Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure
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@Madame-Buttonfly keeps our armpits on brand……,
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Tender arrived today.....
@Madame-Buttonfly likes it because it has a steering wheel....
Tomorrow, we have a day of training on close-quarters manoeuvring with SAKURA, we want to avoid hitting anything else..........
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@Giles said in Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure:
we want to avoid hitting anything else......
why? seems to be the way to make new friends ...
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Staying in marinas on the way back from Menorca reiterated to me and @Madame-Buttonfly just how much we were looking to not doing that.
I have been concerned about the stock anchor that came with the boat. I think it is a little light at 30kgs, and it is an older "Bruce" design, was revolutionary when it was released in the 1970's, but times have moved on and there is a whole new breed of modern anchors that set very quickly and hold exceptionally well. When we drop the hook in a secluded anchorage, I want to rest easy that is will hold.....So we have upgraded to a 45kg modern anchor....
Fitted it today.....
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the standard anchor looks pretty lousy against this great polished 316 beast
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The anchor looks great..
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Polishing seems the way to sail
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Yesterday, it was The Round the Island Race
I was going to race with some friends, but the boat refit ran late and I did not make it, not that I was that bothered as the weather was foul.
Coco de Mer a 66ft Gun Boat, is moored opposite SAKURA, and the crew have been on deck every day since we got back from Menorca, getting her ready for the race.
Very sad to say, the wind got the better of her on the east coast of the island, and this happened....
All the crew are fine, but so sad.
Last I heard was as we were coming back in from a cruise today, Solent Coastguard, put a "notice all mariners" out on channel 16. She is dragging her anchor and there is an exclusion zone around her.
That will be one expensive write-off.
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Racing catamarans is a thing, and Gunboats are one of the best options available. My friend David Thomson races one.....
Here he is on the bow, which is his speciality.......
And another when they won their class in Antigua earlier this year.....
And a simile, if I wanted to catch lots of fish, using meat or live bait is a much better option than flies or lures, but I do the latter because I personally believe it to be more fun and requires greater skill....
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Those can almost fly, being part of the race crew must be super fun but freaking physically demanding.
Me being lazy and risk averse would go for something from https://www.neel-trimarans.com/
The 52 is the sweetest https://www.neel-trimarans.com/range/neel-52/ -
I chatted to some mates in the know, the current thought is that Coco de Mer suffered a rudder failure, then she was completely at the mercy.....
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
