Life has been very hectic of late so my intended articles are running late.
You requested a photo or so of the boat, so there is a general view taken at Palavas in southern France this summer, along with another showing the computer installation in the wheel house. In a few weeks time I'll send you an update on our journey covering Palavas to Valencia.
With regards to the boat, she is a Colvic Watson of 26ft. length. This is a bit small but is enough for just the two of us to manage, though I would advise not going below 30ft. in length. We have a roller reefing genoa off the bowsprit, and a 2nd. genoa off the inner forestay. The main has had little use this year, though the mizzen is hoisted before every departure as the boat behaves much better under its steadying influence. She is not a true sailer, and realies on the engine for most of her propulsion; this is a Thorneycroft 90, not too complicated and somewhat over engineered so can cope with being mistreated at times!
We have a 12v fridge from coolmatic which copes with the high ambient temperatures quite well. There is a gas cooker, though we tend to use a small electric oven whenever possible as this causes less heat into the boat. The heads include a shower and the toilet tself is fed with fresh water from its own tank as this does away with the smells usually associated with a sea toilet. All waste water goes into a forty gallon holding tank.
Clothes are kept in a 4ft. long hanging locker which does hold a lot.
We carry 350litres of fuel and 200 litres of water which is in three tanks so we can isolate if there is a problem, and this also helps keep the boat in trim as the water is effectively just moved from one tank to the holding tank. Power is from six 80amp batteries charged from a 70 amp alternator through an Adverc controller...very good. Shore power is the usual arrangement, including a battery charger.
While at sea the computer is fed off an inverter which so far has worked well. We carry a standard VHF fixed radio and a hand held; this doubles up as a mobile phone when just one uf us goes ashore. A NASA HF3 provides weather fax through the computer with the software and demodulator from PC Maritime. It is good but I don't think it is required on the sort of Med cruising we have done so far. Longer passages would really benefit from it. A Garmin 128 GPS does our chart plotting via the computer and Sea Trak navigation software using ARCS charts...brilliant!
Reeds Pilot is the electronic Almanac, and this is good, especially the way it links with Sea Trak and will automatically bring up details of your nearest portas indicated by the GPS. We have a small rubber dinghy with a 2hp outboard, but as Spain's Med. coast has so few anchorages it has only been used as a tender on one occasion.
I'm not sure just how much you want Colin, but I'll leave it at this for now. As I said earlier, I'll get another piece to you about our travels, and if you wish I could do you a piece about computers on board a dry boat.
To warm you up, the above is a photo of the entrance to
Barcelona's Port Olimpic marina. Phil
Phil and Carol
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