History

history:

“My Muse” was launched in South Africa in December 1998. She sailed across the Atlantic and went in to charter in the British Virgin Islands. There she remained, with the same owner and under professional care, for the next 13 years. I purchased her out of charter in 2011 after the following work was carried out by the team at Conch Charters:

·         Replaced the port engine with a recently rebuilt one to match the starboard engine reconditioned in 2010.

·          The 2 saloon and 4 berth hatches were removed and upgraded to new Lewmar Ocean series hatches.

·         New main halyard with double purchase fitted

·         New 10oz ocean series , fully battened, main imported from Quantum sails in South Africa

·         An 11ft Zodiac inflatable tender was fitted with a new Yamaha 20hp , 4 stroke, outboard (available but not included in this sale)

I arrived with my crew of 8 in March 2011 and we sailed her back to the Florida, via US Virgin Island, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, and Cuba.  Then to work! .Tied to the dock on Sanibel Island  I refit “My Muse” in readiness for our big adventure;  the voyage, with my wife,  3 teenagers and a new puppy, across the Pacific to New Zealand. Included in the refit were:

·         Full set of new batteries

·         Custom stainless steel and polycarbonate bimini with acrylic windshields

·         Complete electronics upgrades ..chart plotter (with charts from USA to NZ ), auto pilot, radar, vhf, SSB, wind instruments, mast head and rudder transponders, new fishfinder.

·         870 w solar panel set up with Tri-star MPPT charge controller

·         New 2000w Xantrex inverter and controller

·         New 110v appliances and power tools (see list)

·         New wind generator

·         Pulled, tested and lined the S/S water and fuel tanks

·         Built and installed a 40gph water maker driven off a new pressure pump on the port engine

·         Added new 12v , Sea frost, compressors to existing engine driven refrigeration system

·         Converted the primary winch to electric

·         Fit new sheets throughout

·         Rebuilt and serviced the roller furling base

·         Replaced the acrylic main ports with ½” “bullet proof” polycarbonate.

·         new computer monitor doubling as video screen and secondary chart plotter

·         new cockpit cushions

In January of 2012 she was stocked  and we embarked from Sanibel Island . Over the next 20 months  My Muse visited 13 countries, including 2 months in the Galapagos, a memorable week at Pitcairn Island and a trip through the Panama canal. In those two years I am pleased to report that  we were unusual, ( compared to our fellow cruisers) in that “My Muse” performed almost flawlessly. She sailed excess of 240 miles/day at times and the only engine failure was a blockage from diesel algae in Ecuador. The only sail failure was the foresail blown out during a freak storm in Tonga. ( a new genoa was flown in). What was a problem was dragging anchor. To overcome we upgraded to a new 60lb , Manson supreme spade anchor…no more dragging! The only nagging issue on the voyage was occasional anchor windlass binding which we worked around by hauling the anchor using the electric primary winch. The problem (several broken gear teeth) was resolved  with the installation of a new Lofrans windlass.

In November 2013 “My Muse” cleared into Opua New Zealand and sailed on to her new home in the Whangarei marina. To tidy her up after 20 months at sea  the following work was carried out 2016-2018:

·         new bimini side screens

·         new upholstery in saloon

·         new LED lighting

·         new cockpit speakers

·         new oven and cooktop (due to loss of a burner overboard!)

·         new vinyl topside wrap ( turned “My Muse “ from white to Royal Blue! )

·         new batteries..5 years being about the useful life when living aboard.

·         Interior paint

·         The new anchor windlass

·         New trampolines

·         New sail cover (stack-pac)

·         Rebuilt and upgraded  water  and water maker systems.

·         Added headliner to bimini

·         Re galvanized the chain

·         New deck- tread to replace the embossed tread on heavily trafficked cockpit /transom areas.

“MY Muse” is better outfitted now than at any other time in her life and is ready for any adventure!