This ‘tale of woe’ has nothing to do with the Southerly but has several lessons which can be drawn from the salutary experience and I hope that by recounting the story, others will be better able to deal with any similar problems should they arise. In the late 1990’s, I decided that it was time... Continue Reading →
Water Maker Intake
When I bought my ‘used’ 135, I commissioned Northshore to carry out some work which I felt would benefit from the epithet ‘Installed by the original builders’ should I come to sell the vessel in the future. Other elements of the Northshore work certainly warrant dedicated articles but my recent Atlantic circuit has prompted this... Continue Reading →
Fans
The addition of 12V sockets in strategic locations to power electric fans has proved to be a real winner. When anchored in the tropics or when the only shore power is American 60Hz precluding the use of one of the AC units, the cooling provided by the fans is a real boon. We have found... Continue Reading →
Rant
How can it be that a replacement gas cylinder cost 11 Euros in the Azores and £32.99 in Port Solent ?
Security Bars
Yachting Monthly July 2016 Security Bars
The End – really
Slipping the mooring buoy off Yarmouth, we motored sedately eastwards with the tide under our keel making good time in the early sunshine. We took the time to rig the courtesy flags of the countries visited over our yearlong cruise and they spanned from the starboard cross trees to the deck. The ARC flags and... Continue Reading →
The End – nearly
This post should have been published on Saturday morning having been meticulously drafted during the course of Friday spent tracking up the Channel. The excellent sailing wind dropped away and we flew the Parasailor while there was sufficient wind to still maintain sufficient pace with the Yarmouth deadline very much in mind. Resorting to the... Continue Reading →
One of the best
We closed land at dawn and the day started bright but not breezy as we motored through the channel inside Ushant. Our timing was perfect as we picked up the first of the ‘flush’ and we recorded 11.6 knots of SOG (speed over the ground) with the tide assistance. The loss of our rope cutter... Continue Reading →
Piccadilly Circus
Of the perverse activities since the last blog was our attempt at aerial photography using a kite and tiny waterproof camera, both presents from my daughter Rebecca. The kite flew a treat and with sufficient tension to support the weight of the camera. The problem came when the camera support frame was being hoisted up... Continue Reading →
Certainment Monsieur
One of the joys of the deck saloon layout is the ability to maintain a watch from inside in inclement weather. Maybe we are going soft but I call cold, grey and raining pretty inclement. Being able to sit at the chart table monitoring the radar and plotter for traffic in 5000m depth with therefore... Continue Reading →