In the last few months we made quite some progress in preparing Garfield for the Atlantic. The first chapter was changing and extending the electrical system. We replaced the old and heavy leadbatteries by two 200 Ah Lithium batteries. These batteries are a lot lighter, more efficient and can be used upto almost the last bit of energy. To charge these quickly we mounted a bigger alternator and three solar panels of each 180 Watts. To be able to use this high volume of power comfortably, we also mounted a 3000 Watt inverter to make 220 Volts out of the 12 Volts batteries. This enables us to cook by induction instead of gas, so the problem of changing gasbottles with different kind of bottles in every country all over the world is solved. And maybe even more important: our coffeemachine can now be used independently from shorepower.
The navigation equipment has been extended with the latest Raymarine Quantum Doppler radar and the old VHF has also been replaced by a new Raymarine Ray63 with DSC. Also, the old ST60 instruments have been replaced by the actual i70 models.
To meet the official regulations, Herman updated his VHF certificate and is now officially allowed to use the VHF on full power, the Epirb and so on.
For mounting the radardome and the solarpanels a huge arch has been placed over the aft of the boat to carry these safely and avoid shadow on the panels.
A new sprayhood has been mounted over the cockpit with the possibility to create a doghouse. This way we can sit outside in the cockpit to keep a good lookout in any kind of weather and control the boat without the need of going to the wheel. A Bimini top to provide shadow in the cockpit is being made this very moment.
The remaining big issues are now the mounting of the Hydrovane windvane, antifoul the hull with Coppercoat and renew the running rig. When these projects are done we can finally leave!
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