Now that Øya has entered the game we can move up a gear. It is not imaginable to go sail directly without thinking, we have to prepare and so organize a little more finely the project first.
In short, let’s do it well!
General progress
So far, the program was only defined in my head. But with the increasing complexity of the project I decided to formalize a little more, for the sake of clarity.
It will be limited to the next frame:
- ✔️ Becoming captain (See the article sailing instructor)
- ✔️ Get a boat (See the article welcome to Øya)
- ➡️ Prepare before going onboard
- ⬜️ Testing phase on the water
- ⬜️ Technical adjustments
- ⬜️ Departure for good
This progress status stands already on the home page
Now, let’s go to the step 3 “Preparations before moving onboard”.
What does it consists of?
Preparations before moving onboard
Administrative requirements
Make the papers of the boat is to declare it to the customs, to the maritime affairs and then to insure it.
It will probably be necessary for me to get insurance for myself because I am intending to travel abroad. For example, it would be appropriate to have thought about something like Europe assistance the day I will have appendicitis… Actually, I do not know about this kind of situations and that’s precisely the point: I need to learn about it.
Start my own business
The rule number 2 says that I should work on board. Beyond the fact that I love my job and that work contributes to not becoming marginal (rule number 5), it is also a necessity. Because everything is expensive with boats! I have to be able to afford what Øya will need!
As a result, I have to start my own business as soon as possible. Ideally it should be a minimum working when I will enter in the next step “testing phase on the water“. Indeed, this phase will surely highlight some technical adjustments to be made that won’t be free.
The preparation of the project itself
Øya’s check-up
Each boat has a history, a certain soul and especially specificities that are unique to it. Do not forget that I saw Øya only once, during the visit! As a result I have everything to learn about her.
In fact, for me to know enough the boat and all its systems I will go through a reverse engineering session. That is to say, I will do a fine inspection of each part of the boat, understand how they work together and why they have been installed like so.
By taking an interest in this, I will come to see what were the problems encountered by the previous owners and understand more concretely their meaning when they gave indications.
In addition, it will be the occasion for me to check the condition of the parts. The general knowledge of the initial state of the boat is important because it is for later a point of comparison.
This inspection concerns among other things the electric circuit, the fresh water circuit, the hull, the superstructure, the diesel circuit. Just for that, the amount of work is already big!
Getting known with Øya
Knowing the boat in its technical aspects is not enough to know how it will behave on the water. If it was true then garage owners should not pass their driving license! Therefore the next step of the project is a testing phase on the water. I still have to prepare this one.
It will consist of small outings during the day, trials to master the different systems and get to know the reactions of the boat. I would never sail too far away from a specific harbor, so I could progress slowly but certainly. The idea is to beta-test the boat and the whole project in a security perimeter.
So, if I need to chose a perimeter, let’s find a confortable one so I can take it easy! Find a harbor with hot showers if possible, sanitary that smells good and even washing machines. In summary I have the choice, so I should find the maximum comfort to make autumn less gray!
The last things to do on land
Be done with the workshop
I started to renovate the workshop of the family house because I did not have much to do if it was not looking for my boat… This small building remained a few years without activity, used as a storage place. I wanted to bring life back into it, and so had in mind to do a great cleaning and storage.
When I started sorting out the cases, I soon realized that the storage would only have a superficial impact in the long run. After two or three years the workshop would have become unhealthy again. In fact the real problem was the non finished insulation. I do not like doing things halfway so I decided to do this work so that the building will be healthy again.
One must be motivated to embark on such a task! So I found another source of motivation: this workshop will be the ideal place to make my technical adjustments. Anyway, the work is not yet 100% complete and it is imperative to close the case now because if it is not now, it will never be.
Lerning to weld steel
The advantage of having a steel boat and that we can make modifications and repairs through welding. But the welding is complex, it is a discipline in itself. There are also adult education courses on this subject, and you can spend a lifetime learning the subtleties of the job. It is therefore not when I will need it that I will start to learn, so the more I study beforehand the best it is.
I would therefore learn the basics of welding, both theoretically and practically: knowing what steel is, its properties and welding methods.
Learning the manipulation of fiberglass
Fiberglass: is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet (called a chopped strand mat), or woven into a fabric. The plastic matrix may be a thermoset polymer matrix—most often based on thermosetting polymers such as epoxy, polyester resin, or vinylester—or a thermoplastic.
Wikipedia
Knowing fiberglass can be useful for making repairs, creating parts. This is something that I want to do at least before leaving, although theoretically I should not have much use.
I would take as exercise pieces of my bike that I would like to redo because lost in the Czech Republic (see my return from Oslo on motorcycle described in the article “The genesis”). It will most likely be the subject of a post!
Morality
There much work to be done !
In addition, I would like to start the testing phase just after New Year’s Day to start the 20’s on the water!
In order not to forget the slightest detail, I made a set of todo lists that I put in as-and-to-date, it is here.