The needs are drawing in

[Nick]

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I need the following before May next year:

4-man canister liferaft
Windvane self steering
40m 8mm chain spliced to 25m 14mm octoplait (windlass would be nice as well)
Decent plotter with all-Europe charts

- and that is just what I can think of at the moment. Other small items I can find, but these are expensive and any ideas are welcome.Keep yer ears open.

[mm5aho]

I heard of someone with a liferaft, but its 6 man, valise and out of inspection!! (but you knew that already)

If you get desperate enough to buy a new windvane, I can recommend Seafeather as excellent value.

[Nick]

I heard of someone with a liferaft, but its 6 man, valise and out of inspection!! (but you knew that already)

If you get desperate enough to buy a new windvane, I can recommend Seafeather as excellent value.

I already approached Sea Feather, as they are badly in need of a new website, but they weren't interested and quoted me just under £2k for a unit for the MG30 . . . doesn't seem particularly cheap, MrVee is a lot cheaper.

There was a guy selling a 2nd hand Pacific Light on Yachts and Yachty Bits, but he wanted £1700, which is more than they cost new . . . I missed a Navik for £600 on there, which I should have gone for, just didn't have the money.

[Pete Cooper]

I see Nancy Blackets are closing - any closing down bargains there?

[Nick]

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Black Nancys has been stripped bare and the doors locked. Apparently everything went away on a lorry yesterday.

[Nick]

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Serendipitously, 40m of chain has appeared, so that is one item off the list.

[spuddy]

There's the Hebridean of course. Depending on skills it doesn't take too long to fabricate. Works very well! Did a trip to Madeira and Azores a couple of years ago with one and he was excellent. Chum finished an Atlantic circuit this summer with one and awarded his a gold medal - worked faultlessly the whole way and now breakages or breakdowns

[Nick]

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Thanks, I had a look. Not sure if it would be suitable - in theory it is for up to an 8m boat. I've only sailed the MG once, but it had a bit of weather helm and I would prefer something a bit tougher if possible, but have asked the guy if it has a mounting bracket and will look at some photos.

Just missed a Navik on Ebay for £445 because I was away at the weekend . . .

[marisca]

Missing a Navik may not have been a bad thing. Another Contessa 32 had one and the water vane attachment was not up to the job.

[mm5aho]

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.ph ... f-Steering

just seen this...

[Nick]

Missing a Navik may not have been a bad thing. Another Contessa 32 had one and the water vane attachment was not up to the job.

The Navik on Fairwids steered her several thousand miles back in 2006/2007 , though it has only done a N Sea crossing and a couple of Minch crossings since then.

[Ocklepoint]

I have a plotter (or two) on "Hirta" and an iPad running iSailor, Navionics, Admiralty and Antares.

The iPad is the more useful.

It probably uses a few more amps but I've never been short of them (200 watts of solar into a 200Amphr battery bank)

The readable in the sun issue has never been a problem: it lives under the hood

If I didn't have an iPad i would just get a cheap tablet.

And when you are not sailing you can watch movies on it.

[Nick]

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Is there any way of getting AIS data on an ipad?

[Ocklepoint]

Yes. If you have a Vespermarine AIS receiver/transponder https://www2.vespermarine.com/xb8000-ais-transponder it will put out a wireless signal that iSailor http://www.isailor.us/will display on your iPad

[Mavanier]

Hebridean has to be worth considering. I know someone who used one to take his Co32 to Faeroe and back and thought it was excellent.

On liferafts, I'm currently looking into this as well and have concluded that you just have to pony up the money and buy a new one.
Brand new 4 man canister LR- cheapest I've found so far is the Crewsaver at £639, but I'm more inclined to go for the Ocean Safety at £649. Three services across its 12yr life at an estimated cost of £300 each time gives a total cost of £1550, for a cost per year of £130. And you might knock that down a bit by selling it afterwards- going rate on eBay is about £100.

For the plotter, I got a refurb Lenovo 12" laptop with SSD for £200. handy size, good on battery life, and plenty power. Currently at the tinkering stage but the plan is to set it up for dual OS and run it on Ubuntu to preserve battery life, with OpenCPN linked to a GPS puck and a TV dongle repurposed as an AIS receiver.