Do what you can while you can

Only a few weeks into 2018 and an old uninvited 'friend' turned up unexpectedly, who I hadn't seen for almost 7 years, and was hoping I never would.

Thankfully their stay was relatively short and, while a little painful in the short term, they made me think of my longterm goals and needs.

They made me realize that I have spent more time planning the things I wanted to do and far less time actually doing them. I'm crashing through my forties now, and my twenty-year-old self would be horrified to see what little I have accomplished of my lifelong dreams and plans.

Simple power for a simple boat

I have spent some time looking over the fantastic site No Frills Sailing and it has inspired me to put together a few more articles for this site and ultimately revisit the design of my own web site. So I'm picking up on Lars topic about power on a boat and what is and is not needed on board.

My little yacht has very little need for power as I've equipped her with LED lighting which are mainly internally powered but I have still pieced together a small battery set up the allows me to charge the obligatory phone and laptop at a push. However its main function is to provide power to the bilge pump, lighting for the compass and the anchor light when needed. So what have I done with the everything else you would normally worry about?

All ashore who's going ashore!

The best thing about having a little boat is how close you can get to the shore and up into those little estuaries to explore and come ashore.

So what do I have aboard and what do can you do on the coast?

My Tool Box

I recently read a post about your 'onboard tool set' and it got me thinking about mine and perhaps how badly equipped it is.

The ability of my tool box is limited!

My Tool box is a 18" long and 8" wide. It sits in the rear quarter locker. It used to contain a comprehensive set of tools such as spanners, screwdrivers, bungs etc. But over the years it has been neglected and in general is always cursed when I go to it and find the tool I desire is not to be found. The tool is usually then found, much later, in the most random of places such as under the 1/4 berth, in the first aid kit or even in the boot of the car!

Little boats and boom covers

Lets face it. A small boat is, well... a small boat. They weren't designed for individuals over 6 foot, never mind two of them. They sail more like a dinghy than a cruiser and so aren't always as forgiving (but this isn't always a bad thing.) So there are a few things to think about when you have a small boat...

Some people take little boats to the extreme, but I'm in it for the fun

Life in Auckland Harbour - Janice of Wyoming

I'm not usually a super yacht fan, as they don't represent something I'm involved in and would be a dream I will never attain too, but I'm making an exception here, because if you've walked through the harbour in Auckland you've seen her, to be fair its hard to miss her. If you've not seen her in the harbour you'll still have seen her 50m mast from the harbour bridge I bet!

At 40m LOA (130ft in old money) and 8.7m in the Beam, she dwarfs all of the yachts in the marina. The 20m motor cruiser moored along side looked oldly small and more than a little out of place when I snapped the picture above. 

But who is she and where does she come from?

Books aboard...

It's essential to have a book aboard so you can while away the hours waiting for the high tide or the pub to open. It's also important to have the right reference book to hand when handling those important details such as selecting the right anchorage technique, or the right medical process to stitching your thumb back on. So putting the Almanac and ships log to one side what do you have on board?