Today I braved the chill and put the boat back on the trailer, and mounted a bracket to hold the new spare tire and wheel. The boat cradle did its job perfectly, and the transfer was surprisingly quick. The cradles are now under the (NEW!) deck.
Next I removed the floorboards and the water ballasting system, and in so doing rather quickly solved several other problems, such as:
— the spare oars will stow nicely under just the rear set of floor boards on the floor of the cockpit
— by leaving the front set of floor boards out I have plenty of room for clothes storage
— I replace the weight of the PVC pipes of the ballasting system with gear and the anchor, keeping the center of gravity low.
I strapped down the battery box (I pick the battery up on Thursday at West Marine). It is a small gel battery, but adequate for my needs. I put two additional buoyancy bags up front under the deck, a maneuver that required the skills of a contortionist with an electric air pump. They are behind a supposedly watertight bulkhead, but as I’ve learned, there is nothing like positive buoyancy up high in your boat! I mounted the tiller pilot stanchion base and 4200’d the sculling oarlock into place. That thing is solid! I rigged a final version of shock cord that holds the oars in place when not in use, and strapped the box of flares on the aft floorboards under where one of the seats usually rests.
The watertight bags that we’ll be using in the cockpit to hold our things have a stiff fabric pan on the bottom. This pan fortuitously wedges under the floor board support in the cockpit, so that it is pretty much stuck once jammed in. I can also strap the bags in using the water ballasting tie downs, but just for insurance. Could not have planned that one better! The sleeping bags and bivy sacks will be in watertight bags in the storage locker forward. Food and cookstove I think will be in the side cockpit seats.
I’ve found lodging in Key Largo, spoke with my shore contact (who gets a BIG shoutout: THANKS HOANG!) who is going far and above the call of family duty. I think he is worried about his sister getting eaten by an alligator in the Everglades while I am staring at a GPS wondering where the heck I lost her…