Author: Will

So the big news is that I have been out in Empuriabrava for the last few days getting Valent ready to go. Quite a lot of items have been fixed, including a few unexpected ones. The most worrying of those was the flooding in the frd heads area.

This turns out to be caused by an issue with the anti syphon on the tank pump outlet, a fault in the tank control valve and a poorly fitting inspection hatch. We got the valve changed (missing O-ring), know to keep the seacock closed for the tank out and have sealed up the inspection hatch – it is one thing to have clean sea water leaking out, quite another to have the planned contents.

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Next on the list was the fact that whilst we could hear VHF and see boats on AIS, we were not showing and it appeared that our VHF range was about 100M. The wonderful electronics guy, Marcos was sure that the fault lay up the mast. We spent the weekend pondering, sent a man up the mast and decided everything looked good. Come yesterday we did some more diagnostics and discovered a 20cm piece of the aerial wire behind the navigation station had become chafed with some old heat damage. Cut that out, replaced and hey presto, the VHF works very well and we appear on AIS. That all means that you can follow us on the various AIS tracking sites, Marine Traffic being pretty good.

Amongst all of the many jobs on the check list, I decided to strip down and service the inflatable Dan Buoy. We possibly set a new low for the condition of a gas bottle.

We took the Danbuoy ashore, and from a safe distance we did pull the cord, and surprise, surprise the system worked perfectly. The Danbuoy inflated, the light came on and more importantly the Danbuoy stayed inflated. So new gas bottle, and some TLC and we have a serviceable Danbuoy. Other jobs included fitting a lifebuoy, swinging the compass, calibrating the new instruments and generally getting ready. All being well we depart this morning, Tue 6 Oct, once the elusive flares arrive!

Despite all of the challenges, work has progressed steadily over in Spain. Phil and his team have done some great work, and Dan has produced a wonderful looking new bimini. The bimini has been designed both for the Valent cockpit, but also to take the 2 x 200W Solar panels. All got ready for the end of July and the proposed relaunch and sea trials.

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Phil then got everything organised, finished all the jobs that had to be done under the waterline and everything was ready for the launch and my trip out. The change in travel restrictions scuppered my trip out, caused the cancellation of sea trials, but Valent did go back into the water.

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Over August the last few jobs were finished and the new electronics all installed. Due to the difficulty in travelling between countries in the current climate I outsourced an inspection of works to the Marine Surveyor. David has a wonderful eye for detail and did the original purchase survey so was able to check the completed works against his original survey. Currently Phil is doing a few snagging items and she will be ready to go in early Oct. I am currently planning to get Valent delivered back to Haslar Marina before the end of Oct and working with PYD to make it happen. So all looking quite positive this week, and all being well, Valent will be in the UK before the clocks go back.

Farewell Dogmatix – so after nearly 10 years Dogmatix has passed into new ownership.  I am hopeful that she will go onto have many more adventures, and even be raced by someone who understands sail trim and weight balance a lot better than I ever did.  At least we had a wonderful final sail, to Osborne Bay and back in under 2 hours (and with the small headsail).  Dogmatix has given us many happy memories, but now it is time to move on.  Hopefully soon we will be able to post pictures of us sailing on Valent, even enjoying a drink on her would be a bonus.

For those wondering how far we had actually got in our planning and preparation for 2 years away sailing…

More like: In the Bleak Mid-Winter -19,

In the bleak mid-winter
COVID made us moan,
Earth stood devoid of travel,
Planes like a stone;
Germs had fallen, germs on germs,
Germs on Germs,
In the bleak mid-winter
(Not so) long ago.

The germs, Earth cannot stop them
Nor our World contain,
Kings & Queens shall flee away
When COVID comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A hospital place was rare,
In the bleak mid-winter
Not so long ago.

Enough for COVID, who other bugs
Worship night and day,
A nasty cough and sneeze
sends the bugs away.
Enough for COVID, who other bugs
Adoration yearn,
The flu, the cold and SARs
Can only watch and learn.

Professors and the learned
May have gathered here
What have they achieved
Except to spread some fear.
But only some were able
To brighten up this war
All hail the total hero
Captain Colonel Tom Moore

What are we to do about it
Simple on these lands?
If I were a clever man
I would wash my hands.
If I were a kind man,
I would help some others
But what I can I will do
Wear my face covers.

We were so near and yet so far. The Valent project plan was well on track and I was due to fly out on Tue 17th Mar for the relaunch. Phil and the guys had done a great job and completed all of the work on the underwater sections by the close of play on Mon 16th. Sea trials and snagging were lined up for 21/22 Mar – and the weather forecast was glorious. Just one unpredicted pandemic, the viral mugger – and the big lock down started on the night of the 16th with the closure of Spain, followed, as you know, shortly afterwards by the UK.

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As you can see above, the underneath was looking good. The sails had been laundered, repaired and ready to put back on. The construction of the new bimini was underway and the solar panels were purchased. Even the replacement kicker had been fitted.

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Then came the lockdown and everything shuddered to a halt. To the best of my knowledge Valent was shut up and the boatyard secured. Hopefully at some point soon the guys in Spain will be able to return to work and some progress will be made. But I see no prospect of us being able to visit Valent or indeed use her in the foreseeable future. Until some form of freedom of movement is permitted between the UK, Spain and France we will not be visiting or progressing the refit of Valent.

With that in mind I cannot see any prospect of the Collins family being in a position to depart on a trans-Atlantic voyage in 2020. Even if we could get to the boat in 6 months time she would not be ready, we would not be prepared and certainly not safe to go and sail in an ocean 1000 miles away from any land based assistance. At the moment we have put our dream on hold and are working on the premise of a 12 month postponement. Fingers crossed that within 12 months we will be able to travel between France and Spain again.

So here’s to Aug 2021 and hopefully a more stable global situation.