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Showing posts from February, 2009

What is a sundowner?

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A "sundowner" is usually a drink which consumed either during sunset or once you reach a harbour, marina or anchorage. We prefer Camari Orange, Ramazotti and sometimes a beer also. Often this comes together with some potato chips, chocolate or spicy stuff like pepperoni, olives or indian garlic masala peanuts. My parents visiting LinoCat in the Netherlands and so of course after a day out sailing there is a sundowner. Typically on a catamaran is done in the bownet enjoying the last rays of the sun and a beautiful day out on the water. This is a sundowner during a passage along the UK coast with campari Orange and some choclate and chips. We like the combination of sweet and salty. Of course while at sea the amount of alcohol is limited for even the guest and almost zero for the skipper. Andi and Anja in Lelystad in early spring 2006 enjoying the sun and the beer. Here is the version with Espresso, some cookies, some spicy stuff, pickles, chips etc. The 5* Deluxe version of s

Equipment planning

Hi, here is a list of things that are planned to be brought to the boat: Honda 20i Generator 2000W approx. 1800EUR Bauer junior dive compressor with Honda 4 stroke engine (i have it already at home) Watermaker Spectra 200 AROUND 6000eur LED navigation light with anchorlight (Lopolight) on the masthead (580EUR) LED strobe light (82 EUR) stronger alternators (from 60 to 80A) with smart charger (Sterling) Halyards and other running rig parts (480EUR) Add 2 more 210Wp solar panels to the existing Sanyo 210Wp (1000EUR) Change the stainless steel frame for that (400EUR) Labour for that 180EUR New MPP solar controller outback 60A 619EUR repair bow net and some gelcoat work (400EUR)

What is the plan?

So what is the plan? The plan is not to plan to much. In April or May, if my travelschedule permits i want to use a cheap Ryanairflight to just fly to Faro and check the installations. Then in July we will move back to Europe, well not really. Only for a short visit. Then mostg likely i will drive down to Portugal in a Van (my old Volkswagen T4 in long verion) to bring some equipment to LinoCat. Things like a portable Generator (Honda 20i), diving gear and other heavy stuff.THis trip will be a nightmare from a driving disctance with 6000km in total. Anyway, it has to be done. In August then we will move onto the boat. The first month we will stay near by to check out all system in the boat and to get the last things done. Visits in August will be Sarah and Eric. In September we will then sail to Madeira and to the canaries. In Ocotber we will be in the canary islands and visitors will be Andi, Alisa, Nina, Heinz and Karin. 22nd of November we will then leave from Gran Canaria to St. Lu

ARC? The answer is YES

Since my brother Andreas decided to join we have to have fixed travel dates anyway. This makes the decision much more easy since we are loosing the big advantage if you do not participate: -The flexibilty to wait for a good time and weather window So here we are going to particpate in the Atlantic Rallye for Crusier 2009, which will depart 22nd of November frm Grand Canaria. Regards Michael

German or English? Deutsch oder Englisch?

Sollen wir das Blog in Deutsch oder in Englisch schreiben? Do we keep the blog in english or should it be in german? We have many international friends and they would not be able to read german. Also "world-cruising" or already long-distance crusuing is an international hobby. Wir haben viele internationale Freunde, welches kein deutsch sprechen. Ebenso ist es bei weltweiter Fahrt eben "die" Sprache schlechthin. Nicht zuletzt koennen ja viele Deutsche auch Englisch lesen. We will try to keep the sentences and language simple. This will not sound highly sophisticated but what the heck :-) Wir werden versuchen die Saetze einfach zu gestalten, so dass man auch mit Schulenglish diesne folgen kann. Alle Deutschen Artikel werden mit dem Attribut "DEUTSCH" markiert, so dass man diese rechts ueber die Stichwortliste selektieren kann. We will mark all german articles as "deutsch"(german) so that readers can select this label and then get the german articl

What about water? Should we have a watermaker?

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LinoCat has 2 300Liter watertanks that is 600Liter. If we assume 4 people on board, each consuming 5 Liters a day this would make 30 days of water supply. This seems to be plenty. But what if the drinking water is not ok that you have filled in your tanks? What if a tank is leaking? First when bluewater cruising you have to switch the tanks continously to make sure that you are not loosing all the water in tank B after having emptied tank A. Second you need to make sure that the water that you fill is OK. This is fairly easy in Europe but tricky in other parts of the world. Before we fill water in a marina we let the water un for a while because the pipes on the docks and the hoses might have been filled with the same water for a while and in the sun this makes a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. After the water from the hose is feeling much colder we usually start filling the tanks. The next question is: How to get the water OUT of the tank? Stupid question? What if you only have

ARC yes or no? How to cross the Atlantic

Hi, there are many discussions going on if one should cross the atlantic alone or with the ARC, the Atlantic Rallye for Cruisers. Pro ARC ist the amount of cruiser you will get to know during the preparation, the preparation and courses and demos and the social part. I do not consider the amount of boats as major security factor itself but i am sure that the requirements to participate is a good starting point to really ramp up the safety features. Anyway, Linocat already has more than 95% of all required safety equipment. We just need some additional rockets and flares. Contra ARC is the touristic ambience and that "you have not done it alone". Also the pressure to travel at a specific day and NOT waiting for the best weatherwindow is a disadvantage. Also that you are not supposed to make an intermediate stop at the Capverde islands might be a disadvantage. Is LinoCat going with the ARC? Most porbably yes, since my brother Andreas might participate and he has to fix dates fo

Costs in Portimao Bluewater Algarve

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Hi, costs for Linocat in Portimao are: 403,53 EUR for 1 month on the hard stand 40,00 EUR the washdown per month 442,08 the haul out and in you have to add the VAT, which is called IVA in Portugal. This is cizrrently 20% Regards Michael