We own a boat and our future plans

We finally own a boat!

After many years of dreaming about the right boat and the right time we have taken that leap. We are now the proud owners of a 2001 Beneteau First 47.7 currently known as "The Crone of Silence" and to be renamed. The boat was formerly Sher Khan and has competed in one Sydney to Hobart. It has a lot of extras that come with it, many are out of date or need an overhaul before use but are useful additions for our plans. Micah Lane at the Sydney office of VICSAIL (www.vicsail.com) was a pleasure to work with to purchase the boat.

On that note what are our plans?

First up is a move. It is very early on in the process but our short term plan is to sell up our household items in Melbourne and relocate the family to Sydney (where the boat is). This will entail our family of 4 moving into my granma Betty's 2 bedroom apartment in Rushcutters bay. It is a fantastic location so close to the boat and the small size will ensure we take every opportunity to spend time on the boat. We all have a lot to learn about life on the boat and we hope that this move will allow us to ease into it.

In order to move things along we have set ourselves the goal of a trip to Fiji next year to coincide with the Musket Cove Cruising regatta. This is held in September each year. A big ask for one year but the fallback is a cruise up to the Whitsunday islands. Both would be a great adventure and a decent sail to test our abilities. Before we can get to this level we need to expand our knowledge base. Liz needs to get to the level of a competent offshore skipper and I need to formalise some of my training that i have received during my time racing. We will surely be busy for the next year and a bit.

If you are thinking about the cruising life with or without kids here are some handy links to the SV Totem blog regarding "What you need to go cruising"

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/S/vTotemFamily/~3/8ozXxXUIa64/what-do-you-need-to-go-cruising.html

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/S/vTotemFamily/~3/7iK0cdNdEbs/what-do-you-need-to-go-cruising-start.html

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/S/vTotemFamily/~3/NFJPseWYhpI/what-do-you-need-to-go-cruising-part-2.html

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/S/vTotemFamily/~3/QtER3JZbsfo/what-do-you-need-to-go-cruising-part-3.html

The next entry should be about picking up the boat and relocation to the Cruising Yacht Club in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney.

Are we MAD!!! by Liz

The date is set for the move and we have started to spread the news amongst family and friends.  So far (surprisingly) everyone is very supportive and share our enthusiasm maybe because we have spoken about this dream for such a long time they just want us to go, experience it and once and for all SHUT UP about it!!!
The realisation of the mammoth task ahead of us has finally hit and I for one am starting to feel the pressure to meet the deadline.  I am not even referring to the sailing aspect, we have just managed to settle in a lovely townhouse and feel like I have just only unpacked a house, to now start thinking about packing again is torture and causes major stress in the relationship.  James of course manages to stop stressing now that the boat side of things is progressing and has already started to plot our course for our first sailing destination. 
During this process I am having to explore new primary school, child care facilities, ballet schools, swimming schools, a family doctor along with all our other ties to the community.  I am starting to realise we have become what I dreaded for such a long time....complacent and comfortable!!! And then it hits me, we have every creature comfort around us, established careers, fabulous support networks, a wonderful group of friends and above all happy kids......ARE WE MAD????

Thoughts About Boat Bits, Dodgers

I had been thinking about the prospect of a dodger for the new boat. I want the cockpit to be comfortable place to be. Both at sea and at anchor. So I did some Internet searching and was surprised by the results. There were two options that have stood out as viable. Both are fitted to the same model of yacht we hopefully have bought.

Option 1: Dodger and bimini linked with canvas awning that is removed when sailing

Option 2: Hard Dodger and soft bimini. I also liked the code zero idea on this one. Is the hard dodger a viable option really?

Yacht Update

We have taken another leap forward towards ownership of a sailing vessel.

Well, the survey and rig inspection have been completed and the vessel was found to be in good condition and the rig in need of some attention. The simple fix is that the current owner is going to replace the sea cocks and have the rig dye tested and effect repairs as necessary.

On the plus side the boat comes with a swag of extras of which most will probably never get used. Like the 5 spinnakers, 7 head sails and the IRC extension for spinaker pole. Liz has made me promise no racing in this boat unless it is a social race.

The bonus is that the yacht has the following equipment that will be useful:

• 2 Anchors, the main with 100m chain
• Inner forestay that was factory fitted
• 24nm radar
• Separate track for the storm trisail (hopefully never needed)
• HF radio with DSC
• Separate 100amp comms battery
• 2 alternators
• Autopilot

All going well with the repairs, we will be boat owners very soon.

Have We Found Our Yacht?

We have made an offer on a yacht and it has been accepted. Just a few details to be ironed out and we will have a boat. It is large at 48 foot.

Need to complete the following:

• Survey
• Rig inspection
• Insurance cover

Only difficult thing is it is based in Sydney and we are currently in Melbourne. Luckily my father is helping us out with this and looking after the Sydney side of things. He will attend the survey and rig inspection on our behalf.