I am thirteen pounds overweight.  Which is an achievement for someone 6’1” tall whose weight has remained near 156 pounds for more than forty years.  It’s not me, but the stuff I want to take back to the boat with me.

        On many international flights, airlines allow two bags weighing up to fifty pounds each.  One hundred pounds ought to be enough for anyone, and in the past it has been for me; but when I weighed my bags the other day, I came out thirteen pounds over.  The problem is books and freeze dry food.  The problem really is planning for almost a full year in advance.

        Four items count for more than seventy of those pounds.  

            80 freeze dry meals 33 pounds. 

            21 books 20 pounds. 

            replacement Bose cockpit speakers                 10.5 pounds. 

            replacement 35.5 gallon Nauta                 flexible water tank  8 pounds. 

        Add to this more than 7 pounds of recorded movies and television shows on DVD, and you have almost 80 pounds.

        Nothing else individually weighs very much, but in total comes to another 35 to 40 pounds. 

        For those who might be interested here is the list:

            five t-shirts

            two pair of shorts

            two Dartington replacment crystal double old-fashion        

                    glasses

            a paper chart of the Panama Canal

            a C-Map chart cartridge of South America and the    

                    Caribbean

            a replacement U.S. flag

            three replacement plastic cannisters for miscelleaneous        

                    screws and bolts

            a replacment teak paper towel holder

            a teak liquid soap holder

            a replacment fan

            seizing twine

            seizing wire

            large vise grip pliers

            a light weight spinnaker sheet

            calking gun

            several tubes of calk and sealant

            replacement engine fan belts

            a spare solar shower bag

            an updated copy of the chart of my voyages

            three Aqua-Signal electrical connectors

            replacment sets of Allen wrenches, one metric, one inches

            teak winch backing pad

            two boxes of wood screws

            replacement set of drill bits

            replacement electronic barometer

            small LED flashlight

            charger for rechargeable batteries

            replacement LED masthead anchor light

            two pillow cases

            two sail track stops

        Much of this could be bought in South Africa, but was easier and/or less expensive to buy here.

        I realize that cockpit speakers and Dartington crystal glasses are hardly essential, but I missed both this year, when my present set of Bose speakers failed and the last of my glasses broke. 

        Whenever I buy screws or bolts for a project, I buy extras and put them in the cannisters.  In knockdowns in the Southern Ocean several years ago, the cannisters flew across the cabin and cracked.  I continued to use them, but they broke irreparably this year.

        I have electronic charts of the Panama Canal, but thought I should have a paper one on board to please officials.

        With expanded coverage, this entire circumnavigation is covered by three C-Map megawide cartridges.

        The spinnaker sheet is New England Ropes Flight Line, which is what I have been using and like very much.  I have found that having both sheets the same color--mine are red--complicates clearing them after furling the sail with the Facnor gennaker furling gear, so I am taking back one green sheet.

        I need a lot of caulk and sealant because I will replace both deck hatches when I return to South Africa.  I could have bought the Lewmar hatches cheaper here, but would have had even a bigger baggage problem.

        I use Aqua-Signal electrical connectors for the solar panels and the tiller-pilot.  I think they are very good, but they don’t last forever.  They seem particularly susceptable to sunlight degradation, which is odd for something intended to be used on deck.

        The teak winch pad is intended to replace the backing pad of the anchor chain stopper which has cracked.

        Tools on a boat get rusty and drill bits, particularly small sizes, break, thus the replacments for them and the Allen wrenches.

        My LED anchor light stopped working in Australia.  In Durban a rigger brought it down and I determined that the problem is the blub not wiring.

        The sail track stops are intended to try to prevent the engine alternator from constantly slipping and loosening its fan belt.  The bolt that is supposed to stop this has never held well and I have now stripped its threads.  I don’t know if the stops will work, but they are cheap and worth a try.

        While I could reduce my load by eliminating some minor or luxury items, most likely I will cut back on books and/or freeze dry food, having Carol either bring or ship the surplus to me in either the Virgin Islands or Panama later in the year.