June 15, 2013
We've been waiting for this moment for such a long time and now it is upon us. Dave is feverishly gathering charts, making lists, planning our course and creating a general sense of adventure. Tractutus/Mystic will be launched on Wednesday, June 19th. Dan Branson of Vinette boatworks will be available for rigging questions and maybe, for a sail. Dan has raced Tractatus/Mystic; he knows and loves this boat.
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| Tractatus/Mystic out in the sunshine |
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| Tractatus/Mystic |
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| In the Cradle - Ready to Launch 2013 |
There has been a flury of activity. Dave spent a lot of time researching charts and found a website which opens NOAA Navigational charts. It is called OpenCPN, a free navigational software created by sailors for sailors. It has all the capabilities of any other navigation instruments including GPS interface, course plotting, and way points. Dave is a detailed guy. He purchased a new 17" screen laptop to use this program. He also, painstakingly, printed out hard copies of the charts that mark our course and placed them in a neatly bound, 3-ring binder. I showed him how to use Photoshop to load the pages, re-size and then print. He's becoming a computer techie in his own right. I am blessed to be first mate and backup captain with a guy I trust without reserve.
This is not his first rodeo. Dave's virgin cruise was back in 1981 aboard Keewatin, our 23 foot Coronado. He planned the same way, with minute detail. It is fascinating to read his ships log which started with the supply list. He was planning for a 6 month journey which ended up being a two year adventure. I laughed as I read through his provisions list.
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