Living Contentedly

Oh what a relief it is to see all the little jobs & hull painting jobs come to a close.  I'm happy because aheos looking super good, better than when I bought her. It makes me proud & happy to realise that my ( if I'm honest) tainted attitude to sailing was due to really poor eyesight. I had clear thoughts, before eye surgery, that sailing on low light conditions in skinny water could easily get me into trouble. But i think also, my inability to carry out fine detailed work, was limiting what I could do on the boat. I was literally a passenger on my own boat.  The other reason im happy with the results of my hard work, is that she can go into the marketplace with her bow held high. Oughtred, & her builder, would be proud.  

On a dawn stroll listening to The Adventure Diaries podcast, I found out about Peter Casey of "Ascent of the Amazon".  Apart from his website, the guy is not at all known. Yes, he has presented at The Explorers Club in New York & London, but his present lifestyle is living on a flat, in debt, his brother's carer. Yet several years ago he sold his house to fund an adventure to ascend the Amazon for a few months. Fast forward 6.5 years & he has 4competed an unsupported transit of South America via the Amazon Basin. I suppose being a youngish, white, straight male without an extraordinary history or social contacts, takes him out of the loop of popular personalities & causes.  

 It is well known among those who study solo Transatlantic small boat sailors, that publicity means death to the mission. In the 1990s Hugo Vihlen, who had made a record crossing about 30 years previously, was making a publicised reattempt. But this drew the attention of the US Coastguard and a dance ensued, authorities trying to thwart the voyage,the boat and Vihlen, and Vihlen himself who fled to the boarder to escape their clutches. In Canadian waters, the wearther was too light.  "Father's Day was originally built at 5 feet 6 inches long. On Vihlen's first attempt out of St. John's, Newfoundland , he met his rival and newfound friend Tom McNally who was also pursuing the record of crossing the North Atlantic from West to East. Tom's boat the, Big C , was 1½ inches smaller than the Father's Day . The first attempt out of Cape Cod was thwarted by the U.S. Coast Guard . Vihlen decided to leave from Canada where the distance was shorter, the currents were c...

What are we? May be three months into Phase 1.0 of the project to convert from Lead Acid to Lithium house batteries. Problems kicked off after weeks of dreary weather and brownouts were occurring. Then we had two blackouts which were initially caused by Joe's carelessness.  Anyway, being winter now the weather was not improving a great deal & there is a need to not damage the batteries by running them at low vlltage. So last week I bought a small Honda generator & battery charger capable for lithium. It works a treat, running the batteries up to full voyage in 30-45 mins.  All good, until tonight. Despite having a low 12 reading last night, a low V alarm wakes me at 4am. No immediate problem, I move Honda off the deck and she's humming away outside and we're already well onto the 12s. But, thats not sustainable, do I've just bought a third battery to run the capacity up to 600AH.  See how we go.

Progress Another amazing day in my life following separation. Starting with the tail end of the day,I refitted Ilona's deck boards. They look fab against a freshly painted bilge & with pollished brass toggles. Adding woodglue to the screws made them easier to install & provided a better seal. Now I just need to dress up the cream and lacquer her off.  Im really proud & believe she should sell quickly for a good price.  Beauty Today I drove to town to buy more lacquer & some bolts & co. for Clancy. After   the chandlery  I went to the beach & I don't know what I was expecting, but it was stunning. As can only happen on winter, the light was soft & the blues & greens of the shallows sparkled like jewellery. The waves were small & there was a hell of a rip, so although I thought a surf was on, I had to calm myself down. I ended up jogging to & from Bar Beach & Merewether Baths, finishing off with a swim. No-one else jogging,...

I'm a bit happy of late because I've showed great maturity and persistence. Rather than run away to swim in the sea, blast cobwebs away on my motorbike or go for a lengthy fitness activity,I have ground away for long hours each day to get Ilona ready to sell.      This is a photo of my motorcycle loaded with hardware, paint and a few groceries.  Anyway, she's getting close to complete. When that happens I will be free to prepare, then sail Clancy. Yesterday his trailer was registered, he was towed along the graded driveway, and we celebrated his first year in my care.