The Big One Gets Checked Off

7-23-12 - Alameda, CA - Day 21

It can be a tight squeeze sometimes

Not to fear Elizabeth got in on the action as well

I can officially say that the big one is finished.  Our biggest project is now completed and all we need to do now is figure out how to use all of our new electrical gear.  Probably the biggest, most expensive, most time consuming and most stressful project before departure has been the electrical and electronics upgrade.  Basically we added the latest electronic gadgetry and then gave ourselves more power to run all that stuff and then gave ourselves the ability to recharge those bigger batteries.  For electrically inclined folks this may not seem like a big deal; to add fuses, bus bars, shunts and plug it all in without causing a fire or serious bodily harm.  They would probably be somewhat correct.  Although, some of the equipment was a bit more intensive than plugging in a red and black wire and adding fuse blocks to circuits was more than I was ready to handle, at least with our limited time.  The real challenge, as we found out, was running the cables from place to place; thru decks and bulkheads, around mufflers and under the sole just to get them to where they needed to be plugged in. 

Think of your house and all of the wiring in it.  Now basically double it, since your house is only AC powered and a boat has AC and DC power throughout it.  Now add in the plumbing system, and then throw on an engine with all of its associated wiring and plumbing; then just for fun, add the extensive list of communications gear a modern boat seems to "need".  Then think of the fact that all of that stuff is hidden out of sight on our boat.  Yep, it gets pretty crowded in those little nooks and crannies, that is if you can get to those nooks and crannies.  We basically had to disassemble the boat from the inside out to get to the places these wires all needed to run.  It was frustrating at times, but we sure did get an education about our boat and it's systems. 

Look mom, safety glasses and knee pads..oops, forgot the shoes!

Who can name all the stuff we crammed into this locker?

After many days of running cables and mounting the equipment, we had someone come and help us complete it all in one long day.  Then Sunday night I was like a five year old watching the Christmas tree light up as one by one the systems came on line.  The star on top of the tree was when the new chartplotter/radar/AIS finally powered up.  I was in awe of my new toy!  Unfortunately, I now have many nights of reading to do so I can figure out how to use all this new gear.  To top it all off we got to see  our LED flood light that we installed on the radar pole light up.  I was obnoxiously bright; just like we were hoping for.  Now the sun can't dictate when we do projects in the cockpit.  This was the last real project that "needed" to get done before departure.  Everything else can be done underway or while sitting in the sun of the California Delta!

All the way from E-town?

In between working hard on our electrical/electronics project we took some time to buzz around in the dinghy and enjoy the Oakland estuary, stop by Jack London's old haunt The Last Chance Saloon and eat at Fried Chicken and Waffles.  I didn't realize that fried chicken and waffles was even a thing before this.  I can't say it is a new favorite dish, but I will say how can you not love an awesome waffle with your fried chicken and mac-n-cheese?  Elizabeth asked "What does southern style mean?"  Our server kindly informed her that it's a fancy way of saying deep fried.  Talk about healthy!? It was delicious.  I had to break down and get my hair cut finally; and after burning thru a small mountain of money on the electric project I decided to save $10 and do it myself.  (Actually Elizabeth was a good sport and did it for me)  I look at it as frugal, some say cheap, whatever; really I just didn't want to ride my bike to get a hair cut when I had a perfectly good extension cord, set of clippers and dock right here.

Saving money and easy clean up as well

The countdown is on.  Four days until we depart for Berkeley and our future afloat.  So much to do, so little time.