One beneficial consequence of the long layoff from sailing has been the state of the boat finances! We haven't been spending money so it's been accumulating nicely in the bank.
So I've spent it!
The major purchase is a new GPS. It seems churlish to look a gift horse in the mouth but it has to be said that the ancient Magellan GPS300 Glen donated to the boat is woefully slow, awkward to use, cannot be interfaced to the laptop to download/upload route and track info and to cap it all has ludicrously small text which cannot be read from more than a foot away. Never the less, I'm not ungrateful as it has sufficed for the trips so far and will be useful as an emergency backup.
There was much scratching of the bonce and debate with the dear lady wife over what to purchase though. I was very tempted by the latest Garmin GPS78s with its 3-axis compass, built in barometer, Garmin Bluechart capability (making it a hand held chart plotter rather than just a GPS) and custom chart facility.
However, by the time you add the cost of the mounting bracket, power and data leads and even the cheapest chart pack, it would cost just about as much as one of the smaller chart plotters such as the Standard Horizon 180i that I fancy in the long term. And that, dear reader, was rather more than I wanted to spend at the moment anyway.
So I've settled for a shiney new Garmin GPS72H which appears to be by far and away the most popular model of basic GPS from all the comments and reviews I've read on the subject.
But that's not all, there was still money in the bank and it's no good in there I always say! OK, I always say that as an excuse for spending it but money in the bank is boring and new toys is fun :-)
I've ordered two double hook safety lines so that we can clip on in the cockpit and on the foredeck. Being double hookers, you can clip on to a new attachment point before unclipping from the old one which is a good thing obviously. I haven't yet worked out what to do about jackstays so for now I guess we'll have to do the thing everybody says you must not do and clip on to the guardwires when moving forward from the cockpit to the foredeck in rough conditions or when alone on deck.
It may not be ideal practice but the pulpit and pushpit rails are as securely mounted as anything could be on Brigantia so a fall overboard might pull out a stanchion base but the faller will still be attached to the boat. It's not as if we're intending to be out in a howling gale anyway. I'm actually more concerned about being able to clip on if I'm single handed or we're sailing watch on watch so that a slip or trip doesn't have fatal consequences.
The next essential item on the list is a new float switch for the cockpit well bilge pump. Brigantia doesn't have bilges as I visualise bilges, she has a series of seperate compartments, for want of a better word, which are not connected to each other. So there's no way of pumping out the bilges throughout the boat and the accumulated water under the cabin floors from condensation, rain getting in through the hatch, etc. has to be sponged out of each area seperately. However, there is a large well under the cockpit floor which accumulates rainwater and a previous owner has fitted an automatic bilge pump to stop it flooding completely. Unfortunately, the float switch is knackered and needs replacing.
I suspect with all the rain we've had in recent weeks she'll be somewhat down by the stern by now but I don't think there's any need to panic - if the well fills completely the excess water will then start draining down the cockpit drains stopping the situation getting any worse. I hope!
I couldn't help it though, I had to buy another toy! For the sake of a mere £25, I ordered a basic little hand held wind speed indicator. More than once I've wanted to know just how strong the breeze actually was and felt the lack of the means of measuring wind strength. A full on mast mounted wind system is way out of our reach financially but I'm hoping this little widget will at least tell us whether it's really the forecast F3/4 or actually (as we have suspected more than once) nearer F5/6!
Another item on the wish list I can now cross off is a rechargeable handheld spotlight. Glen actually gave us one of these but it's a big beast. It's very good but it takes up space and eats battery juice! So I've ordered a smaller LED based one that should be easier to stow and less of a drain on our limited electrickery resources.
To finish off the boat related side of the order, I've ordered a new copy of the Thames Estuary Tidal Stream Atlas NP249. We had a copy and it's gone AWOL. I've searched everywhere it could be with no joy so no doubt it'll turn up the moment the new copy arrives. I've also ordered a copy of Reeds Skippers Handbook which I hope will satisfy my desire to have a ready reference for info such as Colregs, sound signals etc.
Oh and in the same vein I ordered a copy of The East Coast Pilot from Amazon the other day to add to the information available to the navigator when planning trips beyond the immediate confines of the river.
That little lot fairly comprehensively flattened the boat bank account. Job done :-)
But that's not the end of the story! Oh no!
As summer moves into autumn, if we're going to make the most of the opportunities to use Brigantia this year, we need better personal kit. Although the wind has been unkind this year (always too much or too little or from totally the wrong direction) we've had very little rain over the summer and so far we've been OK with plimsolls on our feet, normal clothing and cheap plastic waterproofs courtesy of Tescos.
So I decided it was time to gear up before Rik and I head out a week today and ordered myself some new clobber.
Boots and gloves were easy - Gill Shorty cruising boots and Gill Grip sailing gloves. Oilies, on the other hand, were another matter. Jeez they're expensive! One pair of Musto or Gill trousers and a matching jacket would cost more than my entire wardrobe set me back - I confess that I'm not exactly a model of sartorial elegance but even so. I opted to purchase a cheap own brand Windward coastal sailing suit from Force 4 for a fraction of the cost. Time will tell whether it's any good but at about £75 compared to several hundred quid it's got to be worth a go.
I could do with picking up some thermals as a base layer, some decent socks and a couple of fleeces. That lot, however, can come from the clothing department at Asda or Tescos!
And why, you may well ask, am I annoyed today? The order was scheduled to arrive yesterday and didn't :-(
I even stayed up when I got in from work and dozed on the couch so that I'd here the driver knock on the door - to no avail as the knock never came. I'll be surprised if it arrives this morning so I expect it'll be Monday now which means I wasted the extra fiver on express delivery. Again. I shall be asking for a credit on that, you may be sure.
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