New engine

Well we broke down back in April. Our faithful Volvo MD2B got diesel bug. Probably could have fixed it but she was 47 years old and it was time to retire her. We used AA Coombes and Island Inboards on the IOW and what a fine bunch of fellows they turned out to be. along with some great folk at Beta we now have a Beta 25. This season has been a write off (delays in the supply chain etc) but next year beckons. The pic is just before the water filter was fully connected. I could comb my hair in the water pump cover!

2021

August

Well it’s been a while since this blog was updated! We have been sailing but I lost this blog somewhere in the system and have finally found it.

We’ll try and bring it up to date a bit.

New main arrives

We ordered a new main from lovely folk at Far East Sails in Hong Kong. Michael was very helpful and in my measuring up I learned a lot about sails I didn’t know. I felt guilty not using a UK sailmaker but I needed to save a bit of cash.

Laid on the lawn on the old one. I made the leech slightly fuller and the foot is now loose instead of fixed.

An occasional sailing blog

This is the occasional meanderings of Cariblue and her crew over the forthcoming years. Bought in 2011 and owned now for 2 full seasons, our trips so far have been short coastal trips, around the Solent mostly. But we are preparing her for further adventures when I can get more time off.

Why do we do it? Perhaps this can explain.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Hurst Castle – Solent 2014