Where To Start

Discuss anything to do with safety, technical aspects of yachts and engineering, and anything else to do with yachts and yachting in here.

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Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

There's loads in my blog, let me see what I can dig out....

Videos....

Here's the engine (excellent reliable lump of a thing, now):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdTQJkO227c

Here she is sailing without the engine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jnqwhs2-Sk

Must be a nice boat - it's attractive to dolphins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK-vhAzv2Us

Motoring around start point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowO32aAO2g

Our very first sail (in this boat) in very light winds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTrazXdU6JY


Images...

Launch day:
viewtopic.php?t=597

Various shots from a short cruise to Plymouth and back over a week or so:
viewtopic.php?t=698


I've bought a new camera and wide angle lens recently so I should be able to get some much better shots of the other cabins over the course of the summer. Basic layout though, inside, back to front:

Very large owners en-suite cabin with 2 berth bed to starboard, single to port, optional infill to make it a very very large triple berth. Loads of cupboards. All made of mahogany. Fitted wardrobe. Multiple drawers. Safe. Wet room with heads, sink, hot and cold water, shower. Standing headroom.

Up two steps to the wheelhouse. L shaped seating area. Comfortable for 4 adults. Plus a stool for a fifth. Sliding doors port and starboard. Sunroof. All open and it feels like you're outside. All shut and it feels like a 360 degree view conservatory. Standing headroom throughout.

Down two steps to the galley/saloon. Optional, lowering, large table with U shaped seating area opposite the galley. For 4 adults VERY comfortably to have a meal, or 5 slightly less so, without being in the way of someone in the galley at all. We've got the table in storage and use this as a chill out room instead of for dining specifically. We've also installed a Faversham stove which burns smokeless coal very nicely and can make this room very very cosy on a chilly night. The galley is a new Plastimo double hob/oven on gimbals, large sink and a 12/240 auto fridge. New immersion heater/calorifier tank under seating. Table lowered this whole area turns into another double berth if you wish - again without impeding galley access.

Walk forward through a sliding door which you can close behind you to make the forward area into a double en-suite guest cabin. Very generous V berth. Nice heads room.

All mahogany and tropical hardwood throughout.

New, these boats sell for £340k. They're built to the highest quality. So they last. Ours is 35 years old. Hull number 42.

When we were looking at Nauticats for the first time we met Clive Stratton who I think is the UK's main dealer for Nauticat (don't quote me), lovely chap. He told us about a Nauticat 33 from which the occupants were evacuated due to them being too far offshore in the Pacific to make it to safety fast enough to get away from an approaching hurricane. The boat wasn't scuppered (probably should have been really!). After the storm it was found bobbing around, happy as larry. I believe they were designed for Norwegians to sail in the North Sea and Baltic in, year-round.

Ours has a hull specifically designed to be able to break ice. We've not put it to use yet :)

Let me know if you want more info.

Give us £100k for it and we'll end our summer early! ;)
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Discus
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Post by Discus »

Jeff wrote:We're going back to living on land at some point in the next year or two. If you're not in a rush and want a LOT of boat for your money, consider ours. We'll probably be looking for ~£55k. Lots of pics in my blog. Eg: viewtopic.php?t=603
:o Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! :evil:

Jeff, don't let us down - haven't even met you in the flesh yet
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

A new adventure on land is definitely in our future I'm afraid.

Initially we'll be boatless but when Towser's sold I think almost certainly have a boat in the family. Isabella (our previous boat) is still for sale at the moment :)
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Discus
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Post by Discus »

A new adventure afloat is definitely in our future I'm afraid!

Always welcome to come sailing on Pen Azen if you get withdrawal symptoms in the interim.
Whose videos am I going to watch on You Tube in the future?
Better get filming! :wink:
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

Happy to set you up a dedicated area in the forum for a 'column' if you want to do something. I've come to realise over the years that your knowledge is HUGE. Very much appreciate your input personally and for the forum.
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Discus
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Post by Discus »

Shhh! You are embarrassing me now! :oops:

To be honest, we have been inspired by your experiences at sea over the years - tempered by frustration at not being able to get away for long enough to really go for it. Hoping for next year (fingers crossed). Probably have developed an unhealthy interest in boats over the years. Just seems to fit the idea of living life with as few responsibilities as I can get away with. Unfortunately, this becomes harder as you get older :(

Back to the original question from the OP regarding steel yachts. I echo your comments about the caveats of looking at them. Again, they are not as popular as GRP - ongoing maintenance being cited as the main bugbear. Steel yachts again tend to be cheaper to build than GRP, but the nature of the steel used means they are often more difficult to 'shape' resulting in some boats that have really been hit by the ugly stick. The commonest way of forming the hull is to use using a double chined construction, allowing flatter sheets of steel to be used. Rolled steel hulls are more expensive to construct but can be almost indestinguishable from GRP hulls. Steel is far more common in Dutch boats - there are some good production boats in steel to be found over there. The hull needs to be insulated on the inside or you can get rampant condensation. Closed cell foam (sprayed or glued on) is most commonly used. Rust is the major killer and is often hidden under the insulation so not always visible. If you can weld, repairs can be fairly simple, grind out the rotten stuff and weld in some new bits. Talked to a guy once in the floating harbour in Bristol who had just launched his (new to him) steel boat. He had cut off the whole transom and part of the cockpit and welded up a new one. Was still busy welding up some cockpit support struts afloat. You can get some steel yachts in corten steel which is rust resistant but a devil to get any kind of paint to stick to it. The ultimate is a stainless steel hull - expensive but long lasting. The French build quite a few stainless hulls, Inox being the keyword in French. Electrolysis can be another big issue. Different metals need to be isolated from the hull - tales of owners losing a spanner in the bilge to find it has reacted with the hull and caused a leak have been mentioned. Steel boats are also tough as old boots. Google Ebbtide and Hedoniste 44 for a couple of proven designs. Again a surveyor should have the right kit to assess plate thickness and general construction. Fit out tends to be variable and designs favour long keels - no bad thing for offshore work (I have a GRP long keeler). If you have deep pockets, look at Aluminium yachts, particularly Ovni yachts which look good, are solid and have good offshore credentials.

Rob
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

Ovni is the do-it-all boat isn't it. I've always fancied one. Ocean capable yet with a minimum draft of not much more than a puddle, so you can cross an ocean, and then sail up a navigable drain to park up for the night.

But.

They're about as soulful as a Big Mac.

And don't drop a 2p coin in the bilges, apparently.
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Discus
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Post by Discus »

................or a button battery. Wasn't there a story about someone with an aluminium hull who was cleaning the underside while afloat with a mask and snorkel. Moved a jelly fish that was up against the hull, went back aboard and discovered a leak that mysteriously stopped after a minute or two. Back over the side to find jelly fish back in situ. Moved it away again to find the leak had returned. Eventually found a button battery in the bilge that had reacted with the hull causing a leak, the water had pulled the jelly fish up against the hull, thus stopping the leak when it was over the small hole. Good job the jelly fish was around to fill in the hole!
Also read in Yachting monthly about a guy who sailed a ferro boat from the East coast to the. Caribbean. On arrival, he dived under the boat to find an impact hole in the hull, plugged up with East coast mud that had been there since she was on her mud berth back home. Weird!!

Soulful as a Big Mac? Never heared that one! (Never had a Big Mac either!!)
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

Not heard the one about the jellyfish before. I guess it's possible. Maybe.

:)
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Discus
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Post by Discus »

All true! Doubting Thomas! :wink:
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Post by Terry T »

Discus wrote:All true! Doubting Thomas! :wink:
Hi Rob ..... Sorry for thread drift .....was down your neck of the woods to day but you were not at home ! Tut tut so near to launching too . :wink:
Discus
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Post by Discus »

Terry T wrote:
Discus wrote:All true! Doubting Thomas! :wink:
Hi Rob ..... Sorry for thread drift .....was down your neck of the woods to day but you were not at home ! Tut tut so near to launching too . :wink:
I know, nerves are setting in now as we are launching 2nd May, still lots to do. Down on boat tomorrow for a woodwork blitz! :o
EasyGoingPatrick
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Sorry

Post by EasyGoingPatrick »

...I think I got mixed up during the posts and thought Rob, not Jeff, was selling the Nauticat. Sorry about that.

Well, Jeff, if I ever manage to liquidate the funds with which I plan on buying discussed yacht, Towser looks like exactly what I would be looking for. She/he (? not sure - Towser is a male name, yes? Is it still considered bad luck for boat not to be female?) looks like just the kind of yacht I would be looking for. And you can't put a price on buying from someone you trust. I'm sure most yacht dealers are perfectly reputable, but - to be frank - I'd prefer to buy from you.

I'm afraid I can't right at this moment slap £100k of green stuff in your hand though.


- Patrick


PS - I have already learned LOADS in this thread. Thank you!
Complete sailing beginner. I welcome any help or advice anyone is able to offer.
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

Hehe no worries.

I'll try to remember to drop you a note when we officially put 'it' on the market. And let me know if/when you're ready to move. Here's why Towser is called Towser by the way:

http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/towser.html

Naughty Cat :)
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EasyGoingPatrick
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Ah...

Post by EasyGoingPatrick »

...so Towser is actually female. All becomes clear.
Complete sailing beginner. I welcome any help or advice anyone is able to offer.
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