Extending Our Reach

We've never been under any illusion that our boat is more your 'drift about the Med' kind of gal. Her biggest asset is a wide stern that accommodates a spacious cockpit which is great for entertaining plus our 'owners cabin' below it with its king size bed. When it comes to voyaging; serious voyaging, neither of these apparent assets is in the least helpful. The cockpit is hopelessly exposed to the elements, rather than snug and embracing like you'd observe on a purpose designed ocean eater. The main bunk doesn't get used much when under way either. The steering quadrant is located in the void behind ones head and makes endless little creaking sounds as the autohelm makes its little adjustments, plus one requires lots of pillows to help wedge oneself into a little furrow to prevent being rolled from one side of the bed to the other. For passaging, we set up the settee in the salon with a lee sheet and sleep there instead.

Still to be tied on - 4x20L diesel + 1x20L ULP

We've never had any doubt about Zofia's strength however. She's taken a pummelling a couple of times and come through with flying colours. The biggest deficit is in the tankage - fuel and water. 126L of diesel and 355L of water is not a lot. This restricts the range or time away from a port.

Last year we purchased a Rainman desalinator to make it possible to stay off-shore for at least a month. To run it we needed an extra 20L of unleaded petrol so we swapped one of our 4 diesel jerry cans for 1 x ULP. Then when we decided to take on the Rally to New Caledonia we replaced the diesel jerry again. The Bloke then reconsidered our needs still further and opted for a 2nd 20L ULP jerry plus another 4 diesel ones. We could fit 3 jerries along our rails but not 5 so while we were at The Boatworks a longer rod for each rail was manufactured to secure the extra jerries. The Bloke is well pleased as it will enable us to pretty much motor all the way to New Caledonia if we were unable to use the wind for any reason.

Seeing as we haven't topped up on extra water for the trip our weight, although heavy will not exceed what we've been on previous occasions. We've traded water for diesel.

Checking the weight on the travel lifter

Having completed all the cleaning, scrubbing and polishing, The Bloke has arranged everything on deck and I've completed the bags to help secure the jerries plus reduce their exposure to UV. As a bonus, all those red and yellow jerries are a uniform colour. The Bloke is very happy and we are also away from the dock, having dropped the lines and dropped and anchored nearby so we can catch our breath.