Appliances
True to form we are going to be ripping out all the original instruments, after 44 years they are all well past their useful life. Both the speed and depth sensors used holes in the hull (and we are determined to minimise holes!). Nothing is connected to anything else and
Safety
We really enjoy the video's from Amy and Matt on Sailing Yacht Florence. Here they are preparing to cross the Indian Ocean, far from any boatyard facilities, having been trapped in Indonesia for over a year. Their rig check show some of the challenges that have led us
Safety
The past few days working on the aft cabin have been hard on my back and knees. It is a confined space, the floorboards had to be up which means you are always standing on a slope and stepping over beams while crouched over. Plus lots of ladder climbing. So
Progress
We haven't been able to get to the boat this week, Jane has been ill and I had a seminar on my day off. But we have had a delivery from Jimmy Green Marine. That means I've been able to do some practice splicing. As a
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
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
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
Sailing
One of the arguments for switching to Dyneema chainplates has been cost. Today we got a more concrete idea of the costs of replacing roughly like for like. So Cherry Ripe a Rival 38 (but aft cockpit cutter) (see Sailing Beyond Borders) has had to have custom replacement chainplates made
Plans
Last night we decided to make some plans for where we want to cruise when we start living aboard after retirement in a few years time, after all that was the goal right from the beginning of this journey with Vida and Sustainable Sailing. I will be writing those dreams
Plans
So this follows on from our thoughts about Scandinavia since we have been inspired by the YouTube channels who have been there, including the need to burn diesel to stay warm, despite our aims of being at, or close to Zero Carbon footprint sailing. It takes into account the restrictions
Environmental
For a while now we have been watching YouTube Videos that have made us want to sail the Norwegian Atlantic coast and visit some of the thousands of islands and Fjords, we have also long fancied visiting the Baltic. Particularly: * Juho with Alluring Arctic has spent two years spent entirely