After much thought, I have come to the the conclusion that our blog would be incomplete without some insights into the reality of preparing our boat for our travels. Frankly, it is during this preparation I get my energy. Where do we begin? Do we start with our get together during Super Bowl weekend, when Gary, Camille, Smitty, Barbara and myself started discussing this trip in detail or do I go back in time when Camille and I placed Apuej Bien on the "Hard" in Trinidad after a leisurely but exciting island hoping trip through the Eastern Caribbean. Knowing our next challenge would be to prepare for our move from Puerto Rico to new home in Florida to enroll our daughter in High School so she could prepare for college. But not knowing when we would spend significant time on the water again. We were fully committed to Camila's future as we prepared her for flight and future independence in her college environment. And you ask, "what does that have to do with sailing?"
To put in in perspective, ...everything! Because it truly is the journey to the water's edge which adds to the real flavor of the adventure. Evaluating your boats' equipment to determine needs and upgrades; assessing your personal and the crew members skill sets to determine training needs and opportunities; identifying affordable but up to date equipment, this often involves travel to boat shows and subscriptions to periodicals and/or text book or manual purchases; and of course surfing the web which has proven to be a tremendous teaching tool, particularly "You Tube" and EBAY. It has been
my personal home study program, when coupled with my sailing experience has taken me to a new level of competence and confidence.
As you can see this is not a simple feat, but I am a simple person and will stay with the basics. How do you prepare your boat to be your home and a safe refuge in the unforgiving ocean, which takes no prisoners if you are not prepared for its challenges. .-- Jerome
