DELIVERY Words by Geoff Linter
An
interesting
trip for a
The first thing to do when you get
asked to deliver a boat is to find out
Delivery
what type it is and get an inventory
(engine, sails, equipment etc.). Of
course you need to know where it
is going from and to. That should
Skipper
determine whether you need a crew
and how many. A look at distances
and stop of ports would be necessary.
n this particular delivery, the new owner was to Bill showed me over the boat, he had left the VHF mike at home
O
be crew and to learn about the boat en route. We by mistake. The Raytheon plotter was apparently a mystery to
would have a hand over from the seller at South him. He said the Raytheon 5000 autopilot needed calibration. He
Dock Marina, London. The boat was to go to proudly showed me a gallon of hydraulic fluid for topping up the
Brighton Marina, total distance involved about 160nm. The steering. He said the toilet might be switched to sea, but might be
biggest drawback was that it was late October which has switched to tank. Also the fresh water pump would not switch off,
only 11 hours or so of daylight and cold temperatures. so had the potential to blow apart the piping. There was no fiddle
rail on the cooker. No catches on the galley drawers. The internal
Close monitoring of the weather would be needed to find a cabin doors had no way of holding them shut. The cabin heater
weather gap of about three days. With an unknown boat, and an emitted nasty fumes when fired up. The engines seemed OK and
inexperienced crew it was not prudent to sail non-stop. the sails were bent on. The electric Bilge pumps sounded OK. The
port engine battery supplied the domestic electrics as well as the
The Boat was a Catalac engine start (no separate domestic battery). The log paddle wheel
900 Catamaran around was not fitted. Bill said it wouldn’t work anyway. The deck hatches
14 years old. It had a leaked all over the bunks when it rained. It was raining. Bill left to
wheelhouse incorporated go home. I fixed a gas pipeline leak, checked over the boat, and
into the saloon. It was bought a saucepan and provisions.
equipped with Twin Volvo
10 hp engines, and had Next day the new owner John arrived around 9.30am. He was
in mast roller reefing full of excitement and enthusiasm, but with little hands on sailing
and a genoa. It had a experience.
Raytheon plotter, ST
5000 Autopilot, a VHF Our weather for the next few days was to be changeable with
(Similar boat)
radio and wind and depth a low system moving SSE down the west coast of the UK, with
meters. A gas burning other fronts wandering around the country. We could expect cold
cabin heater was fitted in the heads and there were various weather with NE winds fresh to strong, with rain, wintry showers
sundry items. and thunderstorms. Hopefully these winds would help us to
Brighton.
Laden with kit I travelled by train to London for the handover with
the vendor. Bill had bought a hull and deck and finished the boat The earliest lock time for departure that day was 11.15hrs.
himself. Always a worry as the standard of build quality is an Darkness would fall at around 17.30hrs. With 40nm to run to
unknown factor. The buyer, John, had negotiated a good price Queenborough at the entrance to the Thames we would be
and had not commissioned a survey. In my head alarm bells rang. travelling the last three hours or so in the dark, with all the hazards
6 MULTIHULL REVIEW : JANUARY 2009
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