Sailing New Destiny

14/05/2026

How would you like a secluded harbor entrance to your home and gardens?!

09/05/2026

Found a marina with reverse osmosis fresh water! Very good quality and won’t damage our water maker membrane when flushing.

Sorry for misalignment of the test strip (blue outline) to the scale, but all 16 measurements are in the safe zone. Zero free chlorine.

09/05/2026

So much room under our saloon and above the water tanks. Hopefully I can find a smart storage solution.

05/05/2026

New Destiny is back home in Irvington.

Started our spring commissioning last Friday 30 miles away in the yard where we stored her for winter. Moved her to Deltaville on Sunday to have our reconditioned mainsail installed today. Then motored her up the Rappahannock to our home port of Irvington.

Will spend a couple more weeks on commissioning projects then set sail north for the summer.

02/05/2026

Hurray! One project completed successfully. Commissioned the 40-liter water heater by replacing the 230v heating element and reversing winter bypass which avoided putting antifreeze in the tank.

Looks complicated but the IsoTemp user manual instructions were very helpful. Just required a bit of awkward but precise twisting, turning, pulling to remove and reinstall the element.

This tank heats water 3 ways: from hot engine coolant, or from hot Webasto hydronic heating tubes, or from household 230v AC electric (European boat). The heating element for method #3 had been nonoperating for some time but the new element perfectly fixed it.

02/05/2026

First post since January and the deep winter freezes. As of April 17 she was still on the hard and an absolute disaster area from our winterizing efforts. She launched the following week.

17/01/2026

Starlink and digital WiFi thermometers let me monitor New Destiny temperatures. Saloon and bilge barely touched freezing while outside cockpit temps trend lower.

12/01/2026

Finally Got the boat ‘on the hard’ for the winter. Her water and other systems we already winterized last month and the yard staff topped up her diesel tanks to minimize condensation . So this weekend our tasks were final prep for winter.

We ran external electric extension cable to power up dehumidifier, connected Starlink and temperature sensors. Allows us to remotely control and monitor interior temperatures, humidity, and see things with our remote camera. Since all is run on external power, our ‘house’ batteries are slumbering while the solar keeps them topped up. Adjusted solar panel angle for winter sun and finally installed cockpit cover

Now she hibernates and we can monitor her slumber ☺️

03/01/2026

These two do a great job filming their travels and sailing.

We continue south along Ireland’s beautiful west coast. We visit Clare Island, home of the Pirate Queen from the 1500’s, Grace O’Malley. Today, this island i...

18/12/2025

Winterizing my little 6hp dinghy outboard. Ran freshwater and glycol through the cooling system. Stabilizer additive to fuel. Fogging oil to carburetor and single cylinder. Yamaha makes a real jewel of a single cylinder, four-stroke engine! Creative use of extra trash bin 😀