In May 2021 there seemed a possibility that I might be able to complete my sailing trip to the Bahamas that I started in 2017-2018, that trip consisted of visiting the ‘Northern’ Cays in an area called the Abaco. This is the same area that would later be partially devastated by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019. Although there are many regions in the Bahamas the ‘Southern’ Cays are considered to be the Exumas and consists of 365 inhabited and uninhabited islands that stretches for 37 miles and I hoped to be heading to the Exumas.
…that was the decision point to go or not to go. It was becoming clear that although 2 total knee replacements were a God send for walking pain free and relieving lower back pain too, they still aren’t like the originals. Squeezing and contorting your body and lower extremities into the nooks and crannies of the boat were now a chore that took 3 – 4 times longer than before. After you find a way to bend yourself to get the job done your artificial joints feel it for days afterwards. At some point there will be a last trip, better to do it as young as possible… So now is the time to go, but preparing is almost not worth going, it’s an absolute pain.
My trip in 2017 was in many respects a test run, I had designed a number of systems for the boat that were not standard or even considered before that time. Every boat owner / captain makes changes to make his/her boat their own. In my case I used multiple iPads for navigation, industrial 36-volt solar panels and wind generator for battery charging, and an energy management system. All of these components were held in place by qusi-temperary framing. The solar panels were mounted on formed and welded (yes, I taught myself to TIG weld) one-inch stainless steel tubes above the Bimini (Bimini = cloth roof over the cockpit), on the starboard and port sides were identical 9-foot masts with cross supports, one held the wind generator and the other was for the radar unit. The back of the cockpit looked like a dense forest of shinny pipes, 
it was ugly, it was dangerous at times, and it was a pain in the ass all the time. The solution was to add a sailing arch, it was simple and functional… 
but I had to disconnect everything I previously added, disassemble all the components, fabricate new mounting fixtures, and then install everything again this time permanently. I had to fix things that didn’t work out from the first go round. Then there were all the normal maintenance things that any sailboat owner has to do before boating season, new anti-fouling bottom paint (at $235 per gallon and that is the cheap stuff, 2 cans needed of course), completely sanding the bottom first, all the deck teak needed cleaned and refinished, the entire deck of the boat needed painted which includes the bright shinny white parts and the complementary colored non-skid areas, and naturally each area has to be induvial taped off before painting. The mast had to be unstepped… on larger sailboats the mast (tall stick in the air the sails hang from) goes through a hole in the cabin top and goes all the way down to the keel, it is said to be keel stepped. The mast had to be removed to fix some wiring issues and replace things. The boat was hauled out at the end of May, add in a trip to Florida in June and a wedding in August and the boat was not complete and ready to relaunch until the first week in October. That left 6 weeks to test all the new stuff, test all the old stuff, replace the broken or warn out stuff. Now we enter the final phase to ‘making it ready’ clean every interior inch with bleach based cleaner, purify the three water tanks, buy and stow the provisions, your clothing for a few months, the tools to fix things when they break. Now and only now are you ready to set sail, the only problem is after you leave you will remember all the stuff you forgot to pack.