We often get met with raised eyebrows when we tell our friends and family back home how long it takes to do chores on Orion. No we have not turned into sloths, things just take so much longer on a boat! A big food shop for example can take up to a full day depending on how far away the store is compared to an hour or so on land. Before we commenced our sail from Bequia to Bonaire via the offshore Venezuelan islands, we ensured we were at anchor for 24 hours to complete our usual chore list. Being able to check off every item gives us confidence that the passage will be that much more comfortable with the only variables being provided by Mother Nature. Which are enough to handle in itself!
Below I have typed out the list we use split by Dylan and Sally tasks:
Dylan:
- Fill water tanks and jerry cans
- Fill diesel and gas jerry cans
- Put jack lines on
- Perform any sail repairs to mainsail, checking for any chafe
- Tape up the dorade vent on bow (prevent water getting into chain locker)
- Engine checks
- Set up the wind vane
Sally:
- Make snacks to eat underway and first night's meal (usually done in pressure cooker)
- Stow away anything that may fall when heeled over
- Get any last minute provisions for trip
- Hide valuables
- Make up a ditch bag
- Close all seacocks
- Get out the relevant charts and key in waypoints into GPS
Both:
- Ensure correct sails are up (for this passage we changed to our big no 1 genoa for downwind sailing)
- Clear out
- Create passage plan
- Download an up to date grib file
- Clean hull
- Tell our Mums where we are going and when!
No comments:
Post a Comment