It's so nice to see you underway, the transition from DIY-only videos to recording your passages has been seamless, and still qualifies as edutainment. Good luck and I look forward to your coming adventures.
I don't think I have ever seen two people who are more perfect for each other than you two.....So cute. Been following Sail Life since the first video.
By far this is the best DIY channel on RUclips! Both of you look so happy. I can hardly wait to watch your sailing adventures. Fair winds and calm seas. And a hearty thank you for your efforts.
When you finally get the shower working don't forget to conserve water by showering together. Very important on a long cruise (lol). I was afraid earlier that you weren't able to make a video because you were in transit but it finally appeared. You never fail us Mads. Thank you for the update Mads and Ava. Looking forward to seeing more of your trip to England.
Binge watching and the layout and the shower and so much more is for DIY excellent! Also when you say Eva's name you can hear that she is your beloved!!! We wish all your sails to be wonderful!
Hi Mads! So good to see you sailing again. Don't put too much effort in eating all these healthy grapes and bananas. To effectively prevent scurvy each of you would have to eat 2 kg of grapes or 1 kg of bananas daily. This means you will have to provision 8 kg of grapes if you plan to do an overnight sail. :)
Oh the Schengen shuffle! You know that you can leave Schengen area and be a vessel in transit? Provided you anchor and do not go ashore. But, your pretty short of protected anchorages on your route. If you need and help or information on the UK from Dover to the Scilly isles along the uk south coast we can help out with marina's anchorages and local knowledge etc. This was our stomping ground for 30 + years. Happy to help you out. Sail Safe Guys, Ant, Cid & the pooch crew.
The U. S. Navy had "WD 40" developed for use to eliminate moisture build-up on their fleet of ships, therefore reducing RUST. It has some forty to sixty uses, depending on who you talk to. We use it for EVERYTHING! It's an aerosol can. Spray it on the port interiors and wipe off any excess, (leave the film.) It works on mirrors too. FYI, its name comes from the government contract, "Water Displacement 40." Yes, the fortieth attempt worked!" Checking in from Boston, Massachusetts. Love following your adventures!
Tip for the rocking absorbers: try it with bicycle tire tubes. Fold it, one knot in the rope one end, twist the rope around the tube several times, knot at the other end, ready. Good Journey!
Athena is looking magnificent. Fair winds when you both make your crossing over the North Sea and through the English Channel. A warm welcome to you guys when you come alongside in the UK.
Just a tip on snatching mooring lines. I have used old climbing rope as a second line. This has lots of stretch and by using different lengths you can “tune” the spring. It’s cheap and you can get it in long lengths and use it as a long line as well, although it’s a bit stretchy for that.
Why not jumping over to Lowestoft? Pure west direction (270) and only 100 miles. If you time it that you arrive with daylight everything is well. The marina is not that great, but if you go through the bridge and then follow the channel for a bit, you have a very nice harbor with a great restaurant on port. The bridge opens not too frequently and the times are in the Reeds in local time if I remember well.
I was so excited when you said you were headed to Vlieland. But I was gutted when you left so quickly. It's such a shame, it is *BY FAR* the best island in the world, by a huge margin. It's such a shame, I really hope you'll be going back some day...
Approach to Vlieland is tricky and very narrow! Stay to the starboord side while entering (helps with the current). The most inner part of the marina gets quite shallow so check your maps where in the marina you can and cannot go. Welcome to holland :)
Hey Mads. Re all the German-only text in the museum, Google's Translate app can use your phone's camera to translate signs in real time, right on your screen. *VERY* handy!
Depending on the gap in your head door frame, you might be able to put a few layers of tape about where the latch striker plate will go and the friction from this tape "wedge" might just keep it closed.
I've been working on my Cal 2-46 for the past 6 years, tackling many of the same projects you two did aboard Athena. Seeing you leave the dock and make way fills me with the excitement that maybe one day I'll do the same. :) Fair winds!
Hey Mads and Ava it’s so good to see that after all those years of hard work, you now are getting to enjoy being together on Athena. I wonder Mads could you perhaps in time once you have lived aboard and travelled distance on the boat perhaps make a video regarding how well all the equipment and systems upgrades/installations have worked. Are they meeting your expectations and if not what problems you might have found or perhaps built differently into the boat. If nothing else Athena is an absolute credit to both of you given how hard you worked on it over the past 5 years. Fair winds to you as you embark on this journey together.
Good luck with the Schengen application. Depending on that and the wind, Ijmuiden to Harwich might be your best bet for the crossing. Unless it's dead on the nose, you should be able to do it in 24 hours. Leave late morning and do the Dutch shipping lanes in the light. You won't see a lot of shipping in the middle. Leave the N Shipwash to port and make your approach inshore of Harwich Shipping Channel in the light. You stay north of all the shipping that goes to Rotterdam or Harwich. Tide is no issue. Once you get into Harwich you have the choice of four or five marinas or anchoring.
For this season I got a couple of Poly lines Storm X mooring lines. That's mooring lines with built-in flex so I don't need the large rubber compensators. Those lines have really been great this summer and saved us a lot of disturbed sleep on windy nights. I would recommend those lines to anyone.
It still doesn't feel real to me that you're actually on the move! I love how this channel is going to transition. I know have two sailing/traveling channels I love! You and Drake (of course). Fair winds and following seas!
I highly recommend the book Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. It is a sailing book, a gripping read and it is set in the area you just transited . It might be just the ticket to while away some hours on watch or waiting for a weather window.
Exciting times aboard Athena! On the move. The weather’s been quite hit or miss with the Atlantic gales moving in. This September has been a lot more “lively” than most. Thank the gods for Windy and Ventusky. I hope Ava will be granted the visa extension, the hop from Calais to Dover or Ramsgate is pretty sweet, but watch the AIS and the wind farms. Not sure where you’ll head to in the UK but Southampton or the Bristol areas generally have the most “pleasant” weather this time of year. Fair winds, Godspeed
Really nice video Mads and Ava. A lot of sailors coming in from Netherlands, Germany etc seem to make for Ramsgate. I think the marina and town is a bit nicer than Dover, which is the next port one along. Plus the entrance to Dover can be a bit hairy and you have to be on the radio to port control all the time because of the ferry traffic. Plus, last time I was in Ramsgate, there was another Warrior 38 - so Athena could possibly meet up with a friend. Good luck with the visa.
Mads - It's great to finally see you on the water! Quick suggestion for dock line shock absorbers. Use double lines where one is small - like 1/4" - all three strand. Keep the smaller one a little tighter. The small line will take lots of shock and the larger will be the backup. I've done this for years and it works well. I see boats all the time with the rubber thingies broken. The springs like they use on RAN Sailing might be good but are probably a little pricy and a pain to store. Have Fun!!! Ron
That is really clever. I like stretchy nylon but worry about the breaking strain of lighter line. Great idea to back it up. Also, another idea is to try and get the load on the springs rather than the bow or stern lines as much as possible. Tight springs rather than tight bow and stern lines.
Might be worth considering crossing to Harwich . There is a marina just inside the Port of Harwich on the River Stour, Shotley Marina. Which is a good stop after the passage, and they are famous for having baths as well as showers. From there you could over winter in one of the Marinas in Ipswich Docks. Either Neptune or Ipswich Haven, Ipswich Haven will be quieter as it's across the Basin from the Pubs. All facilities you need are close at hand, plus you have the advantage of it being considerably cheaper to stay there than anywhere on the south coast. London is around 1hour 10 mins away by train the station being about a 15 minutes walk away. There are quite a few passage options although at this time of the year may be worth dropping further south to Breskins or Zeebruge to shorten the passage time, from there you have the choice of the East Coast or the Kent Coast namely Ramsgate. The further south you go the more expensive the UK marinas become.
Welcome in Holland. Hope your stay will be great. For sure hope the visa issue can be resolved and you can have more time seeing our country. When there is some swell when moored you can use longer mooringlines with a bit of extra slack. The length and weigtht will help.
It is good to see you sailing now. Please do not tie up your boat in tidal harbours with the ropes so shortened up like you did in Borkum. One day you will be hanging with Athena on a quay probably causing a lot of damage. In tidal harbours always use long lines more in longitudinal direction over the length of your boat. In this way your boat can move up and down on the tide without the risk of hanging. This way of putting your lines will also give more comfort (also in non-tidal ports) when there are some waves in the harbour. Your boat will be able to move more fluently without hanging in the too short lines all the time and as a consequence bumping back to the quay side. Also appy this method when mooring alongside another boat. Short lines will always give discomfort. With this way of mooring you will even not need this rubber things in your ropes which makes handling the lines much easier. And your lines will last much longer. Wishing you both a good continuation of your trip and will keep on following your channel.
The mooring snubbers are great but also using 3 strand vs braided gives a lot more stretch and shock absorbing by itself. The three strand and snubber is a belt and suspenders and work great together.
So happy to see you guys out on the water! I have been a fan since the beginning! We moved aboard our own yaght Tecumseh V in August in Croatia. We are also playing the 90 day game down here with extensions and all that good stuff!
Best of luck on the extension. If you need a plan 'C' consider Ava transitting to England using a means not so weather dependant. She can hang at an air bnb til you arrive.
So good to see you on the move. When you need to motor into a headwind, you might try letting out some of the jib and motor sailing. It gives you some more speed and smooths out the ride. I also do this when motoring into very strong headwinds, letting out maybe 6'-8' of the fib and sheeting it tight (almost to centerline) then falling off just far enough to fill it. It gives the extra power needed to punch through the waves instead of riding up and over them.
Mooring line rubber or spring compensators are for small boats in a marina. Use proper thick mooring ropes, springlines crossed etc....try to adapt lenghts of fwd and aft lines according to the boats movements. Loose. Some semiflexible mooring lines, oversize, sometimes a longer heavy mooring line gives nice flexibility. Worth trying out! The rubber ones, save them for a marina. Best regards, Fredrik sy Sherman
Regarding mooring compensators (or spring s or whatever you like to call them) I have stopped using them as I've had a few that broke when they were most needed. That has happened both with the expensive Forsheda originals (way better though) and some cheaper copies. I've instead switched to elastic lines like the Liros Handy Elastic or Polyproducts Storm X. They really absorb a lot. However there are some issues. One is you mustn't oversize them or the stretch will be to low. That might reduce the margin for chafe which and increase the need for chafe protection measures. But thats a good idea anyway. Also, as with anchor snubbers, it's important to use a long enough line so that the line can flex enough. No short spring or breast lines. That is also good practice with any line but in some cases it can be an issue like when mooring on the end of a pontoon where there just isn't a cleat far enough. That said, some kind of elasticity in your mooring lines and tightening them accordingly really can change a rolly, jerky, uncomfortable mooring to a nice place.
Hello you two, one question from my side: why dont you have a sprayhood and a cocpit tent? that would make life much more pleasent on boadr😃 Best regards Kai
Good to see you make it as far as IJmuiden. Scarborough Yacht Club has an annual race there (which they rather arrogantly call The North Sea Race) so I've been a couple of times. Only 200NM to Scarborough. You can still make it!
@5:31 you should run your mooring lines through the fairlead. Some people believe in shock absorbers. I'd suggest to just run longer lines, just like the folks behind you. You got to do that anyways in Tidal Areas if the if you tie to a wall. The Museum Ship was a moored lighthouse, they got all the weather and couldn't just hide inside a harbor. Watch out for the Navionics Tides, at least a couple of years ago they messed up timezones royally. Also other Tidal Tabels tend to be in different Timezones UTC, non DST, and DST and also the reference depth might differ. Ask a lawyer for the Schengen Visa, I know some folks who stayed for years, it's a bit of a hassle but often possible.
You are doing greta Sail Life! Almost as much fun as following the DIY for the last few years! If I may offer a few suggestions: a) Slow down the talking heads, you sound more like news casters than fun loving sailors...! b) Add more B-Roll with quiet voice over so we can actually see where you are....not only the fancy sailer clothes you are wearing c) Add more simple B-Roll with the environnement sounds, water, sails, clouds, wind, other boats etc....! Go safely friends! Cheers
Welcome to the Netherlands. I hope Eva can stay long enough in 'Shengen' to visit our beautiful city. If not...fair winds..and a smooth crossing. greetings, Arnold
So happy for the two of you. Hopefully I will get our boat ready for full time cruising. I'm down to 4 big projects to make her a cruising boat. Sails, GenSet repair, Hardtop, and 1200 watts of solar on the Hard Top. I've been working on her since I bought her in 2015 to get her cruise ready. Bought her with the cockpit sole cut out for easy removal of the GenSet and Propulsion Engine. The previous owner had no idea what he did when he did that. I found a GenSet and Engine with transmission on Craigslist for a good deal and paid to have them installed. Hired a friend of a friend to reinstall the Cockpit sole. I didn't know nothing about fiberglass and if I saw your channel before I would of done it my self. He basically tabbed in 3/4 inch marine plywood and put 3/4 inch of fiber glass over it to recreate the strength of the center cockpit. What the previous owner didn't know was by cutting it out he compromised the entire structure of the boat. My friend's buddy said that thicker is better because the stress on that center cockpit in an angry sea is astronomical. The GenSet failed after 3 years of use and for that I need to replace the head. No problem though, the engine is strong. If the boat yard I had her stored in before I got her in the water took better care the GenSet probable would be still ok. They damaged the shrink wrap and didn't tell me so the GenSet and Propulsion engine was rained on for a year before I knew there was a problem and had my buddy's friend put the cockpit sole back in. The boat was 2k miles from me so I couldn't keep an eye on her and trusted the boat yard I was paying to do that for me. Anyways, I'm so happy for you and hope I'm there soon. The summer of 2018 my father and I went to her and finished what was needed to get her in the water and take her from Cape Cod, MA to Destin, FL. Alot of hard work paid off and that trip was epic. Can't wait to top it once she is off grid ready. Really enjoy your channel and you have tough me alot so I can do so much more on my own.
Phew, just managed to get my SL fix before going to bed. Welcome to the world of power yachting with auxiliary sails! I think I've gone through more "dinosaur squeezings" this year than I have the last two put together!
Even thought not everything is completed ...... you must have been doing some stellar work there Mads..... no reports of horrid breakages like I've seen on some sailing channels on their first ventures out with a new boat.
I saw a neat trick with stopping the dock line snatching. Take a long dock line and tie it on the short one half way between the boat and the dock. Run the long line down the length of the boat, pull it tight and make off. This will put a 'V' in the short dock line and acts as a long spring.
Siemans also made auropilots , radar and many other types of marine equipment. i used to service their equipment in the north sea oil exploration years.
LOL... I was yelling "Put the plug inside the cubby!" when you said you changed your location. One suggestion is to put the GHS in a Zip Loc baggie when not in use to keep it out of the weather. An hinged plexi door that is held closed with magnets with a slot for the GHS cable perhaps? So glad to see you "O Glorious Sailing" rather than "O Glorious Sanding." What a great series of shakedown cruises to get Athena ready for bluewater trips.
Jerking can often be eliminated by loosening the line most involved a bit. takes some observing, its often just one line thats too tight and just a foot or two more line often helps a lot. Most people tend to tie their boats a little on the short side, so just give her more room to move with the swells instead of fighting them.
Welcome to the 🇳🇱, I hope you'll get the extension so that you can enjoy our beautiful country for a bit. If you fancy a beer or something, let us know!
Too bad you couldn’t enjoy Vlieland…I really checked the timing on the video to see “wait, did i miss it?!?” 😆 it’s my favourite island in the Netherlands: nature is a true gem and the food is great too! Looking forward to seeing more of your stories and who knows, perhaps you can get scurvy when you cross the Atlantic ;)
Ran Sailing just left Vlieland , Netherlands, after a week, they say it is a very good place to stay , and when going north or south they stop there, so maybe next time when you have more time to stay, only locals can have cars, the rest use, bicycles,
Love the Frisian Islands. If you need some reading material, find “The Riddle of the Sands”, by a chap called Erskine Childers. One of my all time favourite books, and the finest descriptions about sailing the “Wadden Zee” I have those rubber dampeners on my boat, now 4 years without problems. Trick is to buy them a few sizes too big, like it would seem you have, then they lasts a long time. Fair winds to you both!
Hey Mads, have you consider a bimini top or a clear acrylic hard top (like a X Wing Fighters look) for those rainy days? And by the way, where is jökull?
Nice video - definitely worth the wait. Sailing on a schedule sucks, hopefully you get an extension to allow you to slow down and enjoy the stops along the way.
Hi guys, You could pull into jersey on the way to France. Ruby Rose said the hospitality from the people there was incredible, of course, I am biased, that's where I am from lol.
I have worked with visas for many many years. Overstaying your visa is not big deal if you don´t have plans to extend your visit in schengen. Due to the fact that Eva is already on the maximum 90-days visa, she can´t extend any ways. What she could do is apply for temporary resident permit. Note that the permit is only valid for that specific country. Also one important thing that a lot of people get wrong, the date in the top right corner is NOT that last day of your stay. To know the last valid date you need to count number of days you been inside of schengen. My advice for you guys is, make it to your last stop inside schengen (France?) before you overstay your visas. You can easily apply for a permit to stay for longer, it should not be a issue. If you have any questions let me know and i will try and help you out.
FYI Ava, it seems like you know the Schengen rules - but Denmark (and more EU/Schengen countries) have a local agreement with USA, which "resets" the 90 days as soon as one leaves the country. The "90 days within 180 days"-rule therefore might not apply for you.
That rubber thing was neat and simple. When my aunt used to sail, she used a bamboo spring at each mooring line that would suck up the jerking motions.
After all of the years watching you building a boat your being underway brings a new flavour to your channel. It’s a nice change. I trust you’ll settle into a more relaxed pace soon. They say gentlemen don’t sail to windward and I’ll add they also don’t like sailing to a schedule. Safe journey.
Glad and relieved to see 👀 a video 📹 today. I admit i was a bit worried. But thanks for this week's video 📹. I can't wait tell you have finished most if not all your boat projects and give us a tour. Ok untell next week, Aloha from the Big Island 🏝 of Hawaii 🏝
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
*Rebuilds sailboat*.... motors all the way to the UK! lol I love it.
It's so nice to see you underway, the transition from DIY-only videos to recording your passages has been seamless, and still qualifies as edutainment. Good luck and I look forward to your coming adventures.
Don't worry about the people complaining about your upload time. You don't owe them anything.
I'm suing.
I don't think I have ever seen two people who are more perfect for each other than you two.....So cute. Been following Sail Life since the first video.
This and Tally Ho, makes my day. Cheers!
By far this is the best DIY channel on RUclips! Both of you look so happy. I can hardly wait to watch your sailing adventures.
Fair winds and calm seas. And a hearty thank you for your efforts.
When you finally get the shower working don't forget to conserve water by showering together. Very important on a long cruise (lol). I was afraid earlier that you weren't able to make a video because you were in transit but it finally appeared. You never fail us Mads. Thank you for the update Mads and Ava. Looking forward to seeing more of your trip to England.
Showering together is always a good idea! Saves water and stimulates closeness also...
:-D
And you have an easy way to get your back scrubbed.
And if the boat gets suddenly jolted by a wave, you have something softer to land on than just the wall. Well.. one of you does, anyway! 😁
Binge watching and the layout and the shower and so much more is for DIY excellent! Also when you say Eva's name you can hear that she is your beloved!!! We wish all your sails to be wonderful!
Hi Mads! So good to see you sailing again. Don't put too much effort in eating all these healthy grapes and bananas. To effectively prevent scurvy each of you would have to eat 2 kg of grapes or 1 kg of bananas daily. This means you will have to provision 8 kg of grapes if you plan to do an overnight sail. :)
Oh the Schengen shuffle! You know that you can leave Schengen area and be a vessel in transit? Provided you anchor and do not go ashore. But, your pretty short of protected anchorages on your route. If you need and help or information on the UK from Dover to the Scilly isles along the uk south coast we can help out with marina's anchorages and local knowledge etc. This was our stomping ground for 30 + years. Happy to help you out. Sail Safe Guys, Ant, Cid & the pooch crew.
The U. S. Navy had "WD 40" developed for use to eliminate moisture build-up on their fleet of ships, therefore reducing RUST. It has some forty to sixty uses, depending on who you talk to. We use it for EVERYTHING! It's an aerosol can. Spray it on the port interiors and wipe off any excess, (leave the film.) It works on mirrors too. FYI, its name comes from the government contract, "Water Displacement 40." Yes, the fortieth attempt worked!"
Checking in from Boston, Massachusetts. Love following your adventures!
Tip for the rocking absorbers: try it with bicycle tire tubes. Fold it, one knot in the rope one end, twist the rope around the tube several times, knot at the other end, ready. Good Journey!
Athena is looking magnificent. Fair winds when you both make your crossing over the North Sea and through the English Channel. A warm welcome to you guys when you come alongside in the UK.
Just a tip on snatching mooring lines. I have used old climbing rope as a second line. This has lots of stretch and by using different lengths you can “tune” the spring. It’s cheap and you can get it in long lengths and use it as a long line as well, although it’s a bit stretchy for that.
Why not jumping over to Lowestoft? Pure west direction (270) and only 100 miles. If you time it that you arrive with daylight everything is well. The marina is not that great, but if you go through the bridge and then follow the channel for a bit, you have a very nice harbor with a great restaurant on port. The bridge opens not too frequently and the times are in the Reeds in local time if I remember well.
Any progress is good progress. Coms at the steering station is always ideal, glad you got it sorted out before you headed to real big water.
I think the most of us will be honored if Eva is allowed to stay longer in our Schengen area. Enjoy your journey!
I was so excited when you said you were headed to Vlieland. But I was gutted when you left so quickly. It's such a shame, it is *BY FAR* the best island in the world, by a huge margin. It's such a shame, I really hope you'll be going back some day...
Approach to Vlieland is tricky and very narrow! Stay to the starboord side while entering (helps with the current). The most inner part of the marina gets quite shallow so check your maps where in the marina you can and cannot go. Welcome to holland :)
Hey Mads. Re all the German-only text in the museum, Google's Translate app can use your phone's camera to translate signs in real time, right on your screen. *VERY* handy!
That weather forecast looked great for a westerly course right now - go for it.
I was getting worried about the video. Better late than none. I liked the new intro.
I'd rather have no video.
@@tomypreach seriously? Just stop..
time to replace your companion way trim and doors :) Love seeing Athena on the water! Have a great week!
Depending on the gap in your head door frame, you might be able to put a few layers of tape about where the latch striker plate will go and the friction from this tape "wedge" might just keep it closed.
I've been working on my Cal 2-46 for the past 6 years, tackling many of the same projects you two did aboard Athena. Seeing you leave the dock and make way fills me with the excitement that maybe one day I'll do the same. :) Fair winds!
Hey Mads and Ava it’s so good to see that after all those years of hard work, you now are getting to enjoy being together on Athena. I wonder Mads could you perhaps in time once you have lived aboard and travelled distance on the boat perhaps make a video regarding how well all the equipment and systems upgrades/installations have worked. Are they meeting your expectations and if not what problems you might have found or perhaps built differently into the boat.
If nothing else Athena is an absolute credit to both of you given how hard you worked on it over the past 5 years. Fair winds to you as you embark on this journey together.
Good luck getting your extension Eva .
Good luck with the Schengen application. Depending on that and the wind, Ijmuiden to Harwich might be your best bet for the crossing. Unless it's dead on the nose, you should be able to do it in 24 hours. Leave late morning and do the Dutch shipping lanes in the light. You won't see a lot of shipping in the middle. Leave the N Shipwash to port and make your approach inshore of Harwich Shipping Channel in the light. You stay north of all the shipping that goes to Rotterdam or Harwich. Tide is no issue. Once you get into Harwich you have the choice of four or five marinas or anchoring.
For this season I got a couple of Poly lines Storm X mooring lines. That's mooring lines with built-in flex so I don't need the large rubber compensators. Those lines have really been great this summer and saved us a lot of disturbed sleep on windy nights. I would recommend those lines to anyone.
Hi Nice to see you and Ava starting to enjoy your fruits of your labour over the last 5 odd years. Cheers Ian New Zealand
It still doesn't feel real to me that you're actually on the move! I love how this channel is going to transition. I know have two sailing/traveling channels I love! You and Drake (of course). Fair winds and following seas!
I so appreciate the extra effort you put into maintaining your video uploads in the midst of all you have going on!
I highly recommend the book Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. It is a sailing book, a gripping read and it is set in the area you just transited . It might be just the ticket to while away some hours on watch or waiting for a weather window.
"There goes my dream of getting scurvy like a real sailor" really truly made me do a spit take. Thank you for that hahaha
Exciting times aboard Athena! On the move. The weather’s been quite hit or miss with the Atlantic gales moving in. This September has been a lot more “lively” than most. Thank the gods for Windy and Ventusky. I hope Ava will be granted the visa extension, the hop from Calais to Dover or Ramsgate is pretty sweet, but watch the AIS and the wind farms. Not sure where you’ll head to in the UK but Southampton or the Bristol areas generally have the most “pleasant” weather this time of year. Fair winds, Godspeed
I love the new combination of DIY and cruising. All the issues may never stop happening, that’s what cruising is like.
Really nice video Mads and Ava.
A lot of sailors coming in from Netherlands, Germany etc seem to make for Ramsgate. I think the marina and town is a bit nicer than Dover, which is the next port one along. Plus the entrance to Dover can be a bit hairy and you have to be on the radio to port control all the time because of the ferry traffic.
Plus, last time I was in Ramsgate, there was another Warrior 38 - so Athena could possibly meet up with a friend.
Good luck with the visa.
Mads - It's great to finally see you on the water! Quick suggestion for dock line shock absorbers. Use double lines where one is small - like 1/4" - all three strand. Keep the smaller one a little tighter. The small line will take lots of shock and the larger will be the backup. I've done this for years and it works well. I see boats all the time with the rubber thingies broken. The springs like they use on RAN Sailing might be good but are probably a little pricy and a pain to store. Have Fun!!! Ron
That is really clever. I like stretchy nylon but worry about the breaking strain of lighter line. Great idea to back it up. Also, another idea is to try and get the load on the springs rather than the bow or stern lines as much as possible. Tight springs rather than tight bow and stern lines.
Athena's looking good!! 👍👍
Hey it’s great to see you finally sailing this dang thing. Enjoy the uk and all future adventures!
Getting close to 100k subscribers! Great series I have followed from the beginning.
Hi there in IJmuiden. If you have time, the harbor of Scheveningen ( The Hague) is in the middle of the town.😉
Might be worth considering crossing to Harwich . There is a marina just inside the Port of Harwich on the River Stour, Shotley Marina. Which is a good stop after the passage, and they are famous for having baths as well as showers. From there you could over winter in one of the Marinas in Ipswich Docks. Either Neptune or Ipswich Haven, Ipswich Haven will be quieter as it's across the Basin from the Pubs. All facilities you need are close at hand, plus you have the advantage of it being considerably cheaper to stay there than anywhere on the south coast. London is around 1hour 10 mins away by train the station being about a 15 minutes walk away.
There are quite a few passage options although at this time of the year may be worth dropping further south to Breskins or Zeebruge to shorten the passage time, from there you have the choice of the East Coast or the Kent Coast namely Ramsgate.
The further south you go the more expensive the UK marinas become.
Welcome in Holland. Hope your stay will be great. For sure hope the visa issue can be resolved and you can have more time seeing our country.
When there is some swell when moored you can use longer mooringlines with a bit of extra slack. The length and weigtht will help.
Welkome to the Netherlands! How nice that the journey so far is going wel! Following you with interest! Keep up the good spirit!
It is good to see you sailing now.
Please do not tie up your boat in tidal harbours with the ropes so shortened up like you did in Borkum. One day you will be hanging with Athena on a quay probably causing a lot of damage.
In tidal harbours always use long lines more in longitudinal direction over the length of your boat. In this way your boat can move up and down on the tide without the risk of hanging.
This way of putting your lines will also give more comfort (also in non-tidal ports) when there are some waves in the harbour. Your boat will be able to move more fluently without hanging in the too short lines all the time and as a consequence bumping back to the quay side. Also appy this method when mooring alongside another boat. Short lines will always give discomfort.
With this way of mooring you will even not need this rubber things in your ropes which makes handling the lines much easier. And your lines will last much longer.
Wishing you both a good continuation of your trip and will keep on following your channel.
The mooring snubbers are great but also using 3 strand vs braided gives a lot more stretch and shock absorbing by itself. The three strand and snubber is a belt and suspenders and work great together.
So happy to see you guys out on the water! I have been a fan since the beginning! We moved aboard our own yaght Tecumseh V in August in Croatia. We are also playing the 90 day game down here with extensions and all that good stuff!
Best of luck on the extension. If you need a plan 'C' consider Ava transitting to England using a means not so weather dependant. She can hang at an air bnb til you arrive.
So good to see you on the move. When you need to motor into a headwind, you might try letting out some of the jib and motor sailing. It gives you some more speed and smooths out the ride. I also do this when motoring into very strong headwinds, letting out maybe 6'-8' of the fib and sheeting it tight (almost to centerline) then falling off just far enough to fill it. It gives the extra power needed to punch through the waves instead of riding up and over them.
Mooring line rubber or spring compensators are for small boats in a marina. Use proper thick mooring ropes, springlines crossed etc....try to adapt lenghts of fwd and aft lines according to the boats movements. Loose.
Some semiflexible mooring lines, oversize, sometimes a longer heavy mooring line gives nice flexibility.
Worth trying out! The rubber ones, save them for a marina.
Best regards, Fredrik sy Sherman
Wow, Ava, great taste! I love me some Malcolm Gladwell. Isn't he a fabulous narrator?
Regarding mooring compensators (or spring s or whatever you like to call them) I have stopped using them as I've had a few that broke when they were most needed. That has happened both with the expensive Forsheda originals (way better though) and some cheaper copies. I've instead switched to elastic lines like the Liros Handy Elastic or Polyproducts Storm X. They really absorb a lot. However there are some issues. One is you mustn't oversize them or the stretch will be to low. That might reduce the margin for chafe which and increase the need for chafe protection measures. But thats a good idea anyway. Also, as with anchor snubbers, it's important to use a long enough line so that the line can flex enough. No short spring or breast lines. That is also good practice with any line but in some cases it can be an issue like when mooring on the end of a pontoon where there just isn't a cleat far enough. That said, some kind of elasticity in your mooring lines and tightening them accordingly really can change a rolly, jerky, uncomfortable mooring to a nice place.
Hello you two,
one question from my side: why dont you have a sprayhood and a cocpit tent? that would make life much more pleasent on boadr😃
Best regards Kai
Good to see you make it as far as IJmuiden. Scarborough Yacht Club has an annual race there (which they rather arrogantly call The North Sea Race) so I've been a couple of times. Only 200NM to Scarborough. You can still make it!
@5:31 you should run your mooring lines through the fairlead. Some people believe in shock absorbers. I'd suggest to just run longer lines, just like the folks behind you. You got to do that anyways in Tidal Areas if the if you tie to a wall. The Museum Ship was a moored lighthouse, they got all the weather and couldn't just hide inside a harbor. Watch out for the Navionics Tides, at least a couple of years ago they messed up timezones royally. Also other Tidal Tabels tend to be in different Timezones UTC, non DST, and DST and also the reference depth might differ. Ask a lawyer for the Schengen Visa, I know some folks who stayed for years, it's a bit of a hassle but often possible.
You are doing greta Sail Life!
Almost as much fun as following the DIY for the last few years!
If I may offer a few suggestions:
a) Slow down the talking heads, you sound more like news casters than fun loving sailors...!
b) Add more B-Roll with quiet voice over so we can actually see where you are....not only the fancy sailer clothes you are wearing
c) Add more simple B-Roll with the environnement sounds, water, sails, clouds, wind, other boats etc....!
Go safely friends!
Cheers
Welcome to the Netherlands. I hope Eva can stay long enough in 'Shengen' to visit our beautiful city. If not...fair winds..and a smooth crossing. greetings, Arnold
So happy for the two of you. Hopefully I will get our boat ready for full time cruising.
I'm down to 4 big projects to make her a cruising boat. Sails, GenSet repair, Hardtop, and 1200 watts of solar on the Hard Top. I've been working on her since I bought her in 2015 to get her cruise ready.
Bought her with the cockpit sole cut out for easy removal of the GenSet and Propulsion Engine. The previous owner had no idea what he did when he did that. I found a GenSet and Engine with transmission on Craigslist for a good deal and paid to have them installed. Hired a friend of a friend to reinstall the Cockpit sole. I didn't know nothing about fiberglass and if I saw your channel before I would of done it my self. He basically tabbed in 3/4 inch marine plywood and put 3/4 inch of fiber glass over it to recreate the strength of the center cockpit. What the previous owner didn't know was by cutting it out he compromised the entire structure of the boat. My friend's buddy said that thicker is better because the stress on that center cockpit in an angry sea is astronomical.
The GenSet failed after 3 years of use and for that I need to replace the head. No problem though, the engine is strong. If the boat yard I had her stored in before I got her in the water took better care the GenSet probable would be still ok. They damaged the shrink wrap and didn't tell me so the GenSet and Propulsion engine was rained on for a year before I knew there was a problem and had my buddy's friend put the cockpit sole back in. The boat was 2k miles from me so I couldn't keep an eye on her and trusted the boat yard I was paying to do that for me. Anyways, I'm so happy for you and hope I'm there soon.
The summer of 2018 my father and I went to her and finished what was needed to get her in the water and take her from Cape Cod, MA to Destin, FL. Alot of hard work paid off and that trip was epic. Can't wait to top it once she is off grid ready.
Really enjoy your channel and you have tough me alot so I can do so much more on my own.
Keep up the great work. I never thought you would be sailing that boat this soon. You seem very happy now.
Phew, just managed to get my SL fix before going to bed. Welcome to the world of power yachting with auxiliary sails! I think I've gone through more "dinosaur squeezings" this year than I have the last two put together!
Welcome, Mads and Eva, to the land of my ancestors. Great to see Athena underway.
Good to see you out sailing. The camera placement at 15:05 was really cool.
Even thought not everything is completed ...... you must have been doing some stellar work there Mads..... no reports of horrid breakages like I've seen on some sailing channels on their first ventures out with a new boat.
I saw a neat trick with stopping the dock line snatching. Take a long dock line and tie it on the short one half way between the boat and the dock. Run the long line down the length of the boat, pull it tight and make off. This will put a 'V' in the short dock line and acts as a long spring.
Scooter tires work well and are usually free.
Good luck with Ava’s Schengen extension!
Siemans also made auropilots , radar and many other types of marine equipment. i used to service their equipment in the north sea oil exploration years.
The boat is so lovely. So pleased for you both that you are travelling well.
As always, I genuinely look forward to your videos. That said, I want you to enjoy the trip and please don’t stress too much about the release time.
LOL... I was yelling "Put the plug inside the cubby!" when you said you changed your location. One suggestion is to put the GHS in a Zip Loc baggie when not in use to keep it out of the weather. An hinged plexi door that is held closed with magnets with a slot for the GHS cable perhaps? So glad to see you "O Glorious Sailing" rather than "O Glorious Sanding." What a great series of shakedown cruises to get Athena ready for bluewater trips.
The spring metal mooring lines are about 4-5x the size of the rubber ones and will rattle like buggers when stowed away
So nice to see you under way!
Jerking can often be eliminated by loosening the line most involved a bit. takes some observing, its often just one line thats too tight and just a foot or two more line often helps a lot. Most people tend to tie their boats a little on the short side, so just give her more room to move with the swells instead of fighting them.
Sailing Uma had also a visum problem. The had a permit via the Netherlands.
Welcome in Holland, good to have you here!
Welcome to the 🇳🇱, I hope you'll get the extension so that you can enjoy our beautiful country for a bit. If you fancy a beer or something, let us know!
Too bad you couldn’t enjoy Vlieland…I really checked the timing on the video to see “wait, did i miss it?!?” 😆 it’s my favourite island in the Netherlands: nature is a true gem and the food is great too! Looking forward to seeing more of your stories and who knows, perhaps you can get scurvy when you cross the Atlantic ;)
So exciting I feel like it’s been a diy adventure and now a travel adventure !
Stellar storytelling. That is something that really stands out. Keep it up, guys.
Ran Sailing just left Vlieland , Netherlands, after a week, they say it is a very good place to stay , and when going north or south they stop there, so maybe next time when you have more time to stay, only locals can have cars, the rest use, bicycles,
Place a fender under your lines, as a DIY shock absorber.😀
Love the Frisian Islands. If you need some reading material, find “The Riddle of the Sands”, by a chap called Erskine Childers. One of my all time favourite books, and the finest descriptions about sailing the “Wadden Zee” I have those rubber dampeners on my boat, now 4 years without problems. Trick is to buy them a few sizes too big, like it would seem you have, then they lasts a long time. Fair winds to you both!
Hey Mads, have you consider a bimini top or a clear acrylic hard top (like a X Wing Fighters look) for those rainy days? And by the way, where is jökull?
Nice video - definitely worth the wait. Sailing on a schedule sucks, hopefully you get an extension to allow you to slow down and enjoy the stops along the way.
Lynda and I love your "new country ritual"! You guys are entirely too cute. We hope to see you out on the hook some day.
There's a cute puclic ferry service from IJmuiden center to Amsterdam. Or you take a bus from the harbour. I wish you good luck with the visa!
You can always cross to the east coast of the UK plenty of places to stay as you work your way southwards.
Welkom in my home country 😊😊
i hope you have a pleasant stay here 😊
Just wondering how the hinge on the extra spiffy DIY frig worked out.
when you get over to england don't forget to look up your sister ship Cadoha. i think they're in the portsmouth area.
Hi guys, You could pull into jersey on the way to France. Ruby Rose said the hospitality from the people there was incredible, of course, I am biased, that's where I am from lol.
So good to see you guys underway. Take care. Looking forward to the next one!👍
I like the dark footage from early morning leaving the marina, although grainy it gives a sense of the atmosphere and conditions you were in.
I have worked with visas for many many years. Overstaying your visa is not big deal if you don´t have plans to extend your visit in schengen. Due to the fact that Eva is already on the maximum 90-days visa, she can´t extend any ways. What she could do is apply for temporary resident permit. Note that the permit is only valid for that specific country. Also one important thing that a lot of people get wrong, the date in the top right corner is NOT that last day of your stay. To know the last valid date you need to count number of days you been inside of schengen.
My advice for you guys is, make it to your last stop inside schengen (France?) before you overstay your visas. You can easily apply for a permit to stay for longer, it should not be a issue. If you have any questions let me know and i will try and help you out.
FYI Ava, it seems like you know the Schengen rules - but Denmark (and more EU/Schengen countries) have a local agreement with USA, which "resets" the 90 days as soon as one leaves the country. The "90 days within 180 days"-rule therefore might not apply for you.
I am so happy that you two are living the dream
That rubber thing was neat and simple. When my aunt used to sail, she used a bamboo spring at each mooring line that would suck up the jerking motions.
After all of the years watching you building a boat your being underway brings a new flavour to your channel. It’s a nice change. I trust you’ll settle into a more relaxed pace soon. They say gentlemen don’t sail to windward and I’ll add they also don’t like sailing to a schedule. Safe journey.
Glad and relieved to see 👀 a video 📹 today. I admit i was a bit worried. But thanks for this week's video 📹.
I can't wait tell you have finished most if not all your boat projects and give us a tour. Ok untell next week, Aloha from the Big Island 🏝 of Hawaii 🏝