Pat: So much to do, so little time

As you can see by the last post we have a lot of work to do before we leave. To stay within our budget we need to do as much of the work ourselves as possible. It has become a joke between Jim and I that any project we plan for Helios, no matter how large or small, will take 10x longer than expected and require at least two compromises to the original plan. This is hard for a goal oriented, obsessive perfectionist like me.

For example, last weekend we decided to prepare the Nav Station for our new Raymarine high speed switch and VHF. I figured the job would be done in a few hours. How hard would it be to remove some old electronic gear (the old radar plotter, autopilot head unit, VHF) and clean up the unused wire? Well after finding/repairing a leak, removing more wire than you can imagine and a decision to redesign how we mount all the gear at the station, the weekend was over and we were not quite done. It is always just a few more steps and then the job will be finished.

So I am still learning. The experience of the last few months has shown me that if we want to leave in October, we have to prioritize (time and budget) what must be done and leave everything else as projects once we are on our way. I am good with that, well ok, I am working at being good with that.

One successful project was preparing Helios for launch. Here are some pictures starting with Helios on the hard last winter,



Jim getting ready to buff the gelcoat and paint the bottom,



and finally looking good and ready for launch