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Hi all,
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You have all expressed an interest in joining me for some of my journey
I am now the owner of an Amel 46 (Maramu) called Marandina. She is presently lying in Lanzarote.
My plan is as follows:
1. I will arrive in Lanzarote on the evening of 23rd [...]
August. There then follows a period of maintenance and a hull survey. I want to be absolutely sure that everything on the boat is good. I know I have to buy a liferaft and EPIRB. I may have to service the life jackets on board, and there are no jackstays for the the saftey harnesses. Most of the boat is known to be good (engine and stern gear, osmosis treatment, sails and Nav equipment). There is some doubt about the standing rigging because of its age although it was inspected in 2010. I have to re-install the solar panels that had been taken off because the last owner thought they were ugly, and I want to install a deep freeze. I am sure there will be a multitude of further things that I do not even know about.
2. Once this is complete, say by mid September, I will then be sailing in Canaries waters. You are welcome to join me here.
3. A possibility is to make a long trip to the Cape Verde islands in November. Although this extends the length of the voyage it also means that one can depart for the South before the end of the hurricane season. The date of departure for the Caribbean will still be early/mid December but a departure from Cape Verdes puts one quickly into the trade winds. The other alternative is to stay in the Canaries until early December. Last year the ARC went in the first week of December and hit a tropical storm which killed two crew members. I do not want that and for the sake of getting to the other side by Christmas, I do not think it is worth the risk. The duration crossing the Atlantic is likely to be up to a month, depending on weather. If you want to do this one, I think you should allow six weeks in order to do some work up sailing before we leave, and to have some marina time the other side. I think it is important that no one is under a time cosh to catch a flight the other side.
4. The itinerary the other side is open to discussion. My aim is to get to the Panama by the end on March. One can go along the Islands just north of the Venezuelan coast, or one can go North through the French islands and the BVIs. Its then Puerto Rica, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. This route makes it easier to visit Cuba and Belize, which I would like to do.
5. You have probably guessed that the next stage is through the Panama, the Galapagos and then the Marquesas, but I am not going to firm up on that until we get to the Caribbean. There is a awful lot to see there.
I hope you can all join me for a part of the journey.
Regards, Tim Hammick
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