Sailing
So I wrote about our new sail plan, one of the key features is that we will not have any "traditional" roller reefing headsails. That decision has been mostly driven by wanting Dyneema rigging which can be inspected and changed by us and which reduces weight so we
Plans
I've made some progress on where we want to end up in terms of a sail-plan that is efficient in a wide range of wind strengths and angles. I've also, hopefully, got to the point where we will be able to get sailing without having to
Progress
Jane is very happy with this: Wow! Lovely new fabric for our boat cushions and curtains. A bargain from Emmaus South Manchester who are at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Wythenshawe. 25m of fabric in total :-)
Plans
This is it. The final (at least the latest) design of our Dyneema, synthetic chainplate. A short recap on the background. * This is a Rival 38 Centre Cockpit Ketch (possibly the only one) * Currently we have the original Superstron (Bronze) chainplates * The chainplates are essentially an eyebolt with a flange
Plans
So about to go to bed for the second night aboard after a 6 month gap through a Welsh winter. We hadn't expected such a long gap. Back in October we were expecting Wales to restrict entry from Manchester but we hadn't expected the double restriction
Progress
We have arrived at Vida for our first visit for almost exactly 6 months. Lockdown restrictions have eased enough for us to both get out of Manchester and be allowed into Wales. Only problem is that our duvet and pillows were are very mouldy. We would never have left them
Plans
One of the many lessons to learn from the horrors of the Covid-19 pandemic is that event the best laid plans might have to change, sometimes at short notice. That should be obvious for cruising sailors who have always had to adapt their plans according to the weather. However, much
Motor
Watch this Ruby Rose video to see another example of why Diesel engines are not a safety feature as some of their friends end up being towed by a lifeboat due to taking on dirty fuel. Even if you notice the problem still expensive additives and new filters needed.
Environmental
Very happy to see that March has been the first time that we have had more than 1,000 views in one month. That was over 420 visitors. Plus we now have 130 followers spread out between email, WordPress and social media. Good to see some consistent growth. So if
Plans
[Update] In the end we decided not to build chainplates that go through the hull. This is what we have ended up with Final Dyneema Chainplate design[End Update] This is a rewrite/reorganisation of this post (no diagrams yet) to, hopefully, make it clearer. I think this is our
Appliances
There are some things that (nearly) all Sailing Channels on YouTube have in common. One is the significant costs in time, money and hassle of maintaining Diesel Engines. Another is the pain of laundry, that is one I want to look at again. I'm going to group the
Sailing
We haven't seen one of these before. An Amel Sharki 39. Closest boat we have ever seen to our Rival 38. Here is a couple giving a boat tour of their Amel Sharki 39 called Panda. The size, rig and layout is by far the closest we have
