Introduction
In this very first post, you can read about our new boatlife and boatwork needed on our new boat. We are in the process of preparing it for the first milestone of our journey of sailing around the world; the Atlantic crossing with Arc+ in november.
We have moved aboard our new floating home, a 43 foot Privilege catamaran. Get a glimpse of our new life in Cartagena, Spain.
Moving aboard
Our journey commences in Cartagena, Southern Spain, where we acquired our boat for the upcoming adventure of sailing around the world over the next two years.
On the first of July 2022, we cleared out the finances with the seller, and after a drink with him in town, we officially moved onto the boat. The kids chose their cabins. We started planning how we would make the boat our home. Since we are going to live here in two years, we want to make it comfortable for us with a personal touch in decorating.
Coming from an airconditioned hotel room, we had a hard time adjusting to the temperature at the boat, which doesn’t have aircondition. There is an unusual heatwave in Spain this year with temperatures up to 40 degrees celcius. Even though our location in the marina is favorable, we still have temperatures up to 35 degrees. In the middle of the day it’s like being in an oven.
The first night, we were caught by surprise of all the mosquitoes. Hot from the extreme heatwave, we had opened all the hatches to get some air. We were bitten allover, and soon we added mosquito nets to our todo-list.
First step is Practice
To get started, we had a clear plan in mind: purchase a seaworthy vessel, arrive in Cartagena at the start of July, and kickstart our sailing practice, considering our relatively limited sailing experience. We learned to sail during a 10 day course in Mallorca in October 2021, and that is all our sailing experience. Considering our plans of a circumnavigation, we knew that we needed to start practicing as soon as possible.
The first milestone of our journey is the Atlantic crossing. We are to participate in the Atlantic crossing with the ARC+ (World Cruising Club rally) scheduled for early November, departing from Las Palmas. Time was of the essence as we had a limited window for practice before heading south to Las Palmas. With no real sailing experience, the journey to Las Palmas with multiple overnight sailings seemed overwhelming.
Boatlife and boatwork
While we expected some necessary repairs and upgrades for our boat, given its two-year stay in the marina, we encountered more issues than anticipated. The engine, generator, solar panels, batteries (possibly), and even the bilge pumps needed attention. Fortunately, some of these problems would be covered by the seller. However, finding professionals to address these issues during the busy Spanish summer season presented its own set of challenges, as yacht mechanics and electricians were in high demand.
Uplift and stay in boatyard
In addition to the repairs and upgrades, we also needed to have an antifouling treatment of the hulls, which required a lift-out of the boat. Martin made plans with a boatyard adjacent to the marina. The procedure would only take one or two days.
We got up early and sailed the 5 mins to the pool at the boatyard. None of us had tried it before, so we didn’t know what to expect. The guys at the boatyard gave us lines and attached us to the dock. Then we were lifted up. It was fun to try. Once we were out of the water, we left the boat and saw our boat being moved around. I captured it all on the camera only to realize afterwards that I had forgot to press the record button.
The antifouling was done quickly. Once we were there, we decided to have other stuff done aswell. We had a feeling that our presence might expedite our prioritization. Consequently, we had new solar panels installed, performed engine servicing, and upgraded to new Gori foldable propellers.”Although the staff carried out several of the required tasks, progress seemed slow, leaving us questioning our priority status. In the end we had spent two weeks in the yard with subpar restroom facilities, and sight of cockroaches in the evenings.
Return from the boatyard
We returned from the boatyard, hopeful that our boat was finally fixed and ready for the open sea. However, during our sail from the boatyard to the marina, one of the engines suddenly failed, causing a stressful docking experience. We find ourselves once again waiting for the mechanic’s expertise.
Anyhow, it’s good to be back in the marina with a breeze and better restroom facilities.
Follow up: Good news about the starboard engine, that shut down during docking last week. The guys from the yard came over a couple of days later to look at the engine and test it on sea trial. Getting out of our berth, the starboard engine shut down again and it turned out that a rope from the marina was caught in one of the propellers. So, Martin was quick to get in his bathing shorts and dive down to unwrap the rope, which was not very easy, since we during the week, had tried multiple times to start the engine, and some of the times with success, making the problem much worse. After 5 times of diving, unwrapping the rope, and coming up for air, he succeed in getting all the rope away from the propeller, and we could go out for sea trial, which went excellent. No more engine problems for now.
Up next
We start up with homeschooling for the kids. See how it goes.
In between the practical stuff, we’ve also had the opportunity to explore Cartagena with my sister and two nieces, who visited during their holiday a few weeks ago. Stay tuned for more about Cartagena in our upcoming blog post, “Cartagena – City Life.”
