Ft. Lauderdale: Day 3 - Engine Work and Bubba Gump

February 16, 2013

We woke up to a rather chilly morning, must be the first part of this cold front passing through. Still much warmer than Canada though.

We spent the morning changing the oil on the Diesel engine onboard.

Up until this point, I had been learning mostly about the actual act of sailing, but very little of onboard systems and the lesser-known challenges of being a boat owner. It is interesting to see the other side of the cruising life.

This boat has a 4 cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engine with a lot of customization. There is a built-in oil pump that made changing the oil much easier as we didn't have to wait for it to drip out.

We also installed a new hydrostatic release for the life raft. This contraption senses when the boat is sinking (via water pressure) and will automatically release the raft which is then automatically inflated by another sensor that triggers a CO2 tank. It also has a manual release if we need it.

We walked over to to Bubba Gump Shrimp for lunch

which was right across the road from Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Here is a shot of Bahia Ma Hotel & Marina from the boat. It is a really nice, beach-side resort that costs $150 dollars a night to dock your boat...crazy. There are a lot of mega-yachts here, obviously.

And here is a shot of the Wakaya, the mighty vessel that will take us across the Pacific. It is a customized Hylas 49. However, we measured its length today and it comes out to be 52 feet in length, which is a problem at the Panama Canal. Anything over 50 feet is charged an extra fee of a few hundred dollars to pass through. They actually come out and measure it end-to-end as we did, so I think we are out of luck there.

It has in-mast main furling and a roller jib furling. It also has the mainsheet/traveler located behind the helm, which makes for better single-handing and better leverage on the boom.

It has a nice, new whisker pole that we are going to play around with while underway. It is used to hold the foresail out as far as possible while sailing downwind. I found out a whisker pole costs $3,000!

As for the interior, the layout is amazing. Rather than having the cockpit restrict the cabin, as I've seen in most boats, it actually works with it to make a really nice galley and "laundry room". You can see the dishwasher and laundry machine on the port side in the first picture (aft view).

(Foreward view)

I have my own forward cabin

with its own head (head = bathroom) and shower. I also have my own A/C unit and controls.