Lots of work/upgrades to Avy-J in the Spring, including rudder repair, new pushpit extension/guardwires, 200W extra solar, new Lewmar 40ST genoa winches, new Vetus cludgie hoses and TruDesign seacocks, old lower chainplates stripped out and replaced with external chainplates, sprayhood repaired, liferaft cover, new main halliard.
Not much time for Spring sailing!
Summer - fit AIS to Fairwinds, build fridge, strip and revarnish locker lids, new house batteries, replace windgen bearings, 3-year antifoul w. new boottop. Summer cruise Tobermory/Isle Ornsay/Pol Creadha/ Poolewe/ Handa/ Talmine/ Stromness/ Westray/ Lerwick.
Failed attempt to get to Bergen, returned to Lerwick from 50nm out.
Lerwick /Fair Isle / Stronsay /Kirkwall /Wick /Inverness/ Caley Canal/ Seil. Tiller removed, new one commissioned.
Autumn cruise Avy-J - the usual, Eastbound from Alvor to Faro, Ayamonte (Spain) then up the Guadiana River to Alcoutim for the music festival. Pomerao, then back to Alcoutim for a party. Back to Faro then Portimao and Alvor.
Back to Scotland for 3 weeks, party, wedding, dentistry.
Back on Avy-J in Alvor. Christmas in Portugal this year. Rent a car, drive up to Alcoutim where a friend has kindly let us stay in a self-contained apt. in his beautifully converted olive press. Back to Scotland Jan/Feb for two or three weeks.
Early Spring, planning a month in Morocco on Avy-J, then back to Scotland in May to take Fairwinds to Norway, hopefully for three months. (Unfinished business!)
New websites
https://ayamarnautico.com
https://sail-algarve.com
It's all go!
Kick old age in the nuts as hard as you can folks.
2025 summary
-
Nick
- Admiral of the Blue
- Posts: 5933
- Joined: Sun May 12, 2002 4:11 pm
- Boat Type: Albin Vega 27 and Morgan Giles 30
- Location: Oban. Scotland
- Contact:
2025 summary
- Nick 
-
BlowingOldBoots
- Old Salt
- Posts: 439
- Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2023 10:34 am
- Boat Type: Rub-a-dub-dub Tub
Re: 2025 summary
What a great year and the new websites look fresh and professional. All the best for the next year.
Do you find that time slows down, a year is long, as you are so busy and that time is not rushing away?
Do you find that time slows down, a year is long, as you are so busy and that time is not rushing away?
What's that? Dunno! Should we be worried about that? Dunno! How? Ah dunno!
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Mavanier
- Master Mariner
- Posts: 214
- Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:44 pm
- Boat Type: Sun Kiss, Spindrift11 prev: Moody 39, Deb33, Vega
- Location: Edinbane, Skye
Re: 2025 summary
You must be mad having two boats.
How was 2025 for me? A lot of miles. We had new year in Martinique, aboard the boat we'd bought a month earlier. It had spent the previous four years rotting in a yard in Grenada so was, and remains, a work in progress.
Early January we adapted the solar arch to accommodate three shiny new 450w bifacial panels, then set off for Antigua. Lost the wind in the lee of Guadeloupe, subsequently lost the engine due to water and gunk in the un-inspectable tank. Avoided being run down by a superyacht, got the engine running, carried on to Antigua where we spent the rest of January.
Swapped a crate of beer for a dinghy sail, and converted the tender to standing lug rig.
Onwards to St Martin to fit a wind instrument, buy Starlink, and take delivery of a brand new mainsail from Zoom Sails. Quick hop to Anguilla just to tick another country off the list.
Then onwards to BVI for March, meet up with old friends, revisit favourite spots. Watermaker wet the bed and we put a new membrane on order for delivery to USVI.
Two weeks sat in the USVI, the highlight of which was meeting up with 'Serendipity' of TOP fame. Decided we didn't really need a watermaker, and set off for the Bahamas.
530nM and two huge mahi later, we were in the land of crystal water and white beaches. Spear fishing and collecting coconuts around the Ragged Islands. We stayed in the Bahamas until mid June, by which point the thunderstorms were getting beyond a joke.
Onwards to North Carolina, zipping along at 10kt in the Gulf Stream. Then a lot of motoring. More motoring than we've ever done in a season before. I hit the 250hrs and had to service the engine when we were in New York.
Spent most of the summer in Rhode Island, anchored at Bristol, home of the Herreschoff brothers. Great classic sailing scene. Explored a little further to Cape Cod and Woods Hole, then time to head south.
Left the boat at a yard in the Chesapeake. It's cheap (by American standards) and in the middle of nowhere. I don't talk politics with people, I don't think it would go well.
Back home for winter.
Total mileage a little over 3500nM. The only year that we've covered more than that was when we crossed the Atlantic.
How was 2025 for me? A lot of miles. We had new year in Martinique, aboard the boat we'd bought a month earlier. It had spent the previous four years rotting in a yard in Grenada so was, and remains, a work in progress.
Early January we adapted the solar arch to accommodate three shiny new 450w bifacial panels, then set off for Antigua. Lost the wind in the lee of Guadeloupe, subsequently lost the engine due to water and gunk in the un-inspectable tank. Avoided being run down by a superyacht, got the engine running, carried on to Antigua where we spent the rest of January.
Swapped a crate of beer for a dinghy sail, and converted the tender to standing lug rig.
Onwards to St Martin to fit a wind instrument, buy Starlink, and take delivery of a brand new mainsail from Zoom Sails. Quick hop to Anguilla just to tick another country off the list.
Then onwards to BVI for March, meet up with old friends, revisit favourite spots. Watermaker wet the bed and we put a new membrane on order for delivery to USVI.
Two weeks sat in the USVI, the highlight of which was meeting up with 'Serendipity' of TOP fame. Decided we didn't really need a watermaker, and set off for the Bahamas.
530nM and two huge mahi later, we were in the land of crystal water and white beaches. Spear fishing and collecting coconuts around the Ragged Islands. We stayed in the Bahamas until mid June, by which point the thunderstorms were getting beyond a joke.
Onwards to North Carolina, zipping along at 10kt in the Gulf Stream. Then a lot of motoring. More motoring than we've ever done in a season before. I hit the 250hrs and had to service the engine when we were in New York.
Spent most of the summer in Rhode Island, anchored at Bristol, home of the Herreschoff brothers. Great classic sailing scene. Explored a little further to Cape Cod and Woods Hole, then time to head south.
Left the boat at a yard in the Chesapeake. It's cheap (by American standards) and in the middle of nowhere. I don't talk politics with people, I don't think it would go well.
Back home for winter.
Total mileage a little over 3500nM. The only year that we've covered more than that was when we crossed the Atlantic.