Atlantic Communications

Several of you have asked if and how you can maintain contact with us as we cross to Martinique. That's excellent. Here's a summary:

We have two satellite devices capable of sending texts and emails.

1. An InReach device

We will use this to confirm every day to a few key people, including daughter Jenny (+447896021862), that  all is OK and what our location is. It also has an SOS facility should we require assistance of any kind.

2. An Iridium satellite phone

We will use this to send short "text only" emails via SailMail including updating the blog regularly. It will also allow us to send our position to https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/4717902794063872 . Clicking on that link and then choosing "SHOW JOURNEY" will show you our track and current position.

We can also send texts via this device.


CONTACTING US

If YOU want to contact US you can do it but you need to be VERY careful!

Send "text only" emails to jennydouch@gmail.com . Jenny will forward them to us. Please don't include attachments and do start a new message rather than replying to an existing one.

You can text us from https://messaging.iridium.com/  replacing 8816... with 881632730947 . This method is free both for you as sender and us as recipient.

DO NOT PHONE US or text us directly as you normally would because this will cost YOU around £10 per minute depending on your service provider!

Fair winds from
   John, Gill, Irish John and Mariel

Loose Ends ....and a phone sized hole in my life.

Current Date: 9th January 2020

Current Location: Arrecife Marina, Lanzarote

Christmas and New Year are over and a new decade rolls in. We had a great Christmas, one of the best ever and New Year in Gleaston with the gang was a hoot with belly laughs a-plenty. It was lovely to see Jenny and Emma again, friends and just about all the family.

We used the shore based time to order more bits for the boat and to reorder our lives. And then it was onto the plane back to Lanzarote. But what's this? My phone appears to be missing!! Thinks........... I've left it in the kitchen/living room back in Ebley. And so begins 10 days without my phone before Hugh and Linda are due to bring it out.

I think it's on the sofa back in the UK!

It made me think of just how important this little machine is. So this blog post tells of a few of the ways in which my trusty One Plus 3T mobile with giffgaff SIM has helped me over just the past couple of weeks.

1. Get a new steel plate made to fix the loose autopilot drive

When Jack and I investigated the 'moaning bear' noise from the autopilot on arrival in Arrecife we realised bolts were loose and a new 316 stainless plate was required to reduce wear on the drive. Back in the UK I'd already had a very expensive part made badly by a commercial firm in Ebley so I thought I'd try a different tack. There's a nationwide website called "Nextdoor" which puts neighbours in touch with each other. Mostly it's lost dogs and dirty pavements but I thought I'd see if anyone local might make up the bit for me. In a roundabout way via Nextdoor I met Terry. Now Terry is 75-ish, has no car, cycles everywhere, is married to a stunning Phillipino and just loves using a compass instead of a GPS and old sailors like Joshua Slocum. He's an ex-fitter and he made the part for me for £25 - it's a beaut. Thank you Nextdoor.co.uk.

The parts for the Autopilot drive ram

....and now it's fitted.

A fine job

2. Fix Gilly's Sewing Machine

The day before we left the boat Gilly's sewing machine stopped working. At least it stopped sewing forwards. She told me the 'feed dogs' weren't feeding. We contacted a sewing machine man in Ebley and after much discussion he reckoned it was a stuck arm deep within the machine. I downloaded the "Dismantling Instructions for the Singer 5523 Heavy Duty Machine" and got to work. Very scary as more and more bits came off. Finally it was totally naked. An hour later the stuck part was indeed identified, freed and oiled and Gilly can continue sewing. Thank you ManualsLib.com.

Gilly's Sewing Machine - completely dismantled!

3. Find a fourth Crew Member

One of our tasks was to find a fourth crew member to supplement our existing team of Gill, me and Irish John who we met last year in the Spanish Rias. We wanted someone younger, probably with more energy than us 60 somethings who wanted to learn to sail. There are a number of websites that aim to match boats wanting crew with crew wanting boats. Some are a bit stuffy and cost a lot. I choose Crewbay and soon we had an advert up. 16 responses later we had chosen Mariel, a thirty year old relatively new sailor keen to gain experience before buying her own boat. After a 90 minute Skype call we offered her the position and the next day she accepted. She arrives in Lanzarote on 15th January and will join us on 23rd. Building a good crew is critical to a happy passage. We think we've done it again but time will tell. Thank you Crewbay.com.

So, Hugh and Linda - PLEASE bring my phone back out.

Only a month or so now before we're off but there's still lots to do. Will be ready? Of course we will.