01/19/2009
The info below is a copy and paste from some literature about the Slocum 43. Please excuse the platitudes. Although I may like them , they are not truly mine.
Aisling I is a 1987 Slocum 43. She was designed by Stan Huntingford. She has been designed to satisfy the sailor who wants the blue water, "get me there" ability with the amenities for great comfort at anchor and at sea. It's a combination of engineering, performance, comfort and safety, wrapped in high quality Burmese teak finish, teak and holly cabin soles and rich upholstery. She is meant to be easily handled by a couple under almost any conditions. She was built in Taiwan to exacting standards using some of the latest technologies of the time that are still admired today.
LOA: 42'6"
LWL: 35'10""
TYPE: Sailboat - Cutter Rigged
BEAM: 12'11"
DRAFT: 6' 5"
BUILDER:SLOCUM
DISPL: 28,104 lbs.
SAIL AREA: 808 Sq.Ft.
DESIGNER: Stan Huntingford
BALLAST: 9,000 lbs.
HULL MATRL: Fiberglass
ENGINE: Perkins 4108
TANKAGE/FUEL: 120 gal
TANKAGE/WATER:150 gal
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Naval Architect Stan Huntingford has incorporated into this sturdy double ender, both seaworthiness and ample interior space that offers steady and comfortable cruising. Below the water line, the hull shows a fine entry with a long cutaway forefoot followed by an efficient and modern keel section and a deep profile skeg hung rudder, just forward of a tapered stern section. This design combination readily separates the Slocum 43 from other traditional yachts and offers ease of handling and lively performance.
This yacht is a perfect example of a classic offshore design and has a warm, roomy and comfortable interior . Incorporating a tumble home stern, bulwarks, dorades, opening ports, oversize rigging and quality construction, This yacht is a modern classic.
ACCOMMODATIONS & LAYOUT:
Headroom is 6'4" or better, throughout the boat and storage capacity can only be noted as "more than ample". Beautiful Burmese teak joinery throughout, solid teak staving , all doors are beveled and hand fitted, lockers are teak lined and the glossy varnished cabin sole is teak and holly plank. The interior is finished with a satin varnish with high gloss accents on the trim. Teak doors are louvered.
This yacht sleeps up to six people in accommodations with the forward cabin, main salon and owners quarter berth cabin. The forward cabin design is a signature of the Slocum and incorporates an upper and lower twin bunk to port, with the top berth extending into a a settee and to port, there is extensive storage in the form of shelves, hanging locker, drawers and louvered doors.
Naval Architect Stan Huntingford has incorporated into this sturdy double ender, both seaworthiness and ample interior space that offers steady and comfortable cruising. Below the water line, the hull shows a fine entry with a long cutaway forefoot followed by an efficient and modern keel section and a deep profile skeg hung rudder, just forward of a tapered stern section. This design combination readily separates the Slocum 43 from other traditional yachts and offers ease of handling and lively performance.
This yacht is a perfect example of a classic offshore design and is one of the warmest, roomiest, most comfortable interiors available in a 43' cruising yacht. Incorporating a tumble home stern, bulwarks, dorades, opening ports, oversize rigging and quality construction, This yacht is a modern classic.
Underneath the starboard countertop is a Stainless Steel automatic internal lighted freezer controlled by an opening top or door. Additionally, the refrigerator box opens from the front. The refrigerator and freezer have large capacity plates which were built to be easily removed for future servicing.
There are 2-deep stainless steel sinks, fully gimbaled stove and generous counter space. Overhead cabinets have a moveable peg system, which allows you to custom fit spaces inside to the size and shape of your dishes. Over the galley is a large opening hatch for light and ventilation, also, there are two opening ports over the stove area for added ventilation.
Directly across from the galley, to starboard, is a proper offshore, forward facing navigation station and chart table with tremendous room for an exceptional compliment of navigation and electronic equipment for easy use while navigating. The large nav table/desk has a generous storage locker under the desk top and room for the additional electronic navigation and communication equipment outboard. The nav seat is contoured for ease of use underway and the electrical panel is flush mounted here, on a swing-out door for easy access. Overhead are two additional opening ports for excellent cross ventilation with the galley and Nav area.
Just aft of the nav station and to starboard of the companionway, is a large pilot berth that will be your favorite berth when offshore. There is a teak grate built into the teak and holly floor at the bottom of the companionway, to catch water from wet gear. With the wet locker and teak draining grate, which drains to the bilge, all foul weather gear is kept aft and away from the main living quarters. All locker doors are ventilated. At the bottom of the companionway stairs is additional storage behind bottom two steps.
Next, to port is the owners aft cabin with a queen sized berth with storage below as well as drawers for him and her. Various shelves and locker with removable shelf and enclosed storage locker, as well as ample book storage and large teak framed mirror, mounted on the bulkhead. The aft stateroom also has excellent ventilation provided by two opening ports and an opening hatch overhead.
There are 11 Stainless steel opening ports with screens and 5 opening deck hatches, plus the companionway hatch, with screens, which provides a tremendous amount of light and superior cross ventilation. There are also 2 dorade vents, one over the head and one over the chart table. Below deck ventilation far surpasses the standards in the industry. There are light colored curtains at the ports for privacy, interior cushions are a blue
HULL AND DECK
Hull hand laid-up Fiberglas with 20mm R62-80 Airex Sandwich.
Cast iron ballast - 4.08 tonnes, flooded with resin and 100% glassed over ( encapsulated keel).
Deck- hand laid-up Fiberglas with 3/4" Baltek balsa-wd sandwich core.
Teak side decks - seasoned timber, quarter sawn with black bedding compound below and in seams, secured to Fiberglas by 1" sheet metal screws, countersunk and plugged. Inlaid teak on cabin top.
1 1/2" s/s shaft, tapered to ABYC std
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Conforms to United States Coast Guard and American Bureau Yachting regulations governing wire type, coding and load capacity
FRP battery box, ventilated cover with quick release tie down
NEWMAR (USA) electrical panel with panel light, circuit breakers with "ON" light and battery test switch, both 110v AC and 12v DC, volt
Fuel tanks - New April2000, 120 gallons in 2 Aluminum 60 gal tanks with baffles, clean out ports, complete with dipsticks, inter tank connectors with valve, take off from top with s/s ball valve on each labeled and grounded
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01/02/2009, Halifax
In spite of the fact that most of Canada was blanketed in snow, we had a green Christmas in Halifax. Christmas Eve started out like a scene from a Christmas card, with fluffy white flakes collecting on the deck, but by mid-afternoon it had changed to rain and by Christmas morning the temperature was exactly what we will hope for (but probably not receive) for Easter Sunday.
Our holidays were a whirlwind of celebrations-beginning on the 23rd with 17 people celebrating Rick's birthday with a lobster dinner, then 14 for Christmas dinner, where Rick managed to cook the 30-pound turkey to perfection, and culminating with a New Year's Eve celebration and more lobster at Nancy's house. The slow economy provided one advantage to seafood lovers this year- the fishermen, disgusted by the low prices being paid by wholesalers, have been selling live lobster from trucks on the street at $5 a pound.
It was fortunate that Nancy's house was within walking distance of the houses of all her guests- and not just because of the amount of champagne we tippled. In the final hours of 2008 Halifax was hit with a fierce blizzard that dropped about 35 cm of snow on us. The snow falling outside the window behind Nancy's wispy natural-growth Christmas tree made a perfect backdrop as we feasted on lobster followed by raspberries and cream with shaved chocolate. When it was time to traipse home in the blizzard at 2 a.m., we were all bundled up like schoolkids, but Joanne definitely won the prize for best-prepared! (Yes, that's Joanne under all those wraps!) The two kilometer walk from North St. to Vernon St. was actually a lot of fun, and luckily the strong north wind was at our backs. It reminded me of walking home from Central school in New Waterford on snowy days when school would be cancelled at noon and Mom and Mrs. Davidson would prefer to walk up "Twelve Hill" rather than risk driving. Ah, "storm days"- one of the small compensations for children who grow up in cold climates!
The blizzard necessitated a very small family celebration for Christopher's 28th birthday yesterday, but we weren't sorry to have a quiet day with our books and movies. Katherine is back in Toronto, Mom has gone back home to Cape Breton and by Monday everything will be back to normal.
This morning we had a "brisk" run in the park. The fluffy white snow and bright blue sky made a pretty sight, but with the thermometer reading -10 C, it is easy to dream of warmer climates. If the next four months fly by as quickly as the last four, it will be time to pack for the trip to Tunisia in the wink of an eye! In the meantime, we continue the great debate about where to sail this year- will it be a leisurely cruise through Italian waters, a visit to Croatia or the more ambitious program of Greece and Turkey? Rick has ordered all the guidebooks just in case- all advice is welcome!
Happy New Year to all- tous nos meilleurs voeux de bonne et heureuse année!
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12/20/2008, Nova Scotia, Canada
Hello from Halifax............
Well, here we are, back home in the cold. It's -6C today and we expect snow tomorrow, then rain then freezing again.......... This is what it is like here at this time of the year. We always hope for a white Christmas but really, only rarely get one. We hope to be surprised this year but will not hold our breaths.
Even though our program of sailing in summer and coming back to Canada for winter seems a bit flawed at times, it is nice to be home. My Mother is doing much better and my Dad is fine, both are 85 and live here in Halifax. Bonnie's Mom is also in good spirits and will be joining us here for Christmas. She lives in Cape Breton which, for those of you that do not know the Bras d'or Lakes, is one of North America's premier cruising grounds, at the NE tip of Nova Scotia. Some call it God's country.
We will have at least 14 for Christmas dinner (ranging in age from 6 to 85) and have bought a 30 lb free range turkey. FYI, free range means they run around and eat God knows what, but I must say they do taste better for it. We aren't sure if the oven is big enough. We may have to cut it in two.
It is the usual mad rush here at this time of year. I am back at work trying to promote sales at retail (....yuh!) and Bonnie is jumping from her consulting practice and French lessons to doing all the Christmas shopping, wrapping, decorating and cooking, while I pace and fret. It's quite a combo and usually at some point a few sparks fly, but this year it seems a bit easier. Of course, this is Rick writing.
As some of you may know, our son Chris has joined my business as an accounts payable clerk and is living at home. I don't know what happened to the empty nest concept. Our daughter came home from Toronto last night in the middle of a huge snow storm there. They were calling it Snowmageddon on the news! She made it, though we didn't drive in the driveway from the airport until 6:45am. She was supposed to get in at 2:00am. We are all a little tired today but happy to have the whole family together.
Last year was a great year for us. We have now met an extraordinary group of cruisers who have been on our minds a lot in the last few weeks. Our friends are now scattered about, in Malta, Bonafacio, Almerimar, Monaco / South Pacific, Turkey, La Ciotat, crossing to Barbados from the Cap Verdes, cruising in Senegal and going to the British Virgin Islands to join their boat just after Christmas. We wish you all Season's Greetings, hope that you have Happy Holidays, a safe New Years and of course fair winds and following seas. We will be thinking of you. Jim Thomsen on Tenaya has a great quote on his web site which I've adopted as my new quote of the year..............
"That's what a ship is, you know.
It's not a keel and hull and a deck and sails.
That's what a ship needs.
But what a ship is....... is Freedom."
.......Captain Jack Sparrow
We are also trying to wrap our heads around where to sail next year. It's not easy to decide this time, although we are grateful to Jean Francois who has been a great help with his knowledge of the Med. Regardless, I am itching to get back to the boat. Not only is the fact that it's in the water this year a bit troubling, but the truth is, life is much simpler there. We do not have as much "stuff" to get in our way and the stresses of life, that we usually think of as normal here, are gone. Not to say that there aren't stresses involved in cruising-there are, but they are different and really of short duration. It has been a great ride so far and we hope to keep sailing,writing and dreaming.
Merry Christmas!
Rick and Bonnie
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