Preparations

A lot has been happening since Christmas!
The cruising plan is in full swing, I have retired and Mike has semi retired. We set sail first to Tasmania in late Oct 2017.
We rented the house out to our Daughter and Morgan then moved onto the boat on 14 Jan at Fremantle Sailing Club to see if we could put up with each other in a confined space.
We had a GME AIS B installed, which was rather exciting to see ships and other vessels near by.
We have to up grade our power system. We had one 100w solar panel which was fine for the weekend but any longer and we had to run the motor. This took some thinking and researching. I did a spreadsheet and calculated what we would use in harbour and at sea to understand what we needed. Then I went to several places for advice and became very confused. The end result is we purchased a 30 amp regulator and 3 x 100w semi flexible panels. There isn't enough room on the bimini for all 3, so 2 will be zipped on the bimini and one will be connected while at sea and positioned on the cabin top. Some people suggested we have a fixed Bimini and then we would not need the semi flexible solar panels, but I like the idea of being able to remove the whole bimini and solar panels when it really blows. Also I do not like making any radical changes, as the previous owners may have done it this way for a reason. Next we have to look at the batteries.
We are having a new bimini being made.
Mike is building a Shellback dinghy. He was inspired by Bluewater medallist Trevor Robertson and really wanted to complete a boat of his own. He started this at the house and is finishing on the boat. It will row and sail, but unlikely to have a motor. I have specified the rubber ducky and outboard will stay until the new dinghy proves itself.