GTFOplan #111: Anchor, Repair, Repeat and Pedalboard rescue | #RealSailingLife in #StLucia

Sailing, Salty Repairs & Innuendo: A Week Aboard SV GoTFO?? We rely heavily on AIS (Automatic Identification System) to safely navigate and identify nearby vessels. AIS provides real-time data-like speed, heading, and closest point of approach. In daylight, we might pass a little closer, but at night we maintain a strict 1-mile buffer, especially around RAMs (Restricted in Ability to Maneuver) like tankers and cargo ships. There's always a sigh of relief when we drop anchor or grab a mooring ball-but that's when the real work begins. Boat life isn't all palm trees and sunsets-there's always a list of projects waiting, and this week was no exception. Ann repairs Schatzi's "front yard," where salt and wind tore up the artificial turf. We also take a close look at how our Balance 482 catamaran performs in light wind: better than half of wind speed, especially near a beam reach. (Of course, performance depends on sail selection, sea state, and current.) We discover a mysterious gouge in our outboard-(dinghy dock suspect?)-and Dennis drops Ann off in Soufrière, St. Lucia for a walk with Schatzi, where she stumbles upon live stadium music. On the dinghy ride back, we zip past fellow Balance 482 sailors, SV Windependence. Shocked by island tour prices, we skip the excursions and splurge on fresh lobster from the boat boys instead-no regrets! ? Plus, Ann hunts down the elusive St. Lucia lettuce (victory!) and demos how to bind marine vinyl rugs using a Sailrite hot knife and binding tape, with tips for choosing darker colors to hide dirt. Dennis shows how we upgraded our Spectra watermaker pump system-doubling our water output by running both pumps! And there's a classic Ann moment on the Hobie Pedal Board (someone forgot the rudder...), with Dennis swooping in for the rescue. ? Hero status: confirmed. Oh, and Dennis gets way too excited demonstrating how to lube hatch gaskets-yes, innuendo included. ? We also upgrade our seagull striker padding (goodbye yoga mat, hello pool noodles with center holes!). Finally, we meet three awesome kids kayaking by and hand out apples and YouTube stickers-spreading good vibes, one nautical mile at a time. ?? Thanks for sailing with us! Don't forget to subscribe, like, and leave a comment below! CURRENT LOCATION: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-GTFO/ ABOUT OUR CATAMARAN: We love our new Balance 482 - it's a perfect size for a cruising couple to handle and is a great "balance" of performance and comfort. One of our favorite features is the excellent ventilation since we mostly live as "hookers" (aka at anchor) where the boat automatically turns into the wind so we stay cool and we don't need to battle mold. We also have starlink for easy off-grid life. Our 2400 watt solar panel array also means we rarely need to run an engine to charge our batteries. ABOUT US: We saved for a our future boat, sold everything that we owned, and shipped the rest in a container to Cape Town, South Africa. We then flew there and explored South Africa by way of a safari and touring Cape Town before moving aboard our boat. We then sailed to Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Fernando de Naronha (Brazil), Martinique, Sint Maarten (Dutch and French side), the US Virgin Islands (Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas), the British Virgin Islands (Anegada, Norman Island, Jost van Dyke, and Anegada), The Bahamas (Inagua, Crooked Island, Long Island, George Town, Staniel Cay, the Exumas, and Eleuthera). We then sailed back to the United States, making landfall in Cape Canaveral, Florida. From there our destinations are endless! Both Dennis and Ann grew up military brats with Army fathers. Dennis (the Colonel) served 30 years in the US Army and his retirement pension helped us retire in our 50s. Ann (the ship's Captain) wrote Test Automation in Python and Java. Dennis and Ann met on Match.com where Ann had in her profile "Do you want to sail the world with me?" Ann easily brought Dennis into sailing, and he loved the GTFOplan of retiring early and sailing the world. After many years of saving, living on one income but earning two, and cutting back on everything possible, they saved enough to buy a Balance 482. Follow them as they get real about boat life and all the hassles of buying a new boat because we all know N.E.W. means Not Everything Works. Kisses, Ann & Dennis Twitter: @GTFOplan Facebook: https://facebook.com/anndennis.snellikin.3 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtfoplan/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/gtfoplan Email: gtfoplan@gmail.com