2012 - Preparations for Summer and Atlantic Crossing


The 2012 To-Do List

Cruising is inevitably about doing boat maintenance in exotic places however it is all based on how well prepared your vessel is before you set off for those exotic places.  In the case of Malua I strongly believe that a well prepared vessel will visit more exotic places before it need maintenance.

With this in mind I set about tackling this years to do list, made longer by the fact that last year Malua was not a proper yacht and many of the systems and items were not used in the French Canals.  In addition to that I added a wind generator which is a major electrical and physical addition to the boat.  The AIS was also added and wired into the other systems.

As with all list they had to be priorities using some principle which in my case changed over time as the time to launch drew closer.  Items that I thought were important moved down the list as I ran out of time believing I could do them while cruising.  As with all boat list it get longer as one discovers new things that need repair or just regular anti-rust maintenance.  Not to list all items but to record the major achievements prior to cruising I have listed just a few jobs accomplished:

* Installed Vespermarine Watchmate 850 AIS
* Installed new external GPS and independent AIS antenna
* Fitted rope cutter
* Serviced and reassembled Autoprop propeller Blade 1
* Added new switch panel to switch box to accommodate added equipment
* Fitted Eclectic Energy D400 wind generator on stainless steel pole
* Wired in Karasouli 2 bank regulator and dump resistor
* Rewired three battery banks to accommodate new setup
* Polished topsides
* Touched up boot-straps with navy blue paint
* Changed to Navy blue Micron Extra antifouling about 3 litres
* Cleaned generator water cooler and added Castrol rust inhibitor
* Spliced eye into new main halyard
* Install LED in anchor, masthead navigation and stern lights
* Install new LED navigation lights on bow
* Install additional antenna at mast head (why? Just in case)
* Fixed dings in keel and epoxy, under coated damaged areas
* Run lines and halyards
* Bind on all sails

That is the list that will be recorded as completed.  Still to be done is outboard, water maker, wind vane and new grey water container.
Malua also needed a good clean in all areas because the Meltemi can blow in Port St Louis and fill every crack and crevis with a black dust which just wont go away easily but that will have to wait for another day.Follow Malua. 
Follow Malua.