Preparation for our journey to the Keys

IWhere oh where to begin... Phil's been getting our boat ready for that last couple of month. Checking the engines, generator, water systems, the plumbing,the AC units, electrical cables, drains, intakes, GPS, radar and just about every inch of this boat. Believe it or not .. This boat has had no cable or TV. That has been fixed, thanks to Phil. We now have TV in the Master stateroom and in the main salon. He has cable run throughout via every crawl space to run the lines. He's quite the bilge rat.

The dinghy needed a reliable motor to get Buster to shore on the evenings we don't tie up to a dock. We upgraded from a 5 horsepower to a 9.9. It's great .. Better get up and go, and quieter. And best of all.. It's RELIABLE !! Having a powered hoist system is mighty terrific too. Much easier to lower and lift the dinghy as needed. And it travels safely out of the way.. We are quite pleased with our dinghy.

The storage on Knot Yet (KY) is wonderful.. But it's amazing how you fill the space you have. So we have reorganized to make it all make sense and reorganized again and again. We buy water by the gallon , no more than 6 gallons ,then we refill. Six gallons can take up some room and we don't want it out in view nor buried so deep that it inconvenienced to dig for it.

Meal planning a week at a time and proper storage for all of the groceries. The refrigerator/freezer  is bigger than the "Knot ADream" (KAD) but still has it's limits. Space in General is priced greatly. Which brings me to our washer/dryer..as excited as I was to have one on board ... It's really is taking up a lot of space and it's convenience  verse the laundry rooms at marinas... Well... We removed it from KY today.. More storage makes better sense..

This area where the washer and dryer once occupied will be used for food, water and galley needs . Planning meals that are tasty, healthy and easy.. And storage friendly.. Refrig and freezer space is quite limited.

At the helm, Phil has been checking the equipment ,also the storage and Bimini . We do not have screen or isinglass to protect us from wind or rain. So we have called the canvas folks to come check out what we have and how they can adapt a design to our Bimini. Hopefully they'll be by in this next week or so. 

There is much to learn before we venture out. Many books have been written, many blogs too. Thank goodness for internet and all it has to offer. All this makes for interesting reading. Courses to be plotted and mapped out. Understanding all the while that barge traffic, weather and other unforeseen situations can arise and turn all your planning to useless chaos. Always good to have a plan B and maybe C.