Keeping an old boat in good order gives you a never ending job list. Make that boat a beautifully engineered Swan and the systems are more complex (and expensive) and the standards of the original build set a very high bar for whatever you do. Luckily half the fun of boat ownership, for me, is that sort of work. Growing up in a sailing club that was definitely of the do it yourself mentality has left me with ambitions that, in my fifties, my skills are starting to catch up on.
-
Lifeboating won’t let me go
I stood down form the RNLI lifeboat crew at Tower after over 20 years on the crew last month. As we left for Cherbourg we found a young man at about 0615 in the morning swimming well over 2 miles offshore. He was struggling a bit and was glad of a ride back into Chichester……
-
Trouper’s Atlantic France Trip Preparations
Over the last few years I’ve invested a lot of time, effort, and a fair bit of money into getting Trouper set up for extended cruising. We’ve installed a new engine, a large Lithium Iron Phosphate battery bank with a large alternator to charge it, and a hostable array of solar panels. Our plan has…