Life On Sail

The weather forecast isn’t great this week, so we decided to fix the anemometer before the wind and rain arrive. However, we returned to the boat a bit too late. The sun sets around 6:30 p.m., and it was getting too dark by the time Nico reached halfway up the 12-meter mast. We gave up for now—we’ll try again next time Nico’s dad is around. To-do list Today, Nico’s parents are leaving because of the bad weather. There isn’t much outdoor work they can help us with anymore. - We have to polish the boat and rework the heavily damaged teak. - We need to fix the unfurling mechanism of the mainsail. - We have to repair the solar panels. - We need to fix the bow thruster. - We have to repair the arch. - We need to clean the dinghy. There’s probably more on Nico’s list. A lot of things aren’t working inside either: - Fix all the cupboards that won’t close. - Wash the upholstery and curtains. - Replace the halogen lights with LEDs to save power. - Clean the cabins to make space for all our belo...

 We started comparing insurance options way too late. By the time we signed for the boat and had it in dry dock, we didn’t have any insurance. We began receiving most of the quotations, but not all.  April Insurance We narrowed our list down to two insurance options and finally picked April, which specializes in nautical insurance. We received their quotation and thought it was reasonable. (We also checked them out using AI and forums.) We called them to proceed with the multi-risk quotation, but it didn’t work out as planned. They wouldn’t insure the boat without a survey! They could only offer us minimum civil liability insurance, which cost around 300 euros . We took it since we were still in dry dock and had just purchased the boat. They gave us the name of a surveyor located near our dry dock. We called him and found out that an insurance survey would cost 1,000 euros —almost the price of April’s full-year multi-risk quotation (around 1,200 euros). It would be an addition...

We finished up whatever we could while the boat was in dry dock. But now it’s time to leave—there’s no more space in dry dock, and no extensions are possible. We haven’t finished polishing the gelcoat repairs, so we’ll have to do that on the water. Everything is pretty hectic. You don’t have time to enjoy anything—there’s always something to do before the launch. They came to crane the boat at 11 a.m. We followed as it was towed to the harbor for launch. Our hearts were pounding. Once the boat hit the water, we’d be responsible for sailing it back to Narbonne Plage harbor. This time, we’re almost solo. The boat’s seller isn’t sailing with us—he’ll just assist with the launch and arrival. The boat is in the water now, and we need to check for leaks since we replaced all 10 through-hull fittings. It takes some time before we finally set off.  Gruissan is a pretty big harbor, so as soon as we leave, there’s no time for photos or videos—we have to focus. Especially since it was a wavy ...

  Our sailboat renovation program on dry dock The boat is an Oceanis 40CC Clipper, constructed in 1999 and launched in 2000. It’s old and not well maintained, so there’s a ton of repair and renovation work ahead. The previous owner left everything inside—from personal belongings to condiments. A lot of triage to do! I doubt anyone will read this whole thing, but if you can pick up any tips from our mistakes, here you go…   Day 1 - Clean up the boat : The owner had a medical issue and couldn’t maintain it for a while, so he’s selling it (with regrets) with all his stuff still inside. It’s up to us to decide what to keep or toss. - Move in all our belongings onto the boat : It’s maybe 30 m² of livable space. We have to empty it out just to fill it with our own junk.  - Clean up the hull and propellers : Nico and his dad used a pressure washer to remove algae from the hull (not much there), but the antifouling on the propellers didn’t work well. Both propellers were covered ...

February 2025 overview This month had our biggest spending yet—we bought the boat!! Woo-hoo! We got it for 50,000 euros, which is 20,000–30,000 euros below market price because it needs a ton of renovation. Total spending for February comes to 53,000 euros. February 2025 details The main expenses were the boat, the trip to Croatia, and the tools we started buying to renovate it. The rest of the spending will hit in March when we leave the dry dock—we’ll need to pay for the stay plus all the consumables we bought to fix the boat. February 2025 vs budget :  The biggest expense is done: we’ve acquired the boat. Originally, we planned to buy it for 65,000 euros and spend 5,000 euros equipping it (plus 3,000 euros extra for miscellaneous equipment). Now, it looks like equipping it will cost around 20,000 euros—especially later if we tackle the transatlantic crossing. Year-to-date (YTD), we’ve used up 52% of our budget. Let’s see how long we can stretch the rest of the money!