What's going on with the boat?

After ten years living on Tarquilla we have moved to land. I'm often asked if we love the house or miss the boat and the real answer is - both. We still have Tarquilla and we are open to all options at the moment as far as her future is concerned. We will carry on working on her, it would be great to be able to sail her again. The Scilly Isles, Portishead marina, Bristol harbour and Falmouth are all places we have talked about as well as many others further afield. But, on the other hand, if a family was looking for a boat, ready to do the preparation she needs and wanted to take her on then we would sell her. She is not ready to sail off into the sunset but has a lot of life left in her. If you or someone you know would be interested then please contact us. She is 3 ply cold moulded, 42 foot long, one off design built in the 1960's. She has 2 double cabins and 2 single berths, a good size saloon, a decent size galley, head and a covered cockpit. She has two engines and a full suit of sails. We have lots more photos and can provide more details or answer questions. In the meantime, this blog has come to a natural pause for now as we take on new adventures.

The refit (part one)

With half term over it is time for all the crew to get back to work. Whilst the boys are off doing ‘reading, ‘riting & ‘rithmatic’, the inside of the boat smells of sawdust and cleaning solutions (environmentally friendly ones of course).

 
A complete refit of the boat was high on our list of priorities when we got back to England. Three years of travelling is hard on a boat and then there were the storms of last winter. The children have also all grown and have different needs now than when they were younger. Sharing a room was fine and having a large space to store all the sails made sense before but now they need a bit of boat to call their own and the first of the deckhands new cabins has been completed. Several trolley loads of stuff have been removed from the boat already for rehoming or recycling which has made a difference to storage and I'm sure there is more redundant stuff waiting to be discovered.
 
Wood waiting to be used to create better storage

The galley has been sorted and scrubbed through this week; a job which needs doing frequently on a boat to help the ongoing battle between all sailors and mould. It was good to find a few cosmopolitan treats we had not seen for a while as they had been pushed to the back or the storage. We particularly enjoyed a tin of octopus in ink which we found – a tasty reminder of Spain. We’ve also been looking at new layouts and ideas for galley including possibly an oven that can cook cake and pizza.

Basque pepper paste, French coconut and pate and Spanish Mackerel

We have three water tanks on board which can store enough for us to remain self sufficient for a few weeks. We relied on these several times on quay sides, mooring buoys, at anchor and even a couple of times on pontoons without a mains supply. These are brilliant but take up a lot of space. They are being moved to redistribute the weight in the boat and this will also free up some more storage space. This has meant the Skipper re-plumbing the whole pipe and filler system including attempting to track down a (possibly) obsolete elbow joint. This job also included making more holes in the boat and filling in others. Our front is starting to look quite patchwork as different repairs are being done.
 
The largest water tank (approx. 250 litres) - temporarily housed on the back deck
Maintenance has been a big part of the Skippers life whilst we have been away but everything needs repainting, even the bits which were only done last year. Having been reunited with his router which had gone to stay with the in-laws, many jobs which took hours previously by hand have been made much quicker. Many cruisers will tell you that being able to use electric tools makes a huge difference but depends upon having both the tools and access to mains electricity. Yet another reason why many jobs get put on a ‘to do’ list until it is major refit time and everything is available.


Filling the holes from the old deck fillers
 

We knew that refitting was going to be a big task and it is certainly going to take a while. We have achieved a lot already and we’re working our way round bit by bit - part two will follow when there is more to tell you.




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