Alize
Mike Somerville
Tue 28 Aug 2012 12:01
43:30.987N 4:7.947E This is the first blog entry on our exciting ARC adventure! The crew: Mike Somerville - our intrepid skipper and the owner of Alize - a lovely Maxi 1300 build in 2008 Tim Holbrook - our resident gadget king, aspiring deep sea fisherman and home baker Mike Lunch - thats me. Alize is normally based in San Carles de la Rapita, SE of Barcelona. However we sailed her to Port Camargue in June so that preparation work could be done for the ARC. Many exciting new gadgets have been fitted and we are looking forward to testing them out on the passage to Las Palmas over the next couple of weeks. We set off on Sunday 2nd September and plan to call at Cartagena and Gibraltar on our way to Las Palmas. Amongst the new toys on board are: AIS system (which automatically tells other vessels nearby who we are, our course and speed). 3KW diesel generator set (which will recharge our superb new AGR battery bank. Water maker - a small reverse osmosis unit which can give us 5 litres of fresh water per hour. Parasail - a clever specialised spinnaker which has an aerofoil built in (like a modern parashute). This makes the sail very stable and allows it to be used over a wider wind range than a conventional spinnaker. A panasonic bread maker! Each of us will be wearing the new Kannad Safelink R10 survivor recovery system. This personal beacon tells us when a man over board (MOB) situation has occurred and guides us directly to his location using the combination of AIS (Automatic Identification System) and GPS technology. It transmits precise location, bearing and distance data so that fellow crew members or nearby sailors’ AIS enabled receivers have all the information to locate the position of the person in difficulty and effect a speedy recovery. This new system is ideal for the ARC since there is a good chance of other participants being within range of the signals and being able to join quickly in the search for a MOB. Must dash now - here is a shot of Alize in the marina. Regards, Mike Lunch |