Summary

Early in 2008 I bought a little, old wooden Folkboat called Valmik. I was going to spend a few months on repairs and begin sailing her around Europe, with Australia being the final destination. As my knowledge of boats improved, so did the thoroughness of the restoration. I decided to become very involved in every aspect of construction, doing almost all of the work myself: making my own sails, doing the fit out and all woodwork, splicing my own rig and wiring in the 12 volt electric circuit. Self-reliance, I suppose, is the goal. Follow the link to my photo albums for a detailed documentation of the work and some videos.

For a long time now, I have been striving to achieve my goals and begin an adventure. I had planned to complete a circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland in the summer of 2015 with my wife. Unfortunately, this will not be possible and I went back to work. Valmik is ready to sail, however, and I am finally in a position to start enjoying her for what she was designed for. Of course there is a never ending list of modifications and enhancements with a small section for repairs. I will be sailing as much as possible and documenting my adventures on this blog.

My plan is to build up to a epic solo sailing Adventure.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Rugging up for winter

Well come 3rd March 2013  it will be the fifth year I've struggled away at Restoring Valmik. Since I bought this Folkboat my whole life has been devoted to getting her "ship shape" and "sea worthy". And she is very nearly there!
I am aiming to sail around the UK starting in march and taking my time.
It will be a hard winter and I have lots of work to do if this is going to be possible.
My main problem is the costs involved with something like this. New charts for this would be around the £400 mark. I need solar panels £££, An Epirb, and the list goes on and on...
Then there is admin costs, insurance, survey, licence's and more. It's expensive this boating stuff :)

It is starting to get cold, and the daytime's shorter. And I must admit I have been getting a little lazy! Only working 8 hour days and not studying at night, sleeping for 9 hours or more! But Today I gave myself a good slapping and am introducing a new strict routine. It involves me being very boring, but getting lots of work, physical training and study done. I need to do this otherwise I will be writing something similar at the end of 2013! 

As of yet I have not added up all Spendings on valmik. I will be doing this near the end of the year!
I am guessing something like £10 000.  for materials and fittings
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)