We now plan to depart on Monday, February 6, 2012. For me (John) it is a dream of about 30 years that is about to start for real. Yes, there have been many bumps in the road over that long period, but the dream was always there.
First a (very) little background. We purchased Lucky Us in July, 2006 with the idea that we had a few years to learn how to operate her with only the two of us and enough time to make some upgrades to her for the Loop. This meant adding some creature comforts like an all-in-one washer dryer and anchor windlass as well as the latest electronic navigation equipment. The boat came with a marvelous walk in glass shower, full galley and reverse cycle heating and air-conditioning so we had a god starting point. There are some who may think that we went a little overboard by adding a 32 inch HDTV with Blue-ray and Google TV as well as Wifi, but there are no "rules" that say one cannot really enjoy the experience all the time.
Here are some pictures of some the the more recent preparations:
Lucky Us is 43 feet long on deck and with a dingy on the swim platform and counting the bow pulpit we are closer to 50 feet. A scary (for me at least) sight is seeing the nearly 20 tons of boat being lifted out of the
water in preparation for new bottom paint. However, as you can see in the next photo, the bottom was successfully cleaned, sanded and painted. We also had additional work done while she was out of the water.
All things considered boats float very well, but when they are bigger, there are a lot of holes (intentionally) in the hull. Holes below the water line are necessary for raw water to cool the engines and for the reverse cycle HVAC. These holes have seacocks on them which amount to an on/off valves.
Our seacocks were all stuck in the open position, which means that if a hose ruptures we cannot stop the water with the valve. Note, we do carry a selection of tapered wood plugs that we can hammer into holes (in theory...). I have included a picture of a new seacock since several of the old ones were broken in the attempts to unstick them. I have learned a lot of "facts" in my boating experience, and some of them are more important than others... If this 1 1/2 inch hose completely severed, about 2,600 gallons of water per hour would enter. We have three bilge pumps that could handle this amount (in theory) assuming that we had battery power and there was no clogging, etc of the pumps... We sold the house in Bryan, but for comparison, that swimming pool held about 26,000 gallons of water. That number got my attention!
Our seacocks were all stuck in the open position, which means that if a hose ruptures we cannot stop the water with the valve. Note, we do carry a selection of tapered wood plugs that we can hammer into holes (in theory...). I have included a picture of a new seacock since several of the old ones were broken in the attempts to unstick them. I have learned a lot of "facts" in my boating experience, and some of them are more important than others... If this 1 1/2 inch hose completely severed, about 2,600 gallons of water per hour would enter. We have three bilge pumps that could handle this amount (in theory) assuming that we had battery power and there was no clogging, etc of the pumps... We sold the house in Bryan, but for comparison, that swimming pool held about 26,000 gallons of water. That number got my attention!One last set of pictures to briefly describe the updates to the electronics. Within the last year we have added new a GPS/Chartplotter with a 12 inch color screen on the flybridge with a monitor(repeater) at the lower helm station. We also have a 24 inch digital radar, depth sounder, satellite (XM) weather, autopilot and AIS (automatic identification system).
There are advances in all of this technology at least on a yearly basis so we waited to upgrade until now so that we would have the latest gear. All are networked together, and as for me, I still have quite a bit of learning to do. The last 2 photos show the top and bottom of the radar mast. The 24 inch HDTV antenna has a digital booster, and at our home dock between Houston and Galveston, Texas, we get 69 digital channels over the air. This is up from about a dozen channels in the pre-digital era. The other view of the radar mast shows a hinge on the bottom. We installed the hinge so that we could lower the mast, and thus lower our air draft. The draft of a boat generally is used to refer to distance below the waterline to the lowest point on a boat. It turns out that boats have an air draft that is the distance to the highest point. 
This is important for getting under fixed bridges, and there are several important ones on the Great Loop. If you want to go through downtown Chicago, you have to be able to go under a bridge with a clearance of 15 feet. Of course, you could go around Chicago... However, one of the highlights of the trip is the view of the city from the river. Hence, the addition of a hinge to be able to lower our air draft in just a few minutes.
There are advances in all of this technology at least on a yearly basis so we waited to upgrade until now so that we would have the latest gear. All are networked together, and as for me, I still have quite a bit of learning to do. The last 2 photos show the top and bottom of the radar mast. The 24 inch HDTV antenna has a digital booster, and at our home dock between Houston and Galveston, Texas, we get 69 digital channels over the air. This is up from about a dozen channels in the pre-digital era. The other view of the radar mast shows a hinge on the bottom. We installed the hinge so that we could lower the mast, and thus lower our air draft. The draft of a boat generally is used to refer to distance below the waterline to the lowest point on a boat. It turns out that boats have an air draft that is the distance to the highest point. 
This is important for getting under fixed bridges, and there are several important ones on the Great Loop. If you want to go through downtown Chicago, you have to be able to go under a bridge with a clearance of 15 feet. Of course, you could go around Chicago... However, one of the highlights of the trip is the view of the city from the river. Hence, the addition of a hinge to be able to lower our air draft in just a few minutes. Well, enough information about the boat. Stay tuned for regular updates on "Lucky Us Adventures".
Woohoo, you guys are prepped and ready - now for the fun part. I can't believe it's finally here - I remember when you bought the boat, and I swear it was only a couple of years ago, not 2006! Time flies, but for y'all, I hope it goes slow enough to enjoy every minute of your adventure. Bon voyage!
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