Chassiron Tour Du Monde

Ok, now say that with a French accent and voila, this is our Artemo. Finally our beautiful French blue bottom ketch is able to live up to its title. Finally we feel proud to have people over. Finally we look around and feel lucky to have such a nice, comfortable boat. Finally the list is not mission critical items. Finally, finally, finally!

We have put so much blood, sweat and tears into this boat, I thought that it deserved its own blog about all the wonderful things we have done to bring it back to life. I think the coolest things for me though are the fact that we can now make our own water and electricity and even send email without an internet connection. It is so cool to see our batteries at 100% and we don't have to run the engine to get there. The two wind generators Graham installed and our solar panel give us plenty of juice! Yesterday Graham got the water maker hooked up and now we don't have to worry about where we are going to get our fresh clean water from. WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN and it even tastes good. The SSB is really cool too. Somehow Graham worked his magic yet again and got the SSB up and running. We are now able to send and receive email through our single side ban radio without being connected to the internet. We are also able to communicate with people all around the world. We listened in to the coconut net that they have every morning at 7:30 and we chimed in when they asked for new arrivals and we shocked the heck out of my dad, who was listening in Antigua. We were able to chat after the show on an open channel.

You have all heard that Graham went day after day to the boat yard and you may have wondered what he was doing, well below is the list! If I haven't said it enough.....he really is amazing. He never seems beat. He always has a solution. He never gives up. He can work in the heat and the dirt and not complain once. He could come home to us at night, complaining about the heat and wishing for the boat to be done and manage to cheer us up and even make dinner. It is his dedication and perseverance that got us a home that we can be proud of.

Here is the list and this is only the items that Graham did. Keep in mind that the boat yard replaced the entire coach roof, replaced the mast step and did extensive woodwork throughout, replaced all the sails, made a new bimini and reworked our rigging for a forward travellor. We also had all our cushions recovered in Sunbrella fabric and had new cockpit cushions made!

Sooooo starting from the front of the boat and working my way back:

• ANCHOR: Full repair and installation of anchor windlass, backing plates, reinforcement of deck, replace and install new anchor chain, built teak drain grate for inside the anchor locker, replaced the anchor chain to the bulk head fitting in the locker
• BOW PULPIT: Rebedded the pulpit, installed new LED navigation lights on new teak bases onto the pulpit
• MAIN: Installed new LED tri anchor navigation lights to top of main, replaced wire for spreader light and steaming light, installed new wind indicator
• MISSEN: repaired forward spreader on missen, replaced vhf antenna and coaxial cable through to vhf, replaced mast spreader light wiring
• STERN STEEL ARCH: rebedded the arch, had new arms added for extra reinforcement
• WINDGENERATORS: installed 2 new WIND GENERATORS
• STERN DECK: made a new teak rail for stern and installed and varnished, removed the stern anchor roller and fiber glassed the area it was in and painted
• HYDROVANE: Installed self steering gear!!!! Huge job
• COCKPIT: Replaced cockpit floor with 14m plywood and epoxy, installed drains on the seats in the cockpit
• PAINT: completed the bottom paint and continue to add numerous coats of varnish to woodwork
• ELECTRICAL: reran and replaced all of the wiring, added new outlets in convenient locations, installed new instruments, installed new bilge pumps with float switches, installed new LED lights throughout, installed and rewired a new bank of batteries, built and fiber glassed the new battery box
• PLUMBING: Installed 2 new toilets and hoses, installed all new sea cocks
• WOODWORK: built and installed new bulk head on port side at nav table, reinforced and installed new backing plate on port side Genoa track
• SSB: installed SSB

Aside from this long list there were so many little things that he did to make us more comfortable. He definitely knows this boat more intimately than he ever thought possible.
So now I think when we meet people along the way and they ask where we started and what we are up to, I am going to leave the problems behind us and talk about the now because the now is SO MUCH BETTER than the last few months.

WE OWN A CHASSIRON TOUR DU MONDE 43 FOOT BLUE BOTTOMED KETCH and she is GORGEOUS!!!