The ROV stuffed with controllers, wires and batteries took it’s first plunge as an assembled unit. It came out heavier than expected but there is a plan for that contingency. And with the temps nearing 100F, 37C; the water felt great.

Love New England.  I was not planing on a vacation but the ability to see so many boats, of so many varieties and especially the Draken Harald was too much to pass up.  And it was especially convenient once we could combine it with a road trip west to pickup a gift of inverters and a bank of nickle iron batteries from Ron Buttke in Janesville Wisconsin.   And while so close we made it to Lincoln Nebraska to visit relatives milk goats and buy an inflatable life vest for our sailing trip. Betsy did a fantastic job with the itinerary. Boats, more boats, museums , pirates, great food and even a chance to say howdy to Keith Fenner.   We’ll be back.  Hang two lanterns in the belfry.  –Doug

The Patee House Museum in St Joseph includes displays from the early days on the Missouri River, the Pony Express, the Railroad, the Stagecoach, the Civil War, and Outlaws.

Guess what? Lots of big boats and not one bow thruster among them! Wait. ..no that’s likely not true, there was a fancy USCG patrol boat on the river. I bet they had one. This whole place is a show room for what is really needed, and what works on a boat. There is certainly a lot of gear in today’s marine chandlery that you might do well just leaving on the dock. Take a look at what seems to have changed the most over the years and the most obvious answer is the fortitude of the people on the ships.

We were once a people that took chances. We dared to sail into the unknown. We accepted the risk that life brought to us, we lived full lives, and died as warriors.

Draken  Expedition America  http://drakenexpeditionamerica.com/

So how much money do you need to be happy, and does your happiness increase with more money than you need?

Get a quick glimpse at Battleship Cove.    I recommend reading or listening to “Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal” to get a real sense of what it was like to serve in the US Navy during WWII.

We took our vacation to New England to see the boats, and one stop was at a Marine Consignment store.  What a heavenly place!

Electric power for the various systems I wanted on Seeker was mistakenly high on my list of things to acquire when we decided to build. I soon learned that it rightly deserves a place at the bottom of the list.  The technology is constantly improving and the prices for existing technology is constantly falling.   If you are patient, you will either own the best available technology or used equipment at a great value.  Or as in our case become the beneficiaries of generosity from someone like Ron Buttke of Wisconsin who donated a literal ton of off-grid power equipment.   So now we need to learn everything we can about nickel iron batteries, inverters, charge controllers, and sundries.

Nickel iron batteries