The adventure of a lifetime begins with....

Falling off the dock and into a very cold sea! Having an urge to sail around the world, I have put my little 1977 Pearson 30 sailboat Serenity up for sale since I have acquired a larger - more spacious - vessel. The new boat is a Hunter legend 45 built in 1987 by Hunter Marine in FLorida and is a survivor of Hurricane Ivan, well it kinda survived. A bit of water down below and getting smashed about in the huge storm surge didnt do her any favors. But she did come thru in one piece and shes been mine for the past 2 years. Amazing how you can buy a boat cheaply after a hurricane! Going from a 30 foot boat to a 45 foot boat has brought some changes for me. I can now swing a cat inside the cabin. Not that I would - I am allergic to the creatures and wouldnt ever allow one on board - but I now have the room to do it. The new boat is named Flightdeck and shes fast. Long and low and very sleek. She looks fast just tied to the dock and I am itching to get out and sail her. Flightdeck is a major improvement over Serenity to say the least. Flighty as shes called, was designed for the charter market and has been a live-aboard for a few years. Needless to say, shes a bit rough both inside and out. The list of things to do in order to make her a true round the world cruiser is long and arduous, but all are within my abilities. Besides, the things I cannot do I will soon learn. The list is as follows:

Replace the turbocharger and make sure the engine isnt siezed from water getting into the exhaust manifold. - Typical of a lot of sailboats not designed for long range cruising.
Replace the water damaged cabin sole (Floor) and bulkheads. See pics for progress on this.
Remove the aft head and make more room for a workbench and more storage.
Replumb the forward toilet and shower.
Seal the leaks around the mast step.
Cut the transom and put a walkthru transom in.
Relocate the traveller to the top of the coach roof and open up the companionway.
Re-do the galley and main cabin for better use of space and create more storage room.
Install a 12 volt fridge and a freezer in the galley.
Add a second fuel tank.
Build a rear arch and install 3500 watts of solar panels and 2 600 watt wind generators.
Move the generator to the center of the boat behind the main engine and below the helm to make the boat sit on an even keel.
Build and install a hard dodger over the companionway.
Install a watermaker.
build larger water tanks and put them as close to the keel as possible.
Install RADAR.
Install a SCUBA compressor in order to keep my SCUBA tanks full so that I can eat lobster and crab from deep waters and also search for sunken treasures :)
Scrape the barnacles off the hull, haul the boat, fix any problems below the waterline (oh joy) and then paint the hull and give her a good coat of bottom paint.
Im sure the list will grow, but for now, this is long enuf!