Sea Reach gets a refit

During the last several months Sea Reach has undergone an extensive refit in preparation for her offshore adventures.  Her standing rigging has been replaced and a radar arch custom built and fitted with two 130 watt solar panels. This added to the 80 watt solar panel mounted on the hard top dodger provides ample power for the new Adler Barbour water-cooled refrigeration unit and for navigational devices. We also had a new, loose footed, fully battened mainsail cut as well as a new Harken furling system installed.  A new radar with AIS and chart plotting capabilities was a last minute addition after our old radar refused to function when remounted when the the mast was re-stepped. The refit took a lot longer  and cost more than expected but we are feeling confident that it will serve us well over the coming years.

 

With less than two weeks remaining before we head down the Juan de Fuca and turn left on our adventure south, it seems like the ‘to do list’ continues to renew itself no matter how many gadgets we update, replace or put in the ‘spare parts locker.’ The boat’s secret hidey spots have gradually revealed themselves to us over the past three years but now as we seek out new areas to stow or gear and gadgets, we still occasionally come upon a new treasure. Last week, John took on the last of the dirty jobs; oil change, fuel filters and a decision to replace the perfectly working alternator with a new one.  He couldn’t find an exact match for the old model but was assured that the newer model had greater capacity and would run for a long time. The new part, however, required more space in the already cramped engine compartment to accommodate its larger belt size. Captain John tinkered around with great industry and perseverance as he contorted his long frame into impossible positions and tried out numerous tools to assist him in his wizardry.  A relatively simple task became complicated and dragged on for hours but finally the new alternator was installed and the Captain though greasy and tired was satisfied.

During this ordeal, I had flitted back and forth between home and the boat as I continued to do inventory and repack the boat. The dinghy cover was a ‘bad buy.’ Fitted tube covers would have been better. I’m feeling like this cover is not going to be used much so I seek out a rarely used spot, a locker under our berth with difficult access. It’s larger than I remember and it already has several metal objects in it. As I take them out to inspect them, I find more spare parts, one of which looks remarkably like an alternator.  

“Is this an alternator?” I cheerily ask. I watch as my dearly loved Captain physically deflates in front of my eyes as he calculates the hours he has spent on adjusting the various fittings to accommodate the new model when the one I have in my hand proves to be an exact unused replica of the old one! And we wonder why everything takes twice as long to fix as anticipated!