Ten Days Until Cast Off

I just made reservations at the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina for next week. http://www.bhsmarina.com/. Corinthian Yacht Club closes this Sunday, October 30, and we will be without access to the boat unless it gets moved to a year round operation. The Shipyard is located in East Boston, is close to my home in Cambridge, and we can drive on the piers, making provisioning a lot easier than traveling by launch. We will also have electricity, so that we can work on streamlining our electronics without fear of losing battery power. Michael and I will sail the boat from Marblehead to Boston on Saturday. I am really grateful to have half the crew on this coast to help with all of these chores. I will load the boat with all of the assorted safety supplies now sitting in our living room at home, and keep my fingers crossed that the boat won’t sink. The marina offers fuel, so it will be a good place from which to leave on the 6^th. I rigged up a stainless steel brace on the port side on which to store 10 extra gallons of diesel fuel. In addition to the 37 gallons we carry, we should be able to run the engine for 60-70 hours at around 2500 RPMs. Of course, that assumes the engine will work. We also have spare fuel and oil filters, and a spare impeller.

Insurance remains an obstacle. My original inquiries resulted in bids which did not include damage incurred during a named windstorm. I am not sure what damage would occur other than in a named windstorm, so once I made that demand, premiums rose 20%. I got the policy, and noticed it was only good for up to 250 miles offshore. I called the company and the broker said it was 250 miles from any land, and that we would probably be okay going to Bermuda. I pushed a little more and got a call back that in fact the policy does not include Bermuda. Back to square one. I am waiting to hear what the additional premium is for Bermuda. Lloyds of London offered to insure the boat in the BVIs for around $3,600 and the trip down for an additional $1,300. Maybe they know something about risk that we have not considered.

Donna