Sovereign Harbour

Eastbourne's Sovereign Harbour is a lovely place. Probably where Hartlepool Marina got its ideas from. 

  The yacht basin is protected from the sea by a locking system and sheltered by the many apartment blocks that circle it. 

    The one inconvenience for boats and pedestrians alike is the north and west footbridges. They need to be raised when a vessel wants to get from one part of the marina to another. They have been going up and down like yoyo's all week.  

    We walked to the brokers office - the bridge was up. So you have to wait while  1, 2, or 3 boats go by. This is rather nice the first few times. 

We walked to the Chandlers - the bridge was up. We walked to Asda - the bridge was up. We went to get a bite to eat. The bridge was up. 

And again

What make is that?

Faac!

Now, if the bridge is down when we turn the corner we start running. Yesterday 3 girls successfully ran past the sirens and closing barriers to cross the bridge, only for one of them to drop her jacket before crossing. Nice try!

     The lock was very busy yesterday with lots of boats going out to get a good view of Eastbourne Airshow. A couple had to be towed back due to engine failure. 

Not so today. Overcast, blowy and colder than recently. "It's 'orrible out there" I heard someone say. 

The Marina's barbecue on the beach was cancelled. The wind is howling. We chucked all our winter clothes in the bin or took them to the charity shop. 

On with the dressing gowns. 

I'm battening down the hatches tonight. 

     

Rubber Flubber

Today we thought we'd check out the inflatable dingy. 

    Alison inquired at the Harbour office if there was a compressor on site. Unfortunately no. So the foot pump was put to use. Not as arduous as expected, Alison pumped it up in a matter of minutes. 

    It looked pretty dirty so we gave it a scrub. First asking a member of the marina staff if it was ok. Yes, as long as we use marine detergent. 

Before

After

Alison then rowed it around the pontoon to test it out. 

"Your being watched by camera you know!"

The man doing the Harbour tourist trips shouted.

We couldn't understand it. A look online at the marina rules confirmed that you can only propel with an engine. Oops!

Steady now. 

Sorry - not allowed. 

  Also you can't have it tied to your boat, so up on the davits it came. 

After a walk to Asda via the Chandlery to order some maps, it was time for dinner. 

  How do we get in the gas locker to turn the gas on with the dingy in the way?

Alison devised a method of removing the helmsman's seat, on knees, sticking head and arm through bathing ladder to open locker and turn tap. Simples. 

Work in progress

A couple of guys turned up this afternoon to check our batteries and discuss options for a wind generator. 

That's a big one I didn't know we had. Don't think batteries and fuel is a good mix in the same locker. Will have to reorganise. 

This morning Michael checked our rigging and Yesterday David repaired the cracks in the fibreglass at the base of the mast. 

Cracks all gone!

     This is due to our pre purchase survey carried out by Rupert Smith. A lot if little jobs are getting taken care of, organised by Richard at Bates Wharf - thank god. We wouldn't know where to start. 

     Artemis is being lifted out for a week shortly for repairs to the rudder stock,  sea cocks and some very small osmotic blisters. 

The engine is going to be serviced and the holding tank repaired. 

Seems a lot but we did get a considerable chunk off the asking price to allow.

     A bit frustrating but we want the boat to be safe and at least right to start with.

   The navigational electronics are a bit daunting, having being used to basic training boats. 

    It took me half an hour to find and turn on the VHF radio. Not wall mounted but a handset ( two of them though ). We've been listening on the marina's channel and know just what to say when we want to lock out. 

There is Navtex to get my head around and two Raymarine E80 Chart plotters with fish finder and radar.

Gizmos

   Today we finally emptied the car and found storage places for everything. We thought that we had brought far too much stuff but there is more storage places than first meets the eye. 

      The 2 big problems are the folded inflatable dingy - which we are going to blow up tomorrow and hang on the davits - and all them sails that are just hogging all the space in the V berth. On a sailing boat what could be more important than sails? Mustn't grumble.

   We have been sleeping soundly in the nice aft cabin and its starting to feel like home.

Moving South

I am writing this blog as we drive overnight to Eastbourne from Middlesbrough. 

The money came through for the house and we've paid for the sailboat. 

We waited till my Mam and Dad were back from social club to say our goodbyes, then left, car fully loaded, at 11.30pm. In our trusty Nissan Almera. 

Our run of good luck is still holding. There are long sections of roadworks on the M1- Sun To Fri overnight - and it's Saturday night so we're having a free run. 

Alison is driving. Having plucked up the courage after not driving for 8 years 'cos of her nerves. She has shared the driving with me over the past couple of weeks to ease herself in. 

Sometimes it's like that Tv show 'The Walking Dead', not a soul in sight. 

Talking of Tv. Earlier we were watching series 2 of 'Lost'. We missed it the first time around - good innit?

   There has been some fantastic series to watch recently - such as 'Game of Thrones', 'Breaking Bad' and 'Banshee'.

  After watching them, regular tv seems dull and boring.  

   Must sort out a Telly for the boat. 

Anyway, we are both feeling sick with excitement. Come the morning we will be living on our boat. 

Still can't believe we are doing it. 

Yacht Hunting

The south coast of England covers quite a distance. And after the journey down we didn't fancy spending a long time on public transport. We decided to go on another coach trip after we get back home, to check out yachts in Brixham and Plymouth. 

   We were staying at The Princes Hotel in Eastbourne. Stuart, the manager suggested we go and look in Eastbourne marina. Sounds obvious, doesn't it, but we had looked on line and the few boats they had for sale, mainly power boats, didn't appeal. 

    Thanks to my iPhone, I looked again and there might be one contender. A Hunter Legend 37.5  

We walked down to have a look. Bates Wharf broker, Freddie was welcoming and helpful. 

We told him what we had viewed the day before and what we had to spend. It was a bit above our budget. He said the owner was keen to sell and we viewed the yacht.

 Hmmm. A bit racy looking, we are looking for more of a cruiser. 

Then you notice the wide beam with slab sides and plentiful hatches/ports. Surprisingly spacious inside. I could stand straight just about anywhere, lay on the aft double with room to spare. Alison liked the kitchen area, the quality woodwork with anchor shapes cut out of the cupboard doors, the installed fans and 'air conditioning'- really!

  New looking engine, lots of nav electronics incl. chart plotter and radar. Back on deck - the swimming platform/ bathing ladder, davits, dingy, outboard, new winches, huge mast and boom. 

   This could be a goer! My biggest worry was dispelled when the 3 of us climbed on board. It hardly moved. Very stable. 

   Freddie left us to look around again on our own. His master stroke - as that's when we pointed things out to each other that we liked and talked about how the space would suit us. Looking in lockers and seeing how many wine bottles could be stored in the bottle holders ( seriously )

    Back at the office we pointed out a leaking hatch, and other bits and bobs. 

   The price of repairs was estimated and the owner phoned with our offer ( pending survey)

   We got a yes!

We arranged a sea trial for the next day. 

Hottest day of the year. She motored and sailed faultlessly ( except for squeaky steering )

We wondered how close to the wind she could sail, having a 4'11" wing keel. The answer is very close indeed. 

The fractional rig was great, having a huge battened mainsail and a roller reefed headsail it was very easy to get a good turn of speed. The auto pilot was also tested. 

    

We paid a deposit and all being in order, will be living onboard pretty soon. 

Boat shopping

We printed off a map of Europe and pinned it in our notice board. Then I contacted, by email, all the brokers of yachts that Alison and I had short listed. 

   The replies came back over the next few days ; No longer available for sale.  Offer accepted and sale going through.  

Sold yesterday.  That boat is sold but we might get another in the future. 

 No reply at all. 

Wow. Not what I was expecting. There were 2 boats still on the market, both needing time and money spending on them. We didn't have the time and how deep would our pockets have to be?

   We pinned markers on the map where each boat was and wrote down the reason it was 'unavailable'. 

   So pretty fruitless. We decided that we would have a go buying in UK. The Agents info was good online and it was easy to communicate with them. But

living in the North if England isn't ideal as most of the biggest marinas and the yachts in them are on the south coast. 

    We made a few enquiries and yes, the boats we were interested in were still for sale!  How to get down there? Bus, train, car, aeroplane. 

We went for a National holidays coach trip. Genius. 

We booked a 5 day hol to Eastbourne and once there an included excursion to Brighton would allow us to visit Brighton Premier Marina, where the two boats were moored. 

The day came for the marina visit and the very helpful coach driver, Eric, dropped us off. The weather was awful, blustery wind and torrential rain.

  The 1st yacht was a mega disappointment, being in very poor condition, pretty much everything was tired or broken. The 2nd was better and in good condition. But the makers had tried to cram so much into it that it was like being in a dolls house. 

   Not a good day but a reality check. 

What are we going to do next?......

Clearing out

The completion date of our house sale will soon be upon us. 

We have been sussing and sorting, selling, tipping, clearing, sweeping and giving stuff away, trying to get ready to move out. 

This evening we had a burning! Let me explain. We had a large bin bag full of bank statements, cheque books, credit card statements etc. that would have took an age to shred. 

  I have read about other people who were having a new start in life, having a ceremonial burning of things and thought I'd do the same. 

I retrieved the galvanised metal dustbin from the bottom of the garden. It already had holes in it along the bottom of the sides from when we burnt a load of shrubbery when we revamped the garden. 

Up in smoke it went. Half way through the bag I was getting a bit fed up as it seemed to be taking a long time. I got a metal pole out of the garage to use as a poker which helped keep it roaring. 

      I wish that I had followed the Australian method that I had seen on YouTube where you cut 6 x 2 inch oblongs out of the lower sides of the bin with an angle grinder to allow plenty of air to get in. 

Anyway, I started looking at what I was burning ( a cardinal sin in Alison's book - as she's an expert sorter outer ) Hoho! the Tv license, a direct debit I won't have to pay anymore, the gas and electric, water rates, house insurance, building + contents, car insurance, petrol and the daddy of them all COUNCIL TAX.

Oh! And MOT, car road tax, cable broadband and my mobile phone contract is up this month ( how convenient )

I'm right cheered up now!

All gone.