9th December 22nd Day at Sea - Arrival and Final Blog for this trip
Muktinath
Pete and Chris
Mon 14 Dec 2015 20:42
16:20 - 9 Dec 2015
Total distance run: 3109 miles
Er, so that's it Terra firma at last after 22 days of Terra incognito!
Bligh seems to be fully recovered, the entire cast of characters seem to be back in the box whence the came. He seems almost nice again, so as result Suzie the spinnaker and I agreed that if we went round in circles a few times outside the marina, thus appearing to do something technical, she would unwrap herself and save him the embarrassment of docking with a spinnaker hoisted.
Poor old George the autopilot is currently in intensive care. There is unfortunately some debate around whether his health insurance covers self destruction,
Finally I guess a few lines of serious thought would be appropriate here. I was taught never to generalise from a specific. But here are some observations based on our specific experience:
Firstly, do not underestimate the difficulty of sailing across two handed. You don't need to be a marine to do it, but it can be tough especially when things go wrong.
Secondly, think very carefully about single points of failure. Our battery problem, spread to all systems of the boat including steering. I would definitely invest in a hydro vane steering system in addition to the more common electronic system. I would think about water cooled refrigeration also.
Thirdly, I would invest in as many alternative power generation methods as were feasible. Wind, towed, solar etc. Make sure that batteries are less than three years old, even if they test out OK.
I could go on about specifics, but I guess a good motto would be, "make sure you can still sail, without having to hand steer if one or more of your systems fail"
Finally, and most importantly, pick you crew mates very carefully. I was lucky to be with my old friend Russ. Not surpisingly, he proved himself once again to be a great friend and fantastically stoic crew mate when things got a bit tough! So thanks Russ for sharing a really worthwhileand unique experience with me!!!
So in the words of the Immortal Douglas Adams "Goodby and thanks for all the Fish!" Although given Russ's fishing expertise perhaps it should just be "Goodbye!"