Meet the new La Rea!

Liberty44140

Well, until the weep hole situation is resolved I have a feeling a small wet vac and some sham wows will be on permanent standby! Looks good!

LaRea

This place is too quiet, so here's a pic of the helm with a fresh coat of black fake leather.  They did a really nice job, and not too expensive.  @YYZRC I owe you a beer for the suggestion.  

LaRea

Next mini-project:  installing the sensor for the chain counter.  The circle-thingy is a little magnet that I epoxied in a hole drilled into the side of the windlass gypsy.  The sensor gets mounted on the side of the windlass, next to the gypsy.  When the magnet passes the sensor, it increments the chain counter.  



The windlass controller/chain counter is a new model by Quick.  It has a nice display and some cool features, such as an audio signal when the anchor is almost up to the boat.

Liberty44140

Helm looks great! Very cool on the chain counter. But I hope it measures in shackles too? Captain Sandy usually wants 3 shackles in the water!!!

LaRea

Alas, it only measures in meters, feet or fathoms.  But I can do the mental conversion:  one shackle is just before the rode changes from chain to rope!

Another big moment today:  received a fat rebate check from Furuno.  Just in time to pay my slip fees.  

captkevin

Helm looks amazing.

davidbrooks

The helm is really going to look amazing when you're done. And who uses fathoms anymore other than Captain Nemo?

aero3113

It’s going to look amazing when it’s finished! ⚓️

LaRea

As part of replacing flooring in the galley and salon, I added a hatch to access this space under the floor.  It has two air conditioners that were impossible to reach.  Hard to believe they didn't put in a hatch from the factory.  

I also relocated one of the AC units to make more storage space, as this area will be used for tool storage.

captkevin

Amazing work as always.

rasbury

They just slap that a/c in like almost an afterthought- looks great and creating storage is always a good thing- and generally hard to do!

tricountytrail

What are you using for the subfloor? 

LaRea said:

As part of replacing flooring in the galley and salon, I added a hatch to access this space under the floor.  It has two air conditioners that were impossible to reach.  Hard to believe they didn't put in a hatch from the factory.  

I also relocated one of the AC units to make more storage space, as this area will be used for tool storage.

LaRea

The subfloor in the galley is just 1/2" plywood.  In the salon, it's fiberglass except for the center section with the air conditioners, which is plywood.  I'll need to reinforce the edges of the hatch so they don't bend.

LaRea

I can now say, in public for the first time, something that you might have already guessed:  Starting this summer, LaRea will cruise the Great Loop!

In the first year, we'll cover 6500 miles or more.  That's why we are investing so much effort to bulletproof this boat.  We still have a LONG to-do list, and less than five months to do it.  Finish the helm project, replace all flooring, move out of our dirt home, put our stuff in long-term storage, and a lot more.  We've been planning for over five years, but now it's getting real. 

We'll get underway ("launch our wake") on July 3rd, and cross our wake next summer.  We're building a website to chronicle our travels, and I'll post a link when it goes live.  We are beyond excited!

Now that you know our plans, some of my posts over the next few weeks will make more sense.  Or not, because nothing about this adventure makes any sense. 

captkevin

La Rea congrats on the trip. How exciting. Can't wait to watch your progress what has been nothing short of amazing so far. If you need anything when passing thru Chicago let me know.

LaRea

Today was a big day.  No, today was a HUGE day!

The instrument panels were delivered.  Big shout out to New Wire Marine, and more to follow.  This work-in-progress pic says a lot.  None of the components are attached or connected, and I need to enlarge a few of the openings, but you'll get the general idea.  The last four weeks were slow, and now stuff is happening in a blur. 

TonyG13

That is awesome!

oscar1

it looks great

Liberty44140

Wow looks awesome! Great new on the loop, looking forward to those updates!

aero3113

👍🏻👍🏻⚓️

Ian

LaRea said:

I can now say, in public for the first time, something that you might have already guessed:  Starting this summer, LaRea will cruise the Great Loop!

In the first year, we'll cover 6500 miles or more.  That's why we are investing so much effort to bulletproof this boat.  We still have a LONG to-do list, and less than five months to do it.  Finish the helm project, replace all flooring, move out of our dirt home, put our stuff in long-term storage, and a lot more.  We've been planning for over five years, but now it's getting real. 

We'll get underway ("launch our wake") on July 3rd, and cross our wake next summer.  We're building a website to chronicle our travels, and I'll post a link when it goes live.  We are beyond excited!

Now that you know our plans, some of my posts over the next few weeks will make more sense.  Or not, because nothing about this adventure makes any sense. 

Let me know when you head up the Hudson towards Albany.

Lake_Bum

That is looking SHARP!!!!  

goalie59

Looks good. Can’t wait to see it when it’s all lit up. 

Grahamu

@LaRea, I've been following your new boat outfitting and can tell you from my present experiences on the Loop all your work will pay off in spades. I now wish I had had more time with this boat prior to leaving. I saw some of your posts on the AGLCA site so knew you were planning to leave this year. Presently in Vero Beach heading to Titusville for a couple of weeks as we have to leave the USA after 6 months and come back after 5 days in Canada. I will be passing through your area late May. I will also do some posting on some of our experiences in the Gulf. 

LaRea

@Grahamu - we'll connect with you on your way up the Chesapeake.  Let me know if you decide to come up the Potomac, as I could offer you a stay at our club.

LaRea

To keep working my "day job" while cruising, I'll need solid internet service.  The obvious solution is Starlink -- expensive but reliable.  

The front of the hardtop has a perfect spot to mount a Starlink High Performance Antenna, which is huge (22" x 20").  However, I was sweating the risk of interference from the radar.  This week I hacked the antenna into place and got 150-200 mbps with the radar running!  So the location is a keeper.  Today I'll install a small inverter to run the system, which needs AC power. 

I'm not telling my coworkers about the Starlink.  I need to keep that tried-and-true boating excuse of "sorry, we were anchored and didn't have cell service!"

J3ff

LaRea said:

As part of replacing flooring in the galley and salon, I added a hatch to access this space under the floor.  It has two air conditioners that were impossible to reach.  Hard to believe they didn't put in a hatch from the factory.  

I also relocated one of the AC units to make more storage space, as this area will be used for tool storage.

What did you do for a latch? I have a couple hatches that need a way to open them with something other than a flat heat screwdriver. 

J3ff

LaRea said:

I can now say, in public for the first time, something that you might have already guessed:  Starting this summer, LaRea will cruise the Great Loop!

In the first year, we'll cover 6500 miles or more.  That's why we are investing so much effort to bulletproof this boat.  We still have a LONG to-do list, and less than five months to do it.  Finish the helm project, replace all flooring, move out of our dirt home, put our stuff in long-term storage, and a lot more.  We've been planning for over five years, but now it's getting real. 

We'll get underway ("launch our wake") on July 3rd, and cross our wake next summer.  We're building a website to chronicle our travels, and I'll post a link when it goes live.  We are beyond excited!

Now that you know our plans, some of my posts over the next few weeks will make more sense.  Or not, because nothing about this adventure makes any sense. 

Make sure to let me know when you come through the upper keys, have plenty of places for you to stop for an overnight that lots of folks do. 

LaRea

@J3ff - I sure will, we'd love to meet you!  I haven't bought a floor latch yet.  The one Maritimo used in a few other places on this boat is backordered with no end in sight.  

Dream_Inn

LaRea said:

@Grahamu - we'll connect with you on your way up the Chesapeake.  Let me know if you decide to come up the Potomac, as I could offer you a stay at our club.

@Grahamu - would certainly love to meet up with you as you come thru the Chesapeake Bay.  If it so happens to be around Rinkervous, I'm sure we'll allow you to raft up!