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.

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!

The data center where my website is hosted crashed over the weekend, meaning I had to revert to an October 2006 backup. I managed to retrieve most of the content from Google cache, but alas maybe things are still probably missing…

In other news I will be down to see Constellation this weekend, from the 29th of March till the 2nd of April. I have next to no money after getting my ‘account overdue‘ notice last week, so the dreams of fixing a lot of things are dashed by the fact I can’t buy the battery charger and engine parts I need, as well as stanchions, lines and some other pieces I had planned. There are plenty tasks which require little money, so I guess I’ll be tackling those.

I always say I have exciting news to mention, and I never do - But, as soon as I can get a confirmation that I’m allowed to announce it, I promise I’ll I’ll speak up! My news doesn’t solve all the problems I have, but it does solve a fairly significant portion of them. I think…

If you are near Southampton, email me for directions and come say hi!

nick.

After the excitement of sailing around Gibraltar the other week, life has taken a dive into the realm of utter boredom. I have this really great project at the end of the tunnel (the trip…), but everything else before it, is simply poo. Sometimes I wish I had restructured my ambitions into a 3 year escapade, instead of a moving half way around the world, trying and learn a new language, buying a boat I can’t sail, learning how to sail and then attempting a half-circumnavigation.

All within 12 months.

I know, you’re all saying to yourself ‘errrr, duh’… However I made the commitment, and I’m not going to stop steaming forward. I have an extreme case of tunnel vision.

Ok, my public whinge is over for the minute, sorry. Immediate change of tone ahead:

Johannes Erdmann who is continuing his shoot to stardom, through book writing, speaking and being the nice guy that he is, has offered to help move Constellation to Kiel. What is my rationale for moving the boat? It’s twofold. One reason is cost - Everything is expensive in the UK, I hate to say it… I’m already in debt up to my proverbial eyeballs with the boatyard for hard standing, and once Constellation is in the water, costs double or triple. Parts, paint, marina fees and everything else related to kitting out the boat is going to be cheaper for me in Germany. I sincerely apologise to my UK contingency. I still love you, and none of this would have happened without the British. It’s just logistics…

The trip to Germany will also be an extremely valuable opportunity for me to pick up more experience, with someone who knows a great deal aboard my own boat. It’s roughly a five day sail, which will be a fascinating voyage in itself along the coastline.

So my immediate goal is to have the boat setup to minimum standards for the July trip to Kiel. This means servicing the engine and liferaft, having the rigging inspected and putting her in the water (the list is longer than that, but I won’t bore you). Ooooh, how I pray she floats.

nick.

(Help: If anyone from the UK knows what I need to do with this ‘bill of sale‘ could they contact me. Apparently I need to send it off? I also need to work out how to get an SSR number… Thanks!)

Well, 2006… What a year. I moved to a foreign language speaking country, visited Holland, Denmark, England, Scotland, Sweden, Norway and bought a boat. I attribute this to 99% luck and 1% perseverance; how lucky I am to be so fortunate. I know a lot of people have had ‘questionable’ 06’s, so I think ‘07 is the year destined to be a playing out of the hard work done in the year prior. We can only hope.

I succesfully travelled back with the mainsail, strapped to my backpack so it became considered ‘one item of luggage’. The check-in girl looked at it suspiciously, but waved the ‘pack’ through since it was under the weight limit. As we speak I’m emailing broken German back and forth to a Polish sailmaker just over the border, attempting to work out what I need as well as the costs involved. My existing sail I believe looks quite good - As everyone knows, I’m no expert on these things, but a little common-sense reasoning leads me to believe it’s in good condition.

In other news I have put a few ads around the site, in addition to my search attempts… I hope this doesn’t put people off. I’m just selling out for a buck, no doubt about it. I hardly spin wads of cash on it, but a few dollars here and there might just buy me a wind speed instrument over the course of this blog. You never know…

Fingers crossed for 2007.

nick.