This blog update comes to you on the move by the wonders of modern communications, via email from my mobile. A few people have asked about updates en route, we certainly will and hopefully far more frequently. It is in fact the reason for the blog, however then it will be via email from our satellite phone.
It is 7pm on Friday night and I am still travelling home after a week away with work in Newcastle. ETA 10pm. I am away usually Mon-Fri but this week was a bit shorter due to the Bank Holiday. I had about 3 hours sleep last night finishing some vital report and I will still have a lot of catching up to do tomorrow. Finally breaking the vacuum seal of hand and eye to laptop to watch the normal people on the train and the lovely late summer evening over Cumbria, I can finally unwind. It takes rare moments of peace like this for me to venture a thought to what we have planned. It's still a feeling of the unknown but boundless to me yet. I have no fear of the change now, but I do have to remind myself of the harder side of the adventure so it's not just an escape from the hard work of today to a dream or idyll to then be later disappointed by the reality.
I suppose that the sound of my working lifestyle probably sounds like reason enough to want to go, but I'd like to think that's it's not as simple as that. I am very successful at what I do, as is Kevin, we could easily continue on this path for years to come, saving the money and counting down to Friday each week. In my mind at least though, I feel like that is itself the reason I can justify giving up the big career to go. I've proven I can do it now and so it is time for a new challenge. If I can make a go of living this life, no reason not to try something new.
Still real life trundles on in the background. Our first viewing at our house tomorrow, they have theirs to sell still though. Also my Rebreather was collected to go to it's new home yesterday too. Kevin's truck is on eBay after frantic polishing in a break in the rain last weekend. So, the To Do list is finally begining to seem achievable.
Friday 31 August 2007
Wednesday 29 August 2007
Weather Forecasting
Probably one of the most important factors to sailing is being able to predict the weather and react accordingly to the circumstances.
On my previous boat, weather was a factor in determining if we went out or not, but enthusiasm also played its part. Looking back it was a bit of a giveaway when the lock gates opened on the flood and we were the only boat venturing out to sea.
Having had various experiences of rough and very lumpy seas, which I will be the first to admit was very unnerving and definitely not what I would class as having fun, and by the way I was not the only one feeling like this.
These experiences have taught me to tame the enthusiasm and become more of a weatherman as well as everything else.
When we first started to look into weather forecasting, we would look at all the normal formats, TV, Radio, synoptic charts, advice from local fishermen, which can be as variable as the weather depending on who you talked to.
We ended up doing some research on the Internet and on advice from other sources to look into ‘Grib Files’, which quickly takes you to a web site by a former weatherman who is also a very keen sailor and understands our requirements – Frank Singleton.
Frank Singleton’s approach to helping other yachtsmen understand the weather and the tools to use is a god send. Talking and learning how to predict the weather is not at the top of my must do list, but as we know a very necessary requirement for all yachtsmen. I am not going to repeat Frank’s words or steal his thunder (pun intended), but instead provide a link to his web site for those of you who are interested.
http://www.franksingleton.clara.net/
One of the well known providers of ‘Grib Files’ is Sailmail, which most of you will know and probably use.
http://www.sailmail.com/
To use gribs you will need a viewer, which is discussed on both Sailmail and Frank Singletons web site, but to keep it easy another link below. I have used both the standard viewer and the one under development. The one under development has a few minor issues, but I ma sure the developers will iron out the wrinkles at some stage.
Grib/Fax Viewer:
http://www.siriuscyber.net/wxfax/
The above grib files are normally downloaded via SSB, in an email format on request, which is great if you don’t have 10 emails in front of the one you really need. Patience is a virtue!
This brings me on to my latest finding, which is a grib viewer and grib downloader, which operates ‘on-demand’, to exactly the area of interest.
We are planning to use ‘Iridium’ for our long range communications, for various reasons, which will appear in a later blog.
This being the case and we know we can still use the Sailmail request feature via ‘Iridium’ and email, but a much more modern approach is by a bunch of American Sailor/ Developers, not sure how to describe them and I certainly don’t want to cause any offence. But again clearly understand the operational requirements!
All I can say is that Grib.US is fantastic, you will need to download the various programs via broadband to install it onto your PC, but once installed and after a very short period of playing and learning, you will master this piece of software. For us the ‘On-demand’ feature will work well with Iridium and you can play with the settings to achieve the amount of data you are willing to download.
For details of Grib.US, either google it or follow the link below, you will be very pleased you did.
http://www.grib.us/
On my previous boat, weather was a factor in determining if we went out or not, but enthusiasm also played its part. Looking back it was a bit of a giveaway when the lock gates opened on the flood and we were the only boat venturing out to sea.
Having had various experiences of rough and very lumpy seas, which I will be the first to admit was very unnerving and definitely not what I would class as having fun, and by the way I was not the only one feeling like this.
These experiences have taught me to tame the enthusiasm and become more of a weatherman as well as everything else.
When we first started to look into weather forecasting, we would look at all the normal formats, TV, Radio, synoptic charts, advice from local fishermen, which can be as variable as the weather depending on who you talked to.
We ended up doing some research on the Internet and on advice from other sources to look into ‘Grib Files’, which quickly takes you to a web site by a former weatherman who is also a very keen sailor and understands our requirements – Frank Singleton.
Frank Singleton’s approach to helping other yachtsmen understand the weather and the tools to use is a god send. Talking and learning how to predict the weather is not at the top of my must do list, but as we know a very necessary requirement for all yachtsmen. I am not going to repeat Frank’s words or steal his thunder (pun intended), but instead provide a link to his web site for those of you who are interested.
http://www.franksingleton.clara.net/
One of the well known providers of ‘Grib Files’ is Sailmail, which most of you will know and probably use.
http://www.sailmail.com/
To use gribs you will need a viewer, which is discussed on both Sailmail and Frank Singletons web site, but to keep it easy another link below. I have used both the standard viewer and the one under development. The one under development has a few minor issues, but I ma sure the developers will iron out the wrinkles at some stage.
Grib/Fax Viewer:
http://www.siriuscyber.net/wxfax/
The above grib files are normally downloaded via SSB, in an email format on request, which is great if you don’t have 10 emails in front of the one you really need. Patience is a virtue!
This brings me on to my latest finding, which is a grib viewer and grib downloader, which operates ‘on-demand’, to exactly the area of interest.
We are planning to use ‘Iridium’ for our long range communications, for various reasons, which will appear in a later blog.
This being the case and we know we can still use the Sailmail request feature via ‘Iridium’ and email, but a much more modern approach is by a bunch of American Sailor/ Developers, not sure how to describe them and I certainly don’t want to cause any offence. But again clearly understand the operational requirements!
All I can say is that Grib.US is fantastic, you will need to download the various programs via broadband to install it onto your PC, but once installed and after a very short period of playing and learning, you will master this piece of software. For us the ‘On-demand’ feature will work well with Iridium and you can play with the settings to achieve the amount of data you are willing to download.
For details of Grib.US, either google it or follow the link below, you will be very pleased you did.
http://www.grib.us/
Sunday 26 August 2007
House Sale
I arrived home from work on Wednesday and found the For Sale board up outside our house which was an exciting moment. I am sure everyone will agree that selling a house is rarely a pleasurable experience, but it is a significant milestone which I am very keen to pass as it is the last one which could delay our departure.
The photos have been taken and the brochure details approved. The final detail to start the marketing was our Home Energy Assessment which consists on an inspector visiting the house to assess the energy efficiency of the house. This is a new requirement in England when selling a house that the vendor is required to provide a Home Information Pack for reference to the potential buyers consisting of the Energy Assessment, Survey and Local Searches. This came into force for 4 bedroom houses this month and for 3 bedroom houses on 12th September. It has not been a popular implementation and was delayed earlier in the summer due to a lack of energy assessors - they must be still thin on the ground, as we could only book ours for a Sunday afternoon on a Bank Holiday weekend. Our house is a new three storey townhouse and is very energy efficient, so we are hoping that this may actually be a selling point. Although, I suspect it is only putting numbers and graphs to a point which common sense has told people for years – that old houses are colder. However people still buy them for the character and period features etc and they often regard new houses as “characterless”. I was converted new houses after living in a 1930’s house with character but drafts strong enough to blow your hair and heating bills enough to turn it grey.
So, fingers crossed for viewings from next week and an early offer. I think the price should be right for a relatively quick sale and then we will move into rental accommodation until it’s time to go. So a few weeks of living as tidily as possible just in case the agents bring anyone over, we have left them a key to arrange the viewings. Although, everyone keeps telling me recently that I look like Kirsty Allsopp from the property sales show Location, Location so perhaps I am missing a great marketing opportunity for the house by not doing the viewings ourselves!
The photos have been taken and the brochure details approved. The final detail to start the marketing was our Home Energy Assessment which consists on an inspector visiting the house to assess the energy efficiency of the house. This is a new requirement in England when selling a house that the vendor is required to provide a Home Information Pack for reference to the potential buyers consisting of the Energy Assessment, Survey and Local Searches. This came into force for 4 bedroom houses this month and for 3 bedroom houses on 12th September. It has not been a popular implementation and was delayed earlier in the summer due to a lack of energy assessors - they must be still thin on the ground, as we could only book ours for a Sunday afternoon on a Bank Holiday weekend. Our house is a new three storey townhouse and is very energy efficient, so we are hoping that this may actually be a selling point. Although, I suspect it is only putting numbers and graphs to a point which common sense has told people for years – that old houses are colder. However people still buy them for the character and period features etc and they often regard new houses as “characterless”. I was converted new houses after living in a 1930’s house with character but drafts strong enough to blow your hair and heating bills enough to turn it grey.
So, fingers crossed for viewings from next week and an early offer. I think the price should be right for a relatively quick sale and then we will move into rental accommodation until it’s time to go. So a few weeks of living as tidily as possible just in case the agents bring anyone over, we have left them a key to arrange the viewings. Although, everyone keeps telling me recently that I look like Kirsty Allsopp from the property sales show Location, Location so perhaps I am missing a great marketing opportunity for the house by not doing the viewings ourselves!
Sunday 19 August 2007
Decluttering
Well round two of eBay sales is now over, 5 parcels sent yesterday and another few to go tomorrow. Our experience has been very positive on the whole, most people pay within minutes of the end of the auction and we have had a few items sell for more than we paid!
This time we have a number of items for collection which has been quite amusing. We had just sat down with Kevin’s brother Phil yesterday as two people turned up at the same time to collect ladders and a camping table. Our guest was very amused by our ongoing garage sale! We are due another 4 people this evening from all over the local area to collect dive cylinders, camping stoves etc. It’s interesting to meet the people who buy your things and inevitably it comes to a conversation about what it is we are doing that we are selling everything off. We even had one guy who was peering in the garage to see what else was on offer!
Our other great find has been Amazon used books, we found it inadvertently when copying a description to post some books onto eBay. It takes about 30 seconds to list each one and you can see the lowest price currently on offer. Alex was very impressed with it and sat and listed 52 books for us. Within 4 days we have sold 17 already and most non-fiction books go for about 60% of the new price so it’s a bit more to the kitty.
It’s funny to think of our belongings be reused in this way, some have even gone to a much better life. Our tent is headed to Ullapool tomorrow, a beautiful town on the far north west of Scotland, ironically where we ourselves took it to catch the ferry to go camping in the Western Isles two years ago. In another strange twist, our Build Your Own House book has gone to a guy living on the island of Rousay in the Orkney Isles of Scotland - a place we once looked at buying a building plot. Finally, we have also inadvertently in this auction sold two lots to friends of ours, we didn’t realise until we went to send the invoice. Again, it’s nice to think of people getting further use out of them, however, I also wonder whether theirs like ours is full of good intentions, but ultimately spend more time in the garage than in use. One thing for certain, I don’t feel any regret at decluttering our lives a little more. Listing everything out certainly makes you realise how many things you waste your money on for a few moments of enjoyment. I’m certainly looking forward to owning only as much will fit in our boat!
So, we are gradually clearing a bit of space, we didn’t manage to do everything we planned this week, but we are a step closer.
This time we have a number of items for collection which has been quite amusing. We had just sat down with Kevin’s brother Phil yesterday as two people turned up at the same time to collect ladders and a camping table. Our guest was very amused by our ongoing garage sale! We are due another 4 people this evening from all over the local area to collect dive cylinders, camping stoves etc. It’s interesting to meet the people who buy your things and inevitably it comes to a conversation about what it is we are doing that we are selling everything off. We even had one guy who was peering in the garage to see what else was on offer!
Our other great find has been Amazon used books, we found it inadvertently when copying a description to post some books onto eBay. It takes about 30 seconds to list each one and you can see the lowest price currently on offer. Alex was very impressed with it and sat and listed 52 books for us. Within 4 days we have sold 17 already and most non-fiction books go for about 60% of the new price so it’s a bit more to the kitty.
It’s funny to think of our belongings be reused in this way, some have even gone to a much better life. Our tent is headed to Ullapool tomorrow, a beautiful town on the far north west of Scotland, ironically where we ourselves took it to catch the ferry to go camping in the Western Isles two years ago. In another strange twist, our Build Your Own House book has gone to a guy living on the island of Rousay in the Orkney Isles of Scotland - a place we once looked at buying a building plot. Finally, we have also inadvertently in this auction sold two lots to friends of ours, we didn’t realise until we went to send the invoice. Again, it’s nice to think of people getting further use out of them, however, I also wonder whether theirs like ours is full of good intentions, but ultimately spend more time in the garage than in use. One thing for certain, I don’t feel any regret at decluttering our lives a little more. Listing everything out certainly makes you realise how many things you waste your money on for a few moments of enjoyment. I’m certainly looking forward to owning only as much will fit in our boat!
So, we are gradually clearing a bit of space, we didn’t manage to do everything we planned this week, but we are a step closer.
Friday 17 August 2007
Inspiration
This blog entry is dedicated to the memory of Kevin’s father Frank Penney who has been the main inspiration behind our trip and who lost his fight against cancer last night at 4am.
Frank was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer over a year ago only a few months short of retirement, having had barely a day of sickness his entire working life. It came as a shock to everyone in someone so fit and healthy and made us both think about the preciousness of life and the vital importance to make the most of each moment we have. Kevin had also lost his mother Brenda when she was only 39 years old due to a heart condition, so this news was really the final push to for us to start making definite plans.
Frank showed the steely determination for which he (and his sons) are known and put up a fight not expected in any of the textbooks. He received chemotherapy to reduce the tumours but we were told they could not be treated, but he continued on with life even taking a holiday to Cyprus with his partner Rose. However, recently he was diagnosed with further tumours in his brain which caused quite a rapid deterioration in his condition despite his continued fight. The last three weeks Frank was between hospital and his home and had an opportunity to finalise his affairs and say his goodbyes. It was through one night at home which Kevin spent with him that they talked through the details of our trip in the early hours, showing him pictures of the boat and reading the details of the ocean currents and trade winds from the Atlantic Islands Pilot guide. He was amused with our choice of boat name – Invincible – he & Kevin are both keen historians, particularly military. The boat name came to Kevin the day we walked down the jetty to hand over the keys to our previous beloved boat which had given us our first taste of adventure. It was a very emotional day, on which later in our favourite restaurant we got engaged.
The day after next, Frank could not be woken and was taken back to Wigan General Hospital by ambulance. Kevin was with Frank later after he had regained consciousness and the consultant came round to see him and ask him if he could remember coming round in the ambulance. Frank’s response was that he thought he had been sailing across the Atlantic, this was a special moment to us and brings tears to my eyes even now as I write this to think that he will be with us in spirit on our trip and that perhaps the thought of it gave him some relief and comfort.
Our boat name was dedicated to Frank, to a love of history and we think gives a touch of irony too on a 36 footer! Frank asked about it again on another recent visit but had remembered it as Indefatigable, which again seemed entirely apt as Frank continued to fight through the terrible pain of his condition. So we decided that had better be the name of our tender, I hope that Zodiac and Honda will live up to the name!
Frank Penney
25/09/1941 – 17/08/2007
May he rest in peace
Frank was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer over a year ago only a few months short of retirement, having had barely a day of sickness his entire working life. It came as a shock to everyone in someone so fit and healthy and made us both think about the preciousness of life and the vital importance to make the most of each moment we have. Kevin had also lost his mother Brenda when she was only 39 years old due to a heart condition, so this news was really the final push to for us to start making definite plans.
Frank showed the steely determination for which he (and his sons) are known and put up a fight not expected in any of the textbooks. He received chemotherapy to reduce the tumours but we were told they could not be treated, but he continued on with life even taking a holiday to Cyprus with his partner Rose. However, recently he was diagnosed with further tumours in his brain which caused quite a rapid deterioration in his condition despite his continued fight. The last three weeks Frank was between hospital and his home and had an opportunity to finalise his affairs and say his goodbyes. It was through one night at home which Kevin spent with him that they talked through the details of our trip in the early hours, showing him pictures of the boat and reading the details of the ocean currents and trade winds from the Atlantic Islands Pilot guide. He was amused with our choice of boat name – Invincible – he & Kevin are both keen historians, particularly military. The boat name came to Kevin the day we walked down the jetty to hand over the keys to our previous beloved boat which had given us our first taste of adventure. It was a very emotional day, on which later in our favourite restaurant we got engaged.
The day after next, Frank could not be woken and was taken back to Wigan General Hospital by ambulance. Kevin was with Frank later after he had regained consciousness and the consultant came round to see him and ask him if he could remember coming round in the ambulance. Frank’s response was that he thought he had been sailing across the Atlantic, this was a special moment to us and brings tears to my eyes even now as I write this to think that he will be with us in spirit on our trip and that perhaps the thought of it gave him some relief and comfort.
Our boat name was dedicated to Frank, to a love of history and we think gives a touch of irony too on a 36 footer! Frank asked about it again on another recent visit but had remembered it as Indefatigable, which again seemed entirely apt as Frank continued to fight through the terrible pain of his condition. So we decided that had better be the name of our tender, I hope that Zodiac and Honda will live up to the name!
Frank Penney
25/09/1941 – 17/08/2007
May he rest in peace
Thursday 16 August 2007
Factory Visit SMP
We arrived at the SMP factory early in the afternoon, called in at reception, who put a call out for their sales executive Ross Connelly, who promptly turned up at the reception to give us a tour round the factory.
We explained what our interest was with their organisation and a brief description of what we were looking for and the intended use of the equipment.
Our first impression of the setup was very good, the factory was very clean and tidy and first contact with the company via reception was friendly, which these days is a very rare.
We were escorted to the area where the portable compressors were located and Ross then pulled a few of them of the racks to allow me to measure up the external dimensions, due to the fact that we intend to keep the compressor stored in one of the engine bays for transport and pulled out into the cockpit area for charging cylinders.
There were various models based on a similar vein, the main difference being the drive unit, petrol or electrical and how the unit was guarded. The guards made a fairly big difference in physical dimensions. We know we have limited access to the engine bay, so the main feature for us was to have the unit as compact as possible. It became quickly obvious, which compressor would be the correct choice.
Ross then showed us round the stores department, with specific interest in the area they have setup for holding spares for the compressor we were interested in. Wow, imagine a perfect row of racking, which was full of storage bins correctly labelled up and every bin contained a large number of spares. They clearly mean to look after their customers in the supply of spare parts for the equipment they sell. Every credit to them!
We were given the latest brochures and price list for spare parts and noticed that they did a stainless steel version, which was an additional £200.00. A brief discussion followed about VAT as we would effectively be exporting the equipment offshore. On proof of leaving the EU within 6 months of purchase, we would be credited with the VAT payment to our account.
We explained what our interest was with their organisation and a brief description of what we were looking for and the intended use of the equipment.
Our first impression of the setup was very good, the factory was very clean and tidy and first contact with the company via reception was friendly, which these days is a very rare.
We were escorted to the area where the portable compressors were located and Ross then pulled a few of them of the racks to allow me to measure up the external dimensions, due to the fact that we intend to keep the compressor stored in one of the engine bays for transport and pulled out into the cockpit area for charging cylinders.
There were various models based on a similar vein, the main difference being the drive unit, petrol or electrical and how the unit was guarded. The guards made a fairly big difference in physical dimensions. We know we have limited access to the engine bay, so the main feature for us was to have the unit as compact as possible. It became quickly obvious, which compressor would be the correct choice.
Ross then showed us round the stores department, with specific interest in the area they have setup for holding spares for the compressor we were interested in. Wow, imagine a perfect row of racking, which was full of storage bins correctly labelled up and every bin contained a large number of spares. They clearly mean to look after their customers in the supply of spare parts for the equipment they sell. Every credit to them!
We were given the latest brochures and price list for spare parts and noticed that they did a stainless steel version, which was an additional £200.00. A brief discussion followed about VAT as we would effectively be exporting the equipment offshore. On proof of leaving the EU within 6 months of purchase, we would be credited with the VAT payment to our account.
Tuesday 14 August 2007
Sell Up & Sail
Today the first estate agent came to value our house, which commenced a frantic hour of dashing around cleaning and tidying this morning. We bought on a new estate and had thought that buying early in the release would be a good investment. However, the prices haven’t gone up in the year since we bought, I guess our timing to sell though is not ideal, the full site will only complete in December this year which would probably have a better effect on price.
So we were a bit disappointed on the valuation, no loss, but no gain either, we are trapped around the stamp duty boundary which makes profits difficult. Anyway, we have another valuation booked for Friday morning, so I guess we’ll see what they say. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, buying this nice new bigger house was supposed to settle us down make us happier to stay in the rat race a little longer - then we hadn’t really justified to ourselves that we could go sooner rather than later. In that respect it worked, we have had another year’s earning and saving now, but we realise we fell into the peer pressure / marketing trap which sees so many people in masses of debt now. Kevin has been through the entire buying big houses trap and had come out of the other side to downsize before we met. Then when I sold my house and we got somewhere together I decided we needed the spare room for guests etc etc. Then getting up everyday at 5am to commute from Preston to Leeds returning at 8pm kicked in and the only other people up earlier than I was were those in the even bigger houses. So I admit now I was wrong, there is more to life than this. Kevin just had his 2 year old LandRover Defender valued too, don’t even get us started on the waste of buying expensive cars! To think that on a boat you can pretty much live on what people lose in depreciation on their cars is a revelation that most people don’t wake up to I guess.
Also, the ongoing eBay selling, we currently have 28 items listed and just discovered a few books etc this morning to start adding. It is a great service and will probably add a fair bit to the pot which would have been lost just giving things away. However, it is very time consuming, Alex is with us this week and has been brilliant working really hard to get everything listed and answer all of the questions you get including…
[Oxygen/Helium Analyser] Does this analyse Oxygen too?
[3.4m Ladders] Can you post them?
We aren’t complaining, some things have sold for more than we paid for them and it’s keeping us amused guessing the daft questions we might get!
So we were a bit disappointed on the valuation, no loss, but no gain either, we are trapped around the stamp duty boundary which makes profits difficult. Anyway, we have another valuation booked for Friday morning, so I guess we’ll see what they say. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, buying this nice new bigger house was supposed to settle us down make us happier to stay in the rat race a little longer - then we hadn’t really justified to ourselves that we could go sooner rather than later. In that respect it worked, we have had another year’s earning and saving now, but we realise we fell into the peer pressure / marketing trap which sees so many people in masses of debt now. Kevin has been through the entire buying big houses trap and had come out of the other side to downsize before we met. Then when I sold my house and we got somewhere together I decided we needed the spare room for guests etc etc. Then getting up everyday at 5am to commute from Preston to Leeds returning at 8pm kicked in and the only other people up earlier than I was were those in the even bigger houses. So I admit now I was wrong, there is more to life than this. Kevin just had his 2 year old LandRover Defender valued too, don’t even get us started on the waste of buying expensive cars! To think that on a boat you can pretty much live on what people lose in depreciation on their cars is a revelation that most people don’t wake up to I guess.
Also, the ongoing eBay selling, we currently have 28 items listed and just discovered a few books etc this morning to start adding. It is a great service and will probably add a fair bit to the pot which would have been lost just giving things away. However, it is very time consuming, Alex is with us this week and has been brilliant working really hard to get everything listed and answer all of the questions you get including…
[Oxygen/Helium Analyser] Does this analyse Oxygen too?
[3.4m Ladders] Can you post them?
We aren’t complaining, some things have sold for more than we paid for them and it’s keeping us amused guessing the daft questions we might get!
Monday 13 August 2007
Tender and Outboard
Having now read quite a few other web sites and blogs about people sailing round the world, one thing they all say and have in common is that the tender to the mother ship is a vital piece of equipment and has a large list of duties to perform.
Also they all seem to share the same fate as the journey and time progresses, which is delaminating of the material and the glue dissolves on the joints due to the UV rays from the sun.
We have decided to make a basic ‘rule’ for all of our equipment, which is that anything we buy from a manufacturer, must be capable of being repaired or service parts supplied to us, wherever we are in the world. This is a fair statement, but comes with a very high price tag. Time will only tell if this is a wise policy.
The tender, we have decided to go for the Zodiac Yachtline 310R, which basically is a small RIB and looking at the technical data only weighs 50KG, as against the 310S having inflatable floor with wooden slats weighing in at 42KG.
For us a small RIB will be great for all the usual yachting roles, but it will come into its own for scuba diving and when we are anchored off a reef and do not want to get any closer with the Mahe, but still have the need to drop and pickup divers closer to the chosen dive site.
The picture above is a Bahia, sporting a Zodiac 310R
The Zodiacs come with a 5 year guarantee and have a world wide presence, so that fits our buying ‘rule’.
The outboard, again the most common complaint I am picking up from other yachtsmen is that they always wished they had a bigger and more powerful outboard. The technical data on the Zodiac says the largest engine that should be used with the 310R is 15 horse power.
In the UK, there is a trend with commercial fishermen, who are using small fishing vessels of less than 8 meters in length to use the Honda outboard or a pair of them. I personally know a few of these guys and on having any conversations about outboards they are all unanimous about which one to choose, they all swore by Honda, which for me is the best endorsement any product can get. These people rely on them for a living, that’s good enough for me!
Also they all seem to share the same fate as the journey and time progresses, which is delaminating of the material and the glue dissolves on the joints due to the UV rays from the sun.
We have decided to make a basic ‘rule’ for all of our equipment, which is that anything we buy from a manufacturer, must be capable of being repaired or service parts supplied to us, wherever we are in the world. This is a fair statement, but comes with a very high price tag. Time will only tell if this is a wise policy.
The tender, we have decided to go for the Zodiac Yachtline 310R, which basically is a small RIB and looking at the technical data only weighs 50KG, as against the 310S having inflatable floor with wooden slats weighing in at 42KG.
For us a small RIB will be great for all the usual yachting roles, but it will come into its own for scuba diving and when we are anchored off a reef and do not want to get any closer with the Mahe, but still have the need to drop and pickup divers closer to the chosen dive site.
The picture above is a Bahia, sporting a Zodiac 310R
The Zodiacs come with a 5 year guarantee and have a world wide presence, so that fits our buying ‘rule’.
The outboard, again the most common complaint I am picking up from other yachtsmen is that they always wished they had a bigger and more powerful outboard. The technical data on the Zodiac says the largest engine that should be used with the 310R is 15 horse power.
In the UK, there is a trend with commercial fishermen, who are using small fishing vessels of less than 8 meters in length to use the Honda outboard or a pair of them. I personally know a few of these guys and on having any conversations about outboards they are all unanimous about which one to choose, they all swore by Honda, which for me is the best endorsement any product can get. These people rely on them for a living, that’s good enough for me!
Sunday 12 August 2007
Booking Tickets
Today we have been onto the Southampton boat show web site to ‘book online’, which would allow us to get the combi-ticket at a cheaper price than for paying for 2 individual days. We are planning on going on both the Saturday and Sunday with a lot of research to complete.
Should be a relatively simple task to fill in one form for the tickets, it was, but the page just does not accept your payment without a customer ‘URN’ number.
How do you get a ‘URN’ number, you must pay for the tickets via our web site and we will send you your ‘URN’ number with your order, Ah, I see the logic now, of course its me I am stupid.
Whilst I am on the phone, do you accept orders over the phone, yes you do, great, let’s do that then. I am a great believer in keeping it simple.
I am amazed at how many times this happens to me, placing orders over the internet, does no one check their programming anymore. Especially where financial transactions are involved, makes me wonder just how secure paying via a web page which does not work anyway, really is, rant over.
Should be a relatively simple task to fill in one form for the tickets, it was, but the page just does not accept your payment without a customer ‘URN’ number.
How do you get a ‘URN’ number, you must pay for the tickets via our web site and we will send you your ‘URN’ number with your order, Ah, I see the logic now, of course its me I am stupid.
Whilst I am on the phone, do you accept orders over the phone, yes you do, great, let’s do that then. I am a great believer in keeping it simple.
I am amazed at how many times this happens to me, placing orders over the internet, does no one check their programming anymore. Especially where financial transactions are involved, makes me wonder just how secure paying via a web page which does not work anyway, really is, rant over.
Saturday 11 August 2007
Technical Drawing
I am trying to get hold of the outside profile technical drawing in CAD format, preferable AutoCAD from Fountain-Pajot. I have currently got a PDF, which shows the standard layout and the optional extras in light blue.
The reason I would like this is so that I can accurately design a transom arch, which I intend to have manufactured in high quality stainless steel, incorporating the standard FP solid centre board.
Hopefully, when I do the factory visit in October I will be able to get my hands on the drawing, otherwise I will be measuring the boat in September at the Southampton boat show and attempt to design from my measurements and photographs.
If anyone would like a copy of the PDF, which allows you to zoom in on the detail, then please drop me an email and I will forward you the file.
The reason I would like this is so that I can accurately design a transom arch, which I intend to have manufactured in high quality stainless steel, incorporating the standard FP solid centre board.
Hopefully, when I do the factory visit in October I will be able to get my hands on the drawing, otherwise I will be measuring the boat in September at the Southampton boat show and attempt to design from my measurements and photographs.
If anyone would like a copy of the PDF, which allows you to zoom in on the detail, then please drop me an email and I will forward you the file.
Friday 10 August 2007
Heavy weather planning
Planning for the inevitable heavy weather at sea is great sat inside a house on a nice sunny day, thinking it won’t happen to me, ha ha…..
Having had previous experience of heavy weather at sea, then planning what will be a very real situation before you know it is worth every effort and is time well spent before the going gets tough, which at some point it will.
After reading various forums and no end of articles about planning for heavy weather tactics, I have found a product, which I am happy with, being from an engineering background, I am a firm believer in product development and a tool, which has been designed for a specific purpose.
I am more than impressed with the ‘sea brake’ this is a product, which has been designed for assisting with heavy weather tactics at sea. When the going starts to get tough and the dark clouds are gathering on the horizon and a sense of impending doom is upon you, I don’t want to deploy a ‘builder’s bag’ and hope for the best, knowing that for the sake of half a days pay I can have a product, which is designed for the job.
I don’t mind spending the money on something, hopefully, I will never use, but, and there is always a but, a bit of insurance and planning not to fail, in my mind is a precaution I am prepared to spend some hard earned cash on.
I won’t try and explain the ‘sea brake’, just go to the web site and see for yourself.
http://www.seabrake.com
I think it’s a brilliant piece of kit and it will be part of my planning for a day or days of ‘big’ seas.
This should please our Australian audience as it is a product from down under, we have already at this stage had a couple of Aussie watchers, G’day mate, don’t be shy and drop us an email, hope you like what we are doing and you never know on the way round we could meet up!
Having had previous experience of heavy weather at sea, then planning what will be a very real situation before you know it is worth every effort and is time well spent before the going gets tough, which at some point it will.
After reading various forums and no end of articles about planning for heavy weather tactics, I have found a product, which I am happy with, being from an engineering background, I am a firm believer in product development and a tool, which has been designed for a specific purpose.
I am more than impressed with the ‘sea brake’ this is a product, which has been designed for assisting with heavy weather tactics at sea. When the going starts to get tough and the dark clouds are gathering on the horizon and a sense of impending doom is upon you, I don’t want to deploy a ‘builder’s bag’ and hope for the best, knowing that for the sake of half a days pay I can have a product, which is designed for the job.
I don’t mind spending the money on something, hopefully, I will never use, but, and there is always a but, a bit of insurance and planning not to fail, in my mind is a precaution I am prepared to spend some hard earned cash on.
I won’t try and explain the ‘sea brake’, just go to the web site and see for yourself.
http://www.seabrake.com
I think it’s a brilliant piece of kit and it will be part of my planning for a day or days of ‘big’ seas.
This should please our Australian audience as it is a product from down under, we have already at this stage had a couple of Aussie watchers, G’day mate, don’t be shy and drop us an email, hope you like what we are doing and you never know on the way round we could meet up!
Thursday 9 August 2007
Site Update
We have now updated the site to allow people to add comments. So please feel free to add comments on what we are writing about.
Plus we have added our sponsored links shortcut. These are people and companies who are interested in what we are doing and are prepared to help us with our adventure.
Plus we have added our sponsored links shortcut. These are people and companies who are interested in what we are doing and are prepared to help us with our adventure.
Sunday 5 August 2007
Sail Plan
This weekend we have been researching the sail plan of the boat, as standard the boat comes with the main sail and a genoa. Fountaine Pajot also offers as an additional extra the ‘Spifurl’, which is a new design between them and Incidences, who are the factory supplier of the main and genoa sail.
We have as yet not seen the ‘Spifurl’, but are guessing that it will be some sort of cross between a gennaker and a screecher, this also requires the additional bowsprit and accompanying equipment. The main use of the sail will predominantly be for down wind sailing.
Other options for down wind sailing is the ‘Parasail’, which seems to be growing in popularity being that 20 boats in the 2006 ARC had one fitted.
This seems to be a very useful addition to a sail plan giving that the manufacture states that this can be used from 60 to 180 degrees and has all the features and benefits of a spinnaker and gennaker combined, claiming it to be all-in-one sail.
The accompanying picture shows a cat using the ‘Parasail’, we will be looking up the British distributor and having a chat to them at the Southampton Boat Show.
We have as yet not seen the ‘Spifurl’, but are guessing that it will be some sort of cross between a gennaker and a screecher, this also requires the additional bowsprit and accompanying equipment. The main use of the sail will predominantly be for down wind sailing.
Other options for down wind sailing is the ‘Parasail’, which seems to be growing in popularity being that 20 boats in the 2006 ARC had one fitted.
This seems to be a very useful addition to a sail plan giving that the manufacture states that this can be used from 60 to 180 degrees and has all the features and benefits of a spinnaker and gennaker combined, claiming it to be all-in-one sail.
The accompanying picture shows a cat using the ‘Parasail’, we will be looking up the British distributor and having a chat to them at the Southampton Boat Show.
Wednesday 1 August 2007
To Do List started!
As part of our plans for the trip round we are planning to do as much diving as we can, as our intended route takes in many of the top diving spots in the world. We are both rebreather divers but have decided that it isn't going to be possible to dive with these all round the world due to requirement for 100% Oxygen gas and sofnalime which will be a lot of hassle to arrange in remote locations. So we are going to go back to basics and return to single cylinder scuba diving and buy a compressor for the boat giving us unlimited diving wherever we are. Infact Parcelforce came today to pick up Kevin's rebreather to go to it's new owner!
We had a long debate about about the dangers of storing petrol on board and the possibility of using electric powered off the engine. However, we have plumped for the petrol option on the assumption that we will need an petrol outboard engine too for the tender. So it looks like being MCH6/SH - 3.5cfm Honda Petrol Compressor, to hopefully fit in the engine bay. We need to do some measurements during the Southampton Boat Show or our Factory visit to check before we can order.
Meanwhile we both have a week off in two weeks time when we will be planning to sell our house and contents, Kevin's truck, sort out our Pensions, decorate the hall and find somewhere to new to live! We officially have our To Do list now and there is alot to do!
We had a long debate about about the dangers of storing petrol on board and the possibility of using electric powered off the engine. However, we have plumped for the petrol option on the assumption that we will need an petrol outboard engine too for the tender. So it looks like being MCH6/SH - 3.5cfm Honda Petrol Compressor, to hopefully fit in the engine bay. We need to do some measurements during the Southampton Boat Show or our Factory visit to check before we can order.
Meanwhile we both have a week off in two weeks time when we will be planning to sell our house and contents, Kevin's truck, sort out our Pensions, decorate the hall and find somewhere to new to live! We officially have our To Do list now and there is alot to do!
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