Sea Trial and Survey Hurdles

Our sea trial was due to take place on Saturday 6 June – a date we had set weeks earlier when we had decided we needed to have something to aim for.   Now, as the restrictions for moving around the UK had been lifted, everything looked like it was lining up for the sea trial to continue.   Well, that’s what we hoped but we had a problem…!   Restrictions were lifted for travel with no limit on distance, as long as it did not include an overnight stay, but travel had to be in a private vehicle.  Trains were still running on a limited service but were meant for essential travel only.  We could possibly justify using the train but the journey involved a three hour trip each way, and meant we would have huge time constraints on the sea trial – something we wanted to avoid.   Hire car companies were still closed and, while we investigated getting a Zipcar (like uber but hire cars by the hour/day), we could not arrange the required membership card to be delivered in time for Saturday.  

Our saviour came in the form of an old friend, Marion, who lives close to where we are staying.  She very generously offered us the use of her car and arranged the necessary insurance to enable us to collect the vehicle on Friday and return by Monday morning.

The weather was changing and it soon became clear that Saturday was not going to be the best day for a sea trial.  As much as I would love to have seen how Cerulean handled in a gale, it was not ideal weather to get her out of a tight marina and long channel.   Sunday looked like it was going to be a better day with light winds.  

Sunday morning we left early to make sure we were in Port Solent to meet the broker, Sam, at 10am.  We were early and spent some time wandering around the boatyard looking at the boats on the hard – it’s a regular pastime for boatowners to compare, dream and learn!

When Cerulean was relaunched a few days earlier, we had arranged for the final surveys to be completed – Boat, engine and rigging.  The boat survey had not brought to light anything more than those already reported in the out of water inspection and some of those more pressing issues had already been resolved.  The engine survey was not as encouraging.  The marine engineer was very disparaging of the engine and reported back to us that, due to the age, engine hours and condition he recommended we replace it before heading off-shore.  We had sat on this information for a few days, letting the enormity of this news settle in.   We considered walking away from the purchase as we had previously highlighted an unreliable engine as a dealbreaker.  Steve and I had spent a long afternoon crunching numbers, discussing different scenarios, researching engines and looking at other boats for sale.   At the end of this we had decided it was worth proceeding with the purchase of Cerulean and fit a new engine in November before heading off-shore in early 2021.

When we arrived at Cerulean we found her to be just as beautiful as we remembered her from our last visit three months earlier.  Richard and Alison welcomed us on board while ensuring we all kept the required distance from each other.  Fortunately the cockpit is large enough for several people to keep the required 2m apart, so we were able to comfortably and happily fit!

Richard manoeuvred us out of the very tight berth – a prospect I found extremely daunting on my first time behind the wheel – and into the lock that separates Port Solent Marina from the channel leading to The Solent.   As we were not far from slack tide, it did not take us long to get through the lock and start navigating the windy channel towards Portsmouth and out into the popular sailing ground of The Solent – the busy stretch of water between The Isle of White and the mainland.   This piece of water is usually extremely busy with pleasure craft but there were not too many around on the day – probably due to the bad weather the previous day and restrictions still in place regarding sleeping on boats.  The stretch of water is still busy with cargo ships, ferries, hovercraft and navy ships.  We watched the aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, leave Portsmouth, closing the harbour entrance to all boats for 45 minutes as she made her way into The Solent and headed East.  HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest, newest and most powerful ship in the Royal Navy.  She accommodates 40 aircraft, a 4 acre flight deck, is 280m long and is home to up to 1600 crew.  It was quite a sight coming out of the port!

I spent most of the sea trial on the helm (those of you that know me, won’t be surprised at this.  Steve often comments that it will take a crowbar to prise my hands off the wheel), and I could hardly keep the smile off my face.  Cerulean is light on the helm, sails well and has the benefit of a good sail plan using the double option of Genoa and Staysail (for my non-sailing friends, these are both at the front of the boat!) as well as a cruising chute however we didn’t put the chute up on this occasion.  

We had not yet mentioned the issue with the engine to Richard and we were still waiting for the riggers survey, although we were aware that a couple of stays (support the mast) were in need of urgent attention and Richard had arranged for these to be replaced immediately.  After a couple of hours sailing in light winds, we headed back towards the marina and, following a direct question from Richard, we let him know the result of the engine survey.   Both Richard and Alison were surprised but not dismissive of the news while still extoling the reliability and smooth running of the current engine.  

By the end of the sea trial we were totally convinced that Cerulean was the right boat – Once we were off the boat and walking back to the car, I think my words were “I absolutely LOVE her…” and the thought of us owning such a beautiful boat was making me dizzy with excitement!   That headiness continued until the next morning when we received the riggers survey and all of a sudden the heights of our excitement came crashing down to an equally spiralling low.  The rigger provided a report that identified over 35 areas of concern with the mast, spreaders and running rigging, recommending we take the mast down so the full extent of the problems could be assessed.   The enormity of this was enough for our spirits to come crashing down – if we needed a new mast, which the rigger was suggesting as a possibility, this could cost in the region of GBP20 – 30k and when considered on top of the new engine, would take the boat costs outside our budgeted spend.   We called Sam, the broker, and let him know what was happening so we could have more time to think things through.   We needed to think with our head, not heart and that needed time so we could clearly identify the reasons not to buy the boat, instead of focusing on why we should.   It was hard and Steve and I kept to-ing and fro-ing on our decision.  After a day of deliberation we decided that, providing Richard was prepared to further negotiate on the price, we would take the risk with the mast and hope that once we unstepped it in the autumn we would find the mast was still sound and just need a few thousand spent on it and not 10’s of thousands, as we feared. 

By Tuesday evening we had reached an agreement on price and we were able to celebrate, finally being the owners of this beautiful vessel by opening a bottle of bubbles and sharing it with our neighbour, Lawrence in the garden.   We let the realisation sink in – not only had we secured the boat we were going to take halfway around the world, but she will also be our home for the next few years.  It was time to pack our bags, book train tickets and prepare to move onto our new home at the weekend.  

On Saturday we woke early and did a final clean of piers and Jenni’s house before dragging our six bags down the road to the train station.  Surprisingly everything went incredibly smoothly and three trains later we found ourselves in Gosport waiting for a taxi to take us to the marina.  We must’ve looked an odd sight, two weary people dragging three suitcases (suitcases on boats is considered a cardinal sin) and three other bags, negotiating the floating pontoons until finding Cerulean moored nose first in the middle of one of the finger pontoons.   It felt so good to be on board, knowing she was now our home and we could finally unpack our belongings and start planning for the start of our adventure.