Hi Scott: I will try not to repeat much from my intro and subsequent posts. When we bought our boat new in 1979 we particularly attempted to keep the systems simple and to this day it is still a KISS boat compared to the new ones today. Scott Strickland summed it up very well "However the skill and confidence I found hardest to learn was the ability to fix anything". So far there has not been much mentioned on debugging the CREW. This (the crew) could make or break a successful and safe voyage. For us it was only my wife and I and we had to learn each other very well. If you have a fuller complement then your debugging will require all of you together training for the longest leg of your cruise. Each strength and weakness must be noted and used to the advantage of keeping your boat and people together. e.g. The new boats today are very sophisticated electronically and if it is not you that has trained on these systems then someone of your crew better be. Some people are just lousy cooks or bad housekeepers so keep them away from that duty. etc.etc I am sure you get the point. The first 4 days at sea are usually great but if there is a crew problem it will show up thereafter (remember Mr. Murphy). To this day I have not taken the Indifference away from the dock without my wife being aboard. I do have other qualified help but still I operate this way. Regards. Leonard Stern, Indifference.