Recent content by lowenna

I am trying to sell my boat (30ft Arpege) at the moment and desperately want to do so before the end of the season. With selling a car, you can go to second-hand garages who will buy it directly. Obviously you have to go for a greatly reduced price but at least it's sold. Is there anything like...

I am a 46 year old single male, intending to retire early and sail to the Caribbean in a 30 foot boat starting this June/July, initially sailing slowly around the Bay of Biscay via the French and Spanish coasts. I am looking for anyone who would like to sail either part or all of the way. Any...

Of course I'm aware that there are dangers involved and I would love to have the money to buy a full set of charts. But the difference between new and old charts would probably come to £200 which is far too much to afford, many of which I will only use for one or two days as I pass along the...

As I am planning a long voyage which would need far more charts than I could afford to buy new, I am thinking about getting the cancelled charts which can be found on www.chartsales.co.uk. I know that they state (probably for legal reasons) that they must not be used for navigation but the price...

As I am planning a cruise around the French coast (from North Brittany to about La Rochelle) this summer, I was considering whether to buy French charts rather than the Admiralty or Imray. Does anyone know if any British chandlers stock them and approximate prices?

I have bought a new boat which I intend to sail from Britain to the Caribbean, living on board for a fair period. At the moment it has a Camping Gaz-fuelled stove and I have heard that this fuel is difficult to find outside Europe. What is the best stove fuel to use? What about the Origo...

Next year I intend to retire (early), buy a yacht (26-30 feet), and sail around the Bay of Biscay, along Spain, maybe to Madeira and Canaries, and hopefully to the Caribbean. I am looking for someone to accompany me. For further info, see my page...

Thanks. That's the sort of information I needed. No doubt, after a few new harbours, it will all seem very straightforward. <hr width=100% size=1>

I did the Day Skipper Practical but I was more interested in the navigation, sailing, etc, at the time to ask. The instructor, no doubt, had been to the harbours many times before so they weren't new to him. Like boiling an egg, this is something which is blatantly obvious to anyone after a...

As someone who will be buying their first boat next year and becoming the skipper for the first time, can someone tell me the routine for entering a new harbour? (Up to now, that's always been someone else's problem.) Do I always call up on VHF? If so what do I say? Do I go straight to a...

It's a long time since I went through an airport but I believe you can buy goods tax-free when you travel abroad. Does anyone know if it is possible for yachtmen to get the same benefit? Next year I want to take a yacht to the Caribbean, hopefully for a couple of years or more. Since I am doing...

I am planning to buy a yacht next year, intending to retire and sail it to the Caribbean. The problem is knowing which of the hundreds of makes available to go for. I want to make a list of suitable makes to search for, but I obviously have my particular needs for budget, interior space...

More info. We hope to leave the UK in June/July of next year to sail to the Caribbean so the mooring would be a temporary one while we practise and prepare her. For access purposes, somewhere on the East coast would probably be best - East Anglia region? <hr width=100% size=1>

This might seem obvious to many but I hope to buy my first boat next year (a Heavenly Twin catamaran) and want to know how you go about finding a mooring. Marinas are easy - I know they are in books such as the one with Reeds Almanac and they seem to have websites. But I would like a (drying?)...

Looking at the Caribbean flags on the CIA Factbook website, I see that some islands have two flags. Martinique, for instance, has a flag with four snakes but it says "the flag of France is used for official occasions". The question then is which flag do you use as a courtesy ensign? The other...