New watermaker pump required – may delay us again!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Jo F

Whilst trying out our new watermaker (desalination) we found that the pump was not working well and after consultation with the distributor, we agreed that a new one was required. So, old one taken out and waiting for a new one to be couried to us. This should all happen on Friday morning and if so, we will be heading off in the evening to Cherbourg as there is another low due to come through Sat evening. If it doesn’t arrive in time or we find that this is not the problem, then we will have to wait until next week to depart as we are keen to ensure that all is working properly.

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Heating fixed

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Jo F

Well, the weather may not be conducive to sailing across the channel but we used the day constructively to do a number of chores and ensuring that the heating works again. It is looking like we may be going on Friday at the earliest but with another low on its way, it may be next week.

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Looking like D-Day will be a day or two later

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Jo F

With the weather looking wet and windy for the middle of the coming week, we are considering delaying our departure by a day or two. Combined with the fact that we want to ensure that the heating is working and a few outside jobs we haven’t been able to do because of the rain, it would make sense to delay. After all, the whole point of this trip is to sail when we want to sail and not be tied to a schedule!

On a brighter note, those very kind people at Haslar Marina, Gosport are not charging us for April as we have been there for a number of years. We had 14 “complimentary” nights and they have waived the rest as a gesture of goodwill. Now that is what I call good customer service.

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Why is it that the heating decides to pack in just before we are leaving?

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Jo F

We are down at the boat at the moment, packing our belongings into Nimrod. Amazingly, our clothes were easily accommodated but the bottles have taken a bit longer to stow! Disappointingly, the heating decided to pack up so we will be taking it apart to service it once the parts arrive from Eberspacher. Hot water bottles are being used liberally!!

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The Packing Has Begun!

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Jo F

The momental task of trying to sort out what clothes we should take with us has begun! We are figuring that we will have about three/four weeks of clothes with us plus one smarter set (in case we get invited out!). Then there are the shoes – how many pairs of sandals will we get through? Do we take trainers, deck shoes, walking boots…….the list goes on and on. With us leaving in April, thermals are a must as we will be sailing at night and we all know how cold it can be even in early May.

Then there is the packing up of the rest of our belongings so that the house sitter can move in. After that it’s down to the boat to make room for all of the above!

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Solar Panels Up and Running

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Jo F

The solar panels have now been installed and even in the Spring sunshine, they are performing well. Down at the boat yesterday we turned off the shore power (mains electricity) and spent the day and evening only on battery power. Despite the fact that we had the heating and TV on for several hours, the batteries hardly noticed. Very pleased indeed.

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New Departure Date

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Jo F

We are now both off work and the planning has started in earnest. Today we have been gathering items to take down to the boat so we can decide what to take and what to leave behind. We have also started the process of what clothing to take as it will be the same as the UK for the first few weeks but then it should be much warmer. We will also be doing some night sailing and the temperature can pretty cold at 3am even in early May!

We have also pushed our departure date back slightly to around the 25th April as Jo has to attend a driver awareness training session rather than pick up a speeding fine! It also gives us a few extra days to check everything is working properly.

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Reefing fixed and mainsail attached

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Jo F

The reefing lines are now working well with new blocks in the boom. This means that if we need to reduce our sail area due to high winds, then it can all be done from the cockpit safely.

We have also had the main sail valeted so it’s nice and clean for our trip. Haven’t had the bill yet but Flew Sails in Portsmouth Harbour are usually very reasonable. We attached the main sail back onto the boom and the mast yesterday in record time – less than 3 hours so very pleased with ourselves. This particular job always takes so much longer than you would think so it was good to do it in bright sunshine and relatively light winds.

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Reefing blocks

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Jo F

Amazingly, the cost of replacing the reefing blocks inside the boom has cost less than £200! For those who own boats, you will know that almost any repair always appears to have three zeros in the cost line. The reefing lines (to make the main sail smaller in high winds) had become harder and harder to pull through and so inevitably, one day, one of them jammed. Luckily, there was little wind so we could just untie them but it could have been a very different story if we had needed to reef. Much better that this happened before we left as we could use a rigger we trusted.

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Yacht maintenance

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Jo F

Off to Gosport this weekend for a 7 day course on yacht maintenance. This should help to fill in the gaps of our knowledge. Learning by doing is not exactly structured!

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