Knotty Girl 10,000 miles anniversary !!
Knotty Girl
Tanya/Roberto
Wed 6 Dec 2017 11:43
13:45.000N 45:53.000W Knotty Girl and her fortunate owners have achieved 10’000 miles on Sunday, December 3rd 2017, not even 2,5 years after she has been built (the building of a boat could be the theme of a whole book) for us in Southampton, UK. And what is even more amazing is that this current transatlantic crossing, which will in total consist of about 2’900 miles sailed does not even represent a major part of the 10’000 miles sailed on Knotty Girl! On our brave and secure Knotty Girl we already made several voyages, such as bringing her from the UK to Greece, with stops in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Montenegro. On her, we explored many (not all as it would require a couple of years in that country) of the beautiful and very varied Greek islands, and even renewed our vows on its deck in May of this year ! On each and every trip so far, Knotty Girl has performed outstandingly and met our expectations - but while a lot is obviously due to the boat type itself, the way it is built, the material used, etc. a bigger lot is due to Roberto’s choices while the boat was in build (e.g. the type of sails, winches, plotters, etc.) and to how incredibly well equipped technically and security wise Knotty Girl is. Every trip made since we own Knotty Girl serves as a way to even better equip Knotty Girl. Many tips from sailors across the world read by Roberto are then implemented on our boat. As a result, Knotty Girl is as prepared as it might be for most (not all as this would be impossible) unknown. Every day, or almost, I find a bag of spares for something somewhere in a cupboard !! And during this crossing I have been able to realise that while all of this material takes space in our boat, it is VERY handy, even CRITICAL - two sales repairs have had to be performed during our Trans-Atlantic crossing ! But while there is a strong safety and security focus on Knotty Girl, comfort is not relegated to secondary position at all - having a desalinator as well as a generator on board means we benefit from extreme comfort and luxury in the form of hot showers in the middle of the ocean, not worrying about drinking water, machine laundries anytime, 220 volt everywhere, freshly cooked frozen meals 2,5 weeks after departure, including ice-cream delights, and much more! Finally I would like to pay tribute to Roberto, Knotty Girl skipper, who in my own view (but Ok I agree I am slightly biased !) but I heard it also from other experienced skippers, is an extremely reliable, thoughtful, prepared skipper in whom I have full confidence - the proof being that I am even crossing the Atlantic with him !! Brave Knotty Girl - she is bringing too much joy in our life, as she also is also the scene of so many unique and unforgettable moments with so many of our friends, moments such as the ones we are experiencing currently, on our crossing, with laughters, good meals (ok no good wine but it is to come soon !), hard work sometimes, long and deep discussions amongst us, jokes, games parties… We are ready to sail our next 10’000 miles ! The Admiral Tanya PS: Parole d’équipiers: Je ne serais jamais venu faire la traversée de l’Atlantique si je n’avais pas eu “full confidence in both the boat, the skipper and the team”!! PS2: in the picture the departure for the ARC 2017  |