My wife Carol and I first started yachting with a Jeanneau over 40 years ago. This was followed by a Westerly Storm which we owned for over ten years. Being teachers we were able to spend the summer months cruising the channel and beyond Brest. This experience gave us a very good idea of what we needed with a cruising yacht.
Our last yacht was a steel Linssen 36 cruiser in which we cruised inland France, but many of the same criteria applied to it. So, when we were looking to return to sail and saw a reasonably priced Fulmar we were very interested. She was called ‘Cajun Gold’ and had been very well cared for by her previous and only owner. But there was virtually none of the equipment that we needed – hence the price; I would describe her as a ‘bare-boat’.
We had a full survey carried out before we bought her and this showed that little in the way of repairs needed doing; best of all was the full osmosis treatment that ‘Jeremy Rogers’ had carried out in Lymington.
We completed the purchase and then brought her back to the Isle of Wight to start work.
This is a brief outline of what we did, as follows:
1. Shore Power and Inverter
Whether cruising or in a marina, we knew that we needed power. Both 12V D.C. and 240v AC. The boat did not have even have a shore power connection and this was first on our list. Having experience of the normal blue commando plug and socket, we opted for an expensive ‘twist and lock’ type for the boat. This type of connector cannot accidentally pull out without you noticing and neither will it let rainwater in.
We couldn’t do much about the end that went into the shore connector though. We also used 4mm blue arctic cable because of its robustness and current carrying capacity.
Once fitted, we ran a similar cable to the main distribution area under the stern bunk. We decided to fit a 20A Victron battery charger. This amount of current is about the maximum that the batteries we have can take. Additionally, we fitted a Galvanic Isolator; this prevents small earth currents flowing though the hull fittings and causing corrosion.
We also installed a 1.5kW inverter. This should be plenty big enough to power our Laptop chart plotter and let us charge phones, watch TV and so on. We fitted a second, large capacity domestic battery under the navigator’s seat.
We decided to keep our Sony Vaio laptop running CPN software with Cmap charts. The plotter software is free to download. But we had to buy the charts to go with it. We use a BU353 GPS which connects to the laptop via a USB socket. It works fine just sitting on the chart table. It took quite a while to get all this sorted out.
2. Charts
I wouldn’t dream of going to sea without a set of Admiralty charts for our anticipated cruising area. Unfortunately, I sold ours with the Linssen, but we now have a full set for the Channel, Thames Estuary, The Channel Islands and so on. We found someone on the internet who was selling large numbers and bought a set. They were second-hand and mostly ex Royal Navy. Marks from previous usage took a fair bit of erasing but they should be fine for our standby use. But I would have to admit that it is a while since I last visited the Admiralty Notice to Mariner’s website.
3. Fridge
The other thing that we needed was a decent fridge, and we opted for an Isotherm model with a cooling plate and compressor. We bought one with the largest cooling plate that would fit across the rear panel of the fridge compartment and tucked it up high and away from the front. Apparently, for best efficiency, it should be mounted as high as possible to allow cooled air to drop down to the bottom, chilling food on its way.
The pipes and so on were fed through the side of the compartment and out into the cockpit locker.
Fitted high up and at the forward end of the locker it will be out of the way and should stay cool.
4. Heads
We think that the toilet was original and therefore years old. So, we treated ourselves to a new Jabsco one. Although it looked the same as the old one, the fixing holes did not line up so I had to drill new holes for the screws, but it was an easy job. Pipe sizes haven’t changed in all these years.
5. Sailing and Safety Gear
The boat was treated to a new Genoa a short while ago with roller reefing, but the fairly new mainsail has turned out to be a real handful. We needed lazy-jacks to keep it in some sort of order when it was lowered rather than have it fall all over the deck. If you sail with plenty of crew members it may not be a problem, but for the two of us it was. We opted for one from Barton that had substantial lines and only two fixing points on the boom. The foot of the mainsail is not that long and we thought that two would suffice. Spencer Rigging fitted it and carried out a rigging survey at the same time.
6. Transom Ladder
Years ago, I had a crew member (6’2” and heavy) fall over the side from a Rival 41 off the French coast. I hadn’t realised just how hard a recovery at sea was when there was no boarding ladder. We opted for a folding transom ladder, one that was quite long; so that there would be two steps below the water line to tread on when it was unfolded. There was nothing on the inside of the transom to interfere with the fixing bolts, access was good and it was easy to bolt into place.
7. Accessories
The large cockpit locker lid is a real godsend, and the locker itself is huge. We ran a rope across its length on the outboard side and now hang our mooring ropes and fenders from it.
The previous owner had been very considerate and left a great deal of useful equipment on board. Best of all was a virtually new Avon Redcrest dinghy. We already had a 5hp outboard and an oak mounting bracket, which we have now fitted to the pushpit. The picture below gives a good view of it along with the spray-hood and dodgers and shows the folding ladder.
Since we planned to use the boat for cruising and not racing, we decided to fit a sprayhood and dodgers. This provides welcome shelter in the generous size cockpit where it is nice to have somewhere to sit, tucked out of the way from rain or spray. C&J Marine had made a sprayhood for another Fulmar and still had the pattern which saved us having to make a mock up. The yellow fabric reflects the boat’s name.
After these basic upgrades, the boat was ready for cruising, and being retired, we had plenty of time for getting started early in Spring.
