Environmental
So here is a video of where we got up to last weekend with the aft heads. The Natures Head composting loo needs a bit more space than the original Lavac pump out loo, in particular it is quite a bit taller. However, the seacock under the floor is no
Progress
So we had a "long" weekend doing jobs on Vida at the end of last week. A "long" weekend for us has been very rare for the last 14 years, being somewhat incompatible with my work as a Methodist Minister (I guess it is obvious that
Environmental
The always amazing Jules has come up with a radically better T-Shirt design. It will also be available to go on a black or other dark background. Then we can get t-shirts more suitable for sustainable working on boats so you can go sustainable sailing one day ;-) What do
Progress
So just finished our 3rd Friday on Vida. We arrived at about 12:30pm (just into Friday) and everything was dry, apart from the ground, obviously been a lot of rain in Beaumaris recently. The first task of the day was to prepare both masts for being taken down. I&
Environmental
There are a couple of boat items that our Rival 38 has in abundance. Windows and Seacocks. Both are really important as means of blocking holes in the boat and so very helpful in staying on top of the water and not under it. Most of us are pretty familiar
Cooking
In my post "Vida: A 1977 Rival 38 Centre Cockpit Yacht" I mentioned that the gas installation had been condemned. We removed everything about that from the boat on our first weekend. However, we have always been concerned about the hot air heating system. We were told it
Progress
So we are going to have to make a decision about our cabin windows. There are a lot of them (14). At least one of them leaks at the moment (many others show signs of having leaked in the past). Fortunately, while the leaky one is in the aft cabin
Progress
While Rival Yachts are a well known range of safe cruising yachts the 38 feet long centre cockpit is one of the rarest. We believe only 5 were built. Compared to other boats we might have been able to afford and which might have been suitable for our dreams Vida
Progress
As so often there is a long and a short story. So here is the short version. We were prompted to look towards our retirement. We realised that one day living on a sailing boat might be possible. We looked at a few boats to check the dream. Vida appeared