It's getting very near time for Hazel and I to return to our boats. I've been busy fabricating a few pieces to upgrade the tiller pilot self steering; firstly, a new tiller pin mounting plate that should give a secure fixing for the pin that the tiller pilot attaches to on the tiller. It should also enable an easy change of the pin should it break. The second upgrade is a second ram and mountings that I intend to use to steer the boat via the windvane trim tab. This should work with considerably less load on everything. We'll see; it'll certainly be interesting!

We've also been busy purchasing a few bits to take with us; courtesy flags, pilot books, charts, etc. The hope for this year is for us to begin our explorations of the Med; where and how far we go remains to be seen :)

I've just released a new album of music on Bandcamp. Entitled "A Slow Boat To Spain And Beyond", it features music as used in season 2 of the SV Tapatya YouTube videos. This includes a new version of my recent sax chill track "Downwind", which was partly recorded on board. All proceeds from purchases go into the cruising kitty and will be truly appreciated :)

I shall embed the Bandcamp player below; 

Here’s the latest update from the cruising log of Tapatya, after the last entry saw us anchored in Roscanvel, Brest, France.

We had been pushing fairly hard to get to Brest and there was indeed a good reason for that. We hoped to meet our good friends Mo and Drake from the sailing vessel Paragon there. So, after a day of rest and recuperation at anchor, we headed out to rendezvous with them mid-bay and continue on to the beautiful anchorage in Anse de l’Auberlach, where we dropped the hook and stayed for some 6 days, going ashore and generally hanging out with the guys from Paragon. 
But, as is the nature of these things, it became time for both vessels and crews to see about moving on - Paragon, north back to the UK (Falmouth), and us to prepare to cross Biscay. We said our goodbyes in Brest marina as Paragon headed out in some testing conditions and, after a night at anchor off Roscanvel again, we left Brest bay and began to progress along the southern Brittany coast to choose a point from which to start our Biscay crossing and enjoy the beautiful scenery that Brittany has to offer.
We spent a few days holed up in the Port de Morgat, waiting for suitable weather to pass through the Ras de Seine ( which was very kindly when we transited it) and on through the night to the harbour on the Isle de Groix. We decided this was the spot from which we’d cross Biscay, with our chosen destination being Gijon in northern Spain. We did a bit of provisioning and filled the diesel tank and a couple of days later sailed west along the north coast of the island and then turned onto a heading of 201 degrees for the 265 mile crossing to Gijon. 
Our weather window was a gentle one; we motored most of the first day, but come morning, the breeze began filling in and after a bit of motor sailing, we were finally able to switch the thumper off and enjoy the peace. It was basically empty out there. In our roughly 78 hour crossing, we saw maybe 3 ships and 4 fishing vessels and absolutely no other sail boats until we were sailing into Gijon. There were plenty of dolphins, hunting on the continental shelves or playing around our bows, and a few gannets, and that really was about it. Around 10pm on our last night, a big lightning storm started off our starboard side. I slowed us down and watched it for a good 45 minutes, trying to make sure I knew which direction it was moving, and then, when I was sure, we turned slightly to port and managed to successfully avoid it.
We had a good stiff breeze on the beam as we sailed into the harbour at Gijon and I hand steered us in with big smiles on our faces as we made our way in to tie up, step ashore and go for a beer in Spain.

This is the latest video release from DrakeParagon, where they come to the aid of Hazel and Alanouwoly off the northern coast of Spain, after she encounters engine problems once again. A very well-made video, IMHO.

Well, we've moved on a bit now. After clearing the lock from the Netherlands out into the North Sea/English Channel, we did an overnighter down to Calais in France. One thing we were very pleased for on that leg was contacting the harbour pilots at Zeebrugge and Calais, who gave us clear instructions on how to cross the busy shipping lanes, and in the case of Calais, enter the port without issue. 
We took a free mooring buoy in Calais for the first night, before moving into the marina to wait for suitable weather to progress. This gave us the opportunity to do some provisioning, empty the bins, have a shower, purchase a bit of diesel and poke about the town, and the harbour master there very proudly told us that Calais is the cheapest marina in all of France :)
From there, we did a short hop to Boulogne-sur-Mer, again taking a berth in the marina there - there is little in the way of anchoring possibilities in this area. Another overnighter brought us to the beautiful Normandy harbour town of Saint-Vaast-le-Hougue. We anchored outside of the town harbour wall at first, but it was super rolly and we soon moved through the lock gates into the harbour/marina. But what a fantastic little harbour town/village St Vaast is - apparently it had won the 'favourite village in France' award back in 2019, and you can certainly see why!
After enjoying ourselves there for the best part of a week, we got underway again on our longest leg so far. Leaving in the late afternoon, we beat our way up to the cape at Barfleur, got bounced around pretty well in the tidal race there and made our way into Cherbourg, where we dropped the hook up behind the outer harbour wall to wait out the contrary tide and try to get a bit of sleep. Early the next morning, we motored out straight into some pretty choppy seas in the vicinity of the harbour entrance, then made some sail and turned west, heading a good way out to sea in an attempt to lessen the effects of the Alderney race that we were about to cross.
We saw SOG speeds of over 9 knots crossing the Alderney race, but it was fairly smooth sailing despite the water boiling around us. After clearing Alderney and the Casquettes, the going got pretty easy, sailing whenever the wind and tide allowed and generally motorsailing when the tide was against us. We had a quiet night at sea passing Guernsey and beyond and spent a bit of time reading up on our options to approach Brest - either the short cut through the Chenal du Four or the long way around Ushant. In the end, as it would have been dark and the tide would have been against us through the Chenal du Four, we opted for the long route around Ushant and spent the entire next night looking at the lighthouse there as we rounded it.
Daylight saw us just clearing Ushant in flat calm waters, and we motored and later sailed our way into the bay at Brest, dropping the hook at Roscanvel for a swim and a good sleep :)

Well, we're underway after almost 6 years of building, last summer's sea trials and the winter of minor upgrades and improvements. 

Hazel and I left Neustadt i. Holstein on the 15th April and made our way in two hops to the Kiel Canal. A gentle 3 days brought us through the canal, taking advantage of the free mooring options at Kms 85 (approx) and 22. We left the lock at the River Elbe end on a cold (hail) and blustery day and had a lively sail down the Elbe to Cuxhaven.

A few days later, we headed out into the North Sea, pushing the boat hard to make the 60 miles to Norderney before sunset. This was Tapatya's first taste of really open water sailing and she handled it well; our new Pelagic tiller pilot taking on the bulk of the steering and performing magnificently :)

Our next hop was into the Ems estuary and up the river to Delfzijl in the Netherlands. Again, we needed to make miles and we pushed hard; the tides were favourable and we were able to ride the flood up the river all the way to our destination.

We entered the Dutch canals in the Staande Mastroute at Delfzijl and motored our way to Groningen, where we spent a delightful couple of days at the Motorboat Club Marina, walking in to explore the city and conduct a reconnaissance mission on the canals, bridges and locks before attempting to pass through there the next day.

Our trip through the city centre of Groningen with Tapatya was a real highlight; the bridges mainly opened as we arrived, and the route takes you right through the city centre, a truly fantastic thing to do on a sail boat. After loving every minute of that, we left the city and motored on in the canals until we felt we'd done enough for the day and tied up at one of the free mooring places that are available on the canal sides.

The next day took us through the Lauwersmeer and on through narrow canals and delightful countryside to our very favourite free tie up dock of the entire trip - just off the main canal and a short way up a little side ditch.

After a super peaceful night there, a short motor took us into the town of Dokkum, where we tied to a municipal dock (small fee) that was only for sailboats (!), took advantage of the supermarket, diesel station and municipal showers and had a wander around the very pretty small town centre.

The next day brought us to Lemmer at the top of the IJsselmeer and a couple of days later we headed out to sail across the artificial lake and through the dam into the Markermeer. After a brilliant short trip through the narrow town centre of Lemmer and transiting the lock, we entered the IJsselmeer right in the middle of a race event for traditional Dutch barges: Sadly, there was only the lightest of breezes, but what a sight, 30 to 40 traditional Dutch sailing barges under full sail on a perfect sunny morning! We motored clear of them then raised sail and joined them in drifting slowly in the very light airs. Around midday, the wind picked up and we had a great sail across the IJsselmeer to our chosen anchorage for the night (incredibly, Tapatya's first anchorage of this trip!)

We had another great sail across the Markermeer and into Amsterdam, through the extremely busy lock and on to our chosen small marina in the city centre. After a couple of days exploring the city, we were underway again, following the canal route to Haarlem, where we tied up again at a municipal dock. From Haarlem on, the canals get steadily bigger as they turn into some quite major waterways. We passed through Gouda and part of the old Rhine river and onwards until we were off of the southmost page of the very excellent Staande Mastroute Atlas that had guided us right through the Netherlands. We made our way to the marina at Saint Annaland for our last night in this lovely country.

I'll write some more soon, we've now made the sail to France and are enjoying fine Normandy galettes and cider :) ​ to edit.

Yes indeed! It's getting close and the excitement is building.

Hazel and I were up at the boatyard yesterday. The trim tab is basically fitted - I just have one more bearing block to drill and secure and the upper bearing block to fabricate and fit. It's looking good :)

We also offered up the swim ladder and that looks as though it should be straightforward. Basically, we're well on target to be ready for launch. Then we should be a week or two in the slip, doing a few bits of deck work and provisioning, etc. We'll be keeping a weather eye open!

Pilot; 1975; Ah!!
And it is. The snow seems to have finally buggered off now, but unsurprisingly, it's hardly toasty. Epoxy basically takes a day to set off, so you do a bit and then have to wait 'til tomorrow before you can progress on that piece. And the boat is a one and a half hour drive away instead of being conveniently in the back garden, where you can just nip out and do a bit if the sun feels like shining for a few minutes. Other than that, everything is brilliant :)

I've just noticed we have an 'X post' button thing on the bottom of the blog posts now. I assume that's the X formerly known as Twitter. Allow me to say right here that I have absolutely no interest in that nonsense. Actually, although I do post occasionally on Facebook, I am seriously doubting that even that is worth bothering with. Its one benefit (as I see it) is that some of you can post things to the SV Tapatya Friends page - Frans posting AIS tracking updates is a fine example of something I appreciate and has real value. I guess, thinking about it as I type, I shall carry on putting a bit up there from time to time. Please feel free to join our group Facebook page :)

Link to SV Tapatya Friends on Facebook

They keep on rolling by! We spent the Christmas week in England; took in a footy game, spent some quality time with family, ate too much; had a twelve hour drive each way; and then came back in time for new year.

Meanwhile the winter project list is progressing quite well. I have built the foresail sheet horse come dinghy storage - this will be a big improvement as it gets the dreaded inflatable dinghy out of the lazarette and into a safe storage location on deck, thereby freeing up significant room in the laz :). I've purchased and received a very good looking and fairly pricey new tiller pilot autopilot from the US company, Pelagic. I have quiet hopes that it will do the job! The windvane construction, from the plans I purchased from Alan of Wave Rover fame, is coming along nicely. I've adjusted the construction to suit my ideas of how it should be built and am happy thus far. It's a trim tab windvane and the tower element (that is the actual wind vane bit) is pretty much finished and I'm now working on the trim tab element. That's coming along nicely, though I say so myself! Details of the windvane project can be seen in the videos, starting with episode 307.

I have also fitted a fairly expensive VHF radio remote unit (it's hard wired) that will allow me to be able to use the VHF while in the cockpit area. This was something I discovered could be a necessity on my sea trials. That'll be a nice-to-have :)

I have purchased an inflatable kayak that I shall be taking with me next time. The quite nice Aquarib dinghy that I bought with the idea that it'd be comfortable and safe for Karin and I to use turned out to be far too big to store in a deflated state. It has a hard aluminium floor, which is quite lovely, and a hard transom. All of this means it packs away to a rather large roll with another rather large bag of floor boards and bits and bobs. The double-ender lazarette of the Benford dory is simply not big enough to store all of that. I shall be using the kayak or an Avon Redcrest that I have in the future. The Redcrest packs away much smaller and I'll find a spot for the deflated kayak somewhere.

I'm in the process of making a new tiller - I shall keep the first one as a back up. I'm making it in ash, laminated to size. The tiller itself is finished, but I still have the stainless fitting to fabricate. Several of the other little jobs are underway; I'm fairly confident we'll be ready come springtime. I'll see if I can take a few photos and get them up here...

Well, between the boat work, I've managed to release a new single! I actually recorded it just before setting off on the sea trials, but I've only just completed the finishing touches. Hazel mastered it for me and I'm very pleased with the results. It's an easy-listening type song and marks a return to guitar-based music for me. You might recognise it, as I've used bits of it in the last few Tapatya YT videos :)

And I've done all the work;)

We've been out conducting sea trials now for the past 2 months. This has involved the pure hardship ;) of cruising around in the very beautiful islands of Southern Denmark. Naturally, we're living aboard and testing every aspect of Tapatya as a live-aboard cruising vessel as we do so.

I'm drawing up a list of upgrades and improvements that are needed. This winter will be a busy time as I attempt to get as many as possible of those things sorted.

Initially, Elizabeth sailed with me, in fact for the bulk of the sea trials. She has now headed home and I'm finishing this sailing season alone. Basically, I'm currently waiting for a weather window to sail her back to Germany. I need 3 days of favourable winds, which seem a bit reluctant to appear!

Denmark has been absolutely beautiful. It's a truly excellent cruising ground, with beautiful islands and waters that are tide-free. There is a surprising phenomenon though, in that there are strongish currents in many places, caused by the wind. And differing wind directions cause different current flow directions. To the short-term visitor here, it takes a bit of understanding and getting used to. The currents are certainly strong enough to significantly affect your speed over ground, and hence progress.

However, it's well into October now and the cruising season is coming to an end. I shall be heading back to the marina where we launched for winter mooring and a haul out. The upgrades list beckons, and I'm actually pretty keen to get started on it :) Looking forward to that and next year's sailing, when I hope to venture further afield!

We've only gone and done it! Tapatya is now truly SV Tapatya :) :)

We launched exactly 3 weeks ago today in the company of some of our fantastic patrons who were able to attend. The launch all went very smoothly and the guys at the yard who did the actual work of launching and putting the masts in their rightful places were absolutely brilliant.

She floats, a little deeper than my guessed waterline, but not too much, and the waterline will be corrected this winter. The motor started easily - I had to do a bit of adjustment on the throttle linkage later on to get full revs and a good tick over, but otherwise all was well. Then we motored around to our temporary slip in the marina and I set to work rigging and stowing and provisioning.

Exactly one week later, we headed out on our first sail, doing about 40sm up to the German island of Fehmarn. She sailed brilliantly and I am a very happy man :)

Well, I'm very pleased to report that the move up to the marina went smoothly. I documented the entire procedure in Episode 284 of my YouTube series, and I have to say that I was extremely pleased and impressed with the boat movers; the way they managed the loading onto a smaller trailer, offloading in the driveway and then loading again onto the street trailer was outstanding :)

Now, we're in the yard of the marina up on the Baltic coast of Germany. I'm driving up there most days, hauling kit and stowing it, and preparing the boat for launch. As things stand, I've completed the epoxy primer/sealer, painting the patches that I couldn't reach as she sat in the backyard at home. I'm currently wiring and installing the solar panels and I've prepped the rubbing strake ready for fitting.

I have a couple of family commitments this month, so I'm still trying to work out when will be the best time to launch. I'm leaning towards the end of the month at the mo...

So, the second attempt to move her up to the marina will begin later today. The plan is to just relocate her in the back yard to a position where the big truck/trailer rig can get to her without having to manoeuver  too much. The big rig should come tomorrow for the big move!

I've dropped the bimini again and packed her up ready. We'll see. Fingers crossed!

Yes, she has indeed started her own YouTube channel - Sailing Alanouwoly. Here's her latest video :)

I've been steadily working through the list and am pretty much ready to move the boat up to the marina now. I've done everything in my power to make this happen smoothly and now it's pretty much down to the transport company. One worry I do have is if they can get their truck into our yard - a guy from the company has looked at it and said it's fine. We'll see! Somehow, I expect it'll be my fault if they can't, which no doubt will involve expense...

Yesterday, I emptied all of the loose items out of the boat and Elizabeth and I carried the sail bundles out and up onto the deck. This morning, a couple of very helpful and thoroughly capable locals - father and son - came with a tractor and we put the masts up on the deck. We are basically ready!

No! I just mean it's high time I put a post here to update you as to the state of play.

Looking back to the previous post from back in December, I'm sure you can imagine things haven't been easy, and frankly, they still aren't, but we push on.  Actually, in many ways, the boat build has been a godsend, giving me something to think about, as it has throughout the project.

But, lots has happened! And just looking back over the most recent posts, wow! Lots has happened!

The keel is in place, I've fabricated the rudder fittings and hung the rudder, and Tapatya looks pretty much like a complete boat. I've recently finished fabricating the aft pushpit, which doubles as the mainsail sheet horse/traveller. The service battery is in place; I've just wired up the deck plug for the solar; I've sewn a cover for the lazarette hatch, and have the cloth ready for making the dodger that will hang beneath the forward portion of the bimini; I've made the tiller and its fitting, and the yards for both sails; I've installed the engine stop cable and fitted the depth sounder transducer; the VHF and AIS are installed; and, no doubt, much more. Basically we are incredibly close to being finished!

Along the way, I'm in contact with a boat transport company and anticipate moving her up to a marina in the second half of May, with view to launching in June.

In other big news, I've resigned my job to give me more time to finish the build and actually be able to sail her when that is achieved. This obviously has the issue that the amount of money available for the build is severely diminished, but it's close to being finished...

So, what's still to do? Bottom paint, as in epoxy primer/sealer and antifouling; fitting the prop and outer rubber boot on the saildrive; the aft nav light and some wiring for the tiller pilot; stanchions on the raised deck and lifeline wires connecting all the railing elements; running rigging and some upper mast fittings, mast wedges. On launching, the masts will be fitted and the sails rigged, all my stuff will be moved aboard, the anchor will be put in place, and I'll generally get her ready to go. If all goes well, we should be sailing by late June. I hope so!

Well, we've had a bit of a shock! Sadly, my wife, travelling and sailing companion, Karin, passed away last Tuesday. She had spoken on one of the videos about her battle with breast cancer. She had undergone multiple surgeries and treatments, but last August we learnt that it had spread to other organs, and that it was inoperable.

Obviously, we miss her terribly. We're currently busy with sorting out all the things that need to be sorted out at such a time. The boat build has slowed for obvious reasons.

There was no video last week. There may be a trimmed down one this week....

Yes Indeed! Both masts are now complete, clad in biaxial cloth in epoxy and the painted with multiple coats of epoxy primer/sealer and then a couple of coats of 2 component polyurethane top coat. They're currently laying in the boat shed, waiting to be fitted and to have sails hung on them :-)

I'm now starting on the fitting of the keel. I've jacked the boat up to give us about 90cm of clearance underneath her, and will soon be dragging the keel construction underneath to be secured in place. Getting there!

Meanwhile, here's a video that Hazel released recently. It's shot in Scotland - in the Orkneys and the Caledonian Canal, where she and Elizabeth have been sailing recently. The music is her latest track :-)

I've been neglecting this site somewhat, it's true. My concentration has very much been on getting the boat finished. Well, I'm still not there, but the light is certainly gaining candelas at the end of that tunnel! And so now, I'm full of good intent to get things going again here and on my Patreon page, and pretty much everywhere else really.

So, where are we on the build? Progress is good, I feel. One mast is, to all intents and purposes, finished. It needs a bit of paint still, and the masthead fitting is only half done, but it's bloody close! The engine runs; the sails are here and waiting to be hoisted as soon as there it a vertical stick from which to hoist them (well, I still have to make the yards!); the keel is waiting to be bolted on. All pretty good really!

I'm investigating various ways of moving the boat to a yard of some description for the final assembly and launch. Having said that, I shall keep her here in the back yard for as long as there are still things that can be done here in the back yard. There's no sense in moving her to a more distant and more expensive location before it's really necessary!

I'm now in the pleasant situation of being able to make a list of jobs that still need doing. Before, there was no sense in attempting a list, there was simply far too much to contemplate. So, it's all pretty good really :-)