The cutlass bearing is done, the new autohelm is almost done, many things are fastened down which were not previously fastened down, AND  the rudder is back on and has a first coat of “shark white” Micron CSC (making Marathon look somewhat like an upside down white-tip shark (kind of)) and on 17 September she should be back in the water.  Apparently the rudder had a very large amount of water in it but the stainless frame was still in tip-top condition, so all is good. Next – finish the autohelm, figure out how to fasten bits of floorboard and hatch covers and replace the water-tank inspection hatches. Then change the oil, waterpump impeller and add the batten boards for extra fuel and water, followed by provisions and we should be heading off next week.

Marathon waits forlornly for her rudder to be repaired and replaced under a grey September sky.

Insurance companies insist that they review “the plan” before they will provide a quote for offshore bluewater (or brownwater – as the somewhat coastal voyage to Mexico is sometimes referred) passages.  Assembling boat details and an acceptable plan seems to be taking longer than bleeding the fuel lines on a Perkins 4.108.  So here is the draft plan about to be submitted to a number of insurers for their review and hopefully affordable quotations.

Depart Vancouver around 20 September 2009 if: the boat’s rudder is fixed and the boat is back in the water; all other critical systems have been installed (these include the new wheel autopilot (project started) and replacing the inspection hatches on the water tanks (I have the hatches and a plan); and, the weather is somewhat favourable (i.e. there is wind of favourable quantity and direction).  Insurance companies employ large numbers of very expensive actuaries to calculate the probabilities of all things going wrong leading to the demise of the ship, and heaven forbid, the crew.  Given the above three requirements for a successful 20 September departure most actuaries would likely think that there is a low risk associated with this planned passage because of the low probability that it will take place.  I remain optimistic nonetheless that we will be leaving before the end of September!

So we will leave Vancouver and do a shakedown of some new systems (see departure requirements above) and sort out a few details (how to deploy the Jordan Series drogue, how to sheet the staysail which is still folded in a way so compact that only a sailmaker could have done it and how to install the jacklines so that it is in fact possible to move from the cockpit to the front of the boat, free a stuck something or other, and return to the cockpit without unclipping the tether from the jackline), etc.  There is still Victoria to fix or replace most things that break on the way there.  After that it is out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and then south to San Francisco as the planned first stop.  Unless some major piece of unpredicted weather intervenes or something major breaks and we need to duck into somewhere on the coast of Washington or Oregon.

In San Francisco we can fix everything that broke and replace everthing that was somehow consumed or lost.  Onward to San Diego (activities pretty much the same as San Francisco) and then Cabo San Lucas for a shower sometime prior to the end of October.  While stops are not planned they may be necessary.

After the shower in Cabo San Lucas La Paz becomes the next destination for R & R of a yet to be determined duration, followed by Mazatlan and Peurto Vallarta before the end of December.  All will be good. All will take place according to the plan. Starting now.

Remembering that “the boat is never ready” is always helpful when thinking about yet another gizmo that is apparently essential for off-shore sailing.  I have therefore decided that while the boat is never ready it must become closer and closer to being ready prior to the fixed but flexible departure date in an assymptotic way.  A corollary of this theorem is that as boat readiness approaches becoming infinitesimally close to “ready” the expenditures necessary to achieve this state increase in a geometric way both in frequency and cost. The proof of this theorem has been recently demonstrated in an indirect way.  So many FEDEX deliveries have arrived over the past couple of weeks that my dog and the FEDEX delivery guy are now such good friends that he brings dog biscuits for her.

Propellors should turn easily and when Marathon’s became difficult to turn expert advice was sought.  One week later or so, she has a new cutlass bearing that combines the strength of metal around Beneteau’s idea that fibreglass is all you need.  The insurance survey undertaken while on the hard was very successful, except for the part about water in the rudder requiring a lengthy and $$$ repair.  Hence the new scheduled departure date is 19 September 2009.  Let’s hope for the best possible weather!