Departure imminent

Fuelled up, watered up, provisioned up, everything is stowed and we are ready for off!
Well nearly. We had our 'sea trials' yesterday with our friends
and Meriva sailed beautifully.
Our first planned destination is Northern Spain which could
take 4 days with the light winds  forecast. The prospect of
low swell and light winds is music to my ears......I'm sure I
will hunger after increasing wind strength once we have the
handle of the yacht.

Floating......

Finally we have left the 13 foot ladder behind and are afloat. This was perhaps the most stressful experience either of us have had for a while seeing our beautiful boat suspended up in the air in a piece of webbing!
We floated fine and no leaks, a testament to Tristan's excellent boat building skills.

It has taken a while to get the mast and rigging completed and we have had a cage built to support the solar  panels and bimini (not that we need it in Cornwall).
As soon as we have completed the snagging we will be heading south.......following the sun's elliptical orbit.

Just about to float- first time in three years

One very nervous skipper

'They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day,
In a Sieve they went to sea! '  Edward Lear

We have running hot and cold water and a functioning shower! The cockpit has had its first top coat and we are applying multiple coats of varnish to the doghouse.

Unfortunately  I have had an operation on my hand so varnishing  is on hold until I heal. Tristan has wired in the electrics, fitted locks and connected most of the sea cocks. However we still have a rather large hole where the exhaust will go, but we are going to paint the topsides before we bung it up!  

Four coats of varnish ..... six  more to go (at least)!

"HE KNOWS NOT WHERE HE'S GOING FOR THE OCEAN WILL DECIDE - IT'S NOT THE DESTINATION......IT'S THE GLORY OF THE RIDE" - QUOTE BY EDWARD MONKTON

Launch date has come and gone, but we are working hard to set a new date this month. The dog house has four coats of varnish - only six  more to go. The top sides have been under-coated and we are ready to paint subject to a break in the weather.  We have two coats of anti-fouling on the hull, two more to go.Tristan has been been attaching wires to bus bars and the electrics are set to be complete this week!


It was really satisfying to spend time on Meriva on Saturday, without actually  'working'. We realised how much hard work had gone into restoring her to a beautiful Classic yacht. Although we both feel desperately tired, we are motivated by the prospect of our new sailing adventure and can't wait to 'float our boat'.