It’s time for me to let go and take a breath!
I’ve really been busting my ass on Splendid with the notion that I’m heading south before hurricane season and it may not happen. I may stay in Florida or head north for the summer.
I knew the anchors on Splendid were grossly undersized and there is a very small Sampson manual windlass on deck. The chain is also under sized. I need to buy 300′ of 3/8 chain, a new “ballsie” windlass (24v/hydrolic), and a larger CQR.
As most of you know I hate docks, I don’t think they are any place for sailboats. All the damage to Namaste over the years happened because I was at a dock or on a mooring. Before I leave to go cruising (out of the US) I need a top notch ground tackle system!
Splendid is med-tied to the La Belle city dock right now. The wind picked up last night and Splendid drug sideways into my buddy Josh’s boat as the anchor drug. There was no damage as I had a bunch of bumpers out on the starboard side but we were both up at 4am dealing with anchors, bumpers, lines, wind, and rain. The nice thing about being at anchor is one can put out extra scope if your dragging, but not at a med-tie. At anchor it’s also easy to motor on to the anchor and raise it when you need to, motor out and re-anchor. If I’m going to single hand this boat these are the things I need to do.
It was really fun the other day motoring down the channel from the Glades yard (12 miles). I single handed Splendid through a lock and through a draw bridge. Josh and I anchored our boats for a night in La Belle before coming into the dock day before yesterday.
Splendid is really comfortable however still a mess. It’s going to take a while to straighten everything out. I still don’t have a working head. I just ordered 2 new rebuild kits at $140.00 each, “ouch”! I also still need to find a 2000 watt (+ / – ) generator and a 10 HP outboard.
Peace, Love, and BIG ASS ANCHORS!
– Alex
Recent Comments