Back at Home

As stated earlier, " The longer it's been the more fun we had!". Rich read parts of the blog and then said "By reading your blog, you would think we had a good time!" Actually, we did. There were some unsettling moments such as the thunderstorms and general bad weather, but overall it was a memorable experience.
I found myself thinking about the next trip before I had been home a week. What did I learn? Oh, dozens of things. You can ask questions, do research, read books, or whatever, and the actual experience always has a few surprises. Of course, each area you sail in will have its own lessons to teach. And you can almost always say that the actual weather and sea conditions will be worse than NOAA says it is.
What would I change? The thing that sticks out the most is that I want to install a waterproof speaker similar to my stereo speakers so that I can hear the VHF better. I had a handheld, but didn't use it any as the sound from the mounted radio was much more intelligible, plus I have been told I am hard to understand when using the handheld. It may be that I need a new or different handheld.
I could have used some cockpit cushions. We sat on the throwables but they weren't very comfortable.
I installed battery powered LED cabin lighting, and we had adequate light. The squeaky plywood filler panels used to make bunks are going to have to be reworked.

We had a portapotty and some single use toilet bags, but we didn't use either. Fortunately we didn't have to as we managed to make it to a marina most nights. We did make good use of the red plastic urinal purchased at Gander Mountain. This was a wise investment.
Blues Image is in the drive way at the moment with Christmas lights on it. She'll get back in the water at Watts Bar Lake sometime around April. In the meantime, we will be planning her next great trailer adventure!