Author: Will

Well the UK got battered by storms towards the end of both Oct and Jan and Valent did not escape. During the Oct storms unfortunately Valent became detached from the pontoon due to the failure of a shoreside cleat and sustained some minor damage to the gelcoat around the bow. This is due to be repaired later this month and will give me an opportunity to take advantage of the lift out.

Towards the end of Jan and early Feb along came Dudley, Eunice and Franklin in very short succession. Apart from a bit of flapping and fender rubs Valent appeared to have weathered the sequence well. But when I went down on Tue 22 Feb and stepped on board I noticed a strange new sight lying across the boom. It was soon apparent that the HF aerial had finally had enough of being treated as a whip by the storms and snapped near the base (where it was supported on the rail). It was being held up by the spreaders, hence why it was not flat on the deck.

Unfortunately the damage is a no fault claim (unable to sue Franklin even though he has a name), and whilst expensive to rectify is not enough to clear the excess on the insurance. The good news is that since I need a new HF aerial I can very much improve the setup and have a replacement utilising the backstay and get rid of the whip aerial entirely.

In other news the new Windlass is now fitted and working (despite my delusions of grandeur and ordering a gypsy 1 size too big). The new Lewmar windlass has a lower profile on the deck and runs significantly more smoothly and quietly. My friendly steel men have started the work to rectify the issue with the anchor pin and bowsprit. 2 independent fixing pins will be in situ shortly, and the anchor will have a smart new hole. The steel pole for the comms equipment is measured and has had an initial fitting. Now back in the workshop to have all the fittings added before being returned.

Now busy working on internal organisation and stowage of kit, spares and food. Also busy updating the fire fighting equipment plan. A wonderful small win is some new light bulbs I have found. At the same time I had been trying to work out which light switched did what and understand the wiring, since the saloon spots have no independent switch. Having searched for some replacement 12V spot bulbs, (and missed the fact that I had some in a box onboard), I came across some on-line that are multi coloured, LED and remote control. Lucy persuaded me that what our boat needed was colour changing lightbulbs. With reluctance I purchased them. And now I am hooked. Each lightbulb can be individually switched on/off (solving the switch problem) and each lightbulb can be set to a single colour – e.g. RED, also solving another challenge of night light down below. They are slightly longer (5mm) but a little bit of work with a screwdriver and the bulbs are in.

Hopefully we will get out on the water soon, but I suppose I should wait for the anchor to come back first.

The last few months have been characterised by unforgivable radio silence. For those of you who very kindly invest time in visiting this blog, I am sorry that the updates have not happened since April. The last post mentioned that Valent had moved round to Hamble Yacht Services (HYS), (now called Ancasta Yacht Services), and gone into the shed. 2 weeks after that, Suzy handed in her notice at work and we were in full departure mode. We had already handed in notice to the school to remove the girls. In early May it became increasingly obvious that our trip was in serious jeopardy due to Covid. The messages coming out of Australia were making it very clear that any hope of visiting in Jul 2022 was extremely optimistic. We had a few chats with the World ARC team, and it became clear that they were thinking of cancelling the 2022 edition of the World ARC. A few phone calls later, Suzy had her job back, the girls were re-enrolled at school and we had postponed our adventure for another 12 months. By the end of Jun 21 the World ARC did indeed cancel the 2022 edition, justifying our early call on postponing. I confess to feeling disappointed and rather withdrew from updating these pages. The other reason was getting some photos from Suzy’s phone – but that has been done, and 2022 is only just round the corner, or put another way, we hope to be departing in 7 months.

Valent was over at HYS to have the deck fittings removed and resealed, the hatch seals redone and to generally stop the leaks coming in through the deck. The other jobs included a new calorifier, (the old one failed on the way back from Spain), fitting the Hydrovane and Hydrogenerator and a few other jobs like a new sprayhood. Additionally, since the mast had to come out we took the opportunity to replace the standing rigging. This work went a little more slowly than expected, but eventually we were ready for relaunch in early July, just in time for the Summer holidays.

Photos: Top – relaunch, Bottom fm. left, the old calorifier, fitted Hydrovane bracket, dropping the mast back in.

Just before we departed on our Summer holiday the relay unit on the anchor failed. Mike of Ocean Electronics was able to work his magic and on it, and after a quick check of systems we were ready to depart in August. The plan was to cruise along the South Coast as far as The Scilly Isles and Falmouth. In the event the weather was not helpful. We delayed our departure by a day due to the horrible weather that greeted the start of the Fastnet. After that we made our way as far as Salcombe, with stops in Lymington, Portland & Dartmouth. Prior to our trip the girls had fun for a week on a dinghy sailing course, and Lucy learnt about the importance of ducking under the boom.

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Our next planned trip was the Oct half term. As the date got closer, my attention to the weather forecast became more focussed, and it soon became clear that a week sailing in the Solent/UK was going to be chilly, damp and at times very miserable. A quick bit of searching on the internet, and we were off to Greece for a week sailing with Sailing Holidays. We ended up on a very nice Beneteau 50 and joined the cruised in the North Ionian, mainly Corfu and the Greek Mainland. Some very pleasant days, a bit of swimming and plenty of chance to enjoy moving from A to B without putting on the foulies and hugging a hot drink.

Yesterday (Tue 13 Apr) was a big day for Valent – she was moved round to Hamble Yacht Services (HYS) and will now undergo the rest of the refit. The mast is coming out today and then she will be moved into a shed. Whilst in the care of the lovely people at HYS, Valent will have lots of deck work done to ensure that she is watertight, a new hot water system and lots of other small internal jobs. In addition the Hydrovane, Watt&Sea HydroGenerator and Watermaker will all be installed. When she comes out of the shed the new standing rigging will go on and all being well, Valent will be ready to go by the end of May and the half term holiday.

In the meantime, we managed to take advantage of the easing of restrictions and booked ourselves onto the 1 day first aid course. The whole family went, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed the day, asking lots of questions and fully immersing themselves in the learning experience. So much so that they turned an 8 hour day into a 9 hour day. Here you can see them practising their CPR and learning how to use a defibrillator. A great day with Steve from Technical Recreational Coaching. He made the girls feel very comfortable with the day and ensured they got a special certificate at the end.

As those who managed to follow us on the various trackers saw, we had a very quick trip back from Camaret. This was in part due to a quirk of the tides that meant that we started with the beginning of the Northerly tide from Brest and managed to hold it for around 10 hours – that meant that we travelled fast enough to keep up with the tide as it moved NE across the channel. This was of course helped by a lovely large engine and a favourable wind, all making for an average speed of around 10kn for the first 7 or so hours. After that the wind became lighter and the weather forecasts proved to be overly pessimistic (thankfully). We then managed to catch the tail end of the favourable tide from the Needles and up the Solent. All of which meant that at around 15:30 on Wed 20 Oct we enter Haslar Marina and brought Valent back to her new home.

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Many thanks to Richard and Sam the PYD skipper and mate who ensured that the trip was safe and enjoyable.

Now we just need to learn how to run and operate the boat on our own as a family. No pressure then!

We had a bouncy but quick crossing of Biscay. Managed to anchor last night off Camaret outside Brest. This morning we refuelled and slipped at 12:30 when the tide turned favourable for the Chanal du Four.

Quick passage through the Channel with a strong Southerly behind us. Now about 170 miles to the Needles. All being well back on Wednesday night at Haslar.

Just had a lovely display from a pod of Dolphins.