Time to fire up the blog again – Rush is nearing completion!
She is on the launch trailer and the Coppercoat antifouling has been applied. You’ll see from the photo, Coppercoat was a choice of function over aesthetics… As mentioned in an earlier post, it should last for many years and can be regularly cleaned while the boat is afloat, without wearing it away – and it’s sustainable. Once in the water, the initial brown colour should soon change to a greeny black, making it slightly more on-brand with Rush’s colour scheme!
There are a few jobs remaining on the boat which are being ticked off at pace and, while the new mast requires a bit more work, it should be ready very soon.
The lithium batteries had been held up during freight but the ship was scheduled to dock in SA at the end of January so just customs clearance to be negotiated.
Launch is close. There will be a protective caution in our minds until Rush is afloat – and we’re on board with stiff rum and cokes in hand. That said, of course we’re excited.
We’ll soon head out to Knysna. Fortuitously, we’ll be in the UK long enough to also share a toast with our lovely friend Alison, who finally moves into her new home on February 2nd, after nearly two years of a bumpy ride. Perfect.
We’ve assembled a range of gear at home to take with us when we travel back to SA – some domestic items that we particularly like but are not available out there – lots more technical gear, such as Starlink and Iridium sat comms equipment. Packing everything, so we know how many bags to book onto the plane, has begun. Think we ‘re gonna need a bigger boat plane…!
Once Rush is rigged and ready, we’ll spend several weeks based in Knysna and Cape Town while we learn, sail, de-bug and (cannot wait) bimble our new boat. For those whose first language is not Sailing English, that means splicing, tweaking line lengths, marking halyards and reef lines at clutch points, creating specific stowage places, etc etc etc. It never ends and, while it can be an enjoyable indulgence, it also makes the difference between a boat that works OK and a boat that works smoothly, hopefully every time. Most sailors, especially racing sailors, are on it.
Between them, Knysna and Cape Town are home to CM, Clarence the electronics guru, the Nanni engine distributor and most other SA marine equipment suppliers, so they’ll be great places to refine the boat as required and obtain the spares we want to carry when we head off.
The current plan, when we do set off, is to head up the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This passage demands a circuitous route due to the North Atlantic trade winds that blow inconveniently the wrong way – from Europe, down the African coast, towards the equator.
First stop will be (a dot in the middle of the South Atlantic) St Helena island.
Then across to the Brazilian Fernando de Noronha islands, just off Brazil’s eastern tip.
From there, weather routing is likely to take us around the west side of the Azores high pressure system, to the Azores.
The final Atlantic leg will be to Gibraltar (perhaps via one or two ports on the Portuguese / Spanish Atlantic coasts).
Easy to write that route! How hard can it be???!!! We’ll let you know.
By the time we reach the Med, we and Rush will have covered some serious ocean miles.
