List of Flicka Blogs

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Here's quite a moving video of a bunch of guys saving a whale from certain death in the Sea of Cortez. The poor whale became intangled in gil nets.

Some inspiration for you!  You're never too old!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8771085/Worlds-oldest-sailor-arrives-home-in-Japan-after-solo-journey-around-globe.html

My Flicka Caraway came with four Brookes and Gatehouse instruments. Wind, Depth, GPS and Speed. There are two transducers in the hull, one for depth situated under the sink and the speed one in the forward locker on the starboard...

Well, it’s a nice idea isn’t it?   The idea that you don’t have to conform to the complexity, responsibility, enslavement and tedium of modern life. That instead you can simplify your life, go sailing and search for happiness instead of climbing the career and property ladders and trying to fulfil yourself...

I came across this interesting series of videos by a guy who built his own dinghy and sailed and rowed it across from mainland Spain to Ibiza and along the coast of Spain.   When the wind failed to blow which was most of the time he was forced to row. An experience which is clearly exhausting in the...

I had been meaning to upgrade the module that drives the blogging on this site. I was a bit wary because last time I upgraded the blog module the blog posts were lost. This time I made sure to back up the site before installing the module. The upgrade seemed to run smoothly. I need to make some changes...

I finally found the time to write up my account of the last single handed passage I did from Minorca to France in October 2008.  You can download it direct here or you can find it under the menu...

In September and October every year my partner and I go to Minorca where she creates a brochure for a sailing holiday company; Minorca Sailing. She is given an apartment and I am invited to tag along with my laptop where I can work using the local wifi. ...

Caraway has always had a fixed VHF radio mounted on the port side to the left of the galley and above the entrance to the quarter berth. It was properly installed and has never let me down. The antenna is a Metz Manta 6 and has remained firmly attached to the very top of the mast in all weathers for...

A 14 year old Dutch school girl has set sail on a circumnavigation attempt in a 26 foot boat after winning a court battle with social services trying to prevent her departure .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11048130

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From time to time when I pressed the Yanmar 1gm 10 start button I could hear the starter motor click and nothing happened. If I tried again the starter kicked in and the Yanmar started as normal.  I knew the starter motor needed overhaul or replacement but I had been procrastinating it. But with the...

Well I decided to buy a small kayak trolley and go overland to the boat across the marsh. This is practical in the summer but impossible in the winter. In the summer the fields are dry and accessible but during the winter the marsh becomes impassable. I’m also probably not going to keep the boat on her...

Splicing is not something I do very often although I can splice both yacht braid and three strand if I put my mind to it. I needed to make up some new mooring warps for Caraway with proper spliced-in thimbles.  I bought the rope and stuff and made a start. But could I remember how to get started with...

After giving Caraway a copper bottom and new rigging it was finally time to get her back in the water. The guys at Rossiters did a great job and we were back in with the mast up and sitting on our new mooring by midday.  It was a big relief to work with such careful and competent guys and much much easier...

Well I intended to paint the top sides this summer but since the yard only paint by hand and Caraway has grooves in her hull to make her look like a wooden boat we decided she needed to go to another yard and be sprayed. That and the cost of the job decided it for me. She would have to wait for a paint...

Being in charge of an expanding web site and database of Flickas I have come to realise that good images of boats under sail are hard to find. Now this is fair enough because photographing your own boat requires another boat with a photographer on board. I can accept this as a difficult problem to overcome...

Well, my poor little boat has been a bit neglected since we bought the house in Dorset. Having a severe winter didn’t really help either.

Caraway has been sat forlornly under a tree gathering leaves, twigs, spiders and mould while I’ve been busy decorating bedrooms, painting kitchen cupboards...

Caraway’s old Origo was getting a bit tatty after 18 years abuse.  If she’d only be used lightly it might have been in better shape but I lived on board for a few years and our cruising trips were usually 2-3 months or more. The stove did it’s just well but was starting to show it’s age. The mesh on...

I don’t know about you but I like looking at pictures on a blog, so here’s a few more from last years Italian cruise…

 

We headed out from Cannes as soon as Nina’s lost luggage turned up (we had to wait three days and Nina had no clean clothes!)



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For some time I’ve been intrigued by another boat that Bruce Bingham designed; the Anastasia. However, information on the boat is elusive and I’ve not been able to find anything more about her since somebody sent in old some images of one under construction.

But the power of web search has brought...

 

Now that we seem to have finally turned the corner of winter and the days are drawing out a little I’m starting to look forward to working on my boat and using my new garage as a workshop.  As soon as I have cleared out the junk and draught proofed the door I intend to build myself a work bench where...

It is during the long winter months that I usually start thinking about what can be improved, repaired or replaced on my boat for the coming season.

While I was in the Med water was a constant cruising issue. Firstly, the summer months could be very hot and with two persons on board we’d need...

Just came across a post about Bill Crealock

Flicka "Nomad" battles to windward and the safety of harbour...

I finally got my host providers to upgrade the content management system I use to run this site. The upgrade happened fairly cleanly with just a few visible problems to iron out.  Of course, more issues may come to light but I hope they won’t be serious. We are now running Dotnetnuke 4.9.5.

Please...

How fortunate I am to have a partner who works in Minorca for two months of the year!  I’m even more fortunate that I’m encouraged to stay with her while she’s there. Oh, woe is life!

But this is the first year we’ve not arrived by Flicka and a very different experience it’s been too. I’ve been...

It’s been a few years since I abandoned film and bought a digital camera. I sold my old Leica M cameras and lenses on Ebay as Leica was so behind the digital age at that time that I decided to sell them while I could.  In that time I’ve stuggled with digital and never been completely satisfied with the...

To my relief the journey ‘home’ went very smoothly and Caraway was lifted off the trailer and chocked up on a patch of grass at Rossiters yard in Christchurch. Just a 30 minute walk from our new house.  Rossiters is a friendly yard with a lot of interesting history. Unlike most ports I’ve been at in...

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I didn’t get the bug for photography on this trip. I was a little pre-occupied with trying to unwind while at the same time being tormented by Barclays bank and their unbelievable incompetence regarding a simple letter of consent on my flat sale. It’s a long and very boring story and suffice to say it...

I am now facing a big back-log of emails to read and reply to and a lot of work related problems and tasks to try and understand and fix so work on the Flicka site will be on the back burner for now.

We had a super cruise on the Italian coast which was lovely but difficult at times. Italy is...

Back in French waters

Well it's nearly time. We fly out to Nice on Tuesday..

Snookums is off!

I guess at some point I had to face up to it but it's hard to turn back once you've embarked on a new and better life.. But, I need to work for a while and get some cash together. That means a lot less sailing this year than usual. Boats and their maintenance are not cheap and even a small boat like...

well.. here I am back in Blighty after the gruelling drive from Chamonix all the way to Calais, a bumpy ferry packed with boozing Brits to Dover and another 100 mile drive up to Guildford. It makes for a very long and tiring day and one which I always dread..  But needs must be and since I’m selling...

For a while I’ve been trying to find the best way to polish up the gel coat on my old Flicka, Caraway. She hasn’t been polished and maintained properly since new. However, the gel coat is thick and can be polished up with the right tools. I’ve tried various products and a lot of elbow grease in the past...