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Boat projects on a budget
I think my face in the video tells you already how much enthusiasm I had, realizing what a long list of boat projects I had to work on. Anastasia was built in 1960 and no one made any improvements aboard when it comes to ocean passages. She was more set up as a simple liveaboard sailboat with minimal equipment. In safety and navigation, things were even worse, but there were little for improvements.
Instead I decided to fix what I already had and make sure everything worked fine. For that I needed a list, so I inspected every little corner on the boat trying to fill up my list. Here you have some of the most important things I wanted to change aboard Anastasia, so she would be ready for longer voyages, not always in the best weather conditions.
- Standing rigging needed replacement,
- Except some old lifejackets, there was no safety equipment aboard,
- The water tank was too small for long passages,
- Not enough storage space for food and supplies,
- The hatches were not at all watertight,
- Not enough electrical power storage for eventual navigation equipment,
- The first aid kit content was expired long time ago,
- Flares and extinguishers were expired since 1984,
- The sails were ok for now but needed replacement at some point,
- The mast was in a good shape, but not good enough for really bad weather,
- Except a depth sounder and an old Garmin chartplotter with old maps there was no navigation system,
- The VHF radio was good, but the antenna and the coax cable had to be replaced,
- Not enough solar panels and no other electricity generators were available except the Diesel.
Lunch first
My good friend Luciano invited me for lunch and I was out of the boat in no time. I only had one paddle for my dinghy at the time, so leaving the boat and coming back was not that easy when the wind and the currents were a little stronger. But it was time to make a list of the things I had to fix on the boat before my departure. The boat projects list that was getting longer and longer every single day. The pocket on the other hand, was getting smaller and smaller. This was only the beginning. I knew I may not be able to do a proper boat refit, but at least I knew what it had to be done so I can start sailing, or what may fall apart.
Fixing the little things
Considering that my time in Miami was limited by my tourist visa time, I had to do my best to prepare the boat for the departure with the little money I had left. I started with little things that could be fixed easy. I was still hoping at that time that I would have enough time to prepare the boat a little better. The intention back then, was not to leave the boat in Miami anymore. After living aboard for four years not sailing anywhere, I really wanted to sail away. The goal was to find a place somewhere outside US in a boatyard, so I can start a proper boat refit.
Most of the time if you want to sail alone around the world, you want to also be safe, not just comfortable. I was not exactly intending to sail in calm waters all the time, so safety was really important. Looking at the videos now, I almost start laughing remembering that my bank account was getting close to zero, but I was still trying to find a way and prepare the boat for my departure. I wasn’t even sure what would be my destination, as it was getting to expensive for me and had a hard time with the limitations of my visa.
I will have to do a podcast on this so if you are in a similar situation, you get to learn from my mistakes. I will have enough time there to talk about in detail. For now, enjoy the recycled video.
