Going off the Grid

I'll probably be going off the grid pretty soon, maybe as early as the end of the month, but definitely by the end of June. I don't see much reason for a cell phone once you get a few miles offshore. I still have a few things I need to get, so I'll keep if for a while, but don't plan to sign another contract for cell of internet.

Move watch:

The travel lift broke down a couple of days ago, so pretty much everything is on hold here. I'm going to do some laundry today as well as a little plumbing work while I'm waiting for them to move me. I may also try to drill the chainplates and assemble the rigging.

Head watch:

It doesn't look like I have room for a flexible holding tank, which is probably good since they aren't recommended anyway. I have a small 6 gallon rigid one that doesn't really fit anywhere, but I think I can mount it under the settee is I tilt it over a bit. That'll reduce it's capacity, but since I don't plan to use it much, capacity really isn't an issue. I need to order hoses, values, and a pump to complete the project, so once I get back from the laundry mission, I'll work on that.

Bilge watch:

I also need to replace the manual bilge pump in the cabin. I've been looking at a Whale Titan, which is what I have in the cockpit. It works well and can also be used for waste, so I'm planning to buy two, one for the bilge and the other for the head. I'll need to add another thru-hull in the transom to drain it, but other than that, it's pretty easy to mount.

Drain watch:

My large toerails tend to hold water on the deck, so I've got a couple of deck drains that are connected to a chase molded into the inside of the hull on both sides of the boat just aft of the companionway. The only problem is that there's no way to seal them off, so if you're on a tack for several days, they could leak and you'd never know unless you stuck your head down in the cockpit lockers. There's not much I can do about it right now, except replace the hoses and keep an eye on them, but I plan to remove them completely when I redo the toerails later this year.

I'm also planning to remove the two aft drains in the cockpit sole and add two larger drains that go directly out the transom. The cockpit has four 1-1/2" drains, but they're connected to two 1-1/2" seacocks, so the extra ones don't really help -- you're still constrained by what the seacocks can handle. This is one modification I may try to do before I leave -- shouldn't take too long and will make the boat much more seaworthy. I'm looking at ordering some fiberglass tubes I can glass in. Then I'll add scuppers to the transom and drain plates inside the cockpit.

Laundry watch:

Well, I'm off to do some laundry. The leak increased the load far beyond my 5 gallon bucket capacity, so I really don't have a choice. Since the laundry is about half a mile away, I'm only going to do half at a time, but the transmission delay makes this a good time to take care of it.