The more I read about the nitty gritty of things, the more I want to shoot myself in the foot. Marty kindly suggested I aim higher

He was a bit more helpful on noting that boat registration wasn’t too hard, and that I didn’t need to register in Liberia, where he suggested previously.

ie. Registering a yacht

Or the joys of Carrying documents to sail internationally

I have such an exceptional amount to learn, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m going to need to hire a crack team of researchers…

I have been trying to stop my nail biting habit, by wearing a rubber band around my wrist, so that any time I start munching on my digits, I stretch out the band and give myself thwack on the wrist. Well, all this isn’t helping! I have a big red mark now.

In other news not particuarly related to sailing, the European heatwave is killing me. I haven’t experienced anything as consistantly hot as I have here, in Berlin of all places, where it is expected to get down to -10c in winter. Respite is on it’s way, the 10 day weather forecast predicts a wave of thunderstorms. I will have to epoxy up the hole in my left shoe.

So I think I really just need to calm down, and deal with all this piece by piece, and make a list of stuff I need to achieve in the limited time I have. My next post will be a brief timeline of future events.

n.

After talking with ‘Steve’ (no, that is not his real name!) today, we have basically signed & sealed a deal for the Contessa. I am so scared right now. I have never been in so much debt. To keep her up on dry land is costing me a considerable sum, and unfortunately it doesn’t look like I can budge him on the price of dry-docking, with a 10% increase if I pay it monthly. Deep breath I hope I can do this.

Shaking.

On a more positive note, he did recommend I not have her gel-coated, which is a costly relief. I am trusting a lot of people already, of whom I have never met. Naive? Maybe.

Err, yes.

n.

I didn’t think things would move very quickly on this. My silly proposal in the previous post actually worked!

Dear Nick

Well, the owner hasn’t dismissed your proposal out of hand because he is a romantic and likes the idea of Red Admiral going to NZ. His sticking point is a total price of ?Ǭ£7.5k, even if this takes you a little longer to pay off.

Let us also discuss Yard terms, although I expect you know most of this from the website. Summer storage ashore Aug-Oct is ?Ǭ£15 per foot (?Ǭ£390) and winter storage Nov-April is ?Ǭ£36 per foot (?Ǭ£936). I cannot do a shorter period of winter storage, because I have a small yard and I must maximise the revenue from every space in the winter to survive. If you were on a mooring during the winter, this is much more economical but probably not very practical from a fitting out point of view.

Lift and launch to mooring is ?Ǭ£5 per foot. Lowering and re-stepping the mast is ?Ǭ£3.50 per foot of boat each way or ?Ǭ£5 for both ways if done on the same day. There are no charges for dinghy/outboard storage (although this is not possible when the boat is ashore), car parking, use of facilities, water or electricity (unless you require a permanent electrical connection in order to run a de-humidifier/heater, for instance).

Working on your boat is possible at any time (power points all round yard), provided you are sensitive to other customers and boat owners, and to my family who live on site. Staying on board for extended periods is not possible but for 2 or 3 nights every so often is OK - there are local B&Bs in winter months.

Are you expecting to pursue without a survey? There are local surveyors and the cost might be c?Ǭ£300.

I hope this helps.

Regards
Steve

n.

So now I have a rough idea of the kind of boat I’m looking for, the begging begins. How much is one of these things going to cost me anyway? I have little savings, having churned through anything mildly substantial living in Berlin & trying to get a job (trust me, don’t even try…).

Early indications look like I could probably get away with spending about 8000Euros, or roughly $9500USD. Or heck, in Australian dollars… (cringe!) about $15000. So how much do I actually have? Not even half. Right now I’m holding my glass of water to the sky (hey, we’re in a heatwave here) and saying ‘heres to dreaming’… I think this is going to become my most popular phrase.

I have have a rough price, and mind you that price is for just the bones of the boat. Chances are, this thing is going to require a major overhaul. All sails that come with boats of this vintage and price are marked as ’serviceable’. This I believe, means they are shit. More or less, they need a lot of work. A full sail inventory could cost upwards of $10,000AUD, so I will just to deal with ’serviceable’ at this stage. The majority of hulls in this bracket also call for a little osmosis treatment. Osmosis is the method I attempted to use for learning German. I don’t like osmosis, and niether will my boat. She’ll more than likely need a new gel-coat and antifouling. Ouch. I will have to persuade someone to help me on that, and I will try and do as much of the work as I can. We’ll see.

Now I need some gadgets. Johannes thinks all I need are some charts and a handheld GPS - He is probably right, but I don’t think I’m so brave. I need a windvane, solar panels, more than likely a wind-generator, batteries, VHF radio, depth sounder, etc etc. Radar alarm? The list could take up another entry.

So I have no idea how I will get all this. First I will negotiate a boat. I will attempt to muster a thousand or three off the price, and then hit them with the $xxxx now and $xxxx per month until she’s paid for, and I’ll pay the docking fees until then. Haha, I have no idea if this will work. I’ll keep you updated.

nick.

After another few days of research, pestering newsgroups, individuals, yacht salesman and the like, I have come up with a list of potential yachts which could probably do the job (note this is not a difinitive list…):

S&S 32 (Jesse’s boat)
Island Packet 27
Orion 27
Sabre 28
Vancouver 27
Catalina 27
Contessa 26
Achilles 24
Cal 24

A number of the above boats have done proven circumnavigations. The Catalina is mildly lightweight, the Achilles and Cal maybe a tad small, the others bar the Contessa far too expensive. So the Contessa 26: It has survived a number of public circumnavigations by Brian Caldwell and Tania Aebi. A current expedition is underway by two Norwiegens in their boat BIKA. In my limited knowledge, this seems like the sure winner. More research, prices to be found, gel-coats to price. The list is limitless.

I have spent at least 9 hours today on Yachtworld.com, reviewing boats, figuring out realistic budgets, and researching each boat I’ve found to figure out it’s long distance offshore cruising ability. It seems from a price point of view, purchasing in America is the cheapest place in the world. Europe has a few gems, and since I am already here (Germany) maybe it is the easiest. I have also found numerous books on the subject, and hope to find second hand copies:

• Handbook of Offshore Cruising: The Dream and Reality of Modern Ocean Cruising
• Ocean Cruising on a Budget Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook: A Compendium for Coastal and Offshore Sailors
• Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat: A Guide to Essential Features, Handling, and Gear
• Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere

These books really made me feel like not everything is impossible. Sailing and yachts in general have an aura of expensive lifestyles behind them. I think it is just a fallacy by movie producers and watch makers. I think, chances are 90% of the worlds yachts are probably owned by normal people… While on the topic of books, I cannot forget to mention Jesse Martin who captured everbody’s heart with his solo circumnavigation. I read this book five years ago. Thanks Jesse!

I need a book sponsor.

nick