I think I had mentioned this in a previous post. That we travel to the Island 2-3 times per year.

This typically leaves the Spring trip for boat projects and maintenance, while leaving the summer trip for a roughly 3 weeks splash and a fight for attention with us and the multitude of other activities outside of Sailing.

So this year will be no different.

Boat work on the Egress in the spring will focus on checking out how she faired over the winter, and beginning a plan to re-bed the fittings.

Questions that will be answered this Spring are:

Did the solar panel keep the batteries charged up over the winter.

Did the boat leak and if so which deck fittings/ ports leaked. (This will help the re-bedding plan.)

It is doubtful that we will have anytime to actually accomplish any re-bedding do to our short time on the Island in the Spring.

One item that should be a priority to check in the spring are the condition and operation of the thru-hulls. It’s something I’ve neglected in the past, but will not any longer as this is something critical to check. I don’t want any surprises regarding thru-hull shut offs. Additionally I am going to tie plugs to each thru-hull so they are located where they will be needed rather than digging thru lockers etc to find them. So this is priority number one.

Other items I want to accomplish this season are.

  • Relocate VHF radio.
  • Purchase and install RAM 3 microphone for the VHF radio and install on steering pedestal.
  • Purchase and install auto-pilot.
  • Remove decorative rope on the pedestal.
  • Purchase and test life sling 2 MOB lifting tackle.
  • Locate and test the emergency steering system
  • Look at a way to permanently get the solar panel wiring harness into the battery compartment.

Of course the above list is not inclusive of normal engine maintenance. Change oil, impeller etc…

Hopefully Our August trip is not as busy as it was last year so that we can actually get out and sail!