Tuesday 15 September 2009
Mini Transat 2009
Wednesday 2 September 2009
She finally has a name!
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Wednesday 19 August 2009
Honeymoonish
Wednesday 12 August 2009
Fan Class 32 - Clinically Insane?
This boat is nuts., but sort of totally sane at the same time. Why have the whole boat heel over when you can just allow the rig to do it? I read about it in YM a while ago and thought: "Nice concept, but it'll never work". Guess I was wrong.
Sunday 9 August 2009
30 Years on...
Monday 3 August 2009
Saturday 1 August 2009
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Geoff's boaty link of the day: The solution to Somali pirates
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Geoff's boaty link of the day: The front fell off
Thursday 18 June 2009
Geoff's boaty link of the day: Redefining Speed
Wednesday 17 June 2009
My kind of Ship: 'Devil's vegetable' banned from navy warship
Looks like one Royal Navy captain has made a truly sensible decision and has banned sporuts from his ship.
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Only 48 hours to go
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From Sailing Sweden - May 2009 - Kanholms Fjärden |
I've not decided if we're going to attempt to find a good place to watch the racing as I suspect that every boat will be out trying to do the same and having only sailed there once, my local knowledge might be a little lacking.
There's also a race village in central Stockholm, so another option may be to motor sail into the city and let our guests (who are new to sailing and Sweden) have a wander around the city. I'm a firm believer that it aught to be illegal to go to Stockholm without seeing the Vasa. Not sure what the punishement would be, but everyone should see it.
From Stockholm (Sept08) |
Boaty Web Link of the Day- Antarctica Photo Journal
Antarctica Photo Journal (1)
Incredible photo journal of a Newzealander's trip to Antartica in an aluminium yacht.
Tuesday 2 June 2009
Royal Yacht Squadron - Possibly the world's most exclusive club?
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From Sailing Sweden - May 2009 - Sail to Sandhamn |
A complex set of rules dictate which private yachts may fly the Blue Ensign. But only Royal Naval vessels and yachts owned by the 400 or so members of the Royal Yacht Squadron may fly the elite white ensign.
The three colours are a relic of a time when the Royal Navy was divided into three fleets (Red, White and Blue). A Post Captain, when promoted to admiral, would progress up the rankings of seniority. So he'd start out as an Rear Admiral of the Blue, progresses to White, then Red. Next he'd become a Vice Admiral of the Blue, White, then Red. Finally there was Admiral of the Blue and then White. Traditionally there was no Admiral of the Red as this was synonymous with Admiral of the Fleet. After Trafalgar (1805) Admiral of the Red was introduced to reward it's top Admirals, though it may have been a device to create more space at the bottom for deserving Captains.
When the Navy was going through a period of reduction after France had been defeated and as the war of 1812 was drawing to an end the practice of creating "Yellow Admirals" was common. This involved promoting them, but leaving them on the bench with no fleet assignment. There was no actual Yellow flag, it was more of a grim joke that their service hadn't been sufficiently good or politically connected to warrant a proper promotion. Patrick O'Brien's "The Yellow Admiral" explores this in detail by putting Aubrey in the frame for being yellowed.
This system fell into disuse when the age of sail came to an end. The Red Ensign was allocated to the merchant navy of Britain, the Royal Navy adopted the White Ensign, and the Blue Ensign was used by naval auxiliary vessels.
Generally speaking, today, the only way to fly one of the privelidged ensigns is to join a club or the armed forces. For all but the RYS this is either a blue or defaced blue ensign. As stated above the RYS members get to fly the white. It is interesting that there seems to be a vein of reverse snobbery where some people look down upon the people that chose to fly the white or blue for being pretentious. I personally feel that this is a quaint little part of British tradition that should be cherished and enjoyed lest it fade away completely.
Telegraph.co.uk - Could I endure decades of sucking up to join the Royal Yacht Squadron - God yes!
A sad tale of a Sweden Yachts purchase gone wrong
To clarify: The bit in the yellow is not my story, just a reprint of someone else's experience found on the web.
Sweden Yachts corrupt bankruptcy (Dit schrijven we even in het Engels opdat de internationale blog gemeenschap zou kunnen meelezen.) Two years ago we ordered a new Sweden yachts 40 at the Hiswa in Ijmuiden. We paid 60% up front. It would be delivered 1 April. Last year September we visited the yard. There was not even the beginning of a boat. Sweden Yachts told us the hull was on its way. Which afterwards we discovered, was a lie. 23 March Sweden Yachts went bankrupt. No boat and money gone. No sign of owner Sven Enoch, alltough we were told he filled the fuel tank of his villa that morning and paid with Sweden Yachts money. A Norwegian entrepreneur was willing to take over the company and we would still have a boat. But Sven Enoch had cut up the company in a way there is nothing left to buy. The lie about the hull didn’t help either. It is a very sad thing for all Swedish Yacht builders. If Swedish law allows this to happen, Najad, Malo and Rassy can follow mr. Enoch’s example. Don’t say it won’t happen. Two years ago Sweden Yachts was the most perfect brand in yacht history. In the meanwhile we have bought a Sweden Yachts 42, nearly new, from Mr. Gunter Gielen and his wife Ann. It is such a beautiful boat. We thank them for keeping it so well, we can still go on with our plans. They made us very happy. We know it broke their heart to sell the ship. Anyway, someone somewhere should stop Sven Enoch from making more plans to put money of dreamers like us in his pocket without delivering a boat. Not just for us, but for all the hard working Swedes who put their heart into these wonderful yachts. |
The comments also include the following:
Two years ago I order a Sweden yachts 42 and now I’m in the same situation: no boat and money gone ! What is really annoying is that at least since August 2008 they knew very well the boatyard was going worse and worse and that they would not be able to meet their commitments . In spite of that Mr. Sven Enoch and his sales staff didn’t tell anything to customers. Well done !! |
Clearly this is no kind of evidence, just the words of someone that has lost a lot of money. How very sad if it is as he states and is caused by corruption rather than honest financial difficulties.
What is equally sad is that if all of this is true, then we are unlikely to see any phoenix rising from the ashes... There will be no more Sweden Yachts ever again.
Sweden Yachts Corrupt Bancruptcy
Sunday 31 May 2009
World's most crappy boatshow (Festival of Power & Sail)
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Avon Rover 280 For Sale
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280352472581
Monday 25 May 2009
Unknown Yacht
This odd looking yacht is still on the hard at Bullandö. It looks quite sporty in many ways, but the double doors uinto the companionway look slightly cruisy. It has a massive swing keel and twin rudders, which along with the skiff like bottom make it look fast. No sign of the mast lying around anywhere.
Anyone know what it is?
Sunday 24 May 2009
Tucked up in her new berth
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A Pleasant Day Sail in Kanholms Fjärden
View Larger Map
We decided to go for a short day sail to Kanholms Fjärden - a large bay a couple of miles from the marina. The Volvo Ocean race will be using this as a course for an inshore race day next month. We started off drifting down the channel at 2 or 3 knots in light winds. As we arrived in the bay, the wind changed suddenly and found ourselves enjoying about 12 knots of wind and perfect sea state. We ran the length of the bay and back and were only out for 4 hours, but came back to the marina really glad for our outing.
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Click image for gallery |
Thursday 21 May 2009
Short sail over to Sandhamn
I was also aware that that we'd not fuelled up the boat and I had no reason to suspect that the fuel guage was any more honest than one on any other boat I'd been on. The Bullandö fuel pontoon was hugely busy, so we decided to chance it and fill up at our next stop.
The sail over to Sandham was great with a pleasant force 3 on the beam and warm sun. I was helming and Becks was sail trimming and counting off the islands on the charts.
We headed for the fuel pontoon and a man came to help us tie up. The boat handles beautifully under power and came alongside very easily. After the tank swallowed 70L of diesel, we motored over to the guest moorings to find somewhere to stay. This turned out to be much easier than anticipated as there were harbour staff walking the pontoons giving mooring assistance. Mooring involved motoring up and passing bow lines to the man, who in exchange would give a rope back that went into the water, under the boat, to a heavy something on the seabed. The bow lines were lead through rings in the pontoon and tied off on the boat and the underwater line was attached to the stern cleat. All really easy. We paid the overnight fee of 200SEK (about £19) and wandered the town.
Sandhamn is really like the Cowes of East coast Swedish sailing. The town itself is traditional Swedish architecture and very quant. We tried to get a table at one of the restaurants, but were told they were fully booked (maybe they didn't like scruffy foreign yachtie).
Click image below for day's gallery:
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Sailing Sweden - May 2009 - Sail to Sandhamn |
If there's a problem epoxy can't fix - I'd love to see it.
Earlier in the week i'd tried to bleed the air out of the fuel system and opened up a bolt that is used for this purpose (See "1" below). However when I tried to tighten it again it just spun and spun. Upon closer inspection there was almost no thread left inside the fuel filter head unit. I suspect that the previous owner was a bit overzealous with the spanner.
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I tried using PTFE tape and replacing the bolt, but as soon as the engine started fuel just flowed round the edges and onto the floor.
I took a trip over to Brohall Marin to ask some advice. The owner, Goran, advised tape, failing that it is a new head unit (See "2" above). Another 1000SEK later I was walking back to the pontoon. Since the part was not due to arrive for another day or two I had to bodge a solution. Looking through all the stuff we had in stock I found a glue that claimed to work on metals. I tested a spot of it on cardboard and it seemed to dry spongy, which should have been ideal. The bolt was dipped in the glue and rethreaded as tightly as possible. In order to give the best chance of success I left it overnight.
The next morning I restarted the engine and it appeared OK. Becks checked it 15 minutes later and it had started to leak again. My last ditch attempt was to buyy some quick drying Epoxy and try again. The local shop, Bullandö Handel sold some 15 minute epoxy, which was perfect. I cleaned off the parts, mixed the epoxy, dipped, screwed and waited. Fortunately the engine was nice and warm, so the drying was quick.
After 20 minutes we started the engine and Becks reported no leaks. We checked periodically throughout the day and all was good. Clearly this is not ideal as I am now unable to bleed that part of the fuel system now, but its only for a few days until we get the replacement part.
Just added an RSS feed button
Geoff
Not so nervous about Baltic mooring
We decided to hire an instructor for the day to show us the technique. The broker that we bought the boat from recommended Sjöskolan - a local sailing school. We were a little unsure as they were quoting 5000SEK (about £500) for the day, which is astronomical compared to UK prices. Eitherway we decided to go for it and have to say that the advice and tuition was invaluable.
Unfortunately our start was hampered by some engine problems, so Becks got a chart briefing while I bodged a solution. We set out an hour late and motored across still waters for an hour to Korshamn - a natural harbour nearby.
Becks and Kent Lindberg (the instructor)
The process is actually quite simple:
- Motor in for a close look. Someone stood on the bow can look down into the water for a nice deep shore line free of rocks and other obstacles.
- Motor back out.
- Prepare stern anchor & bow lines.
- Drop stern anchor about 100M out.
- Motor forward slowly until almost touching the shore.
- Bow person steps ashore and ties up to trees.
In reality doing this is actually a bit nerve wracking as there's a big fear of ploughing into the rocky shore. I imagine it's much worse with an audience, but we've done it once now, so we should be ok.
Click thumbnail for gallery:
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Sweden Sailing - May 2009 - Instructor Day |
Tuesday 19 May 2009
May trip to the boat - first few days
Sun May 17th - Woke to a glorious blue sky at around 8am and decided to have breakfast up on deck. After a quick trip to the marina shop to buy a new connector for the shore power, we managed to get the domestic batteries charging up. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about the engine battery - totally depleted. We decided to head back to the airport car hire around 1.30pm and after a few stop-offs via the local chandlery and a more economical grocery store called Willy's (much to Geoff's dismay) returned the car by the deadline for the one day fee (circa £52). I thought it would be a good idea to try the coach into town, thinking it might have taken us direct to the bus station where we needed to catch the bus to Bullando. The terminus is however central station and, having taken 20 or so minutes longer than the train, we only had 15 minutes to get to Slussen (wherever that was) to catch the bus or have a two hour wait so we jumped into one of the many taxis waiting. A well spent 150 kr got us to the Slussen bus station in plenty time and after a quick discussion with the ticket salesman about which tickets we needed to purchase, jumped on the 474 to Hemmesta for the first leg of our bus journey to Bullando. As we were approaching the terminus we passed 440 bus for Bullando and so jumped off at the next stop and hopped straight onto the 440. The total bus journey only took 1h20m, which is not much less than it would have taken by car from central Stockholm.
Easter Sailing Trip Day 5 - the friuts of 5 days work
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Easter 2009 - The result of 5 days work |
Thursday 9 April 2009
Easter Sailing Trip Days 2 & 3 - An Aladdins Cave
We arrived at the marina at around 11ish after a late breakfast at Hotel J. We found the boat wrapped in plastic with its shiny new propeller, but found that the bottom had not yet been painted, which would be a problem if we planned to put her in today। A quick trip to the engineers confirmed that they hadn't planned to paint her till next week and so she'll be staying ashore for this trip.
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Easter 2009 - First Day with our Boat |
It was raining too heavily to take the plastic wrap off (for our sake not the boat's), so we spent the day inventorying and disposing of crap.
Stuff we found:
- Over a hundred charts
- An old Avon Dinghy (Circa 1987)
- A large box of flares (12 years out of date - yikes)
- A vacuum cleaner that looks like something from the Jetsons
- Hundreds of tools
- A giant axe & crowbar (Maybe this was a getaway boat)
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Easter Sailing Trip Day 1 - Hotel J
We've just arrived at Hotel J, a J Class yacht themed hotel just outside Stockholm. Becks booked it as a surprise and I was not expecting all the nautical references,. It's a really smart place, reminiscent of a Malmaison hotel back in the UK. Outside there is a Hobie Cat rental place and a pier to catch a ferry into town. We're sat in the lounge next to a crackling fire chilling out before going for supper in the restaurant in the Yacht club.
Saturday 4 April 2009
Another new boat: Zodiac 260 CFR Acti-V
We definitely need to get a pump that can deflate as well as inflate as the one that came with it is crap. Thinking of an electric one, but that's another £125 for one that'll go to 800mb pressure. Maybe I need to decide that manual inflating is healthier and save the cash. :)
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Yachting Monthly - May 2009 Propeller Test
Looks like the next issue of Yachting Monthly has a big review of propellers in the market place. Having just bought a new prop, this is just the sort of article that you don't want to read. I'm going to speculate that the Bruntons Varifold will be worst in class (only on the grounds that it's the one we've just bought). I'm also going to speculate that the ones I was considering will be best in class (Gori & Bruntons Autoprop).
OK... Pessimism over... I hope the article actually considers sailing performance (drag) as well as just motoring & manouvering performance as this was one of the key decision points that lead us to chose a 2 blade folding prop over other, better motor performing models. I'm not sure how easily you can test this without the use of some sort of tank that flows water over the subject and measures resistive force on the mounting.
What a difference a day makes
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Bruntons Varifold and Rope Stripper - Not Compatible
"It was dirty weather that worried the 11 skippers crossing the bay of Biscay with Blue Water Rally's annual 'Triangle' cruise. But it was rubbish filled seas that caused the problems"
This inspired me to reinvestigate the possibility of fitting a rope stripper. I think the recognised market leader in this space is Ambassador. Yachting Monthly also gave them the thumbs up in the same issue. Handily they produced this (somewhat amateurish) video of the tests:
Apparently Ambassador Marine make the only cutter that works with a saildrive. They've got a really dated looking video explaining their offering here:
I called them and ordered one for £470. The man at the end of the phone used language like "yeah.... I think it should be ok with your propellor". This didn't instill me with confidence, so I called Bruntons and asked.
I was told that the prop needs to have mounting holes drilled into the metal and that this was possible with the Autoprop (their premium offering), but the Varifold had some sort of plastic component that meant that it was incompatible. So that was the end of that. There was no problem cancelling the order with Ambassador though.
We then spent the weekend worrying about whether to upgrade to the Autoprop and buy the rope stripper. When Bruntons came back to us we were told that we could return our (unfitted) Varifold and exchange it:
Dear Mr Collins,
Thanks for your enquiry to upgrade, the costs are as follows, this includes taking your 2 blade back into stock.
APS-416mm 3 blade £1317.01
APS –H20-430mm 2 blade Autoprop £788.01
Additional charge for rope cutter modification £145.00 for 2 or 3 blade
regards
Bruntons
So the cost would have been:
Rope cutter | £470.00 |
Upgrade prop | £788.01 |
Modification to accomodate cutter | £145.00 |
Total | £1403.01 |
The big question is: "Is this worth it?"
I suppose if one of us had to go over the side in cold, big seas with a knife to hack away at a rope, we'd probably pay that much there an then to avoid that unpleasant & potentially deadly task. We had to do this in Bequia on our first charter, except it was, warm, clear water with no swell to speak of and really the only actual risk was the ferry terminal a cable's length away and other boats in the anchorage. I don't want to have to repeat this again in a hurry. Doing it in less tropical climes would be much horrible.
So that means the big question is really: "Is this going to happen to me?"
I'm told that there's less chance of this happening to saildrive boats because the prop is much deeper in the water, but it's certainly not impossible.
It's worth noting that the vast majority of fouled props are self inflicted (as ours was), so it's possible that good boating practice (such as tidying mooring lines away quickly) can dramatically lower the chances of being stricken.
After a weekend of agonising, we decided not to bother as we'd made the decision to choose the prop that we did on the grounds of sailing performance & an autoprop and stripper will add extra drag, plus the pretty significant extra expense.
Fingers crossed.
A first glimpse of water
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Wednesday 18 February 2009
Propeller Decisions
One of the points raised in the survey was the need for a new propeller - the existing one is badly pitted and I'm told causes some nasty vibrations. As with anything in the marine industry - the choices are endless. However they can be grouped into the following three categories: Fixed, Folding & Feathering.
Type | Pros | Cons |
Fixed | Cheap, Simple | Highest relative drag |
Folding | Lowest drag | Traditionally poor in reverse & less power than feathering |
Feathering | Best motoring performance both ahead and astern. Reduced "prop walk". | Higher drag than a feathering prop. |
This is a feathering prop made in New Zealand (as if the name wasn't enough of a clue). What makes it a little different from the rest is that the blades are plastic. They supply a spare blade as a part of the package, the intention being that these are sacrificial in the event of an underwater impact. It is pitch adjustable by the user with an Allen key. Whilst it doesn't offer variable pitch in the strictest sense, there is some clever trickery when reversing that makes the blades snap into "optimum" angle of attack.
Bruntons is a UK company and is definitely one of the leaders in the field. The offer the Varifold - a range of 2, 3 & 4 blade folding props and the Autoprop which is a premium feathering prop with variable pitch and a number of other special features. They also offer fixed props and at the boat show were exhibiting standard feathering propellers, but these are not mentioned on the website.
At the London Boat show, Bruntons had a tank with an Autoprop running in it. Every five seconds it would switch between ahead and astern propulsion. Seeing the blades feathering and unfurling for the new direction was really fluid, almost organic in motion. The Autoprop is a truly impressive machine, with only one significant disadvantage - Cost. We were quoted a boat show price of about £1700 for the saildrive model, which is about 70% more than a branded feathering propeller. That being said - I'm absolutely convinced that if I had a motor sailor or planned on lots of motoring I think the cost would be more than justified.
Gori is a Danish company who specialise in low drag folding propellers. Like Bruntons, they have their own magic that sets them apart from the rest. Their folding props are able to unfold differently for ahead and astern as well as providing an "Overdrive" feature which is a different blade profile for fair weather motor-sailing.
They also sell ultra low drag racing propellers, which would be tempting, except I suspect that these are built with sailing performance as being the primary factor, and motoring distant second. If I had a race boat they would definitely be on the list. Speaking of which, Swan mainly use Gori propellers. I feel that they let themselves down in terms of customer interaction. I mailed them for a quote and absolutely zero response two months later. Additionally there was no sign of them at the London boat show (although they do plan to be at Southampton). For the above reasons I can't tell you what these beauties cost.
Volvo Penta These guys represent the safe choice if you're already equipped with a Volvo engine and saildrive. They are obviously a Swedish company. They offer standard 3 & 4 blade folding propellers and represent the vanilla end of the market. I'd suggest that these are probably more appropriate for cruising boats in that they don't offer a 2 blade option for reduced drag that would appeal to the cruiser/racer market. Expect to pay around £700-£800 for a 3 blade folder.
Offering a range of feathering props, which seem to be the Oyster Yachts weapon of choice. Some positive user reports of these across the Internet.
Apparently the Managing Director of Gori left and created this range of propellers, which is claimed to be superior. They also appear to have good links with various boat builders. Interestingly there are relatively few user anecdotes across the net good or bad. After meeting Bruntons at the boat show we decided that we liked them as a brand: Friendly guys on the stand, British company, great products. Our main fear of going for a folding prop was the much fabled poor performance when going astern, but the Bruntons guys explained that with modern folders such as their Varifold, this issue is greatly reduced. This is due to a twisted blade profile - making it more similar to a fixed prop in terms of motoring characteristics. We decided that we valued the low drag of a folder more than the better motoring of a feathering or Autoprop. The same logic applied to 2 blade vs.. 3 blade, so we settled on a 2 blade Varifold. At £740 it was also nearly £1000 cheaper than the Autoprop.
It arrived in the post yesterday. My first comment is that I'd have liked to see a little better packaging. The bottom of the box was sagging from the immense weight of its cargo. When I opened the box it's clearly an exceptionally well engineered product and effortlessly glides between motoring and sailing configuration.
I’ll post more when we fit and use it.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Christmas in the Caribbean Part I - Picking up the boat
In October last year, we decided to return at Christmas to the Grenadines for the 3rd time in just over a year. Why do we love it so much? It's a lot less developed than places like Barbados, totally chilled out, and has a real yachtie atmosphere as it's where many ARC participants choose to spend their Christmas and New Year.
Barbados
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Silverpoint |
We flew into Barbados for a 2 night stop over at Silver Point boutique hotel. We'd stayed there about 6 months ago on our second trip out here. It's situated on a quiet part of the island well away from the main tourist area (St Lawrence Gap & Rockley Beach). It's a great hotel for a couple looking for a quiet & high quality get away, less recommended for families or people looking for a lot of nightlife. We met a couple on the first night and ended up having supper and a few drinks with them. (Click on above image for album)
We took a trip into the capitol, Bridgetown, which I didn't think offered much other than to see local people going about their business. I don't think I'd bother going back. The best bit was the always-a-cultural-treat Route Taxis / Rasta Bus. These are privately owned buses that drive along set government routes and tend to be a bit spartan inside. The first few time you use them, it can be a bit intimidating, but it's a fascinating cultural window into the life of the island.
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Barbados |
St Vincent
St Vincent is only a short hop away on the local airline, LIAT. You'll typically pay about $200(US) return. As the flight comes into land, you pass very close to the main charter fleet anchorage - Blue Lagoon. Both Barefoot and Sunsail have bases here. It's worth noting that St Vincent Airport has one cash machine that, in 4 visits, not yet seen working: Get at least enough cash to last you until you get to Bequia.
We'd chartered Pelican Pete - a 1999 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 34 from Barefoot Yacht Charters. We got a pretty good deal - $2,450 for 10 days. This is pretty good considering you'd normally pay a minimum of $3,000 for 7 days over the Christmas period. We both instantly liked the boat, smaller than we'd previously chartered, but still more than spacious enough for us both. Actually I think the cockpit locker would have been spacious enough for us both.
The check in process consists of a skipper's technical briefing on the boat's systems, checking inventory and a chart briefing to a acquaint you with the cruising ground. We'd been only 6 months before, so Becks went off to find a cash point and I sat through the briefing. Either way Barefoot strike a great balance between enough information and not wasting a whole day of your trip.
When we were ready to depart, the Barefoot dockside team take you out of the bay, hoist the sails, leap into a dinghy and wave goodbye. The island of Bequia is only a short 3 hour sail from Blue Lagoon. Conditions were blissful as we were on a broad reach all the way down into Port Elizabeth. I suspect that the wind was a force 2, but this is based on instinct rather than data as this is out 3rd consecutive charter without wind instrumentation.
Bequia
We arrived in time to pick up a mooring buoy and enjoy the incredible Caribbean sunset.
Sunday 8 February 2009
Bargain Number 2
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These are award winning LED navigation lights. They have the distinction of being the only MCA approved LED lights on the market today. The advantage of LED lights is massively reduced power consumption versus a conventional light.
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My bargain purchase for the boat!
Friday 30 January 2009
Bargain!
Wednesday 28 January 2009
Nervous about Baltic Mooring
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Dont think it should be necessary to drop the anchor off the stern followed by switching the warps round. You can go in forwards by dropping the bow anchor, heading in forward not too fast, heading a boat length or less to one side of where you want to be, then helm hard over and snub bow anchor simultaneously to spin round in half a boat length or so. If choosing propwalk side, a blast in astern will make her spin on a sixpence. Then take out stern warp to shore by whatever means seem appropriate.
The Baltic way is even simpler if the shore is steep-to: drop a stern anchor, motor the bows in with a crewman standing on the bows looking for rocks. Motor bows right up to the shore and bowman steps ashore onto a rock with the long warp and ties it to a convenient tree. Then tighten stern anchor (I use a sheet winch on the warp to dig it in). Bob's your uncle.
But I guess that's unfashionable in the Med.
End result looks like this
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Insurance
Tuesday 27 January 2009
It's finally ours
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Thursday 15 January 2009
Boats of the London boatshow
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Monday 12 January 2009
London Boatshow: SeaMe / Echomax Active-X
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