Lest the whole of December should go by without a post to the blog, I thought I'd update you, dear reader (I'm hoping there actually IS somebody reading this drivel!) on the latest short, medium and long term plans ...
There has been a flurry of suggestions, proposals, debate and ultimately arbitrary "we're gonna do it MY way" decision making amongst the Brigantia crew as to whether to replace Brigantia right away, in a couple of years time or not at all for the foreseeable future.
We seriously looked at the possibility of moving up slightly to a Westerly Centaur which is (was?) up for sale at Fambridge on brokerage at a very good price (due to it needed the seal between one of the keels and the hull sorting out, a job within our capabilities but never the less a bit of a challenge). Ultimately, we couldn't really raise enough hard cash to both buy the boat and do it up especially taking into account the age of the inboard diesel engine.
So then we collectively decided to keep Brigantia for another three years and then upgrade to something like a Centaur. At least, I say we decided because deep down I wasn't actually all that keen on the plan personally. I began to realise that I was being drawn into planning a boat around the wants and needs of the (for want of a better term) peripheral crew and (again for want of a better term) lesser financial contributors and not the wants and needs of the bloke who slaves in a hot cafe kitchen four nights a week to pay for the blasted boat!
And the plain fact is that I, at least, am perfectly comfortable and happy on board Brigantia. Oh yes, I can see the attraction of a bigger boat but, and here's the rub, I can also see the myriad drawbacks and problems - everything is bigger, heavier, harder, more expensive and more time consuming - and I have neither the money nor the energy to take on something significantly bigger.
Added to that was my feeling of dissatisfaction at not continuing to improve and upgrade Brigantia. We have the money to end up with, to all intents and purposes, a new boat within another couple of years. Just about the only original bit left will, by the time we've finished, be the hull and spars and GRP and ally don't tend to change much over time.
So I huffed and I puffed and I blew the house of cards dreams of a bigger boat clean out of the water! Unless there is a significant and unexpected change in circumstances, we'll be keeping Brigantia for at least six to eight years (the significance of the timescale relates to my long term car purchasing plan which is beyond the scope of this blog) at which time we'll probably be looking at either a> upgrading to a boat we can semi-live aboard in our retirement or b> keeping Brigantia into our 60's or c> giving up on the sailing and doing something else instead (possibly for health reasons, depends on how well my rickety skeleton stands up over the next few years).
So, although we shall no doubt continue to cry "we need a bigger boat" when we bang the bonce on the low cabin roof we can now get on with improving and sailing the boat we've got ....
continues in part 2
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