Floating shop / home

[joshagrady]

I still set off every alarm at airports even when i go through them naked.

Maybe the alarms go off because you're trying to go through naked. 

Smooth sailing.

[Scuba1]

I am getting out of here on Wednesday. So if you don't here from me in two month time, I did something wrond
Take care folks

Michael


out

[Brass_Machine]

Good luck Michael. Let us know when you arrive!

Eric

[dsquire]

Hi Michael

Best of luck on your voyage. We all look forward to hearing your stories in 2 month time. Possibly some of the MadModders will even be able to meet up with you. I know I'll be watching and waiting to hear that you have rediscovered the New World. 

Cheers 

Don

[Scuba1]

Cheers for the good wishes folks.
I Left Ipswich on thursday and stopped over in Cowes in the Ilse of wight and am now in Torquay. Will be leaving here tomorrow at first light to cross the shipping lanes out of the chanel and will try to get some sea room in the first 48 hours .... next stop delaware bay US.
Take care folks and see you there. My trip log shows 582 miles so far and only 3600 to go

Michael


OUT

[DMIOM]

Best wishes Michael, take care

[dsquire]

Michael

Thanks for the update Michael. Best of luck on the remaining journey. Looking forward to the next update whenever that nay be. 

Cheers 

Don

[Scuba1]

My next update will be in about 6 weeks to 2 month from now as i don't have interweb along the way

Take care folks

Michael and Tiki out

[Scuba1]

I am having a stop over on the azores as I got some salt water into my diesel tank and the injectors of the engine di not take to kindly on that.
Well i was told today that I will get the injectors back on Friday and have all the other bits and things sorted so I should be able to pull up the rags on Saturday or Sunday to sail the rest (around 2700 nm ) to the US. Nice and warm here on Terceira though and I guess as I go west it is going to get a bit colder. Anyway off to the beach now for a dip and get my washing out of the dryer.


ATB

michael

[AdeV]

Sounds like you're having a fun voyage...  did you manage to turn any sea-sick parts on your occasionally-level lathe while you were out in the Atlantic? 

[dsquire]

Michael

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear about about salt water in the fuel. Will watch for the next update. Be safe. 

Cheers 

Don

[Scuba1]

Dinner for one

You ever wondered how thw get the sun around the place at night ???

[Brass_Machine]

Nice pictures!

Sorry to hear about the saltwater issue. Hope it gets/got sorted quickly.

Eric

[Scuba1]

Just got a call from the company that is fixing the injectors and I'll get them back on Monday so then I can put my engine back together and pull the rags up to sail west.

Michael

[ieezitin]

Hey mate
I have been watching your progress. It does not seem to have really put you out much, eating fresh fish is a hard punishment for your mechanical hic-up.

Tell us a little more of your solar capabilities and energy back up, and what communication do you have.

Anthony

[Scuba1]

In have 100W of solar panels and two 90 amp alternators on my 30 HP diesel and a 2,5 KW petrol gen set that I use when I crank up the welding gear or the lathe. For all on board use I have a 3600 W inverter and 400 A?H hose batteries and a seperate 130 AH for the engine and a 100AH that lives in the bow and powers the  bow thruster. Communication wise I only have a bog standard VHF and my mobile phone. Here in the MArina I use the resident WIFI and laptop that runs via the inverte. I have not had any need to plug into shore power so far and run the lot of solar power. When I get close to shore or shipping lanes, I have to run the engine to charge the batterie bank for a couple of hours every 3 days or so as I then use the plotter and radar more often to keep an eye on thoings. I also run it when I need to get a bit of sleep and have a 3 mile safety zone set on the radar that bleeps at me when anything comes into that zone.
Other toys on board are a full compliment of Tacktick instruments that give me depth, water temp, gps position wind direction and wind speed, course over ground and boat speed etc. Foruno radar and plotter and a raymarine auto pilot. 300 liter water and the same amount in diesel tankage and a 250 liter waste water tank. All in all a 35 foot floating home and little workshop. Food enough for about 4 month on board and enough fishing gear to have some fresh fish whenever I want it.

ATB

Michael

[philf]

Michael,

It's good to hear how you are progressing and that you're safe.

I'd never heard of Terceira so just had a look where it is - It's an awful long way from anywhere (other than other tiny islands).

I don't suppose you have an AIS transponder so we can plot your journey.

Hope you get your engine running next week and that your next leg passes without problems.

Hope you enjoyed your fish.

Have you seen any bigger, life threatening creatures?

.

Phil.

[andyf]

May the wind be with you, Michael.

Unless you already have a visa, I hope your passport is machine-readable or biometric!

Andy

[Scuba1]

I have seen a few whales on my way down here Right and pilot whales loads of dolphines as well hooked a few tuna that where to big for one person to eat in a few days so let them go again. I have tried to use some bonito meat as bait to get a shark on the hoow as they are quite nice when dried but no luck so far. The only thing that I am a bit scared of are lost containers that float low in the water and you can't see them at night. Other then that I am happy as a pig in a puddle on the boat.

ATB

Michael

[modeng200023]

Perhaps something like a depth sounder but looking forward instead of down would warn you of floating containers.
Good luck with the voyage,
John

[Scuba1]

AIS will only work within the UHF band and that has a max range with my mast height of around 45 miles and I do try to stay out of shipping lanes as much as I can for safety reasons so it would be of not much use to you tracking my progress or to me other then when I get close to shipping lanes and then I have a more pro active method of using my radar to keep a look out for the big guys out there in my path or me in theirs as it may be.
Sonar would be nice but Tiki is only a small sailing boat and not a mine sweeper 

ATB

Michael

[buffalow bill]

Michael,
Following your journey with great interest.
Keep well, keep safe, enjoy and all the best.
Bill

[Noitoen]

For tracking (few times a day), you can use this http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=101

[dsquire]

Michael

Hopefully you will have received your parts back by now an should be getting ready to set sail again

It is nice to see that you have a good supply of fresh fish. Good luck on catching a shark for the smoker. that would be a real treat.


I figured that you would have to keep an eye out for ships but never figured on floating containers. I guess there is probably all kinds of junk floating around out there like trees, logs, drums, tires etc.

Look forward to hearing from you again whenever you can. Be safe and stay dry (when you can).

Cheers 

Don

[Scuba1]

Yes you are right, there is all sorts of stuff floating around in the oceans but the only thing that could do some damage are containers or a tree trunk of large proportions. The smaller stuff is nothing to worry about. I seem to remember that there are an average of 7000 containers lost from ships every year in bad weather etc. Granted, most of them will sink and be out of the way but some don't. A lot of trees get washed down rivers and float around for a while before they get water logged and go down. But its something one just has to live with I guess. Sailing is as a whole still safer then the daily school run and single handers have a pretty good track record of not bumping into each other.

ATB


Michael

P.S. Still waiting on my injectors