Author: luken7

The wind was consistantly out of the southwest staying over 20kts. Waves were up to five feet. Close-hauled the entire time. double reef in the main, half the headsail out and at times was hitting seven kts. There were times where it got bumpy when those rollers came by at that weird interval against that flat bottomed hull.

So here’s some videos when I was able to shoot them when the weather eased up a bit.

First up, a little explaination of what was happening. Did have an issue with the ignition when I wanted to start the engine, it wouldn’t. So the plan was to sail all the way to NR1 and then call Towboat, but the ignition button finally worked. Going to spend some time looking at that next week.

Next up are a couple of clips after the wind and seas calmed down a bit and I could let Alfred the autopilot resume his duties.

Lsst clip is from down below showing the aquarium, also knows as being heeled over so hard that the porthole is underwater….ignore the rambling of me talking to myself. That usually happens after hours of singlehanding.

So needed to redo the lazarettes according to usage and ease of retreival and stowage. Adding the generator threw everything out of whack but got the logistics worked out. I just love the cavernous space in Bene 361. Plus, there’s still room for two fullsized bikes!

Done with the shopvacs, found the buckedhead at Home Depot, just use the industry sized multi-purpose bucket, I got two from West marine because they’re short and fit under the shelf in the port side lazarette, even with the head on.

It’s a way to soothe the should, calm the nerves and provide space for clarity balancing the heart and mind….Hemispheres.

With Hemispheres being 17 years old and her electronics being just as old, it was definitely time for an upgrade. While mostly everything worked good, it was time. The agonizing of getting a newer and larger boat vs. extensive upgrades to the existing hull which I’m now familiar and comfortable with, all her quirks, her list, those squeaks. They’re all identifiable and known well. Also, as a single-handed sailor, Hemispheres is easy to sail and very forgiving.

The old Raymarine RL70c chart plotter started flickering last summer so it was obviously on it’s way out. But upon disconnecting the old radar, the flickering went away. No matter, I was committed to the upgrade and decided on sticking with Raymarine. So new autopilot, EV-100 wheel based. I really wanted a hydraulic below deck RAM but at an estimated ~$7,000 parts and installation costs, that was a bit too much. With the EV-100, I did have a rudder sensor installed which wasn’t with the old ST4000 pilot So with that and the new efficient electronics, the autopilot should track better. I’ll find out this week while going to Ocracoke. So, with selecting the lower cost wheel pilot, I figured adding the wireless autopilot remote (got a used one at half the retail cost) was an easy decision.

Next up, the new Axiom multifunction display running the new Lighthouse III operating environment. Full touchscreen along with the optional manual control panel, just in case the touchscreen isn’t as responsive if my hands are too wet.

Also added is AIS so I can see and be seen. Of course, a new 4G radome was added which runs over wifi, so that reduced the installation costs of running new wire. If you know boats, you know running new wires, especially on sailboats, is a contortionist event.