I’m beginning to find my battle with water to be utterly amusing. I mean really, I should be steaming mad about it, but I think it’s only a small show of what’s yet to come. This evening after a dinner of rolls and mayonnaise tuna, I set about wondering what I could amuse myself with when the sun went down (I have no electricity). So there I was sitting in the dark eating my roll, and I had a cracking idea: Audio Books! I set about getting ready for bed, to lie down with Bertrand Russel’s ‘Religion and Science’ crackling through my headphones. I was sure it would set the mood for the possibility of complex dreaming, and if not, maybe the enigma of two opposing systems of thought could be unleashed in the forward cabin of my Contessa 26.

I moved into the forward cabin the night before, after finding a few small leaks dripping on my feet from the cockpit seats. Clearly the screws holding the teak down on the seats need a new lease of life, and are letting drips through. So I moved into the forward ‘cabin’ thinking it was dry and cosy up the front. When I say cabin, it sounds a little glamorous - It’s more like one of those Japanese motels that are like decompression chambers. You couldn’t sit up if you tried - You’d be lucky to get your head four inches off the pillow before meeting the ‘ceiling’. It seemed like a good idea from a damp point of view, but alas, the other issue aside from space was that my feet were ever so slightly above my head, due to a minor incline towards the forepeak. I swear I could feel my heart pumping a tiny bit harder to circulate the blood. So here I am lying in a tiny bed with my feet higher than my head, practically breathing in the gel coat above me, thinking how wonderful all this boating business is. I miracuously slept through, and even quite enjoyed having the hatch just above my head, so as to to look at the rigging when I woke up.

But back to unravelling the mystery of Religion and Science - There I was (and I’m not embellishing this for literary reasons) climbing into bed on my second sojourn in the front cabin with Bertrand Russell playing over my headphones, only to find my sleeping bag completely and utterly wet through. As I had a torch in my mouth, I quickly moved around to see what the heck was going on, only to have it hit the ultra low roof, nearly knocking my teeth out and breaking the bulb. I had one leg in the wet sleeping bag, a broken torch in my mouth, and this rather poncy Cambridge voiceover babbling on about absolute and logical truths. I was just about to get angry, but then I couldn’t help but laugh at the entire situation, because I really think its only the nano-tip of the iceberg. I mean really, by the time this escapade is over, nothing will ever suprise or annoy me, ever again.

Luckily for me though, I have a second sleeping bag from when I first came down to see Constellation, back in August. It’s too thin for these British spring evenings, so the sailing pants I bought for the failed Sotogrande delivery have finally come in use - They were my pillow, but now they’re keeping my legs warm, and maybe even dry if it rains again. Needless to say, I’m back to the bed where I started.

I’ve decided from now on, the only thing going in the front cabin ever again, will be my pet sea otter, Albert - I’ll let him roam about up front, building dams.

nick.

Firstly, an enormous thankyou to Marty for his generous donation at a very tough time. Thanks again Marty, I really appreciate it.

As you well know, I flew over succesfully, however my trick of strapping the mainsail to my backpack and claiming it was only one bag was unsuccesful the second time around. British easyJet staff let it through, but the Germans wouldn’t have it. So, for an additional 15euros I got it onboard, and managed to only be 1kg over the baggage limit which was overlooked. I arrived in at Gatwick and took the train in to see a friend I hadn’t seen for a year, and as we’re as poor as each other, he’d already made dinner and we sat near Victoria Station for quiche and salad (thanks Matt!). I stayed for two nights in Harrow, London with the company I work for - I was put up with good food and drink for two nights, and even a lift down to Constellation on the Friday (thanks Simon!).

Constellation was full up with water again, but I’ve been through that already… I pumped it out and luckily Friday was one of the last sunny days since, and she dried fairly well. Saturday & Sunday were a right-off, I just walked around a bit and bought food for the week. Wondering what on earth I was going to do about my dwindling money situation, I looked into a pub job and suprisingly started on Sunday evening. My first night was utterly nerve wracking, not knowing the first thing about working behind a bar. The locals have named me ‘Ned’ (after Ned Kelly) and I was flamed thoroughly for not knowing the Sunday night quiz question of ‘what is the name of a dry bed in Australia that fills with water’ - It’s a Billabong in case you’re wondering - I slapped myself with a wet tea towel after finding out the answer.

The remainder of the week has been hopeless for boat work. Incredibly wet and windy, and no sign of a break. I’ve worked more hours than intended this week, but since I haven’t yet got an office or nice weather to work, I guess it doesn’t really matter.

I’m still really pushing for a May launch - However finances are incredibly tight at the moment. The past year has been really quite amazing in regards to last minute donations or help from people. On around 5 distinct occasions I’ve been utterly devasated financially, with bills looming and banks chasing minimum payments, only to have money literally appear from nowhere. Last night was an excellent example: I had 2pounds left in my pocket to last till Thursday, and I was wondering how I was going to make it - And then, a large table came in at the pub and left a 14pound tip, of which the manager gave me 10pounds. Thursday is payday, so now I’ll make it quite easily. Matt, my friend living in London boasts a 3pound a day budget, but I must say I’ve completely smashed his efforts, living on roughly a pound a day. Tesco’s is your friend.

While living finances are non-existant, I have managed to more or less pay off the boatyard - I now just need to come up with 90pounds for the launch fee. Finding a marina who will allow me to pay pro-rata on the yearly mooring fee is however posing to be difficult. The yard I’m currently in is reluctant to give me a berth on such terms, because they’d rather an annual customer. Other yards have quoted me ‘visitor rates’ at 21pounds a night, which is laughable at best. I’ll anchor in the Solent and swim in to shore for sandwiches before I part with that kind of money…

So, problems abound, but I’m doing my best. I’m able to get Internet access at the pub instead of having to go through my 5 mile walk to the local Library which is nice, so fingers crossed for everything else working out. I do miss Berlin dearly, as it’s been my home for over a year and I loved the life I was living there. My apartment is still there intact however, which the Germans call a ‘Koffer in Berlin’ (translation: ‘Suitcase in Berlin’) - It’s definitely a city you can’t leave easily, and must always have a toe in. I’m here now though, still completely focused as I have been for the past 9 months on this project - This new effort is merely another step closer to making it happen.

nick.

A very quick post on this horrible rainy day. I’ve finally made it down to the boat, and I have a good list of things to do before launch. Everything should go according to plan, however money is as always an issue. I’m working one day and two nights at a local pub to cover hard standing fees, food and my rent at home in Berlin, so it’s nice to finally have a reliable income. I’m a terrible barman, I can never remember peoples drinks, and I constantly break the till. I have however only worked one night… Anyway, soldier on.

I have nothing organised on the office-space front just yet, so I’m a bit nervous about that. I need somewhere to carry on my other work otherwise I’ll be in more financial woes… Not to mention the fact I have to walk 5miles to the local library to check my email.

Constellation was full up with water again, but I have some fresh ideas on a self-draining cockpit to implement before launch. I’m not looking forward to drilling holes in the hull.

Other than that, life is fairly solitary. I have no elecricity or gas, and I sneak around the yard because I’m not technically supposed to be living aboard… But I am happy to finally be here doing something.

More when I can,

nick.

I was within inches of a fully paid-for (including return flight) delivery trip to Sotogrande, Spain, however minutes ago it fell through due to the owner trying to seek compensation from another delivery company. So very disappointing… It could have been a 2000+ mile addition to my log book too - I am at the top of the list for the next opportunity though, so fingers crossed on something happening in the future. I even just traveled across Berlin to buy new sailing pants! So in light of this fiasco, I’m now arriving in England three days earlier than planned, on the 2nd of May.

In other news, please say hello to my new site. I hope it’s working for you, and if it isn’t, I suggest a Shift+Refresh in your browser. I took a lot of advice from the wonderful SEO Clinic review from SearchEngineJournal.com, so I hope the site is easier to read, and less cluttered. I’ve also centred the design for higher resolution browsers, moved the navigation around, and shown my sponsors more prominence on the page. On the left-hand side is also the addition of my Twitter updates - This is really just a silly addition to see how it goes - Think of it as a mini-blog (140characters or less) that I’ll be updating daily. Thank you also to Ahmed Bilal for the technical assistance on getting the new site up.

There are still a lot of ideas I’d like to implement, and further suggestions from my review, however I’ve done my best in this revision. A lot more will come, including some new revenue generation and charity fundraising ideas. For now though, it’s time for me to pack my bags and get ready for my new life aboard, starting this Wednesday!

Nick.

P.S If you have a website and you’d like to ‘trade links’ please contact me and I can add you to my new links page (a rather bare one at the moment!)

So, it was on the 6th of August, 2006 that I basically made the ‘deal’ on Constellation, and I’ve been more or less patiently waiting here in Berlin, working to pay for her. It’s been a really long eight months in some respects, but at the same time life has flown by, and I can’t believe we’re almost in May. When I first had this idea, I had planned to leave next month - Ha! But, at least I’m making efforts to launch by then, and this is where I make my move into the topic at hand: I’m going to live on the boat in just over a week!

It seemed that I could stay here, ’spinning my wheels’, or I could commit to a moving and see where it takes me. Since that decision, I am very close to [hopefully] organising office space, no less than 30metres from the boat, at a company that actually overlooks the marina. This means I can be near the boat, and also continue working. Being in the marina also opens up opportunities to crew and to learn as much as possible - I could stay here reading books for another couple of months, but really, you can only go so far.

I have some things to sort out here, namely paying the ‘kaution’ or ‘bond’ on the apartment, which is an unfortunate loss of €600.00, but alas, there is nothing I can do. I also need to figure out how to bring about 20 sailing books, mainsail, clothes and other assorted things on Easyjet without incurring excess baggage fees - €9/kg, no way! I will take the bus if I have to, but it’s a 24 hour ride, and actually costs more than the plane (go figure).

In about two weeks this blog will be awash with questions, and I’m hoping some sailors out there might be able to give me a hand. My plan thus far is to get the engine working, anti-foul the hull and make minor repairs on the rudder and replace the sacrificial anode. After that, the rest of the work can take place once she’s in the water. If anyone has any thoughts on things I must do before launch, I’d be most appreciative of any information.

nick!

I’ve been terribly busy lately, working and pondering what it is exactly I’m doing with this whole thing. I have been planning to launch Constellation in July for awhile now, however it seems kind of crazy, considering a week or so later I want to sail her to Kiel. What are the chances she’s going to be up for that kind of journey a week after launch? Pretty slim. Not only that, but Tudor jokes that the only person who can launch on time is Noah and his famous ark. I don’t claim to be Noah, and my boat is probably about the size of one of the horses he was carrying on board, but damned if I’m launching late. So I’m launching early. I need to work something out in the coming days before anything is final, but I’m organising a mooring as we speak.

Thanks again to my kid brother who sent over a care package, consisting of enough cash to get a flight over to the boat, as well as a box full of red licorice and tootsie rolls. I’m now hyperactive on American candy.

I’ll be launching the new site in a few days too, which includes recommendations from the folks at Searchenginejournal.com

nick!