(B)reak (O)ut (A)nother (T)housand

Shiloh is a 1983 Freedom 39 Pilothouse Schooner. She's been maintained very well over the years and we're only the third owners. Before us, the previous owners were an engineer from General Motors and a professional stage engineering/lighting guru. Coming from tech, you can appreciate the details like sharpie marker with the date an oil filter was installed, and most things being labelled. Inevitably still, stuff breaks. Last year our decidedly agricultural autopilot decided to crap out just before our overnight trip to Block Island. Marine autopilots basically hold a course for you using a compass and a ram connected to the rudder. Some are quite fancy, ours was about as basic as they come but still managed to consist of a giant pile of analog electronics.

Unfortunately for us, and very fortunately for Navico Corporation, replacing this old autopilot with something modern meant not just replacing the computer itself, but all the analog sensors it relied on to know where to go. If you think deprecation in software is infuriating, you'll be blown away by the world of marine electronics. As it turns out, our vintage 2016 chartplotter was half a generation too old to control these newer jazzy autopilots, so we were in for that too. While we're at it, though, why not relocate it from the weird little swingarm in the companionway to the helm, so you can see it while you're steering?

I'll tell you why, it's a bit like the lady who swallowed the spider to catch the fly. To replace the autopilot, we needed new sensors, to control the autopilot we needed a new chartplotter, to mount the chartplotter we needed a new grab-rail, to replace the grab-rail we needed a new steering pedestal top-plate, and the list goes on. That's just the main project. The cruising prep "to-do" list looks like this:

1. replace autopilot

   1. replace compass sensor

   2. replace wind instruments

   3. replace rudder sensor

   4. replace autopilot computer

2. replace & relocate chartplotter

3. replace grab-rail and rebuild steering pedestal

4. build new dinette table

5. replace batteries (6x AGM)

6. add add'l solar capacity

7. replace solar charge controllers

8. install backup anchor & rode

9. repair or replace all belts, hoses, filters on engine

10. change all engine/transmission fluids

11. service anchor windlass & winches

12. replace all canvas covering and cockpit glass

13. remove masts (!) and re-bed with epoxy compound at deck joint

14. apply bottom paint

15. relocate AIS transponder to main instrument panel

16. galvanize/paint main anchor

17. replace anchor chain

18. service outboard motor

Suffice to say it's a pretty big re-fit, and one we hope will make things a lot more comfortable and safe on board. Most of these projects meant learning some new skill, whether it was tapping threads or using a scroll saw; if you're a maker/hacker, this is the hobby for you.

Still, we are knee deep in these projects, so if my posting here and elsewhere is sparse, that's why. Taking her around the world might be a lofty aspiration, but we want to do everything we can to get as far as we can, so in the meantime I'll rely on Emily to keep the Instagram page more current than these posts.

Stay tuned...