Hobie Challenge

I write this on Saturday morning having spent yesterday finally completing the re-rigging of the Hobie and in conjunction with the RIB crew on Destiny (the name of the RI due to light winds we were towed by Pete (RIB skipper) and Leslie (RIB assistant) out of the estuary to practice capsizeing

All went well, the lifejackets inflated after a small delay and we were pleased to be able to get back onto the upturned hull OK. Before trying to right the hull we ensured that we could safely get into the RIB with inflated lifejackets - All OK

On going back to the still upturned hull we attempt in vain to be able to right her - we are knackered and very dissapointed - we have done this a number of times before and although difficult we always managed

So finally ask Destiny crew to lift the top of the mast and get her back upright. On doing this we noticed that water was flooding out of the mastic joint about a meter up the mast where the new VHF aerial lead comes out of the mast - we had a VHF aerial put at the top of the mast to give us a longer range - it then becomes apparent that the reason that we couldnt right her was because the mast had filled with water.

Having waited for the mast to finally empty we try another capsize - but this time we right her quickly, although not that easily but without help from destiny!!

The crew have all finally come together and spent last night in the caravan together for the first time - Stuart and i have been staying with my family ( A HUGE thanks to them for all their help, support and enthusiasm) until tomorrow when we finally set off!

Weather forcast for tomorrow is looking poor - 3-4 mph winds from every direction - so we are unlikely to go far on day one! We will check again this evening and hope that it has improved. We were hoping to cross to Falmouth offshore - skirting Eddistone lighthouse which is aprox 20 mile out - this would have saved a day of going round!

Final preperations today include sealing the mast and sorting out final IT issues such as waterproof cameras for Destiny and Hobie Callenger as well as speding some final quality time with the family and some final tweaks to the Hobie with Ben @ Southsands watersports Hobie centre Thanks to him for being such a great source of technical information and generally a great bloke!

Stuart and i have just finished de-rigging the hobie and getting her on the road trailer ready for the journey to salcombe - see the latest photo on the photo section.

Insead of a lovely final sail with Rutland water looking its best - we canned the idea of a sail because it was blowing a howler - we were sensible and just stepped the mast and perpared for the trip ahead - but BOY did it rain - constant torrential horrible- as you can see our kit has yet to arrive, insead we got very cold and wet but still managed to laugh a lot - especially at ourselves.

I have only tomorrow to start packing and finalise preperations ahead of leaving very early on Tuesday to head to Salcombe.

We are nearly sorted. My main remaining concern is sorting the final snags on the RIB and fitting the last few modifications to the Hobie Cat once in Salcombe.

Sadly Sir Clive Woodward has had to let us down for the send-off due to his commmitments for the Olympic committee - understandable but none the less a dissapointment - he has fallen over himself to try and make it up! I have asked an old Mate Simon Woodruff if he can stand in - he is a real charicter and would be great if he can make it!

Must crack on and start packing!

Only 4 days to go......! I hope that the effort involved in getting to the starting line is less than the effort we will have to exert on the trip itself!

Almost 3 years later and we are in the final throws of preperations, Tony and i have just reviewed the To DO list (for the 99th time) and were overjoyed to discover that we are all but complete! We just need to break down the boxes and sort and pack the caravan, de-rig the Hobie Cat and take it all down the M5 to Salcombe!

Tony and Caroline have been stars and been to Ikea (Tony single handedly) and kitted out the caravan from head to toe! It looks amazing - i have no idea how they managed to cram it all in such a tiny space!

My workshop looks like an aladins cave - if you like cardboard boxes - no room to walk though!!!

I know that life will feel better when Tony and i finally set off in convoy first thing on Tuesday morning en-route to Salcome! The rest of the team are joining us over the next couple of days to help finalise perperations and to undertake training and sea trials!

Further update shortly!!

On Sunday Stuart and i finally found time to get the Hobie Challenger on the water and - GO SAILING!
The last time we sailed must have been early September last year!!!

Well we had to start by rigging the Asymetric (like a spinnaker) - which is an easy task - if you are familar with it and have recently and regularly undertaken it!!

So after quite some time we get the boat onto the water only to discover that a couple of the key component parts are missing - having been taken off the boat at the end of last season to be repaired or replaced.

Having sprinted to the Rutland Sailing club chandlers (Thanks to Purple Marine for being so patient) we managed to cobble together bits of rope which sufficed adequately!

The wind was a lovely force 3 - ideal for a first outing and we enjoyed a superb sail under clear warm skies, skimming across the smooth water, wearing only wetsuit shorts and technical T shirts and buoyancy aids

On arrival back ashore we are pulling the boat from the water and we both note that it is really heavy and somewhat concerned that it may have taken on water - check the hulls to discover only a small amount of water in each - certainly not enough to have casued the additional weight that we appear to have.
OH NO! it is at that point that i bust out laughing having realised that the main sail is still up and with the wind behind us is pushing the boat and the nose and hence the apparent additional weight!

We both feel so inadequate, so incompetent. This is something that we have never done before and we revert back to our favourite saying - "ALL THE GEAR AND NO IDEA" (thanks to Johnnie and Tim my paragliding insrtuctors for that one!)

So we have at least sailed - if not to the best of our ability. Next and final sail before we leave for Salcombe on the 27th May is Sunday 25th May - we will sail and de-rig her ahead of trailing her down to Salcombe

Tony (head of shore base) and i leave on Tues 27th, and the rest of the crew join us up to the Thursday 29th

Pete is running the RIB in (named DESTINY) and taking her to Dartmouth for her first service and snagging to be undertaken this Wednesday and then leaving her in Salcombe ready for our final sea trial ahead of departure!

After almost 3 years of preperation we are just over 2 weeks away from leaving home. Tony - who has just sold his flat (Great realief - and congratulations to him) is heading to Rutland on 19th May to stay in the caravan and get really prepared ahead of hitting Salcombe!

Must crack on with mouting work load - speak soon - Fin.

Well what an exciting and busy few days it has been!

The caravan and awning are being kept locally at a camp site - the idea being to allow us to set it up for the trip - buy pans, crockery etc... I have been regularly checking on it every couple of days and last Thursday i went to check only to discover that the awning had collapsed under the weight of rain - and that was despite having used storm straps and been under the expert guidance of Brian (35 years experience) - The first setback of many to come!!

So i emptied all the water out of the roof of the awning, dismantled the mangled and twisted frame and took the awning down completely. On doing so i noticed that one of the uprights had piered a hole in one of the front windows!!

I got on to Yorkshire Caravans (the suppliers of the awning) who were very helpful and have allowed me to buy another complete frame at cost. The window cannot be repaired in time so we are going to use a clear adhesive tape for that.

Tony is planning on moving into the van up in Rutland on the 19th May - i guess we will put the awning back up for him then.

Onto the RIB. I was unable to got sponsorship for a RIB but felt that it was impetative to have a support/saftely boat to accompany us on the challenge. I know John Wood at Ribeye and agreed to buy a 785 (almost 8 meter long) with a Yamaha 250 horse outboard. Although i have been on boats all my life, i have never bought a NEW boat, so it was with great exitement that Milly (daughter aged 9) and i set off to Salcombe to stay with my parents and collect the boat.

On Saturday we met Paul from Ribeye in Dartmouth and took the boat by sea to Salcombe - having first discovered that it holds 250 litres of fuel at £1.54 per litre from the fuel barge!!

The boat is fantastic, and inspires confidence even in a narly sea - which we had on the maiden voyage. I will put a couple of photos of the boat on the photo section and if i can get the photo of the collapsed awning of my phone that also!

So its back to sorting out mobile phones, crew kit, more life jackets as well as ensuring that my business is as prepared for my departure THREE WEEKS TODAY as it can be!