About Sailing Vessel Pangaea

Pangaea is a Passport 40.  Passports were designed by Bob Perry and built in Taiwan.  She is a sturdy bluewater boat.  Many Passports have sailed all over the world.  There are many reviews of the Passport 40.  This is the one I like:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeefEf5jucY

"A boat is a hole in the water that...blah blah blah."  I am a big believer in the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid).   Thus I think hard about adding extras to an already sea worthy boat.  Below I talk about some of the improvements, maintenance and essential gear on Pangaea.  First I would like to share my detailed accounting of the money that I have spent on Pangaea:  ALL OF MY MONEY!


  • Solar Panels
    • The solar panels that were on the boat were old and did not have enough wattage for our needs.  Our excellent crew member, Al Lynch hooked us up with new Kyocera solar panels.  The new panels kick out a total of 540 watts.  Now we go around the anchorages selling our spare power to those in need (just kidding). 
  • Water Maker
    • The Passport 40 was built with 120 gallons of fresh water storage capacity.  We found that with the two of us on board we could make this last about 10 days.  This is plenty for coastal cruising.  Our plans included traveling off shore to far away places.  We decided that having clean fresh water on demand would increase the comfort factor.  Considering that we had plenty of DC power on board with the new solar panels, the Spectra 150 made the most sense for us.  When we run low on water we fire this bad boy up, after the batteries are fully charged.  It delivers 7 gallons an hour using 8 amps. I chose the manual unit because I am a cheep bastard and I don't mind turning a couple of valves.
Spectra Installed below the galley sink
Feed pump and charcoal filter, 5 micro filter easy access on the  right side
Discharge thru hull 
  • Decks and Brightwork
    • The previous owners had let the teak decks and bright work go natural.  This practice is fine because the teak is an oily wood that can withstand the elements for a time.  However, the time had come.  It was cracking and looking really ugly.  Labor is cheap in Mexico and I like to give back to the local economy.  So I had Chava finish all of the bright work with Cetal.  Cetal looks like varnish but lasts longer.  The bright work now looks amazing. 
    • Teak decks are controversial, some love and some hate.  Pangaea's decks needed attention when we bought her.  We debated long and hard, remove or redo.  We chose to install new teak.  Reggie, an american carpenter living in Mexico, removed the old planks, filled all of the original screw holes and glued the new teak down.  Pangaea now gets more complements than any other boat in the marina.  Owning a boat is an emotional decision not a logical one.  We really enjoy the beauty of Pangaea.



  • Autopilot
    • Pangaea came with a CPT Wheel pilot and a Monitor Wind Vane.  At first I thought I would like to have a below deck hydraulic autopilot, but after talking with many people that had sailed thousands of miles with a CPT I changed my mind.  Also, I have run across cruisers that have spent a lot of time and money repairing their hydraulic autopilots.  The only problem that I have had with the CPT is the mounting system was flexy, causing the belt to loosen which would cause problems.  So I designed a really beefy bracket and had a welder fabricate if for me.  I am so impressed with the CPT that I bought a new one which is much improved from the 30 year old unit.  Now I will use the old one as a spare.

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