Environmental
So having had a big grumble in my last post, Teak decks. The worst “luxury” “upgrade” ever, it is time for the opposite. A celebration of the best upgrade you can make to your boat. The terrible pun in the post title probably gave away that the best upgrade is
Environmental
Okay, time to be controversial (and that is a sad thing because I don't think this should be controversial at all). I believe that NO yacht should have teak decks today. They are sold as a luxury upgrade, yet they are environmentally destructive, don't last long
Electric
So we are coming to the end of our staycation. Managed several walks, one food shop, one visit to the pharmacy. Cushions Plus Jane has made lots of progress on the cushions. She has nearly finished all the ones we have foam for. That is all the backrests for the
Appliances
With the our commitment to Zero fossil fuel sailing we have been having to review and update our initial Solar plan. Designing our Solar Arch has been part of that. The traditional "passive" approach to solar is not going to work for us. By that I mean the
Dinghy
I've been quiet on here during the COVID-19 pandemic so far. More urgent priorities and has seemed inappropriate when so many have been dying, ill or struggling in other ways. However, some countries are now starting to move beyond lockdowns and it now seems more appropriate to focus
Electric
So we came to the boat late last night to spend time off with plenty of Social Distance. Didn't come within 50 metres of anyone last night (apart from those in other cars). Today we spoke to Richard working on the boat next to us in a howling
Environmental
We arrived last night to find two good bits of news, things that are being done for us :-) First, work has started on replacing the toe rail which was agreed as part of the original purchase. So far the joint between the deck and hull has had old filler
Environmental
One of the most visible conflicts when aiming for Sustainability in almost any area, is between it and Speed. The obvious starting place is speed in terms of moving fast, where the sustainability cost is clear and huge. Speed never comes free. All forms of transport require significantly more energy
Electric
We won't be making direct progress on Vida this Friday as I'm working. Still we have been making some progress at home. Jane has ordered more foam for the saloon (dinette backrests and the outboard portion of the sea berth). I've been collecting a
Electric
Now that our engine compartment is empty we have been able to more accurately work out where everything will go. We can fit the motor batteries (each 300AH) at the side of the motor. By stacking two batteries each side we can have the entire motor and it's
Environmental
So despite Storm Dennis we have arrived at Vida for a few days work during Jane's half term holiday. The electricity cards had run out after 16 days but clearly the heating has done a great job. Last visit we discovered the leaks from the old dorade ventilation
Appliances
The biggest difference is availability. With an electric motor instead of a diesel in your boat you can achieve the same/similar performance in power/speed. At the same time you can get better reliability and lower maintenance. However, the biggest difference is that you have to manage availability. With