Boat Show and Banks

So Thursday Bru, Patrick and I had a long day at the London Boat Show. Bru had some electronic bits and pieces that he wanted so we were hopeful that we could get a good deal by combining our order. In the end there weren't really any deals to be had other than a measly 1% discount on web prices on electronics, but we saved the cost of postage. We decided on the Raymarine eS7 Multi Function Display with both touchscreen and keypad control over either the 7 or 9 inch A-series MFD's. The A7 was discounted as it didn't support NMEA 0183 which we needed to be able to connect it to our AIS (the system that allows us to view large ships on our chartplotter). We then couldn't justify an additional £300 for the larger screen when we also have the iPad as backup navigation which can connect to the eS7 via wifi and be used as a second larger screen.

We also wanted to find a good deal on the Rocna 15 anchor (as well as finalising this choice over the 20kg one). After seeing the Rocna 20 in the flesh and also talking to the nice people on the Rocna stand we were sold on the 15kg version. The Rocna people sent us over to the other side of the Boat Show to speak with Mark Nunn of Seamark Nunn as they are our nearest supplier. On talking with Mark he matched Jimmy Green's online price and offered free delivery if we were prepared to wait until they had a job in Burnham which was a bit of a result as Jimmy Green were quoting £65 for delivery of the anchor and 80m of 8mm chain.

Other than that we joined the Cruising association with 25% discount thanks to mentioning that we knew Lisa Pini, and also bought some First Aid and Diesel Engine diagnostic quick reference cards that seemed useful, and forgot to go back to the diablo toasted sandwich maker stand which probably was for the best.

Finally the highlight of the day for me was meeting Kass Schmitt who I had met via the Facebook Group "Women Who Sail". She now owns the boat that Patrick and I met on and is currentlypreparing for the 2017 OSTAR race, 21 days and 3,000 miles non-stop and alone across the North Atlantic. https://sailingwithzest.com/
Hopefully we will get the chance to take Kass up on her offer of a sail on Zest before we leave in the summer.

A disproportionate amount of time was spent at the weekend sitting in Metro Bank opening new bank accounts in readiness for the trip as they are the only UK bank that doesn't charge fee's on either cash withdrawals or purchases in Europe. The bank was really child friendly and every penny counts over the next two years but it was a painful 2.5 hours which actually took out most of the day once we'd made the obligitary visit to Toys R Us as a reward to the kids for being so patient. Luckily they had vouchers from Christmas and chose very small toys so everybody came home happy.

Ship's Stores

This weekend was mainly about checking we were ready to negotiate deals at the London Boat Show, lightly abrading Laurin's coppercoated bottom, and raiding Asda for cheap ships stores.

We made a cardboard template of Rocna 15kg and 20kg anchors to check that they would fit on the front of the boat. The 20kg looked huge and the bill (or tip) of the anchor almost touched the bow. The 15kg anchor had a little more space to spare and is the recommended weight for our boat, I'd just been a bit cautious as our current CQR copy is 20kg. We also made the decision to move from 10mm chain to 8mm so that we could fit more in as 80m of chain seems to be recommended for the parts of the Med we are heading for.

I also measured the distance between the helm and the spot underneath the sprayhood reserved for our new chartplotter.... 2 metres. The plan is to have a look at both 9 and 7 inch Raymarine MFD's at the boatshow and make a final decision.

Finally we made the decision to replace the entire wheel drive of our autopilot as Bru was unsure of how much of the insides were damaged (probably as a result of kids climbing on it.... ooops!). The sum total of the parts plus labour to repair it may well exceed the price of the new assembly so it seemed sensible to replace the whole lot.

On the boat we are rather partial to Heinz tinned ravioli as a quick hot meal on the go. It's also a cheap feed that we can store for a long time, particularly when Asda have it on offer at 50p per tin. Beans and Sausages in a tin are also something that both the adult and younger crew members enjoy occasionally so we stocked up on those too! We did get a few strange looks though!

2017 - Happy New Year

So as we listened to Big Ben chime midnight on the TV at Lizzy's house as we've done for as many years as the kids can remember it hit us that this is THE year we've been planning for. This is the year we will move aboard our boat Laurin and take her to the Mediterranean for a two year adventure. It's all getting a bit real!

Laurin is currently out of the water for the last of a steady stream of upgrades and it never ceases to amaze me how our family is happiest when we are with out boat.... even in cold damp weather when she's not even on the water. For the past month we've been fitting new hatches while the kids ride their bikes in the boatyard, chill out in Landy with an iPad, or hassle our good friend Bru on his boat Pagan.

Initially we weren't sure if we would refurbish or replace the hatches as they seemed really solid with just crazing to the plastic; but then parts of the castings started to break and I became worried about not being able to open them from the outside to extract the kids from their cabin in the event of an engine or galley fire. They were a tricky size to replace but the lovely people at Houdini made us some aluminium plates so we could fit new moonlight hatches. These let so much more light in than the old ones. We were very pleased to finish this as it was the last major job (despite sticking two of the plates down the wrong way round and having to cope with the gloopy sealant which appeared to be a cross between blue tack and candy floss which got everywhere).

Still lots to do both on Laurin, and clearing the house ready to be rented out. Facebook friends who are one year ahead of us told us the last month before departure is the worst.... I'm already feeling the pressure of all there is to do. Roll on June when we will be on our way.