Prepping for open ocean - Checklist

 So what does a day of prepping for open ocean sailing entail -

Firstly … and most importantly is cooking! It can be difficult in the galley, boat heeling, bracing yourself whilst remembering the rule of “one hand for you and one hand for the boat,” dishes sliding on the work bench, being mindful of hot pans on the gimballed stove, careful of sharp knives … it’s hard work being a galley wench!!

Domestic goddess or what!! 

Dishes made today include moussaka, lean ground bison for tacos (thank you Tami for the Mexican cooking lessons), pottles of leek and potatoe soup, chocolate brownie for the night watch. The first 24 hours at sea is tiring,  all that fresh air, your body is adjusting to the motion of the boat, your sleep pattern is disturbed plus you are dealing with adrenalin and perhaps a touch of anxiousness.

Then there is the topping up of provisions. Making sure  you don’t have to delve under the bed to find the tea bags that Jeanie can’t do without or lifting the floorboards looking for that roll of loo paper, whilst heeling over hard on the wind.  All the provisions and storage locations are inventoried for ease of all crew.

We have an engine checklist along with strainers to be checked for the GenSet, refrigeration, chiller, engine coolant topped up, water maker filters changed. We check the engine oil level prior to each start up.

Engine water filter clogged again with eel grass

The bow locker needs a quick reorganisation making sure the storm jib is not buried amongst the fenders and mooring lines but easily accessible and the Viking anchor made secure for heavy weather.

The stern lazarette (or garage) the same. Boarding ladder, dinghy equipment all securely stowed for the passage.

On deck the reacher, solent, main sheets and halyards given a thorough check over looking for chafe, preventer line rigged, attachment points for jack-lines (where we attach our tethers) all double checked.

Ticking off our safety equipment in the cuddy; everything in its rightful place; EPIRB, fog horn, emergency knives, hand held VHF, binoculars, throw line, spotlight. PFD’s rechecked, tethers ready.

Foul weather gear at the ready along with headlamps, sea boots and for our night watches our winter woollies of merino and thermals, hats and gloves.

Then there is the monitoring of the weather systems and choosing the optimum passage route using PredictWind. Currently watching Hurricane Franklin further south.

9pm tonight our crew were to arrive but we have just learnt Canada Air have cancelled one leg of the trip. We won’t see the guys now till late tomorrow afternoon/early evening, delaying our departure for 24 hours.

Lunenburg schooners in the setting sun