Boat preperation prior to moving aboard - what sho

[CharlesM]

Hello All


Someone mentioned moving aboard prior to setting up the boat could put me and my Love off for life. so

What type of work/preperation should be done to a boat (sail) prior to moving aboard.

Purpose of boat is long term cruising with minimal marina time. Possibly Med with long term view of tropics.

Thoughts I have are
1) Accomodation - comfortable bedding and lee cloths where appropriate.
2) Galley - Decent stove and oven. Is an oven neccesary?
I do not consider refrigeration as essential.
3) Power generation. Since most time at anchor power is a requirement. Solar and/or air genoerator. Obviously electrics must be servicable.
4) Heads and shower. Hot water and working heads
5) Anchor and chain - sufficient anchor and chain
6) tender
7) safety items - liferaft, jackstays, epirb, lifejackets & harnesses
8) Water - fresh and possibly salt water pumps (pref manual)
9) through hulls serviced
10) Standing rigging checked
11) Engine serviced

gosh - this list is getting a bit long already and I am sure there are items I have not touched on yet.

Thanks
Charles



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[jerryat]

Hi Charles,

If you are going to the Med. initially, a windgen will not be a priority as the winds are generally (!) fairly light. I would go for a couple of large solar panels - size depending on the room you have - but the bigger the better. Do re-consider refrigeration. You will find life damn miserable without it from our experience. We do not consider an oven a necessity for Med cruising, but do use ours regularly on longer trips for bread-making and the occassional casserole etc.

A towed water generator similar to the Aqua4gen is excelllent on the longer passages and will, almost on it's own, cater for the majority of your power needs assuming you are not running a watermaker. You need anchors not AN anchor. We carry four and have used them alll during seven years fulll time cruising. As you indicate a preference for anchoring, over size bowers will pay handsome dividends in the way of relaxed nights - and days!!

Agree with the rest of your thoughts but would also add: effective mozzie nets to ALL openings including the main hatch, a good long cockpit awning (in addition to a bimini if you have one) as biminis without sidescreens are useless once the sun starts declining, additional gas bottles (we carry six in total) as this allows the greatest periods of independence, spare water in jerrycans (same reason) spares for main engine, pumps, heads, cooker, autopilots etc, fans in the sleeping cabin(s) and saloon, windscoop for the forehatch at least, a good windlass unless your anchors are light (and they shouldn't be!!) a highish output alternator and ...............

There's lots more, but these are much a matter of personal preference.

Hope this helps as a start,

Best of luck with your trip
Jerry

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[Abigail]

Re: Boat preperation prior to moving aboard - what

Hi - depends on the sailing you're planning - eg are your preparing for the Arctic or the Med? For long cruises or essentially day-sailing. Jus the two of you or frequent visitors and/or crew? How much of your own repairs are you willing/able to do, or will/can you pay people? Are you prepared to be stopped from sailing to get something fixed/import a part.

All these questions really influence how much you want to do, and even what kind of boat you buy. So it's really worth giving them some thought as part of your planning. Also - you won't get it all right before you go - because you don't know what it's like till you're living on board. So you will make mistakes and have to redo/rethink some bits. Eg we totally ballsed up our upholstery in the main saloon and will have to redo it.

On your specifics:

1) Accomodation - comfortable bedding and lee cloths where appropriate. Definitely get a good mattress and good ventilation underneath it. Lee cloths are important if you are thinking of longer passages in stormy waters.
2) Galley - Decent stove and oven. Is an oven neccesary? I would strongly reocmmend an over - roasts and bakes (eg baked fish) canb e started underway and enjoyed on arrival. And while people write of pan baked bread, a real over baked loaf is heaven. And it makes a good Faraday cage in a thunderstorm. Get a pressure cooker too.
I do not consider refrigeration as essential. - A fridge is really crucial. it is hard enought o ensure you are managing supplies in a limited space using drying etc as ar eplacement for a freezer. No fridge is much harder to manage.
3) Power generation. Since most time at anchor power is a requirement. Solar and/or air genoerator. Obviously electrics must be servicable. Agree with the comment about wind being less useful in the Med (tho from hearsay not experience). There are lots of posts about this and discussion about it across these boards.
4) Heads and shower. Hot water and working heads Definitely
5) Anchor and chain - sufficient anchor and chain AnchorS - never rely on just one. Your main one should (i) at least one size bigger than the minimum recommended for your (loaded) boat weight and (ii) not bigger than you and regular crew could haul up by hand if you absolutely had to (but fit a windlass for the day to day!) Then at least one more bow anchor and a stern held kedge - and many liveaboards carry more. Your ground tackle system (including chain, stern ropes, dinghy etc) are you first line of insurance.
6) tender - as I sell what I think are the best tenders around (see www.swifgig.com) I obviously believe in a hard chine, high flotation, easily rowed and sailed tender. It's your family car, your extra fun, part of your safety list ....
7) safety items - liferaft, jackstays, epirb, lifejackets & harnesses - lots to say here and of course must be on the list
8) Water - fresh and possibly salt water pumps (pref manual)
9) through hulls serviced - also look at locations. This year we moved two to somewhere we could reach in a hurry, as we couldn't before. This was really helpful when the fridge intake clogged in the Deben!
10) Standing rigging checked Yep
11) Engine serviced Yep

Also - which is related to the point about what you want to take on yourselves - think about tool kits and spares. What you want to carry and be able to do so next time your engine is serviced you do it yourself.

A big addition to your list (assuming this is a sailing yacht) is your sail wardrobe - handleability, condition, and your options in both heavy weather and very light airs.

We have also worked hard on

(i) steering options - wind vane and electronic
(ii) entertainment and communications - music, internet, email etc
(iii) some (limited by usual standards) nav equipment, and we are just installing radar

Enjoy the process - it's the only way!

<hr width=100% size=1>Sarah & Pip

www.greatlittleboats.com
UK & Ireland distributors of Swifgig

 

[Keith]

you cannot have enough vents!!!! especially in the galley and head also make sure all piping and through hulls are easily accessible, theres nothing worse than inaccessible through hulls etc, refrigeration...... we lived without it and around spain, portugal etc it was great as going to the market every day is all part of it and get everything fresh,same in carribbean everything (generally) is fresh from local markets, so there is no need to fridge it, and, it its not fitted it can't break down......this was the biggest cry of anguish that we would hear, the fridge is down...also its generally your heaviest draw on the batteries, consequently for us battery draw being minimal solar panels did it all.......keith

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[Rob_Webb]

Re: Boat preperatioCat 1

Basically sounds like reading through an Cat 1 offshore checklist would help.

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[AndrewB]

Re: Boat preparation prior to moving aboard

In addition to other suggestions already made:

- Beef up the security to your yacht.

- Sort out an emergency steering arrangement.

- Check throughout the yacht what heavy items might come loose in the event of a knockdown, and secure them.

- Service the heads. Consider that in some areas a holding tank is compulsory.

- Beef up your water capacity - 100 galls minimum - or install a water-maker.

- Install an autopilot.

- Install a 12v fan.

- Organise mosquito screens (that's already been said, but it's so worth repeating).

- Carry spare parts for all pumps, a set of engine gaskets, a really good toolkit, emergency fittings like Bulldog grips, sail repair kit, spare anchor (ditto).

- Entertainment and communication .. computer, TV, SSB, iridium?

- Personally I think an oven is essential, e.g. for reheating croissants, for making bread on long passages, or stuff like Fray Bentos pies. But imaginative use can be made of a pressure-cooker.

- Expect to change your mind about a fridge!

 

[Keith]

Oh i forgot on the last mail, fit a good CD/radio and a book shelf, as a lot of boats will swop books with other cruisers....keith

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[ChrisE]

I can only agree with most of what has been said above although I have a different view on tenders and hot water, especially if you are going transat. We took a tinker tramp and a 3hp on our travels and were continually disappointed with its sea keeping qualities and its speed. I'd want as big a rollup RIB type tender as I could safely store plus a good size say 6hp plus outboard. A tender of a good size allows you to get to and from your anchorage in virtually any weather conditions and you can explore more places. Lugging the o/b on and off is a bit of a pain but not that difficult if you use a halyard or a block and tackle.

Regarding hot water, our budget meant we had to choose between a fridge or hot water. Fridge every time, if you are going anywhere hot solar showers on deck are a delight and free but no cold beer at the end of the day or milk that is forever tepid is no fun at all.

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