The Wire That Would Have Failed Mid-Ocean || Sailing SV Goat ep 123

The last jobs on our Lagoon 400 catamaran in Morro Jable, Fuerteventura, before we leave Europe for Cape Verde: rewiring the autopilot panel, six months of provisioning, and a new flag. When our autopilot died in the middle of the ocean (episode 119), I rewired everything behind the nav station in a hurry, because we needed it working immediately. Fine for getting across. Not fine for crossing an ocean. So, alone on the boat, I pulled the panel out — Furuno autopilot brain, NMEA 2000 power, the satellite compass, the DC-DC converter — and redid it properly. One terminal of the right size, so no mistakes allowed. Glasses on, because apparently that's what 40 looks like now. The wrong zip ties, because the right ones were in a locker and it was too hot to go outside (don't tell the blonde). And there it was: a faulty connection that would have failed on us at the worst possible moment. Then the blonde came back and we provisioned for six months: a year of cat food for Vlad, a year of coffee, cookies and pickles, about 200 litres of wine (she's Italian), olive oil in bulk, and a mile of pontoons and loose rocks between the car and the boat. The goat flag came down after about 9,000 nautical miles. The Ocean Cruising Club flag stays in the drawer until we've crossed the Atlantic. The plan was Tenerife first — then a weather window opened, and on 15 October we finally left Europe, just the two of us. CHAPTERS 0:00 Finally leaving Europe 0:20 The boat is a disaster inside 1:28 Wired in a rush, mid-ocean 2:40 This cable is not a good thing 3:13 Only one of these 4:47 Fixing it properly 5:47 The faulty connection 6:36 Six months of food 8:26 Round two 9:32 200 litres of wine 10:49 Retiring the goat flag 12:30 A flag we haven't earned yet 12:49 Change of plan 13:18 Just the two of us 13:39 Leaving Europe Next: seven days across to Cape Verde. Follow along so you don't miss it. Filmed aboard SV Goat, a Lagoon 400 we live on full time. Vlad supervises, from the boat. #SailingLife #Liveaboard #CatamaranLife #BoatRefit #Lagoon400 #SailboatLife #BoatWork #SailingVlog #Catamaran #DIYBoat #Autopilot #Provisioning #CapeVerde #Fuerteventura