Boat in build pics (Squadron 78)

Those straps look similar to the ones I use to tie my ladders on the van with:rolleyes:;)

The ratchet straps are rated 10tonnes each. I think your ladders are very safe :-)

The slings are rated 125t tensile, so 250 tonnes when in a U. One each end means 500t capcity, and there is a safety factor of 7x. I got all this data from the lift rig specialist who was in charge of the lift gear.

The boat weighed 55t when lifted (light on fuel)
 
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Nice videos JFM. Good to see Match all wrapped up and safely on her way. Very impressed with the inch by inch precision to line her up on the chocks and the cover is tight! Not cheap I bet. Good job!

Dover CG can be a pain for sure, I have found the way to get around not having to join the shipping lanes going westbound is to pop in to Dover harbour , do a 180 and nip back out. If you are leaving from the harbour westbound, you are permitted to stay inshore. We all did this coming back from LIBS. Too late now but one for the future. ;)

Ah, thanks. I guess the s/seeker skippers know all the tricks

Yup cover is nice. £1700. Would make a nice winter cover if only I could store it in summer. It's several cubic metres even if folded up carefully. It's in 3 sections held together with cable ties and velcro, and that makes it easier to handle

What's latest with AG? Ship or own bottom? There is a www.gbs-germany.com ship loading 13/15 April; MV Flinterzee going to Palma. Would be great not to have to do the Atlantic leg surely?
 
Ah, thanks. I guess the s/seeker skippers know all the tricks

Yup cover is nice. £1700. Would make a nice winter cover if only I could store it in summer. It's several cubic metres even if folded up carefully. It's in 3 sections held together with cable ties and velcro, and that makes it easier to handle

What's latest with AG? Ship or own bottom? There is a www.gbs-germany.com ship loading 13/15 April; MV Flinterzee going to Palma. Would be great not to have to do the Atlantic leg surely?

Ah yes, the Flinter ships. I was considering the Flinterland for last week but that was cancelled, too early for me anyway as it turned out. Looking more like on her own bottom all the way, don't want to deal with the shipping uncertainty.
 
It's soft, eroding, Micron77, not recommended for >20kts boats which is how I like it :-)

why is that since you obviously do more than 20kts. not that it seems to slow her down. Does it just rub away gradually during the year and thus prevent build up?

Those teak hand rails look fantastic by the way. Only a small mod by comparrison but they just look so much more substantail.
 
why is that since you obviously do more than 20kts. not that it seems to slow her down. Does it just rub away gradually during the year and thus prevent build up?

Those teak hand rails look fantastic by the way. Only a small mod by comparrison but they just look so much more substantail.

Yes, it rubs away. I like it to err on the side of too much rubbing away, not too little, so that I don't get build up. Hence, if it is recommended for only <20knots I know I will overdo the rubbing away when I do 20-25kts. It's easy to do a lift and paint another coat on but very hard work to chip off a hard built up thick layer of dead paint

Yes I'm very pleased with the teak tails. Th only mods I did were (i) have them raised 50mm above standard, and (ii) have a continuous piece of teak across the transom with no cut out piece in the centre for the crew cabin centre-transom door. Those are good mods and FL should do that to all boats imho. They have been sanded and teak-oiled while the boat was in Essex so they're looking really nice. BTW, they're made from about 7 layers of 6mm teak laminated into a ply, rahter than solid cut teak, for extra strength and to allow them to be made as long continuous curved pieces
 
Ah yes, the Flinter ships. I was considering the Flinterland for last week but that was cancelled, too early for me anyway as it turned out. Looking more like on her own bottom all the way, don't want to deal with the shipping uncertainty.

I gotta say MYAG, as I shot those final few seconds of the above movie with ship sailing down S'ton water, ladt Tuesday, with the wind howling 25kts, rain, and so on, I was so glad she was on a ship rather then me driving the Atlantic section. Easy to say from a keyboard that the Atlantic bit is "an adventure" or whatever, but in April I'll happily skip that trip and take a perfectly good aeroplane to the Med thanks. Call me a wimp - i don't care :D :D. If I were you I'd love to get it on a ship to Palma, Gib, anywhere around there, then do the long stretch to Turkey on own bottom (which is still quite a serious trip but the view is blue not grey). You are not getting any more of a "shake down" or "get to know the boat" just by doing the Atlantic piece, so why subject yourself to that possibly rough sea for 4 days???? Just imho :D :D
 
that rear strop looked very close to the shafts!
Precisely what I thought at first!
But looking more carefully, it actually doesn't touch the shaft.
And they obviously assumed (correctly) that once under load, the strap wouldn't have moved one bit.
Impressive job indeed.
 
I gotta say MYAG, as I shot those final few seconds of the above movie with ship sailing down S'ton water, ladt Tuesday, with the wind howling 25kts, rain, and so on, I was so glad she was on a ship rather then me driving the Atlantic section. Easy to say from a keyboard that the Atlantic bit is "an adventure" or whatever, but in April I'll happily skip that trip and take a perfectly good aeroplane to the Med thanks. Call me a wimp - i don't care :D :D. If I were you I'd love to get it on a ship to Palma, Gib, anywhere around there, then do the long stretch to Turkey on own bottom (which is still quite a serious trip but the view is blue not grey). You are not getting any more of a "shake down" or "get to know the boat" just by doing the Atlantic piece, so why subject yourself to that possibly rough sea for 4 days???? Just imho :D :D

JFM I think this is sound advice. I know too enough people who have been stuck in France trying to cross the bay. Having said that I also have come across in flat seas and been swimming 100 miles of northern spanish coast.

Gib to Turkey is a long stint with some great places to call in. Also if any issues you would have good service centers, Barcelona or Palma where you could sort issues.

To do the trip properly ie stopping and enjoying the Balearics, Sicily, southern tip of Italy, Greece etc would take some time mind you. Having said that Gocek and surrounding area is fantastic so why hang around. Myag do you go to Ekincek..Fab place
 
Fantastic feat of engineering and logistics, most impressive.

One question. Is the cradle fixed to the ship in some way? I'd ASSUMED it would be welded down but seems the steel cradle is just resting on chunks of wood which are in turn just tied with span sets going round the hatch cover?

And re storing the cover for winter, as I'm sure you know there's loads of self store facilities in France. Renting a 3mx3m yellow box would be fairly cheap I'd have thought?

Fingers crossed for lift off on Tuesday.
 
And re storing the cover for winter, as I'm sure you know there's loads of self store facilities in France.

and there are plenty of these inland "caravan winter storage sites" with a lot of space in summer time.
Used to put my boat trailer there when I'm in SOF.
 
Very impressive loading procedure John, that rear strop looked very close to the shafts! What burgee were you flying?

It was v impressive LJS. Yes the rear sling was close to the shafts but not touching. It had to be to get the boat to hang level. They partially lifted it with the sling more forward but the boat came up too bow-high. It was only on the third go with the sling that far aft that the boat was level. Remeber in this sort of lift, on a single crane, you cannot lift according to the builder's marked sling positions becuase they are meant for travelhoists where the boat is held level anyway. PSP had a diver under the boat the whole time to position the slings so there was no chance of doing any damage to the shafts etc

The burgee is Fairline's logo. It came with the boat. Dunno whether to keep it. I'll be hanging anchor ball from that pole anyway
 
Fantastic feat of engineering and logistics, most impressive.

One question. Is the cradle fixed to the ship in some way? I'd ASSUMED it would be welded down but seems the steel cradle is just resting on chunks of wood which are in turn just tied with span sets going round the hatch cover?

And re storing the cover for winter, as I'm sure you know there's loads of self store facilities in France. Renting a 3mx3m yellow box would be fairly cheap I'd have thought?

Fingers crossed for lift off on Tuesday.

Thanks Col (and BartW). That's a great idea for the cover. I'll look into that: i think there is one behind Antibes near Carrefour. It might be nice to put the big cover on over winter. I can trim it so the hem is above the w'line. Food for thought...

The cradle is held by zillions of chains clipped to permanent eyes at the edges of the hatch covers. These stop horizontal plane movement. It sits on wood to increase coeff of friction, the surveyor said - steel on steel is not done. Then 8 plates are welded to the deck to locate it and stop it lifting or sliding. Very secure: they specced the fastening on assumption of no welding, due to fire risk with the pulp, but in the end the captain allowed welding so they welded, hence it is over specced.

Yesterday I got an 11 page surveyor report with lots of pics, and calcs confirming the cargo lashing is IMO compliant etc etc. The report makes interesting reading (in a geeky sort of way that I, you, and others on here would apppreciate!). I will try to find somewhere to upload it as a pdf next week so folks can read it, next week. The quality of the report also underlines just what a Rolls Royce service you get from PSP; I never got this kind of surveyor input from Sevenstar/YSL. Top stuff.
 
JFM
When you sat down at the beginnining of last year and thought about building your new boat, have you now got exactly what you wanted and envisioned or is there something you're not quite happy with.
.
Most building projects seem to overun in cost and time so i was wondering if you're happy with the end cost considering what a superb vessel you have ended up with.
 
I gotta say MYAG, as I shot those final few seconds of the above movie with ship sailing down S'ton water, ladt Tuesday, with the wind howling 25kts, rain, and so on, I was so glad she was on a ship rather then me driving the Atlantic section. Easy to say from a keyboard that the Atlantic bit is "an adventure" or whatever, but in April I'll happily skip that trip and take a perfectly good aeroplane to the Med thanks. Call me a wimp - i don't care :D :D. If I were you I'd love to get it on a ship to Palma, Gib, anywhere around there, then do the long stretch to Turkey on own bottom (which is still quite a serious trip but the view is blue not grey). You are not getting any more of a "shake down" or "get to know the boat" just by doing the Atlantic piece, so why subject yourself to that possibly rough sea for 4 days???? Just imho :D :D

Yep, cant disagree with any of the above, all quite sensible. But boat owning certainly isn't and I have always had this thing about "next boat I will drive myself all the way" :D:D:D

JFM I think this is sound advice. I know too enough people who have been stuck in France trying to cross the bay. Having said that I also have come across in flat seas and been swimming 100 miles of northern spanish coast.

Gib to Turkey is a long stint with some great places to call in. Also if any issues you would have good service centers, Barcelona or Palma where you could sort issues.

To do the trip properly ie stopping and enjoying the Balearics, Sicily, southern tip of Italy, Greece etc would take some time mind you. Having said that Gocek and surrounding area is fantastic so why hang around. Myag do you go to Ekincek..Fab place

Yep, good points, there are so many options on a trip like this, time is not really an issue but as you say, I really want to get to the other end of the Med sooner rather than later.

I have spent a few days in Ekincek - very nice, in fact most of the coast from Bodrum to Fethiye is similarly fantastic.
 
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