Good question!!
Most people don't really comprehend that if something happens in the middle of the Pacific ocean, the coast guard can't come and get us. That's why the boat (and people - more on that in a separate post) have to be sturdy, sea worthy, and have the right equipment so that nothing happens!
The first thing we have to meet is the required equipment list for the race. If you are interested it is linked here.
This is a pretty extensive list to start with. Hang 20 was signed up to do the 2020 Pac Cup and then it was cancelled when COVID hit. So, the boat has being prepped for a while. In the summer of 2019 we took the mast down, added a new mast head antenna and wind instruments so that we'd get the wind speed, direction, along with speed on our instruments. We added a new radio that was a VHF but also broadcasts and receives AIS signals. These are signals that ships and other boats transmit. This lets us "see" big ships and also lets the big ships "see" us (even in the dark). Also in the summer of 2019, the windows were replaced (they leaked) and all leaky screws were re-bedd to minimize leakage into the boat. The boat went in for inspection and some work was done reinforcing bulkheads and such (the inside parts that hold the boat together) so that Hang 20 was super sturdy! We bought four 30-amp lithium batteries and hooked up the solar panels. We bought a PC laptop to run our routing software, expedition. We bought a satellite connection so we can get weather information and send position reports offshore. We thought we were almost ready to go....
And then COVID hit. No 2020 Pac Cup. Very disappointing but also, retrospectively, it ended up being a good thing because as we prep now for the race (in less than 2 weeks - yikes!) I realize we had much more to do! And, it allowed me to find Cathy, an awesome Pac Cup partner, to race with!
What we have been doing this past year - securing batteries, re-doing the non-skid on the deck (to keep people from slipping), buying and practicing with a good autopilot (that will probably drive better than us when we're really sleepy). Winches have been serviced. I have also made us a bean bag mattress for sleeping on the cabin floor, I have made a lot of hanging storage pockets, and both bunks have a lee cloth, though we are likely to only sleep on starboard. We have a new heavy duty hatch board and I made a dodger to hopefully keep us dry upwind. Cathy has become quite the expert with the routing software and is very confident with the electronics. The trailer is now road worthy and will be shipped over while we race. Then the trailer and boat get shipped home while we fly home.
Lori
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