Retirement and sailing.

[john_morris_uk]

Also known as security bits, e.g. Pentalobe_screw. But could also refer to woodworking Forstner bits.

Understood. We carry a range of Torx bits, but that's the limit of 'speciality' as it's part of the socket set we carry.
I have one of these on board which covers most nuts and bolts and possibilities. (Its a slightly earlier version with even more sockets etc than this one!) Halfords Advanced 175 Pc Socket & Spanner Set | Halfords UK

 

[Bajansailor]

If you are not 'doing the ARC', and are considering Barbados as a first port of call in the New World, please do give me a shout, and if you have any questions about things here.
You mention single malt and gin above, but Barbados rum is quite quaffable as well, especially Mount Gay XO.......
Not to mention our local brew, Banks beer.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Well done John. You are certainly getting prepared in a sensible way.

Chatting with some owners who recently completed a 7 year round the world trip, they found the biggest problem was fresh water. They always had limited supplies from their watermaker and NEVER drank anything from the main tanks unlessit had been filtered and boiled first as it always contained bugs.

Have you considered clothes washing? There are a number of small portable washing machines that can be run using an inverter. Again this uses water, if not your clothes will eventually turn grey.

They also said to have all your rigging fitted with Norseman or similar terminals. If the wire starts fracturing, you replace from some ships stock using the same terminals (always have some spares and cones). Cut out the damaged section of wire and keep the balance provided it is longer than the shortest piece of standing rigging as it can still be reused.

All the other posts have forgotten to add Duck tape and self amalgamating tape. Both can be very useful and not easy to locate in some places.

Hope I have not been preaching to the converted.

Our water maker is supposed to supply 50 litres/hour for 15 amps. Even if it's 40 litres in practice, that's a lot of water for not a lot of Ah's. I'm hoping it will be enough. I'm also hoping wind and solar will give us enough amps to make water and not have to run the generator too much.

All rigging was replaced last year but only one or two lengths have Sta-lok terminals. The JSASTC Nicholson 55's used to carry a length of wire longer than the longest wire in the rig and a set of Sta-lok terminals. They sailed all round the world but I don't recall the wire ever getting used...

Clothes washing is usually in laundrettes or by hand. I did look at portable washing machines but I haven't seen one I was convinced about yet.

You've reminded me that my supply of self amalgamating tape is running low. Thank you.

Ensure your passport(s) have a few years left on them. I did not. Mine expires 7 Jan 2023 which is now a problem. I must take a flight home to renew because the waiting time to get it back is 10 weeks which violates the 90/180. I have decided the best place to leave the boat while i travel home will be in the Canaries because they may be a bit lax being a special EU thingy. Also Etias will not have kicked in until 2023. I will have used up most, if not all, of my 90/180 getting to the Canaries. This is a pain because I have renewed the last two passports outside UK but after Brexit I don't think that is possible anymore.

Point taken. I will now try to avoid smugness as we renewed ours in the last month especially for the trip. We did ours using the online renewal portal and our passports arrived within two weeks. The 90/180 is a PITA and I can see us spending some time in Gibraltar and Morocco as a result.

 

[john_morris_uk]

If you are not 'doing the ARC', and are considering Barbados as a first port of call in the New World, please do give me a shout, and if you have any questions about things here.
You mention single malt and gin above, but Barbados rum is quite quaffable as well, especially Mount Gay XO.......
Not to mention our local brew, Banks beer.

I haven't forgotten your kind invitation. I'm very reluctant to join the ARC. At 39 feet we would be nearly the smallest boat. They all seem, to be 45-65 feet long nowadays. The ARC boats also seem to have a lot of 'paying guests' on them... I'm also reluctant to leave Barbados as an unwind destination...

 

[Bajansailor]

I'm also reluctant to leave Barbados as an unwind destination...

We are quite a good 'unwind' destination really, especially if rum (XO) or Banks is involved
And even if we are an upwind destination, then if you are in Martinique and have a nice Northeasterly, you can lay Barbados comfortably on one tack on a beam / close reach.
One disadvantage of living here is that if we go anywhere, it is always a bit of a bash to get back - but coming back from Sainte Anne in Martinique is generally the easiest.

Re the ARC, it has certainly changed a lot since I sailed in the first one in 1986 when there was a very strong 'small' boat contingent and anything over about 45' was considered to be fairly big really.
Our smallest entry was a Hurley 22, and there was also a singlehanded Achilles 24 (who got a special prize for arriving last, taking about 30 days) and various others including a small Trapper, a Sadler 26 and a Frances 26.

 

[john_morris_uk]

We are quite a good 'unwind' destination really, especially if rum (XO) or Banks is involved
And even if we are an upwind destination, then if you are in Martinique and have a nice Northeasterly, you can lay Barbados comfortably on one tack on a beam / close reach.
One disadvantage of living here is that if we go anywhere, it is always a bit of a bash to get back - but coming back from Sainte Anne in Martinique is generally the easiest.

Re the ARC, it has certainly changed a lot since I sailed in the first one in 1986 when there was a very strong 'small' boat contingent and anything over about 45' was considered to be fairly big really.
Our smallest entry was a Hurley 22, and there was also a singlehanded Achilles 24 (who got a special prize for arriving last, taking about 30 days) and various others including a small Trapper, a Sadler 26 and a Frances 26.

ARC FAQ says minimum 27' nowadays and ARC January 2023 give you 15 January to 10 February (33 days?) to cross.

 

[Blueboatman]

Wow
It’s really happening once you stop the day job as it were
What can I offer ?
They do sell power tools and Sikafkex in other countries so a CC is a good tool.

its the stupid little bits that stop the cruise, I have found - you can sail without a chart plotter or a domestic water pump or a drippy cracked hatch or bent spinnaker pole but not without the gooseneck pin..

So I would strongly advise taking a serious 4inch vice mountable on a scaffold board /fender board..
Over length bolts of useful diameter ..
And some hand files , definitely a set of threaded studding and nuts and bolts and washers , a set of taps and dies , a 41/2 inch grinder… to ‘size things’ to the right diameter as needs must..
and a couple of pairs of Stilson and molegrips sufficient to remove and replace any seized fitting, through hull and rigging component .
The rest can be fixed upon arrival ?
The devils in the detail but success is there for the taking and enjoying.

And it doesn’t ALL have to be done before leaving the solent.
Best wishes.

Appreciate all the behind the scenes wok to keep the forum ad and nutter free , well relatively! ????

 

[westernman]

Ensure your passport(s) have a few years left on them. I did not. Mine expires 7 Jan 2023 which is now a problem. I must take a flight home to renew because the waiting time to get it back is 10 weeks which violates the 90/180. I have decided the best place to leave the boat while i travel home will be in the Canaries because they may be a bit lax being a special EU thingy. Also Etias will not have kicked in until 2023. I will have used up most, if not all, of my 90/180 getting to the Canaries. This is a pain because I have renewed the last two passports outside UK but after Brexit I don't think that is possible anymore.

May be it is worth trying to apply for an additional (i.e. 2nd) passport so you are not stranded anywhere?
Not being stranded somewhere abroad without a passport is a valid reason for issuing an additional passport.

Additional passports

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Enjoy your retirement. I have recently retired after many years of exciting work in nuclear defence. I now have time to enjoy my summer house in Greece and sail around the home waters of the UK.
I am sure you already have things like, spare starter motor; plenty of wide amalgamate tape ; all types of electrical connectors & fuses; led bulbs; spare multimeter. epoxy & cloth; electrical cables; spare bilge pump and things for the "what if" scenario. Happy sailing.

 

[geem]

Enjoy your retirement. I have recently retired after many years of exciting work in nuclear defence. I now have time to enjoy my summer house in Greece and sail around the home waters of the UK.
I am sure you already have things like, spare starter motor; plenty of wide amalgamate tape ; all types of electrical connectors & fuses; led bulbs; spare multimeter. epoxy & cloth; electrical cables; spare bilge pump and things for the "what if" scenario. Happy sailing.

We don't carry a spare starter motor on the basis they are too big, heavy and expensive. We work on the basis that we are a sailing boat first and foremost. Crossing the Atlantic is primarily a sailing trip. Not having an engine is no big deal.
Starters can be refurbished almost anywhere in the world that has cars and trucks.

 

[Zing]

Everything breaks and something breaks almost every day, so redundancy and spare parts are important. Likewise preventative, rather than reactive maintenance is the better strategy, albeit that it is the more expensive way. (i.e. replace and service earlier than needed).

 

[RJJ]

Backup bank account and associated card. Our main bank cancelled both our cards in error, leaving us with one credit card in St Lucia as our only way to withdraw cash. It's bloody hard to get a card delivered to you!

Spare filters. You can get them in many places but often only the official branded ones at vast expense.

Spare mobile phone for inserting a local SIM, and in case one packs up due to life aboard.

The right size dinghy for your needs, in good repair. Our PVC one, several years old, didn't last the year.

 

[Neeves]

What is all this about retirement.

I recall, when I was young, my grandfathers retired and seemed to spend a lot of time sitting in armchairs.

I retired young, or I stopped being paid a salary when I was young. I still earn a little here and there but I'm constantly busy (as owning and using a yacht is a major responsibility). I'm also toying with an entrepreneurial idea.

John - you have skills and knowledge that are priceless - you will still 'work,' some of it will not enjoy largesse - but it will now be enjoyable as you will be 'working' at things you want to do (except when you need to fit a seal in your Volvo water pump - something no-one went to to do!).

In terms of what you need to carry - forget that - with the lists above - you need a bigger boat. Maybe you should simply keep working.

I might suggest a reconsideration of the washing machine, or some sort of device to make laundry work easier (and still be effective). Clean bedlinen becomes a a real and simple pleasure - when you don't have any. Maybe check out what people with caravans do.

Enjoy 'retirement'

Jonathan

 

[geem]

In terms of what you need to carry - forget that - with the lists above - you need a bigger boat.
[/QUOTE]
One of the reasons we swapped from a 37ft cat to a 44ft monohull. We can carry way more gear without sacrificing performance. With all our gear onboard, lots of spares, tools, dive gear, bikes, paddleboards, kite surfing gear (3boards 6 kites), 2 sewing machines, dog and dog crate, hard dinghy, 15hp engine, etc we still float above our original marks?

 

[BurnitBlue]

May be it is worth trying to apply for an additional (i.e. 2nd) passport so you are not stranded anywhere?
Not being stranded somewhere abroad without a passport is a valid reason for issuing an additional passport.

Additional passports

Thanks for the suggestion. I am not elegible for a second passport. I talked to someone in immigration and enquired about the procedure if I got caught out in a remote part of the cruising world with an ezxpired passport. No problem, get an emergency passport/document from your Embassy. OK it is only valid for a return travel home.

It is difficult to realise that the little piece of cardboard is so important and powerful. I can understand why they don't hand them out easily.

 

[westernman]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am not elegible for a second passport. I talked to someone in immigration and enquired about the procedure if I got caught out in a remote part of the cruising world with an ezxpired passport. No problem, get an emergency passport/document from your Embassy. OK it is only valid for a return travel home.

It is difficult to realise that the little piece of cardboard is so important and powerful. I can understand why they don't hand them out easily.

I would spend some time reading through the article in my post and then try asking some one else in the passport office being armed already with their check list.
You might be able to get a different answer. Then ask them for some kind of reference number/name/office identifier to put on your application.

This is certainly works when dealing with the French authorities. Keep asking different people until you get the answer which you like.

 

[Stemar]

They don't seem to be made any more, which is a shame, but if you can find one, one of these came with my new boat, and would now be high on the list of my long-term cruising kit wants

Black & Decker Jobber.

It clamps to a table and, well, anyone who knows one end of a spanner from the other will see why I want one aboard. There's one on Ebay at the moment, but it's a chancer's price. This variant doubles as a toolbox and is more reasonable: Black & Decker Workmate WM 450 Bench Workshop Job Mobile Tool Work box Diy Vice | eBay

 

[Gerry]

Re a washing machine. We had what I believe is known as a "dolly". It's a stainless steel plunger on a stick! You agitate the clothes in a bucket. It does a remarkably good job and we found it invaluable-as well as taking up very little space. It did a very good job with minimal water usage. You will find that laundry services can be extremely expensive, particularly in the Caribbean islands where a local cartel frequently operates a service only wash!
Toilet spares proved to be worth their weight in gold, Jabsco for us, they were virtually impossible to source in the western Caribbean.
Impellers for both the main engine and the outboard were used, raw water pump spare came into play on more than a few occasions. It was handy to be able to swop them out and then set to and repair the sickly one in a more leisurely fashion.
A number of high quality jerry cans. Frequently there can be long trips to find fuel if you are not going to frequent marinas a lot. We used the Canadian made Sceptre cans. Absolutely fantastic-- ours are still going strong after 20 years of cruising.
Mostly just get going! Our only regret is that we didn't leave sooner.....

 

[dslittle]

We don't carry a spare starter motor on the basis they are too big, heavy and expensive. We work on the basis that we are a sailing boat first and foremost. Crossing the Atlantic is primarily a sailing trip. Not having an engine is no big deal.
Starters can be refurbished almost anywhere in the world that has cars and trucks.

I’m a bit sad on spares. We do carry a spare starter motor and a spare alternator.

Expensive ‘heavy’ spares to carry BUT having been stuck in a Marina paying for the privilege for just over a week after our starter motor burnt out waiting for a replacement (another story), I now know that it is much cheaper to carry a spare - just in case!!!

 

[Fr J Hackett]

A couple of things I have found useful some sail cloth of various weights and a needles, waxed threads and a leather palm, there used to be cloths with adhesive backing which can be very useful. A vice and somewhere that it can be mounted, it doesn't have to be huge or heavy. As well as the usual hacksaw and plenty of good blades ( Junior hacksaws in my experience are as much use as a chocolate teapot) a Japanese pull saw would be a good addition. I am sure you have the usual sockets, spanners and a selection of pliers, needle nose and circlip being useful on the odd occasion but a decent pair of needle nose can usually be used rather than circlip pliers. The list goes on as I am sure you know all too well, enjoy your "retirement" and fair winds wherever you go.