Author: Joe Bainbridge

At last! Tarka and I are ready to take to sea. The mast went up last Thursday, and earlier this week with guidance I managed to fit and tune the rigging myself.

We then had a few days to, among other things, go sailing! To get familiar with how she handles, how to move around her in a seaway, reefing procedures and using the windvane. We had a great time!

It was absolutely sublime getting to sail for the first time after all this, and I can’t wait to get out into some more open water!

I’ve also been up the mast for the first time, fixing the dodgy vhf connection I had, as well as reinforcing the spreaders.

We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning Fri 10th July at 0630 from Portland. I’ve chosen to take a clockwise route around the uk instead of the previously planned anticlockwise, as a great weather window of easterlies is forecast for the next week. The plan is to get out of The Channel, South of the Scillies and make for Rockall, a tiny uninhabited islet in the North Atlantic. Then I’ll take a right and head for the North end of Shetland before coming back down the North Sea and English Channel back to Portland. Roughly 2000nm.

Although the plan is not to stop, I know there are plenty of places to take refuge if the conditions require it, if I require it, or if the boat needs outside support to fix issues.

In terms of provisions to take me round safely and securely I have:

• 28 days of dehydrated food, and a smaller supply of fresh and tinned stuff for the beginning and end of the passage.
• 160L of water.
• Comprehensive medical kit
• Life raft, grab bag, Epirb, life jackets (+plb)

Getting Tarka ready has been incredibly physically and mentally demanding, especially these last struggles. I’m so looking forward to the intensity and stresses of the past few months drifting into the past as we make our way out into the big blue.

Use this link to track my progress!

https://my.yb.tl/JoeBainbridgesailing/map-only/

She’s really coming together now!

I’m very glad I spent last month making her ready to launch and so am not anxiously antifouling and sealing underwater fittings at this stage. I have instead been spending most of my time on woodwork.

It has consisted of fitting teak/holly flooring, interior trim and cockpit planking.

Other jobs have included the ongoing gathering of the mass of bits and bobs required for fundamental operations: mooring, anchoring, comms, safety, cooking, navigating, etc etc. Sailing!

I’m hoping to finish fitting the interior trim, paint cupboard doors, oil all the woodwork, fit latches on all the cupboards, make 6 drawers…, and fit the standing and running rigging all in time for the launch! We will see how that goes.

The light, when it appeared at the end of the tunnel, was a glimmer of hope and excitement, but as it now draws near I see its truer form, that of a fast approaching cliff-edge. And the momentum I’ve cultivated through this process now forces me forward towards it much faster than I feel comfortable.

Having said that, the launch date is booked! The morning of the 5th of June in Portland. (Give me a shout if you’d like more details).

And while on the face of it I appear to be on track, I’m simultaneously feeling my world spinning. For I found safety and security in long dark months of work, comfort in my daily trials and tribulations for they were mine alone, and peace in the knowledge that I was on my way to the sea. Yet now as I see the sea before me, a sea I have sailed my whole life! it feels not like a natural progression, but a great leap into the unknown.

Despite my trepidations I am almost there. The gas, water, bilge pumps, mast fittings, and Windvane are all ready to go! Shes also been recently anti-fouled.

So the remaining jobs to get her launch ready is to touch up antifoul under the trailer supports, get the rudder back on, and fit the new running and standing rigging onto the mast, ready to be stepped.

I am also planning more woodwork, some of which is essential and some not so. New floor, galley seat, companionway step, bulkhead trim, more painting etc. is all in the works.

Not long now!!

At long last all the electrics are in. It’s been an education!

Wiring the boat from scratch was a daunting prospect, and one I approached with near total ignorance. It involved a lot of reading and researching, and a good few existential crises, but became fairly straight forward and systematic once I had chosen and sourced all my materials and familiarised myself with stripping, crimping and soldering.

Below is a list of instruments and appliances fitted:

• VHF Radio
• Log and depth reader
• AIS Receiver
• AIS Alarm Computer
• Radar Alarm Computer/receiver
• USB charger
• Battery monitor
• Interior lights
• Deck nav lights
• Tricolour/anchor lights
• VHF/AIS antenna and Radar receiver
• 2×40 Watt solar panels
• Solar charge controller
• DC-DC charger controller

I am now trying to tick off the remaining jobs to make her ready to be launched. These involve the following:

• Bilge pumps
• Gas system
• Water system
• Fitting the log/depth readers
• Chain pipe
• Anode
• Antifoul
• Wet fitting rudder
• Engine work
• Running rigging
• Windvane
• Mast fittings
• U-bolts and jack lines
• Finish and secure tiller

I’ll then have however long left to make a start on inessential jobs like interior trim and extra insulation before the planned launch date of the first week in June. Not long now!

Once the rough interior was in, the next stage was to paint, oil and insulate.

After some experimentation I settled on my technique for a smooth glossy finish: follow the roller with a brush. Most areas received an undercoat and two topcoats with sanding between. Then came oiling, which has to be one of the best jobs to date. Nothing makes such a marked improvement to the appearance in such a short time as a good few coats of oil.

Fitting the insulation began by making cardboard templates of all the required panels: everywhere between the waterline and deck along the length of the cabin. The templates were then laid on to sheets of inch thick foam, traced around (making note of angles), and cut out. They were then fitted into the boat.

The foam sections were then removed piece by piece, wrapped and stapled to waterproof vinyl, and glued back into the hull with spray adhesive.

The making of Tarka’s cushions has been going on in parallel. They were first templated and cut out of cushion foam, then taken up to London to be sewn up by my very dedicated personal seamster dad! And to great effect! Get your orders in!

Since then I’ve began work on the electrical system. It’s proving to be difficult. Unlike many previous stages of the refit where I’ve been able to apply skills with one material to another with only minor adjustments, electrical work is like learning a second language; a language of tinned copper terminals, voltage drop, overcurrent protection and circuit diagrams. It’s a work in progress…

Despite my current tribulations, there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve given myself March for the electrics, April for getting the boat ready to be launched and May to do the remaining bits of woodwork and get her looking sharp! So get diaries out for the beginning of June..!

The new year was tough – removing all the pieces I’d finished over previous months and preparing them for bonding took a good few weeks, and despite the knowledge it would all be put back together again soon, it was incredibly demoralising. I also built the galley unit which houses the newly available gimbaling gas stove/grill and hand pump tap.

Thankfully everything is in now (hopefully for good), and Tarka feels happier and stiffer for it!

I’ll be painting and oiling next, followed by insulation above the waterline.

I’m almost there with the rough interior install. The engine frame, main bulkhead curve, battery box, electrics and pan cupboard fronts and chart table carcass are all ready to be bonded in. Unfortunately I am still waiting for the gimbaling stove to become available (hopefully Jan) and will leave the galley as it is until that can be fitted.

The engine frame features ‘wings’ either side of the companionway and a removable casing for the engine.

The chart table carcass features a mount for a metal-working vice, drawers for the sextant and station pointer, four other general storage drawers, and a housing for a seat which will slide out of it and sit against the galley on the other side, allowing one to sit facing the chart table or galley.

Whilst I am nearly done for now, there will be more woodwork at a later date. There will be oiled Sapele trim along the length of the berths, on the edges of all the bulkheads and along the perimeter of the chart table and galley as well as more storage units on the bulkheads. I also need to cut and fit the cabin sole and bilge covers.

I was hoping to integrate my toolbox into a storage unit amidships on the port side, but it wouldn’t fit. Back to the drawing board.

The redesigned area is a storage cupboard made up of lockers of different heights, filled to the brim with a selection of plastic boxes – corresponding to the heights of the shelves. It also features a thin shelf for sailing charts. The unit will have hinged fronts facing all the shelves, but they can’t be fitted until everything is screwed/glued.

The hanging locker has also been completed, and looks great!

I’m currently working on the ‘engine casing’ – the removable panels that sit in front and above the engine. I’m also fitting some thick ply panels to either side of the companionway which I hope to wedge myself into when it gets rolly!

I’m hoping that with a bit of a push, I’ll have the engine casing, the galley and the chart table carcasses finished, in time to bond the whole interior in by Christmas!

I had hoped to paint, oil and insulate by the new year, but I’d be surprised if I get that far.