Greetings from the other side of the pond.

I am soon to embark on another crazy cat trip, this time I will be going around the UK and Ireland single handed. I will complete the trip in as few stops as possible and aim for the quickest time possible. I am currently at the stage of designing some additions to a chosen boat to make the long hours at sea more bearable.

Firstly and most importantly I will need racks. given the fact that Hobie 18's/21's are not easy to come buy in the UK I was considering having some made for another type of boat, say a Dart 18. Has anybody ever done this? Any advice is more than welcome.

I also plan to run a cable up the mast for a VHF ariel to increase the range, design some self inflating buoyancy for the top of the mast (not a fan of the big bulky Hobie wind vein style ones) I will also be putting reefing points in the main.

Has anyone got any experience of righting different vessels on their own? I was thinking of taking a big 50l waterproof rucksack and filling it with water to get the extra weight I need to right the boat when i need it? Anyone with any better ideas?

Thanks for reading and I will update with progress as it happens.

what is your sailing experience?

what is your catamaran sailing experience?

what is your sailing experience in the north sea?

I applaud your sense of adventure. I think a righting pole would give you more sense of security along with the righting bag. You probably want a block and tackle on the righting bag as well. I am sure you will get a lot
of great advice from those with more experience.

--
Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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So since you say as few stops as possible are you going to do several days at a stretch? Small boats in general dont seem to like the helm being unattended so you need to figure out a good self steering device for the boat. I'm sure one of the new auto inflating PFDs could be modified to be a mast float. Plan on spending lots of time on the radio making sure the big boats can see you. I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and damn near got run over by a big ass freighter - I was on a steel hulled 50ft boat and was not seen on radar.

--
Lee - On the BIG Lake in MS

Harstil Kaulua 31 - Current Project Boat
Cal 25 - What ? Time to freshen it up again??
MC Scow 16 (1 in the water and 1 parts/project) SOLD
Capri 22 - What do you mean you wont deliver it??
Chrysler Pirateer 13 - new addition to the fleet
--

Well, seems that we have the same goal, making long trips in a Beachcat, but I will do it in South America.
You can maybe give a look a this page, from a Brazilian guy who made ocean crossing trip. The site is in Portuguese, but there is a lot of photos and videos about, and with Google traducer, you can read and understand the text.
http://www.betopandiani.com.br/blog/

An other guy, Yvan Bourgnon, who made the first crossing of the Cape Horn last year in a beachcat, and now is planning to make the first around the world in a beachcat. His web page is in french....
http://yvan-bourgnon.fr/

Also good videos and photos.

I use them to plan the modification of my cat. You can maybe mail them.....
Good luck and congratulations. Without adventure, there is no life.

--
Patrick DW.
Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico.
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