• Equipment requested from Shannon:

• Windlass - we did not specify the size and it turned out to be too small.
• Loran - Micrologic - great but overcome by technology
• Sat Nav - see Loran above
• Sail - new main with 3 reef points
• Mast steps - received bosun's chair and oversized winch, see lessons learned
• Primary winches - Barient
• Autopilot - Autohelm 2000

• Equipment Added Before Leaving The US - After the delivery from New England, a shake-down cruise to Bermuda and a couple of years of sailing on the Chesapeake, we added the following equipment before we left the USA; check out our lessons learned to see what we think now. 

   

  • New Engine - $10,000 - Yanmar 4JH2E, a 50 hp 4-cylinder diesel installed by a careless mechanic in Annapolis, but has been very dependable and I love the way it does not require bleeding after running dry.
  • Replaced rigging - $5000 - a necessary step if rigging is more than 10 years old. At the same time we added a second headstay since Shannon's wisdom at the time preferred 2 side-by-side headstays, see lessons learned.
  • Wind-vane - $3500 - Monitor unit; we love it, would not leave port without it.
  • Life-raft - $3200 - 6-man off-shore Switlik raft, see lessons learned
  • Radar - $2200 - Raytheon 20X; seemed like a luxury at the time but we have been very happy to have it.
  • Sails - $2000 - added a hand-made staysail and mizzen from Housley Sails in Annapolis and they have been dependable workhorses since then.
  • Bimini and Connector - $1800 - We had Canvas Wizard (since defunct) build us a stainless dodger and bimini frame, cover them in Sunbrella, and make a removable connector so that the cockpit and companionway were protected from sun and much rain, see lessons learned.
  • Wind generator - $1700 - Ampair 100, see lessons learned.
  • Watermaker - $1400 - PowerSurvivor 35 (now PUR 40), see lessons learned
  • Ham radio - $1100 - Icom 735 with its tuner.  Through lightning strikes, water sprays and other mistreatment this radio is as good as they come, see lessons learned.
  • Windlass - $800 - Simpson Lawrence Seatiger SL555; good workhorse, see lessons learned.
  • Refrigeration - $750 - Adler Barber Cold Machine; installed ourselves - quite satisfied after 10 years, see lessons learned. 
  • Batteries - $800 - Prevailer: 2 4D's for house and a '27' for starter - we have been very happy with them; replaced in Australia after 9 years even though the seemed to have 50% of their life left, see lessons learned.
  • Drogue - $700 - Gale Rider; never used in anger, see lessons learned.
  • Power panel - $600 - Newmar AC/DC panel; wiring was pretty basic for our planned itinerary and we needed the flexibility of more breakers and circuits.
  • GPS - $400 - at the last minute we removed the Loran and installed a Micrologic Explorer GPS that fit in the same hole, see lessons learned.
  • Bilge pumps - $350 -installed 2 Rule pumps plus alarm, poor quality units but see lessons learned.
  • Solar panels - $300 - probably the best money ever spent; Siemens 55 watt panels still going strong.
  • Sun awning/rain catcher - $300 - indispensable in the tropics, see lessons learned.
  • Weatherfax - $300 -SEA3000 (I think) - pretty useless piece of equipment which is no longer being made, see lessons learned.
  • Inverter - $200 - Powerstat 750; quite dependable and useful for small jobs and hand tools.