11.19.2021 Our to-do List Day 1

Today was a bit hectic because on top of our regular work days, we had to work on our to-do list from Captain Andy.

We went over to the marina office that handles cruising permits. This is something we'll have to be filed for each new country of entry. In order to update the permit, we needed to show proof of sale and our registration documents. In going through our files, we discovered that our registration hadn't come through and had the beginning of a mini-panic attack (without the cruising permit, we can't leave the marina!). Turns out it was filed with our closing on 9.15.2021 with the U.S. Coast Guard but weren't told they had a 3-month backlog of paperwork. This resulted in us emailing everyone we could (our broker, our insurance agent, the U.S. Coast Guard office, etc.) about getting this resolved ASAP. We were able to submit a priority request with the USCG and

As we were dealing with the registration/cruising permit, we had a friend of Captain Andy come by to check on the generator. He couldn't get it to work and needs to order a part, which will take about a week to get delivered. A generator produces electricity and without one, we don't have A/C (alternating current) power. Regular household devices like microwaves, computers, TVs all run off of A/C power. The other way we can make A/C power is through an inverter (which we have). An inverter converts 12-volt D/C (direct current) battery power to A/C power. However, our inverter isn't big enough to run indoor air conditioning, our water maker, and other bigger appliances. This is a bit of an obstacle because without a generator, we don't have a backup resource for power because our solar and wind generators can't always keep up with our energy demands. This basically means we'd have the mild inconvenience of limited power during our week with Captain Andy.

Around midday, our life raft was returned. During our survey, the life raft was outdated and needed to be recertified. Our life raft sits at the stern (back) of the boat and is deployed in the event of an emergency (e.g. the boat is sinking). The servicemen were able to help get it back in it's compartment, but we didn't have straps to secure it.

In the afternoon, Mike wanted to take the dinghy around the marina to the local grocery store. Once we got the dinghy down and in the water, we discovered the steering wheel was locked/jammed. Thankfully we were able to get someone over quickly and it got fixed in time for us to get groceries. In addition to the regular everyday grocery needs, we also did some provisioning in preparation for our week with Captain Andy.

Throughout the day, it was also fun to watch Ollie get more comfortable on the boat and finding his new spots :)