Golden Globe Race

4 days ago

In 1979 when I first met David Scott Cowper in Australia when he had to stop for repairs on his first solo circumnavigation, it was the start of a close relationship that extends to this day. I was on my little 29ft Skye on my way out to the Pacific at the start of a three year cruise. He was an inspiration then and and part of the reason I do what I do today...so I smiled when I saw this. David is still at it!!!! and now all GGR skippers past and present do the same :) he will be 80 at the start of the #GGR2022....Life Hey!!Over the past couple days I have been stuck in North Shields waiting for some weather to blow over. Although it is frustrating you can’t beat the weather so you’ve got to just be patient!

A huge thanks to Royal Quays Marina though where I have been berthed who helped me out with everything from berthing to laundry and a bit of local knowledge for the navigation on my next leg!

I have also met some interesting people during my stay which has been great.

Starting off with the absolute maritime legend David Scott Cowper.
He is best known for being the first person to sail solo round the world in both directions and the first to successfully sail solo round the world via the northwest passage. Overall he has completed 6 circumnavigations, 8 Northwest passage transits and whole raft of other things. Not to mention the fact that he shows no signs of stopping given he plans on doing the Golden Globe Race in 2022!
I had the pleasure of showing him round Alchemy and talking him through my trip as well as taking as much advice as possible from him!

I also met Graeme who has refit his boat and is now living on it with his parrot Mango! And yes he does talk, but with a Geordie accent which was hilarious!

Tomorrow I plan on carrying on up the coast and soon I’ll be in Scotland!

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/roundbritain2020 ... See MoreSee Less

Golden Globe Race

2 weeks ago

+6

If you followed the Saga of Istvan Kopar's fingernails you will be happy to hear the problem is finally solved! :) #GGR2022Back on the water but nothing to drink...

Hi Team - Were back on the water, but still lots of jobs that need ticking off. So it was time to tackle our contaminated main water tank.

Puffin has a nice custom made stainless steel "secondary" tank, which Istvan Kopar Solo Circumnavigator luckily fitted before the 2018 race. This proved to be a great move by Istvan as he subsequently found his main tank was contaminated, leaving him with about 1/3 of the fresh water capacity that he had planned on.

Since then we haven't been able to get the tank clean through the usual flushing, bleaching, baby's bottle cleaning fluid etc. still finding "stuff" in the filters. So it was time to bite the bullet lift the good stainless tank and get access to the keel space where our problems were located.

We had to cut out the old inspection hatch to see inside and what we found was a mass of black slime mold on all the surfaces...not good.

Unfortunately the tank was divided into 3 compartments, behind baffles and so there was just no way to see into those spaces and I wasn't willing take a chance of not getting the tank 100% clean. So it had to go and make space for new custom made stainless replacement.

Lots of cutting, grinding and cleaning later we've created a very nice keel shaped space.... any ideas what we could can do with it now? ... See MoreSee Less

Golden Globe Race

2 weeks ago

+4

Our only Cape Dory 36 in the fleet hit the road again!...join Michael and me tomorrow for a LIVE Chat.. :) #GGR2022It has been quite a while since I last updated on Facebook but a lot has been happening....
SARS-Corona Virus, of course, has thrown a spanner in the works of most of the world. Here in New Zealand the Government acted swiftly and decisively with the whole country placed in lock-down - they successfully eliminated the virus in the community within a month or so. During the lockdown I read a few books (War and Peace the most notable), created some more music (I call it that, anyway!) for my guitar (poor, tortured thing), first use of a pushbike in almost exactly 40 years (it has tortured me), and a bit more practice at complete social isolation in preparation for 8 months alone at sea. But no work on the boat!
Shortly thereafter my manager quit the project and I was obliged to find somewhere to continue the refit. I deconstructed the shed so Dreamcatcher could be lifted out (6 months ahead of schedule) and set about readying her for a prolonged period out in the open whilst she was moved to a new home. One of the other skippers, Mike Date, suggested I join him in Queensland and twisted the arm of his boatbuilder to accept me. If you follow the GGR you will almost inevitably hear it said it is a bit like a family. The competition between skippers is there but so too is a strong camaraderie; I have found it quite amazing. Unfortunately, I could not get Dreamcatcher aboard a ship back to Australia in anything approaching a reasonable time. Just when things were starting to look pretty desperate Adam (hi Adam), the rigger, found me a man who actually did know a thing or two about fixing up boats (a professional shipwright - hi Andy) and who had a team of guys who, similarly, were qualified professionals (hi David, James and Mick), as well as finding a man who owned a big shed and was willing to have me and my boat in it (hi James and his team!)! After setting up and settling in, work has progressed well correcting earlier problems and moving on to new tasks, as some of the accompanying photos show - I have paint on my decks (undercoats but paint nonetheless! Yay!). ... See MoreSee Less

Golden Globe Race

3 weeks ago

+

Italy has a fine skipper and boat representing them in #GGR2022!! :) this looks like a good yard for a refit!! ..After some summer sailing around the Tuscan islands and in Corsica, it was time to start working on Hannah. We took her to Cantiere dell' Argentario in Porto Santo Stefano, a yard specialised in classic boat restoration where we could find well prepared artisans and shipwrights that with their passion and knowledge that had been passed on for generations, could help us to prepare Hannah in the best possible way at reasonable prices. ... See MoreSee Less