Recent content by Fossil

Good luck! Agadir is a great place! Be prepared to speak to officials in French, that's the language of officialdom in Morocco. Be cool, smile a lot, look happy, get a berth in front of the yacht club and enjoy!

We have just re-engined with a Nanni 3.21 because Volvo were not supplying New Zealand earlier this year. We are just coming up to the first service. I am very pleased with the motor. As has been said, it is based on the Kubota motors, which makes it very easy to get spare parts to fit it, it...

You don't say where in NZ the guy will be leaving his boat. But almost anywhere there's a harbour will be a heavy fouling area. I'd go with the suggestion of doing a quick and dirty cheapo brush-over with ablative paint before leaving it. I have just done my 28-footer which is kept in...

"Kept unattended on the dinghy pontoon". When I read that, I immediately had thoughts like "maybe something you could nail in place...", "something with very little value", or "something with an instantly-lethal-high-tension connection to the mains". If it's a high-value inflatable or RIB...

I have lived and travelled on a boat with one cat without too many problems, given that this was sailing around the Netherlands in mostly inshore waters with an animal that was used to the boat and used to living with us in a confined space. Even so, I would've hesitated to go offshore. Cats get...

Not a lot to add to the above as I now don't live in the UK. What I would say is that many years ago when my wife and I got into sailing, we did a Competent Crew course, which whetted our appetite enough to do the Yachtmaster Theory shorebased course over the winter and a Day Skipper course the...

Thanks everyone - some interesting points here. To deal with some of them - as regards fitting an outboard, I have ruled this out as my particular boat has a cutaway transom , which allows easy entry and exit from the water. An outboard would require a bit of a rebuild in this area, so wouldn't...

After much aggravation and more money than I like to think about having been thrown at it over the last few years, the very old Volvo MD7A on my boat (an Allan Wright designed Nova 28) has finally been condemned. The Volvo agents here in New Zealand have recommended repowering with another...

If you don't need provisions or restaurants and like nature, don't go into Veere itself. Tie up to one of the little jetties which abound on the islands in the Versemeer. Perfect peace, birdwatching, vast empty skies. And, this time of year, probably free as well...

Cheap or expensive sunglasses - doesn't matter as long as they give good all-round protection and are polarised. And cataracts can generally be fixed, even if you have to go privately to have it done. I had mine done at the age of 76, and it has made a very considerable difference to my life -...

While it was quite a long time ago now, I have transited the Kiel/Nordzee Canal twice in small boats and I would definitely recommend it as an interesting and instructive experience. In midsummer, you can do it in one hop (you are not allowed to move the boat during the hours of darkness) but as...

And from New Zealand! Anchor marks in Picton harbour scaled-up to predict global coastal habitat damage | Stuff.co.nz

+1 for the flotilla holidays idea. An ideal way to get bigger-boat experience in warm weather and a friendly and easy-going environment with a seasoned escort crew following you around to sort out any difficulties. I would also suggest a modicum of theory and (at least) at Day Skipper course...

+1 for the replies on insurance. It was a while ago now, but my wife (New Zealand citizen) and I (British citizen), both of us resident in Brussels, Belgium bought and owned a yacht which we kept in a marina at Wemeldinge, Netherlands. Pantaneius insured us, no problems and for several years we...

Well, I have been a sailor for longer than I care to admit to, and before I retired I was a pharmacist. I also suffered from seasickness, to the point at which doing simple chartwork or handling ropes became a problem in the first days of any voyage. For that reason I self-medicated with...