her primary one will be replaced at some point in the future while under way.
Other things that I did today was worm my way into the bowels of Opus’ engine room/stern to check the rudder quadrant and also look into setting up the pep wave to act as a data hub through the cellular system. That is still an ongoing project, but it can wait until we’re under way as well.
The dinghy is recommissioned. It still needs a bit of pumping up, but otherwise it performed well, as did the outboard engine when I took the two of them across the lagoon on a test run. It does seem to be taking on some water, so I’ll have to find that leak, but it doesn’t seem to be all that bad.
Also started to splice the new Genoa lines and made a proper hash of it. Still, I have some line to play with, so I’ll have another go at it tomorrow morning. Other tasks still to do is get the propane refilled, which I’ll do as late as possible, and put bow numbers on, as well as seal the decks.
Kay has been a whirlwind. I admit it, while working on other things, I had let Opus get a bit dirty. Along with that comes a loss of pride in her. Kay has spruced up the cockpit and with that comes a resurgence of pride.
We leave in two days for white rock. There are still things trickling in, but for the most part, Opus is as ready to go as I can make her. I still have those worries about things like whether she will fail us mechanically, whether we’ll have enough water or fuel, but we’ll sort that out, other than mechanical failure, as we go by keeping records of what and how much is consumed.
We entertained, briefly, the thought of heading for White Rock tomorrow. It’s still on the plate, but only a small possibility. There’s still so much left to do and having the resources of a dock, water, electricity, is nothing to sneeze at. Still, we might… I find myself eager now to get this started!