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.

Friday, June 28, 2013

1st proper solo sail! First for 2013

Two weekends ago I went down to the Solent to race on a folkboat for the Nordic Nationals. It was the best conditions that the English weather could produce for sailing, sunny and warm with a good stiff breeze. It was good to see Folkboats in action racing against each other. After the last race on Saturday I helmed the boat under main alone, back up through and into Lymington yacht haven where we dropped the main then moored. This was all a really good experience for me, and loads of fun Sailing up the very busy river.
A very lovely newly built wooden Folkboat.

I have been very busy over the winter and working very very hard!!! As usual!! I am Very slowly gathering all the kit I need and getting all the jobs finished. Yes everything is finally all coming together.

I now have an old seagull two stroke which is proving to be a reliable bit of kit! (all fingers crossed it stays that way). It is of the same sort of vintage as Valmik so it suits her well.

One of my mates came down to say hi last Wednesday evening, and we decided to take Valmik out and give the engine a run. Everything went really well and we rafted up with a mates 28ft Sabre on a mooring buoy for the night.I rowed my mate ashore and had a few rums to celebrate Valmiks first outing for the year. In the morning it was blowing about 13-15knots. I was a bit hesitant about testing out my rig by myself, as I had made so many changes and I was not sure how smoothly all of the things would run!

Now If you have read my July 2012 post you might remember that my first solo sail on valmik did not go to plan. Wind too strong for me to row against and with an outboard engine that was playing up, I almost went up on the mud for a whole tide!  I failed to get out of the small creek. I also only managed to get the jib up.

So being a little unsure on my own, I cast off from my mates boat under a reefed jib alone with fenders deployed, intending to sail straight down wind into the creek and start up the seagull engine to get back to my mooring. Shortly after and not much distance gained I realized I needed more sail, my mate overtook me and  I pulled out the reef in the jib. Looking around from the foredeck I wondered why was I so worried?? It was not really that windy. Up went the main and I quickly caught up with him. We had a really lovely sail following each other and tacking across in front of each other, playing chicken, me not giving way when I should of, testing out our handheld VHF's. We both sailed back up the creek as far as possible. I then decided to test out my rowing and sculling. I rowed most of the way back in straight against the wind and tide, neither of which was very strong, and sculled her home to her mooring very smoothly in the rain to a very slow near perfect touch down which wouldn't of broken an egg!  I am super impressed with my rudder being able to hold course in light winds. It free's me up so much. I had my hand off the tiller for about three to five minutes close hauled in 10 to 13 knots and she held her course.

 This was really my first proper solo sail on Valmik. And I am very happy with everything so far.

Every week I am knocking things off  Valmik's  " job's to do " list and the list is getting smaller and smaller, but of course I am finding more things to do, and such is boating. But the good news is that these things are not really essential to me getting out there and sailing. I will tell you about only three of the most important jobs left and a bit of equipment that I still need.
1. cabin floor and supports finished off, needing to be properly bedded down and painted, and  most importantly ready for a knockdown or 360 roll, which means not spilling contents into cabin!
2. I need to sort out my gallery area, which means finding permanent spot for things, and ready for simular sort of treatment as above.
3. Need to replace the wire inside my mast for my nav lights. I will mouse the old cable then switch it and must go up the mast to do most of this and rewire!

Stuff and things still needed...
A couple of solar panels to fit £400, Epirb£300, Offshore flares £200, Protective clothing£££ Life raft£££ A back up Battery£100 to £300 for a really good one! And that is actually just about it, so very nearly all the kit I need  :-)

Will be updating my  public facebook page soon with new photo albums detailing some work. follow the link on this blog or click HERE. You do not need to sign up to face book to view these pics, but if you are a member be sure to like my page whilst there!-)






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