Dartmouth Preparations 2015

Hello again from Liquid Asset. We are about the depart on a two week trip. Here are the facts for this year.

The crew is David and I. Bob unfortunately has not been able to join us this time, so he will be sadly missed. But a great opportunity to talk about him.... more on that later.

As I write this, David is travelling south from Carlisle on the train. I am on the boat having come down last night. No Annie. She is suffering from acute hay fever and is very annoyed to have missed our departure, and of course this lovely weather.

Liquid Asset is, of course, in tip top condition. She was lifted in March, hull polished, engine serviced etc. The life raft was serviced (needs to be done every three years), so we are in good shape. Safety is paramount of course with all sailing, but we are a little short handed this time so need to be very careful. Man overboard drill is important; only having one person on board to pull out the other makes it very difficult. The trick is not to go overboard!

Liquid Asset prior to departure

The weather situation is looking pretty good. Settled, with a couple of fronts coming through. Synoptic Charts

The high off to the west, and moving to centre over Spain is giving is steady westerly winds of 10-15 knots. This tells us we sail south, and the likelihood is we will head initially for the Channel Islands, or perhaps an overnight passage to the north Brittany coast.

Source Windguru

David arrived on the 1525 from Carlisle. First job was to head for Sainsbury to stock the boat. All carried out very efficiently. Stowed, beer on deck and dinner in Dartmouth, primarily discussing plans for the trip. Our intended departure was at 0700 heading for Guernsey or Sark.