Zofia started life as a basic Jeanneau Sun Odessey DS 42. She came with a dodger, bimini and cockpit cushions to begin with which sufficiently charmed the girl into thinking that this sailing lark might not be too bad after all. Over the past 5 years we've been steadily adding stuff. We began by integrating a targa on the stern with a crane to hoist the dingy. The targa became the platform for a solar panel and a couple of downlights. We added a spinnaker, inner fore stay, stay sail, radar, AIS, iMux wireless navigation aid for iPad, PredictWind satellite communicator, BigPond wireless Wi-Fi network, Seagate satellite Wi-Fi entertainment hard drive, digital temperature control for refrigerator and freezer (Engles). More recently Brian manufactured a larger solar panel platform so we now have 2 and on the underside he embedded a strip of led lights for better night time illumination in the cockpit. Anyone for a party?Apart from the benefit of more amps we should get less sun at the helm station and hopefully less water in the moosh if we cop a greenie over the bow. The girl is not a fan of getting wet - on the water not in the water is how she prefers it.
Oh, did we mention safety equipment? EPIRB's, jacklines, danbuoys, parachute anchor, drogue, spare anchor and yet more chain, hand held VHF radio, a life raft and ever fancier lifejackets. Phew! Of course we have the mandatory flares, buckets, grab bags, fire extinguishers, fire blankets and first aide kit etc.. Truly Mum, we are taking this very seriously!
Zofia has already sailed over 2000Nm. We have sailed as far north as the top end of Shark Bay (2011), the Abroholos Islands (2010, 2011), Busselton/Quindalup on at least seven occasions and Rottnest Island multiple times.
We started with a 5 year plan. Time's up; ever so nearly ready to go! We hope you enjoy our ramblings and we look forward to your comments.
