Beyond the Captain's Locker

Once the wall framing was up, it was time to start working on something that would eventually touch nearly every part of Beyond the Dream—the electrical system.

This wasn't going to be a boat with a battery, a couple of lights, and a switch panel. I wanted Beyond the Dream to have the electrical systems we would need for real life aboard: lighting, navigation equipment, electronics, charging, solar power, and the ability to keep everything running while we were away from shore.

Like so much of this build, I worked through it one piece at a time. Wires began running through walls that had only recently been bare studs. Panels and switches started finding their homes. Connections were made, tested, changed, and sometimes made again. Slowly, this wooden shell was beginning to have a nervous system.

And then came one of those moments every do-it-yourself builder eventually has.

The kind where you're absolutely certain you've thought everything through.

The kind where you stand back, look at your work, and feel pretty damn good about yourself.

And then you discover you have made a major blunder.

But that's a story for another time.

Building Beyond the Dream has never been about pretending we got everything right the first time. The mistakes are part of the journey as well.