It’s almost a year since we bought Cassini now, which being fresh back from an Atlantic circuit, we knew had been equipped for the sailing we wanted to do, and was capable of doing it.  

It’s not quite that simple of course. 50ft of boat is a lot of boat. A lot of systems, a lot of rigging, sails and handling systems. As we got to know Cassini and wintered ashore for a month, we found ourselves upgrading, repairing and renewing things. What seemed like quite small things sometimes turned into quite major ones – a small crack in the coach roof gel coat led to complete removal of that section of roof and a major rebuild. We installed a new satellite system to be able to communicate with friends and family offshore. The teak decks had a deep clean and seal to protect them. We did some small repairs to the hull and gave it a deep clean and polish. Some of the running rigging (the ropes that control the sails) were quite old; we’ve replaced most of it now. All the sails came ashore to repair and reinforce worn areas. A lot of work and not much sailing.  

After our first few months of cruising the south coast and Channel Islands this year, it became clear that the batteries were not really holding their charge well enough and would need replacing. This led us into the dilemma that many owners now face: replace with more AGM (lead acid) batteries or go to the expense, and the alternations needed, to make the change to Lithium with the benefits of more sustained charge and longer life. We are making the change. I hope it’s a game-changer in power terms.  

Ahead of our Atlantic circuit this year, a routine rig inspection identified some cracks in the mast that need to be repaired. So, with just a couple of weeks before we set sail, the mast was laid out in a boat yard getting repaired and strengthened. Better to find it now than half way across the Atlantic!  

So not all plain sailing to-date then, but after a final few weeks of repairs and upgrade, we are just about as ready as we’ll ever be to set off on our adventure. Starting south via France, Spain, Portugal and Madeira, thence to the Canaries and Cape Verde, and across to Grenada in the Caribbean for December.