A New Boat. A New Life.

Current Location: Ebley, Gloucestershire

Here we go again! After a pretty rotten year it looks as though we finally have a new boat!

She's called Mehalah [meh-hay-lah]. She's a Stevens 47 built in 1983 and currently berthed in Conwy, North Wales. The 47 refers to her length in feet - quite a big boat compared with Petronella at a mere 40 feet. She's an American boat, built in Taiwan and at 20 tons with the reputation of being an extremely seaworthy, seakindly yacht. This particular Stevens 47 already has two global circumnavigations under her belt.

If you want to see her full sales details with plenty of pictures click here.

Preparing for survey

We have paid the deposit and had the survey done. On Monday we pay the remainder of the purchase price and on Tuesday or Wednesday we and Jackie, the current owner, sign the Bill of Sale and she becomes ours.

That all sounds so straightforward. As with any deal like this there have been negotiations over the price we should pay, when we can take her over and what the insurance company requires before they will insure us.

Mehalah is currently run as a sail training boat out of Conwy so for insurance purposes she has had to be well maintained. That doesn't mean that the surveyor couldn't find anything to pick up on though. Oh no! Seacocks that wouldn't close, unsecured batteries, 240 volt system unprotected by an RCD etc etc. Y-Yachts, the first, and cheapest, insurance company we approached insisted on most of these being fixed before we left port! Problem, as we had already arranged a departure date with the marina and for friends to crew for us down to Cornwall. So it was back to Pantaenius who has insured Petronella for us. £300 more expensive but once we had explained that the seacocks do actually close, I would fit an RCD before we left and we would do the rest over the next few months they agreed to insure us. We may return to Y-Yachts next year for the passage south to the Canaries and onwards across the Atlantic.

The other thing to sort was a liferaft. Mehalah has a rented 10 person raft which will be returned to the suppliers when we purchase her. We tried to buy a new 6 person one but the one we want is out of stock. In the end we have hired one for the three months of sailing this year and will buy a new one next spring. This gives the advantage that our new one, which will require a service after three years, will have its service delayed by six months providing welcome relief for the sailing kitty.

Our small flat here in Ebley is becoming like an Amazon and Screwfix showroom. We have so much bedding that the bath is full and the spare bed is hidden beneath gas pipe, provisions, paperwork and machine screws. We realise now just how much key gear we left on Petronella when we sold her. On the other hand Jackie is taking most of her stuff with her as she will be looking to replace Mehalah with another boat. It does mean though that we start out with new gear.

The Bath at Ebley

The spare bedroom. Packing in progress!

Mehalah, despite being built in 1983, is seriously well equipped, at least for temperate climate sail training. She has new sails, standing rigging, mast and boom, generator and engine as Jackie was planning to sail her down to New Zealand with her father. As her father has got older though they have decided to abandon their plans so put her up for sale. The only things we will need to do are additions rather than replacements, like solar panels and probably wind steering.

We've not sailed much in the UK. Most of our experience is non tidal or current driven so negotiating the notorious Menai Straights on the first day of new ownership is going to be 'interesting'.

In other news daughter Jenny flies from Uruguay to Spain today to start a new life in Spain (go Jen, go) and daughter Emma returned yesterday from Uzbekistan where she has been working for Doctors without Borders (MSF). We have now finished our voluntary work for the Cotswold Canals Trust for the time being with dredger Patricia launched earlier in the week.

Patricia finally loaded ready for launch

See that beautiful new paintwork? Much of it down to us, especially Gilly.

OK. That's it for now. The next blog should be from on board Mehalah.