It's tricky at the moment deciding which blog to post to! The latest update has gone on the Erbas blog as it involved sleeping on Erbas. Read all about it at A winter weekend ...
Sunday 24 January 2016
Monday 18 January 2016
No boat yet but went to the boat show anyway
But first, the latest developments in the continuing saga of the house move ...
The Structural Engineer recommended a CCTV survey of the drainage system at the back of the house to ensure the cracks in the brickwork aren't being caused by seepage from the drains into the footings
OK, fair enough, but it's yet more delays and yet more expense. We don't yet know the specifics of the structural survey anyway but at this stage our buyers are still in the game although it is not clear on what basis
To make matters worse, the drainage engineer's CCTV equipment died first thing this morning on his first job and he's had to whistle up a replacement which means he can't come and check our drains until Wednesday
So it looks like it will be at least the back end of this week, or more likely next week, before we know where we stand.
All of this is just piling more direct and indirect expense onto our already strained original budget and whilst we're not yet in a position to make a definite decision (which may be taken out of our hands anyway) it's looking less and less likely we'll be able to afford to buy "Safe Return". She was somewhat over budget to start with and now it looks like a budget is going to be the thick end of £8k or more less than we thought ....
We're not yet seriously looking at alternatives but we think we're going to have to look for something suitable in the £20k to £30k price range. I doubt we'd find anything quite as perfect for our needs as the Vulcan but needs must if it comes to it. It is frustrating, to say the least, to be unable to let Carol know for certain one way or the other but with "Safe Return" back on the market anyway (and rightly so) I guess it doesn't particularly matter one way or the other.
This whole business of buying and selling houses in England is a complete pain in the bum. If we weren't so keen to move forward with our new lifestyle I'd throw in the towel and forget it right now!
Anyway, whatever the outcome at some point we will be buying something bigger than "Erbas" so a trip to the London Boat Show was in order to do a bit of research. It was a well worthwhile expedition as well as a fun day out. We went with our friends from the Good Ship Laurin and met up with other friends whilst there which made it a very pleasant social occasion.
I was able to get hands on with the electronics I have my eye on for "bigger boat" (and it's likely that whatever we buy I'll want to upgrade to an integrated networked system) and decided that in fact I would be very happy with less rather than more in the display department.
I also had the opportunity to have a close look at the instrument / MFD pod I had in mind for the helm position and found that it is way too big for anything we'd be likely to buy (and way bigger all round than it needs to be for what can be fitted in it)
I took my cue from one or two of the display yachts and decided the better solution will be a bracket for the MFD at the helm rather than a pod allowing the MFD to be removed below decks when not in use.
I was also delighted to find that Raymarine, my preferred solution, have launched a new pulse radar at the show which neatly plugs the one gap in their range
Another area I had a look at is custom bedding. It's all very well making do with sheets that don't fit, quilts that are the wrong shape and foam planks for mattresses when you're only on board for a week or two at a time but when you're going to be living on board the expense for the sake of some real comfort looks well worthwhile (and our friends were all merrily putting down deposits on fitted sprung mattresses too!)
So although we're not sure what we're going to end up with boat wise, our ideas of what we're going to do when we get her are shaping up.
The one saving grace now is that we're under no real pressure. It will all either happen in the next few weeks or it will take months or even a year but we're just going with the flow and letting things happen as they happen.
The Structural Engineer recommended a CCTV survey of the drainage system at the back of the house to ensure the cracks in the brickwork aren't being caused by seepage from the drains into the footings
OK, fair enough, but it's yet more delays and yet more expense. We don't yet know the specifics of the structural survey anyway but at this stage our buyers are still in the game although it is not clear on what basis
To make matters worse, the drainage engineer's CCTV equipment died first thing this morning on his first job and he's had to whistle up a replacement which means he can't come and check our drains until Wednesday
So it looks like it will be at least the back end of this week, or more likely next week, before we know where we stand.
All of this is just piling more direct and indirect expense onto our already strained original budget and whilst we're not yet in a position to make a definite decision (which may be taken out of our hands anyway) it's looking less and less likely we'll be able to afford to buy "Safe Return". She was somewhat over budget to start with and now it looks like a budget is going to be the thick end of £8k or more less than we thought ....
We're not yet seriously looking at alternatives but we think we're going to have to look for something suitable in the £20k to £30k price range. I doubt we'd find anything quite as perfect for our needs as the Vulcan but needs must if it comes to it. It is frustrating, to say the least, to be unable to let Carol know for certain one way or the other but with "Safe Return" back on the market anyway (and rightly so) I guess it doesn't particularly matter one way or the other.
This whole business of buying and selling houses in England is a complete pain in the bum. If we weren't so keen to move forward with our new lifestyle I'd throw in the towel and forget it right now!
Anyway, whatever the outcome at some point we will be buying something bigger than "Erbas" so a trip to the London Boat Show was in order to do a bit of research. It was a well worthwhile expedition as well as a fun day out. We went with our friends from the Good Ship Laurin and met up with other friends whilst there which made it a very pleasant social occasion.
I was able to get hands on with the electronics I have my eye on for "bigger boat" (and it's likely that whatever we buy I'll want to upgrade to an integrated networked system) and decided that in fact I would be very happy with less rather than more in the display department.
I also had the opportunity to have a close look at the instrument / MFD pod I had in mind for the helm position and found that it is way too big for anything we'd be likely to buy (and way bigger all round than it needs to be for what can be fitted in it)
I took my cue from one or two of the display yachts and decided the better solution will be a bracket for the MFD at the helm rather than a pod allowing the MFD to be removed below decks when not in use.
I was also delighted to find that Raymarine, my preferred solution, have launched a new pulse radar at the show which neatly plugs the one gap in their range
Another area I had a look at is custom bedding. It's all very well making do with sheets that don't fit, quilts that are the wrong shape and foam planks for mattresses when you're only on board for a week or two at a time but when you're going to be living on board the expense for the sake of some real comfort looks well worthwhile (and our friends were all merrily putting down deposits on fitted sprung mattresses too!)
So although we're not sure what we're going to end up with boat wise, our ideas of what we're going to do when we get her are shaping up.
The one saving grace now is that we're under no real pressure. It will all either happen in the next few weeks or it will take months or even a year but we're just going with the flow and letting things happen as they happen.
Monday 11 January 2016
Two wheels on my wagon ...
But I'm still rolling along. Just.
It has been a terrible few days. Everything had seemed to be rolling along smoothly, if rather more slowly than we'd have liked and then it started to unravel
As of Thursday morning, we were finally in a position to exchange contracts on both the houses. Then we had a call on Thursday afternoon to say that the vendor of the house we were buying with Carl was pulling out.
We'd been forewarned this might happen overnight and we'd already started looking for a rental property as a stop-gap (we simply have to have somewhere in the Kettering area as Carl needs somewhere to live, Jane needs to stay in work for a little while longer and we need an address). Of itself, it was not the end of the world
And then on Friday morning whilst eating breakfast before watching "Safe Return" being lifted out for the survey, the second wheel came loose. The estate agents phoned to say that our buyers wanted a structural engineer to examine a crack in the wall of the house. Why this wasn't raised weeks ago I do not know (actually, I have my suspicions but that's neither here nor there). I doubt there is a genuine issue (the crack, such as it is, is almost certainly due to settlement of the wall under the side window of the French windows we had installed eight years or so ago) but I suspect an issue is going to be made of it
There's every chance we are going to loose the sale on the house and have to start again with the added hassle and expense of having this crack repaired first so that we don't run into the same problem second time around.
The reality is that we cannot keep pushing forward without regard to the risk that we're simply going to over-reach ourselves. It's looking increasingly unlikely that we'll be able to get the house sale though in an acceptable time scale to buy "Safe Return" and to make matter worse if the costs rise much further our budget is going to be looking extremely tight anyway
So sadly we've had to accept that "Safe Return" has gone back on the market. Carol has been really great over things so far and we're not prepared to mess her around for another few weeks unless we are 100% confident of going ahead and the reality is that we cannot be that sure
There's still a chance, maybe even a good chance, that we'll be able to buy "Safe Return" after all but if someone else snaps her up before we have the cash in hand it'll be a case of it wasn't meant to be
All we can do now is wait for the results of the structural engineer's visit and go from there.
It has been a terrible few days. Everything had seemed to be rolling along smoothly, if rather more slowly than we'd have liked and then it started to unravel
As of Thursday morning, we were finally in a position to exchange contracts on both the houses. Then we had a call on Thursday afternoon to say that the vendor of the house we were buying with Carl was pulling out.
We'd been forewarned this might happen overnight and we'd already started looking for a rental property as a stop-gap (we simply have to have somewhere in the Kettering area as Carl needs somewhere to live, Jane needs to stay in work for a little while longer and we need an address). Of itself, it was not the end of the world
And then on Friday morning whilst eating breakfast before watching "Safe Return" being lifted out for the survey, the second wheel came loose. The estate agents phoned to say that our buyers wanted a structural engineer to examine a crack in the wall of the house. Why this wasn't raised weeks ago I do not know (actually, I have my suspicions but that's neither here nor there). I doubt there is a genuine issue (the crack, such as it is, is almost certainly due to settlement of the wall under the side window of the French windows we had installed eight years or so ago) but I suspect an issue is going to be made of it
There's every chance we are going to loose the sale on the house and have to start again with the added hassle and expense of having this crack repaired first so that we don't run into the same problem second time around.
The reality is that we cannot keep pushing forward without regard to the risk that we're simply going to over-reach ourselves. It's looking increasingly unlikely that we'll be able to get the house sale though in an acceptable time scale to buy "Safe Return" and to make matter worse if the costs rise much further our budget is going to be looking extremely tight anyway
So sadly we've had to accept that "Safe Return" has gone back on the market. Carol has been really great over things so far and we're not prepared to mess her around for another few weeks unless we are 100% confident of going ahead and the reality is that we cannot be that sure
There's still a chance, maybe even a good chance, that we'll be able to buy "Safe Return" after all but if someone else snaps her up before we have the cash in hand it'll be a case of it wasn't meant to be
All we can do now is wait for the results of the structural engineer's visit and go from there.
Sunday 10 January 2016
Loose nuts :(
Yesterday was the big day for the survey
However, it turns out it may have been a waste of time ...
The other loose nuts are on the wheels of the dream machine
Following on from the vendor of the house we were going to buy pulling out of the deal at the very last moment on Thursday, the buyers of our house then threw a wobbly on Friday, days before exchanging contracts, and have asked for a structural engineer to look at a crack in the wall beneath the French windows. Why this was not brought up weeks ago is, if I'm being charitable, a mystery. It's hard to avoid the thought that it's motivated by the thought that we'll now be so desperate to sell that we'll drop the price. The couple who are buying the house didn't strike me as being like that at all though
We'll just have to wait and see what the outcome of that is. The worst case scenario is that the sale falls through and we have to have repairs carried out before we can re-market the house. That would set us back badly
The one saving grace is that Carol, from whom we're buying Safe Return / Pagan, has been an absolute star and she's given us time to sort things out short term and tabled a deal that will, if necessary, give us another five or six months to sort things out. I hate having to mess her about but all we can do is be totally honest about the situation other people are putting us in and take it from there
The last few days have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Just 72 hours ago everything was looking smooth and all set to be wrapped up within another two or three weeks. Now we're clinging on to the dream by our fingernails.
However, it turns out it may have been a waste of time ...
The other loose nuts are on the wheels of the dream machine
Following on from the vendor of the house we were going to buy pulling out of the deal at the very last moment on Thursday, the buyers of our house then threw a wobbly on Friday, days before exchanging contracts, and have asked for a structural engineer to look at a crack in the wall beneath the French windows. Why this was not brought up weeks ago is, if I'm being charitable, a mystery. It's hard to avoid the thought that it's motivated by the thought that we'll now be so desperate to sell that we'll drop the price. The couple who are buying the house didn't strike me as being like that at all though
We'll just have to wait and see what the outcome of that is. The worst case scenario is that the sale falls through and we have to have repairs carried out before we can re-market the house. That would set us back badly
The one saving grace is that Carol, from whom we're buying Safe Return / Pagan, has been an absolute star and she's given us time to sort things out short term and tabled a deal that will, if necessary, give us another five or six months to sort things out. I hate having to mess her about but all we can do is be totally honest about the situation other people are putting us in and take it from there
The last few days have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Just 72 hours ago everything was looking smooth and all set to be wrapped up within another two or three weeks. Now we're clinging on to the dream by our fingernails.
Friday 8 January 2016
The big lift
I've left this post in-situ however we did not, in the end, purchase "Safe Return" due to problems with the house sale and purchase which left us with a considerably reduced budget.
Today was the day we'd arranged to have "Safe Return" lifted out ready for the survey tomorrow
It was a bright but bitterly cold start to the day which was much improved by coffee and breakfast at West Wick Yacht Club
Then it was all aboard as Carol expertly motored "Safe Return" out of her berth and round to the slipway
Paul and James were ready and waiting and in no time at all she was on the slip and being pressure washed
The hull was impressively clean with no weed or barnacles to speak of. Much better than Erbas last time she came out. I'll stick with the Cruiser Uno antifoul I think!
One key area to check, as always with twin keel Westerlys, was the state of the keels and keel roots. Happily, there was no sign of any movement at all and the sealant between the keels and the hull is intact and in good order. Plus there's no sign of any rust steaks, often the first indication of keel bolt problems
Carol and I had had a chat and decided not to put Safe Return back in on Monday. She'll stay out now until we relaunch as "Pagan" under our ownership
That relieves me of the necessity of antifouling in the current cold weather which is savage amusement and far from ideal
So she was duly transported down the yard and deposited next to Carol's office.
Toby arrives in the morning to do the insurance survey for us after which we just need to get to the end of the interminable housing saga (of which more another time) to release the funds to complete the purchase
Today was the day we'd arranged to have "Safe Return" lifted out ready for the survey tomorrow
It was a bright but bitterly cold start to the day which was much improved by coffee and breakfast at West Wick Yacht Club
Then it was all aboard as Carol expertly motored "Safe Return" out of her berth and round to the slipway
Paul and James were ready and waiting and in no time at all she was on the slip and being pressure washed
The hull was impressively clean with no weed or barnacles to speak of. Much better than Erbas last time she came out. I'll stick with the Cruiser Uno antifoul I think!
One key area to check, as always with twin keel Westerlys, was the state of the keels and keel roots. Happily, there was no sign of any movement at all and the sealant between the keels and the hull is intact and in good order. Plus there's no sign of any rust steaks, often the first indication of keel bolt problems
Carol and I had had a chat and decided not to put Safe Return back in on Monday. She'll stay out now until we relaunch as "Pagan" under our ownership
That relieves me of the necessity of antifouling in the current cold weather which is savage amusement and far from ideal
So she was duly transported down the yard and deposited next to Carol's office.
Toby arrives in the morning to do the insurance survey for us after which we just need to get to the end of the interminable housing saga (of which more another time) to release the funds to complete the purchase