BB – Two Months Before We Sail Away Forever

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Matt: Buying new.

Deadline has passed for all factory options 4 months ago.

Believe it or not, we are almost 2 years in and we are still fine tuning our final aftermarket equipment. There are just way too many things to decide when buying a new boat and too much time to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th guess yourself.  Since inception, we probably have added 100 items, deleted 70, only to add back 40, plus an another 25 different ones.

To add to it, things are becoming more expensive as the dollar continues to lose value against the euro. We will have to make some adjustments to our cruising kitty and try to avoid unnecessary expenses.  All I do is hope we have not missed something important.  What if there is something we still need, a forgotten widget perhaps???  I can only hope no stone was left unturned, but that is unrealistic.

It is just days before Sea Odyssey leaves the factory for Uchimata in La Rochelle. There they will add some bling, solar panels, GPS electronics, fuel polishers and a few more tid bits. I’m pretty sure the guys helping us will be glad to see us depart. I’m sure they are as ready to move on as we are. Soon this all will be behind us and we’ll forget about what we went through to get here.

Emily:  Yes, Matt is stressing.  To his credit, he has done an absolutely amazing, beyond amazing, job of researching the boat and finding that option that is right for us.  His number one priority is keeping us safe knowing the limitations of a crew of two.  He has painstakingly taken the time to research every product from every system on the boat to find one of good standing and then goes on even further to get the best price for it. 

I mean, honestly, he has tried his big heart out to simplify tasks where he can, improve quality to help prevent failures, have contingency plans, create those redundancies, and price shop.  The man is a wizard right now, idek.  He totally has set us up for success.  I am 1000 times impressed.

Matt:  Let’s talk propellers.  There are several variations made with different metals, number of blades, shapes, sizes, it goes on and on.  Let’s leave all that to the engineers and sales people to narrow it down in such detail.

There are several basic types to consider.

First and most common type is the fixed blade propeller.  These are what you find standard on most boats today.  They are great when they are in use, but when they are not, each one is equivalent to dragging a 5 gallon bucket behind you. We are a sail boat and we will be using our sails mainly, so they will make travel times slower and longer.

Secondly, auto aka feathering props, are huge if you consider a 1 knot per hour increase while motoring and a 1/2 knot when sailing a big deal. Feathering props maximize the propeller pitch to the water at different motor rpm’s, just like gears do for cars. Plus there is a neutral for sailing where they can fold up and create very little drag.

When I first was introduced to the idea, my initial reaction was sounds good, but when I found how much they cost for only 1 or 1/2 knot, my reaction was we can do without them.  We are a sailboat and not on a schedule so what does it matter?  We can use the money elsewhere.  After some  research, I changed my mind.

Here’s why:

Considering that sailboats in general on average travel around 5 knots, a half a knot sailing is quite a bit.  This is not the same as a 1/2 mile per hour in a car, which means nothing.  This 1/2 knot gained represents about 10% while sailing and around 20% while under power or reduction of fuel needed, your choice 😉

Feathering props could be the difference between having a relaxing morning and still making your destination with daylight to spare. It’s not good to be pulling into harbors after dark.  Long distance passages can be made faster by cutting the time needed by days. This is huge! A lot can go wrong in a day. A day quicker is a day safer.

At the very least, imagine beating your friends to a shared destination.  What?  I didn’t invent the idea.  They say, sailboat racing was invented the day the second sailboat was built.

Third choice is a folding prop.  We were considering these as an option.  They work a lot like feathering props and cost a bit less than the feathering ones, but they don’t reverse well.  We want to be able to control Sea Odyssey at all times, especially just being the two of us. Being able to bring her to a stop quickly by using a burst of reverse is a big deal.   The folding props just don’t open quick enough, so they are out.  Emily:  We don’t want to be waiting for reverse to engage with all that freeboard in tight quarters. Even if it is a half of a second, lol.

Although we are not in a hurry to spend the extra boat dollars, just considering the safety reasons alone, we will absolutely do it. The distance you can go in a day motoring or sailing is a bonus.  So feathering props it is and we will keep the factory fixed blade props that came as standard equipment as a spare.

Yanmar 4JH80 – Paris Boat Show 2017

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Matt:  When we signed our contract for Sea Odyssey last year, engine choices were simple.  Volvo was already preselected by the manufacturer so the only question was the horsepower.  Do we want it with or without extra umph aka turbo.  This was one of the more simple choices we made, not requiring anything more but a quick call to our dealer to clarify, for sure we’d like the extra get up and go.  I mean, in rough seas or heavy weather the extra power couldn’t hurt and they are more efficient too btw.  Mind is made up, simple.

So it’s done.  The choice was made.  Volvo is a very recognizable brand. I mean who hasn’t heard of Volvo right???? What else could you ever want right???

Well when the Yanmar popped up in the latest updated options list, I was intrigued since I’ve only heard good things about them. I figured I’d easily rule them out since they were nearly double the price, but I’d do my diligence.

So I called a friend who works in the industry at a very respected and well known commercial and marine diesel mechanic shop to get the scoop and see if the extra dough is warranted.  He explained to me that the Yanmars, although more expensive upfront, could and probably would be more cost effective over the long run and they had one less component to break, a supercharger.  He also said Yanmars should cost less to repair because getting parts and service in some parts of the world for a Volvo could be difficult or downright impossible.

From our personal research, we’ve read and heard about some bad things about Volvos but only good things about Yanmar.

We do realize this is a Ford vs Chevy type argument.

We choose Yanmar.

Matt:  Power options – In North American, it’s a simple choice, 110. Well, the only choice.  It turns out that there are several voltage options.  Thankfully a lot of the things you’ll find on our boat like refrigerators, lights, and all our electronics are running on 12v, which is the world standard, at least for now. 

This makes the choice somewhat easier.  Depending on where you will be buying, sailing, and eventually keeping the boat, you’ll have to decide which secondary source of power you’ll want for your outlets.  Give it good thought, because it is possible you might need to rewire the boat, so plan.

After looking at this map of the world, already deciding that we have no immediate plans for returning to the US, beginning our trip in Europe, and most of the places we want to go are all 220, we have decided on the 220v option.  The Caribbean has both we hear, so good there.

Considering what we will bring with us already works on both 110 and 220 like our computers, all we had left to think about was our coffee pot, blender, and other outlet randoms.  These items are easily purchased in Europe with the correct voltage and plug rather than dealing with the expense of shipping and buying an expensive transformer in addition. Most of our other stuff runs on USB and we will be sure to load the boat with plenty of them.

See, it’s a simple choice to make after you think about it long enough.  Emily:  That is a joke, btw. It took us a year to make that decision, lol.  Seriously, we decided this once and for all after going back and forth for a year, hell, maybe more.

Emily:  On a lighter side, fabric. We literally waited until the very last second, well minutes before, the factory options were finalized.  We had hoped of a new color coming out.  Nope.  Denied.

Keep in mind, this is for the whole boat.

For us, there were really only two choices, gray or tan.  The tan is a flat, non-earthy blaa and the gray is a lifeless light dreary.  There was also a turquoise, but we are not considering that one because it is too bright for us, and the fuchsia, um, no.  Of the two left, it was hard to decide which one because we really weren’t feelin’ either.  You also get a choice of two types of fabrics as well.  There is a PVC fabric, which is like a nogahide, pleather, plasticized type fabric and a linen fabric.

The questions we are asking ourselves are:  If we get dark fabric, will it get too hot?  Will it fade?  Will it show water marks?  What about suntan lotion marks?  And the infamous red wine stain?  If we get PVC, will it be comfortable?  Will it be too plasticky and hard?  Will it get hot?  But most of all… will my skin stick to it as I try to get up?  I will not have it!  No.  No, no, no, and no.  I hate that!  OMG!

While this isn’t a life altering decision, it is annoying.  Having to commit to one for all is crap.  This most definitely falls under champagne problems…  I understand this, I’ll get over it.

Don’t let Matt fool you, he was just as bothered.  Poor ACY heard about it.

Matt:  Not a good choice or a bad choice when it comes to fabric colors or textures, just a choice. I’m sure eventually it will all need to be re-done. It’s a boat lol.

Things I mostly considered when we were making our decision were color, sun tan lotion, wet bathing suits, and not being an asshole to our friends.