Anna's Offshore-Passage Prep

Cat helps inspect Anna's Viking life raft, in Manta, Ecuador.

ANNA PREPS FOR AN OFFSHORE PASSAGE. We are inspecting our navigation systems, life raft, fire extinguishers, flares, mechanical systems, electrical systems, rigging -- basically, anything we depend upon to get us from point A to point B.

It was never our intention to head to the Galapagos but as it turns out, the Galapagos make sense as a staging post for all points west (to the Far East) or south (to southern Chile and Patagonia). Galapagos also serves as a convenient destination, from mainland Ecuador, for a relatively short, 600 nm, open-ocean shakedown.

Moored in a protected, river estuary along the Ecuadorian coastline (for six months now) does nothing particularly positive for Anna's various systems. Without routine use, boat equipment suffers. To reduce the chances of systems failure, en route, we try to inspect everything we can before heading offshore. This doesn't guarantee that problems won't surface, but preventative maintenance and inspection of critical system components, before a long open-ocean passage, is always a good idea. And, it builds our confidence in Anna's ability to get us where we need to go, if we see for ourselves that Anna's systems, check out. When we take care of her, she takes care of us. Simple as that.

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 Anna's life raft inspection sequence...

Vacuum-packed inner bag is first removed from raft's soft valise.

Life raft is then removed from vacuum-pack foil bag.

Life raft is unpacked for inspection.

CO2  cartridge is pressure inspected, but not activated.

Viking life raft is then inflated with compressor air and checked for leaks.

All component parts are then inspected for integrity.

Spare batteries are replaced due to corrosion (despite vacuum packing).

All emergency flares are replaced along with a new set of batteries.

Life raft and contents are now up to specs.

The life raft is now repacked and certified.

The raft is replaced inside foil bag and ready for deployment.

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We are currently provisioning for an extended journey beyond the Galapagos, to either southern Chile (3,000 to 4,000 nm, non stop), or SE Asia (9,000 nm with sporadic stops along the way, across French Polynesia) - radically different strategies.

We currently have no firm plans beyond getting to the Galapagos in early October, and anchoring out there for 2-3 months. Sometime in December we anticipate heading toward either the Southern Ocean (180 degrees south), or the South Pacific (270 degrees west). We are leaning toward the higher latitudes of Patagonia at the moment, but ultimately, the wind and waves will drive our course.

It's time to plot a course for the Galapagos, which lie west at 270 degrees.