Sailing, Surfing and other things waterbased

But the place I ordered from didn’t actually have stock so I cancelled and ordered from Decathlon instead. 50 newton buoyancy aid, big front Velcro pocket, $46.

Going down the rabbit hole of PFD reviews people seem to have Strong Opinions about having some form of knife with you to cut away lines that you may be tangled in. This does come across as bit "tactical flashlight", but equally I can see that drowning would be sub-optimal.

I therefore bought this from a place in Newquay - made of recycled fishing nets (the scales) and designed specifically for cutting through lines. I'll loop a lanyard through the hole in the handle and attach that to my vest so I can't lose it, then keep it in the marsupial pouch.

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What, next to the inflatable Coastguard helicopter? Will the water purification plant and one week of emergency rations pack up small enough?

In the channel between Changi and Pulau Ubin- so close enough to swim to shore for a bottle of water and some food.

As opposed to the Channel back here, where according to the Tories you can walk to shore across the immigrants.

Well.

We got one race back.

Not sure if that was a gift from NZ. Very kind not to get a duck. 🤣

4-1

4-2. A good day on the water.

Oh, and @Dammit PFD - think about the kit you'll be wearing. 50 newtons of buoyancy is quickly eroded when you have a pair of boots full of water and wet kit...

Surfed an evening barrel session in the pool at Bristol this weekend, was really good

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Luckily bare feet, pair of shorts and a rash vest is all the kit I have on- there’s 85kg of me of course, but the more ice cream I eat the more buoyant I get (relatively).

Yesterday we went out in my friends 32’ ketch, it’s a fibre glass hulled boat from the early 1980’s, around 9 tonnes. We had been going out fishing on this boat before I started learning how to sail, but we’d used the motor - this was the first time we actually went sailing.

With all four sails set and good winds Valor will do around 7 knots - we didn’t have fair winds yesterday so we saw just over 4 knots for brief periods, although that was enough to get the gunwale close to the water which was fun.

Everything happens much more slowly on this big boat compared to the little dinghies that I have been using for the past month of so of buggering about in boats, and the sensation of speed and the immediacy of the response are both muted.

Weng’s boat has a steel tube and GRP Bimini added, which I can’t stand up underneath, so it was a case of finding somewhere to perch where I had sufficient leverage on the tiller but could also see the wind vane and what the sails were doing - tricky! I’d far rather a clear field of view (and would have accepted being rained on in exchange) rather than having the roof in the way. I’d also very much have preferred to have been standing, especially when sheeting in or out as doing so squatting wasn’t my preference. I would also like to try a smaller yacht that weighs less, but has a keel and ballast, and that I could stand up in - which I admit may be impossible as the smaller boats have lower booms, although I guess I’d just need to develop a good ducking reflex.

There is a Folkboat (GRP not clinker) in Pungol marina currently that is being offered in exchange for a donation to charity - it’s been in the boat shed for years, covered in bird shit and generally feeling a bit sorry for itself, and in the photograph you can see it has a prop in the usual place, but also an outboard motor on the transom suggesting that the onboard engine is feeling a bit sad.

I’m in the process of starting my own company at the moment which means I make my own schedule, I’m going to have a look at what taking on this project would mean - I have very little money but if I could make up for that in labour it might work out.

Simply put your remaining wealth in a dustbin, top up with cordite and ignite. That way it will at least go up with a satisfying bang instead of the drawn-out whimper of a boat 'project'.

Hahaha!

Immense 🤟

Guess who has just been offered a 51’ ketch project? The boat is free, the deferred maintenance won’t be…

As your brilliant analytical brain has deduced, some maintenance might be necessary, after the initial complete overhaul. There is no such thing as a free boat, new bin and cordite time!

Hoping for a fire sale of the Yalla when the bills mount

It will definitely need hauling out, sanding and painting- which given the size and weight is going to be something only a few yards can do.

The cost to get that all done by others is around SG$10,000, which is none trivial, but I can potter about with the other maintenance as it won’t need to get the boat up in the air.

The acknowledged fault list is currently:

• fuel tank breather buggered
  
  

Sadly I am not sufficiently an optimist that I would think that that will be the actual list once I get a decent look at the boat.

It’s one of three 51 foot ketches built by Kan Walker in his boat yard (the eponymous Walker Boats) in Geelong, ‘stralia.

Designed for the southern oceans, so the rather anemic winds we usually have here might struggle a little to get the boat up on its toes.

I think we need photos.

If you have spent at least £50k within a year on it I will be surprised.

Challenging as I’m currently unemployed, and have been since March. I do have some plans in that direction but not ones that have yet come to fruition.

Given the boats origins, recommend reading Ice Bird if you are looking for an exciting maiden voyage.

Never say never, but I think that might be ambitious. Also, cold.

I would like to do some proper sailing once I am confident in both my abilities and the condition of the boat, but I’m also keen not to drown shortly after watching my boat sink.

Starting your own company needs a current projects surely

Would drowning before your boat sinks be preferable?