CTRL+ALT+DEL....... RESTART!!

Right then.. I know nobody reads this but I'm going to write in it anyway.

Neraida is currently out of the water undergoing some serious maintenance. Her Keel is "off" and she has has all of the antifouling removed from her keel, and extensive scraping and sanding of her bottom, and so far, is primed and "boot topped". The keel is about to have an epoxy primer applied ready for it's CopperCoat.
During the dismantleing, we have discoverd the cause of the "thunk" from the keel, whereby the plates that hold the keel on via a stainless pin have badly corroded with some 4mm of play. These plates are currently at an engineers being welded and re-drilled. All the keel bolts were found to be is excellent shape with no sign of any corrosion, apart from the use of galvanised steel washers inside the boat, which just disintergrated!
We have also discovered that the worm gear used for swinging the keel up and down is bent, however this is not a major issue as Neraida's keel is always down!

This year she is going to have a lot of work done on her, so I figured I should document it, and the blog is the easiest way!

Antifouling and polishing today... pictures later!

Wot no sailing?

Nope, none at all.

This time of year is hugely frustrating as the weather is normally very windy and wet. Today we saw 45knots in the Solent, as we did last weekend... Evening sails are out as a quick blast in the dark is not really much fun, so we are stranded.

This is where, as we did last year, we start browsing the brokerage sites for something with a bit more in the way of creature comforts, and heating.. definately heating. It's not as depressing as it has been, as there seem to be quite a lot of boats at more reasonable prices. This years economic instability seems to have taken its toll on the boaty communtity, so from what I can see its a buyers market. Swings and roundabouts I suppose.

Buying a boat is much more complicated that buying, say, a car, as the transaction is disrupted by EMOTION, so it enters the same realm as buying a home. However, when you buy a home you are concerned about location, resale, aesthetics and suitability to your lifestyle. When you buy a boat you have aesthetics, suitability, resale, safety, performance, reputation (of builder or class), maintenance costs and effort, lifestyle and even the name. It is alleged to be one of the most fun parts of the boaty lifestyle, but it is a fraught with pitfalls and angst. Boats take days to buy and (sometimes) years to sell, so getting stuck with a "lemon" is a foreboding prospect.

An Apology

Dear Readers...

I feel I must apologise for the utter lack of bloggage. I am somewhat under the kosh at work so boats, blogs and other b things are a low priority at present.

Neraida is well, although a little weedy and bored...

All the best

Skip

Feeling boaty...

Feeling 32
"Nice" but...

Went to go and see the boat above this morning. Had a good poke around, and asked lots and lots of questions. So, here are the facts.
32' Yacht, decent beam, twin rudders, decent sized cockpit for her class and built well. Reasonable equipment, Harken hardware mostly, Raymarine ST40 instruments, Volvo 2020 inboard and an ENO cooker. She was, as you can see from the pictures below, very light and roomy for a 32 footer, nice comfy bunks and saloon, good sized head with pressurised water and a shower. She is a 2003 boat, used as a demonstrator in Les Sables d'Olonne and then to Lymington and now here in Southampton. She is, all in all, a new boat, and all the equipment you would need, bar maybe a plotter and heating, to sail her away for £50k; give or take a few quid...

Light, airy and very practical...

Sensible huh? I agree, she's very nice. I have, however, a few of "issues" with her. Firstly, she's a light boat, and at 4100kg, she's going to make hard work of any kind of sea in the same way that Neraida does.. better admitted, but not hugely. Secondly, she has a "B" catergory (Regional Craft Directive). So Brussels have decided she should not be on more than 70 or so miles of red tape from a safe haven. Why not? Stability I suspect, but its a concern.
Finally, and its very subjective, is a question of "soul". I.e. she hasn't got one. The interior is good, solid etc etc etc, but it doesn't feel of anything. Then there is her appearance from the outside.. bit bland. The Old Dog (my da') has quite a good comment on this. He would say, "She's not the sort of boat you would stop and look back at when you are rowing home" and i think, in this case, he is right. You'd have a job to spot her for a start, in amongst all the plastic fantastic's out there.

She will make somebody a lovely boat. But not me ta...

*** DISCLAIMER***
The Mate has not visited this boat, she was busy head shrinking this morning, so if she does and likes it, all the above comments are, naturally, null and void.

It's over

I think it would be fair to say that the season is over. A steady stream of depressions are thundering across the Atlantic, causing a mass of deep depressions in the souls of sailors everywhere.

The marina is less crowded than it was, and the yards are filling up. The mate and I are now in "stand by" mode, so we can snatch a sail when the wind isn't hurling old boots and the sky isn't falling. This will be interrupted by a short period of manic activity, when Neraida will be lifted, stripped of her old antifouling, and a fresh shiny coat applied. Doing this in October/Novemeber has the advantage that the weed growth slows considerably from now on, so she will stay cleaner for longer... hopefully!

Tinkering will occur from now on also.. I will keep you posted.

Oh Borrox!

SighHeadroom, a table, a cooker...
Luxury!!

OK,
Lesson 1. Don't start looking too early.
Lesson 2. Never forget Lesson 1
No sooner do I veer off my normal boat gazing site that something nigh on suitable shows her prow and wiggles! Look at the pictures. 2001 boat, good selection of gadgetry (being in IT, and being a boy, I'm a sucker for gadgets!), well looked after and a smidgeon under our absolute top whack for dosh. She also has the advantage of being new enough to benefit from the plush stainless fittings as opposed to the galvanised bronze of the older Pilot Cutters.

Moving on...

I am trapped in a dilemma.
Neraida is, and always will be, very very special to us. She is a simple fibreglass boat, with good lines, sharp performance and a wicked temperament. She will not easily be replaced.
This is where we both get a bit weepy and come over all 'nostalgic like...'
I am not sure where we should go next. Last season and this, although we have hugely enjoyed our cruising, we have been left wanting.
A Channel passage in Neraida is very hard work with only two people, and, due to her size, shape and speed, one can never "cruise" and relax on passage unless the wind is light and/or we're having our bones shaken by Cliff the outboard.
The Solent is not for cruising. Not only is it like sailing on the M3 without lanes, but also its inshore nature makes for concentrated effort in finding the right breeze, or avoiding the wrong one, somewhat tiring. Don't forget that an extra, say, 7 knots of wind in a First Class 8 can be the difference between a "nice close reach" and a "lee rail under, bruising gripe"!
Ramble ramble... where was I? Ah yes, left wanting..
You see, it's like this. It's quite hard, no matter how much you love your boat, to spend more than a couple of days with no headroom, weeing in a bucket, cooking on a camping stove and generally "living rough". Neraida also does not lay at anchor well. In fact, she swings around like a neurotic cork! Anchoring, even in the most tranquil setting can only be done in summer, as her un-lined hull and open plan means she gets VERY cold.
You see where this is going don't you? We "need" a bigger, more comfortable boat.
We don't want to go mad money wise, as we want to stay well within our means as is sensible (Bleugh!!) in all things nautical. We don't want an "average white boat" which will blend in (it's not in our character to be "average"). We don't want a money & time pit, so no to anything wooden! Finally, and bizarrely enough, we don't want anything too big just yet; 30-35 feet would do nicely thank you.
I have scoured, and I mean scoured, the internet listings for all sorts of boats that match the criteria. There are an amazing range of boats out there, and a staggering amount of stupidly priced boats too!! Most of them slip nicely into the "AWB" catergory, from old to nearly new, an awful lot of boats of this size were built with no, or very little, imagination.
Then, you have the "Classics", your Contessas, Nicholsons etc which are all very lovely, but there is usually less comfort than one would ideally like.
Finally, you have your "odd balls"... Boats such as Steel Sprays, Van de Stadts, Alubats, Crabbers and the like. I think we fall into this catergory. Neraida "turns heads" as she is a bit bonkers for cruising in, and we will probably like to carry on the head turning theme.

So, there we are. There are your choices. It's going to be painful and scary, and it's also going to break our hearts to say goodbye to "our girl", but I am sure we will cope, as she will continue to be loved long after she moves on. There is no rush however...