First date.

I found Conachair after spending lots of time on the internet typing "steel boat for sale" into google. She's a 33' Ebbtide steel hulled cutter yacht. Actually she was recommended on one of the many forums dedicated to cruising, might have been the excellent ybw.com Liveaboard forum. She was on the hard (that means on hard dry land, not afloat to you non sailors) at Holyhead marina in Anglesey, north Wales. A few phone calls and a five hour drive later I was hooked. Not a spring chicken but so much there. Purpose built for long distance cruising and steel. Two stories convinced me that steel Was the way to go. 1. There is a small dink on the bottom of the keel aft where she grounded in Portland harbour during the hurricane on 1987. She was the only boat which didn't sink in the harbour. It's a big harbour. 2.I left a message on a cruising forum asking opinions and got a message from someone who had done an Atlantic circuit in an Ebbtide. They had averaged 5.25 Kn so not slow. That season they had heard of 4 boats which had hit whales on the trip back across the Atlantic. 2 sank, 1 bailed by hand and limped into Bermuda. The Ebbtide was the other boat, lots of blood and thrashing but not a scratch on the boat but whale not best pleased!

So survey was done, house remortgaged and boat bought. The previous` owners, Scott and Linda Moss were delightful people. I think they warmed to me a little as they thought I was going to use Conachair as she was designed and built to be used - as a long distance cruising yacht. So on 21st February 2005 she was mine. Though I actually see it as a partnership, if I look after her, she'll look after me and take me anywhere. Anywhere with at least 6' of water that is. Which is still quite a choice.

The following weeks saw an increasing knowledge on the route from London to Holyhead each weekend and an increased redbull intake for the 5 hour drive after work each friday and journey back on the following Sunday night. A few weeks later she went back in the water. Time to go sailing.

Windy place, Holyhead so took a few weeks before I was brave enough to take her out. Having bought her without sailing her I was a bit nervous - what if she sailed like a dog! No need to be wary, she sails fine - probably a bit slower than fibreglass rivals but not that I would notice. The following weekends saw us exploring the beautiful north Wales coast. To the south saw us tied up to a buoy in a bay next to Rhoscolyn. Great excitement here as a lobster pot for a fiver off ebay did it's job. About half an hour after going overboard with some fish as bait it came back aboard with a lobster inside. Poor thing lasted for as long as it takes to boil a pot of water. Luckily I was single handed so all for me! Served with a little extra virgin olive oil and some black pepper - don't think I've ever tasted anything so delicious. Click here for a map of the area. Another fine weekend was a trip the other way to the village of Camaes.

Beautiful anchorage and pleasant village. Happy days!

 

On the hard at Holyhead, north Wales.