Summer Adventure - Update

The Golden Cloud - 07/03/2013

I have made a decision to move the start date for the round the uk sail for Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Isle of Wight Society for the Blind, Multiple Sclerosis Society (IoW Branch), and Surfers Against Sewage, with beach cleans to next year to give more time to organise charity, sponsor, council, harbour, and boat logistics. 

The original May 1st start date is fast approaching, and with the potential size and fundraising potential of the project I feel it would not do it justice to rush it now and not do all we planned.

This said, during summer (probably May-June and Sept-Oct) I still plan to have some practise runs of the event, likely to involve a few beach cleans, and a passage perhaps Aberystwyth to Isle of Wight, or to West Coast of Scotland or something along those lines to check everything is in order on the boat. 

Those who have offered to be crew this year, if you're still available it would be ace if you could join for practise sails this summer, and please keep in contact with regards to next year.

If you have been helping with sponsorships and permissions please forward this message (or something along the same lines) to anyone you have contacted to inform them of the change. We may find that people who have turned us down for this year, we could be top of the pile for sponsorship next year!

Summer 2013 Plan

The Golden Cloud 26/2/13

What a busy few week's its been since I returned from the land of Ice, and ice, and ice, and oh a bit more ice.

On return from Greenland I decided that this summer me and The Cloud would be going on an adventure. Over a nice cup of tea with a good friend Billy Whitehouse, and then numerous phone calls to charity's and sponsors a plan slowly formulated, and its one I'm now very excited to announce.

Summary: 2300 Mile Anti-Clockwise Lap of the UK leaving 1st of May, doing beach cleans every overnight stop (aim 1000 bags of rubbish) raising funds for Surfers against Sewage, RNLI, Isle of Wight Society for the Blind and The Multiple Sclerosis Society. 

On the 1st of May 2013, The Golden Cloud will depart Ynyslas, and after stopping off in Aberdovey, will head South to do a 2300 nautical mile of the United Kingdom, in an anti-clockwise direction. The route according to passage planning software would take 35 days of direct sailing with a vessel profile similar to golden cloud. However, the plan is not to rush this and enjoy the journey as much as the destination. We plan to do 20-50 miles (~4-7 hours) sailing a day, taking advantage of the best weather and tidal conditions, and staying at anchor when it's not ideal.

The Giants Causeway
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Giant's_Causeway_-_geograph.org.uk_-_133.jpg

The Route plan includes natural beauties like The Scilly Isles, various gorgeous estuaries, Ramsey and Skomer Islands, The White Cliffs of Dover, the North West of Scotland, and the The Giants Causeway to name but a few. 

Seeing the Puffin's of Skomer Island
http://www.coolplaces.co.uk/places/uk/wales/pembrokeshire/st-davids/1596-skomer-island

It also takes in Every Capital of the UK (Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Belfast) as well as the City's of Bristol, Falmouth, Plymouth, Poole, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Dover, Newcastle, Liverpool, Bangor etc.

A personal highlight will be sailing under Tower Bridge
Source http://www.travlang.com/blog/category/london-travel-guide/

The journey will give us a chance to see this beautiful nation of ours from angles we've never seen it before.

As per normal on the Cloud the journey will be planned as Sustainable, Low Cost and Eco-friendly as possible.

The plan is to live off the sea, fish and forage where possible, we'll even try to grow some veg and mushrooms in the limited space onboard. The plan is to sail everywhere as much as possible without using the motor unless absolutely nessasary (emergency's and tight harbour manoeuvring). All our electric will come from a small solar panel on deck. I'm even looking into changing the motor to a electric one that runs off the panel!

Its planned that we will moor in little bays and harbours instead of marinas and ports, as there is increasing evidence that large marinas are unsustainable, and huge point sources of pollution from oil in bilge pumps, antifoul paints, sewage from sea toilets and litter. We will reduce our impact in this way because the boat has no sea-toilet, all garbage will be recycled where possible and binned, and we will be careful in the use of antifoul paints and bilge pumps. Added to this the anchoring in open bays and smaller harbours means any pollution from us will be a more dilute source and thus more easily dealt with by nature. 

We wanted to give something back as part of the trip ans so we decided that we would collect sea-rubbish, an ever increasing plight on the coastal beauty of the world (we even saw it in Greenland!)

After talking to Surfers against Sewage we have decided to do a beach clean at every overnight stop and aim to collect 1000+ bags of rubbish. We want to do this to add to the cause, but also to make our trip a positive one for the environment, making it better after we leave than when we arrive, and to highlight the issue of sea rubbish to a wider audience. 

Beach Litter Picture
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/apr/08/waste-marine-life 

Added to this we aim to raise money for the RNLI for their work for seafarers, The Isle of Wight Society for the Blind and The Multiple Sclerosis Society for the help they gave my dad when he lost his sight with MS a few years ago, and Surfers against Sewage for there work cleaning up the coast.

http://rnli.org 

http://www.iwsightconcern.org.uk/

http://www.wight-ms.org.uk/

http://www.sas.org.uk

http://www.muckbootcompany.com 

And in the past few hours I can gladly announce the 1st Commercial Sponsor for the Project "The Muckboot Company". The Company are supplying the crew with their specialist, hard wearing  neopreyne boots. In Greenland we wore Muckboots for sailing was very impressed, hence going to Muckboot for sponsorship. 


And so the next step! Well were currently looking for crew and sponsorship (personal and commercial) for the journey. A just giving site will be set up shortly after we have discussed things through with the charitys. If you would like to become part of the crew, want to help with your local beach clean, want to help out in the organisation, or have any ideas or offers for sponsorship, Please send me an email on joeberpearce@yahoo.co.uk

Looking forward to a Great Summer!

We are sailing!

We are Sailing
The Golden Cloud 8.6.12


Once again I've left you lovely people for too long. So much has happened in so little time with me and the boat, and now I type sitting onboard my boat as she sways in the Gales.... Maybe this wasn't the best week to give her some sea trials!


About 10 days ago I had a bit of an issue at Uni, and as a result I was frustrated with life. The result of this frustration was me deciding I should spend a week or so tending to my Boat.


As I started working me and Lloyd the boatyard manager, started talking and we decided that it was probably better for me to work on getting the boat to sea for a short period of time, to suss out any issues she had before I spent out on the interior. For all I know I could spend thousands making her gorgeous inside and then the engine might not work or the hull might have a massive leak!


First I repaired the mast, her spreaders (the arms that keep the mast upright) had snapped over winter. To save the extortionate cost of buying Yacht Spreaders, I went to a metal merchants, brought the tube raw and manufactured it myself!

Then I got to work on was sanding down the hull to check for any dodgy repairs... I found a few! 


Turns out at some time in the past her long keel had hit bottom and got damaged. Whoever owned her at the time did a quick repair job with car filler fibreglass, and never got round to going over the job properly.


Needless to say this area now leaked,and so needed a repair.


So I sanded the area down, chipped out the fibreglass, drilled it around the hole, and left it to dry.... Apparently 40 years of soaking water into a concrete cored keel meant it didn't dry, and as time past it kept seeping water.

In the end we decided to mark down the affected area, reseal it quickly and come back to it in the winter, put the boat in a barn and let her dry out.

Next on the list was getting the engine started. So we charged up the battery, put a hosepipe on the water intake, and next morning started her up.

Amazingly she started first time!!!! Turns out the engine name SABB (not SAAB like the planes and cars) which is Scandinavian for hard working and reliable, is quite fitting.


Then I unpacked the sails to check for damage, all sails were the original 1970 sails no damage, just a bit of oiling on the Hanks! This was too easy!

 Then the issues began....
1st I noticed that the prop shaft was disconnected with the engine. meaning although the engine worked it didn't turn the propeller!

And because of the engines age, the bolts were not modern metric dimensions! So out with the hack saw and manufactured some new bolts.

Then all bolted up. Me and the lads from the boatyard slowly hoisted the mast up by resting it on the roof of a shed! By the end of the beautiful evening, we sat around with Golden Clouds on the horizon, sharing a curry and a can of lager! Wonderful!

Then to make her ready for sea, I removed the infamous freezer, and put in a worktop to give me space for chart work. While a porta potty was installed in case I journeyed to Aberystwyth Marina, where the bucket and chuck it method isn't accepted.

Soon it was time to get her afloat, and after a day of cleaning her up and cleaning the area where she once sat, Lloyd picker her up in his tractors slings, and down to the water. Mick from the yard who also owns a Falmouth Gypsy, came on-board to help with proceedings. 

Down into the water, and away we went FANTASTIC! She sat beautifully in the water! And she reversed with ease out of the slings.


oh


wait


She could only reverse!


NO FORWARD GEAR!


Mick ran to the front of the boat and prepared the Anchor!


OH NO!!!!


Luckily the beast of a rudder this fantastic boat has meant she steered OK in reverse. So we gently reversed her onto the mooring, with a bit of help from the nose of Lloyd's rib. 

When low tide game I got down underneath the prop, and saw that too big an    anode (piece of metal to stop the propeller deteriorating) had been installed. So I unscrewed it, put it onboard, and readjusted the bolts on the propshaft.


Tide returned. FORWARD Gear existed.


Since then, I've happily lived onboard, and every high tide myself and Mick have gone down the estuary to try and iron out any issues with the boat.

Yesterday we even got a jib sail up, and in the wind this was enough so we didn't need the engine.

Needless to say these sea trials are showing a few faults (3 a4 pages so far) but nothing that cannot be worked around.


This weekend when the weather dies down I'm going out without Mick for the first time, but with some friends out fishing. Safe Seas and Tight lines!

What to do?

The Golden Cloud 6/5/12

What To Do?

Again after a long period away with work including time at sea becoming an "Advanced Powerboat, Day Skipper, and VHF License holder" I came back to my humble aboard at 12 o clock last night after a hard day’s work. (See what I did there, humble abode, aboard :D)

Then I notice.... Tarpaulin has gone....Great

The strong East winds we had last week, tore the tarp clean off the ropes and tossed it across the boatyard! The grand cost of a 6 by 8m tarp which I cannot afford to replace means I now have to re sew seams, hem, and eyes onto the tarp, before re-ropeing it and tying it back on a more secure way. An obvious result of this was that the boat had about 5 inches of water in the bilge to pump out! Amazingly though, it wasn’t too damp.

Then I go inside, and flick the lights, power was out. I didn’t have time to work out if this was as a result of the water, or I’d just used up my credit on the meter, but the rest of the evening was by torch light.

Then I get down to my bed to go to bed.... COCK IT! Left the sleeping bag somewhere else... not actually 100% sure where to be totally honest!

So as I wrapped myself up in blankets fully clothed and settled down to a total of 4 hours sleep as I had fieldwork in the morning.  Surprisingly though, I felt warm, safe, and at home. The only thing that wasn’t great was the sound of ropes slapping the roof, a sound not heard on the boat for a good few months while the tarp was alive!! REMINDERS TO SELF NEVER LEAVE A BOAT UNATTENDED!

In a months’ time, I'd been planning to meet up with a friend for a long weekend in Cardiff. But on the realisation that hotels cost money, this idea soon gave way to the invite to my friend of "come stay on my yacht instead!"

4 days, 3 nights in June in Ynyslas... that’s the great British summer holidays for 50% of Birmingham! However, they don't have to sleep on a clapped out boat!

So with the realisation that I've not got; a chimney that works 100%, a roof that stops water 100%, and 100% of my insulation, the boat needs painting, the cupboards need finishing, and really the 2nd bed isn't very good, Oh and that the boats a dump, I've got a lot of work to do!

If you didn't guess, this last bit is kinda a call to arms... If anyone has some spare time in Sunny May to help out, please give me a buzz!

The Future

The Golden Cloud 7/4/12

The Future

And so for the last week or so once again I've hardly spent any time on my boat, well save for an evening fighting some metal ontop of the chimney.

Now this time its not the hotel, but I'm residing in a plush Ikea showroom of a house, as I dog sit for a lecturer off on his holidays.

The week has been an interesting one of self discussion over what I want from life, what my aims are, and what I enjoy.

One thing that has been revived spending time in the epitome of all that money can buy (including a double bed sized bath tub) has been my realisation that although its nice, it doesn't make me happy. In all honesty the best bit of the house, has been the view, and you can get a view from a shed, or a cardboard box.

Lupus the Dog

A joy of the house/dog sitting has been the time outside walking Lupus the dog. Admittedly the dog itself has been a pain, its a big (expensive) pedigree labradoodle who has defiantly been spoilt every day of its life. Every walk you spend most of the time forward planning how to avoid it seeing that grandma on crutches or that chew-able chiwawa. But on the occasions when I have found a deserted woodland, an empty beach, a open hilltop and the dog runs off, you soon realise how amazing nature's world is, and how important it is to not ruin it. 

During this time outdoors I often look out to sea with the water flat calm and a breeze blowing back my hair thinking soon I could be out there. Next on the footpath though is some woodland, and as I walk past the mushrooms, wild garlic, and other abundant food it is hard to forget that my allegiances with the boat are shared between sailing it into the sunset, or using it as a house in a sustainable life onshore. 

If any of you are unlucky enough to be a friend of mine I'm sure you will know I have 2 dreams that I want to choose between come autumn (and not the sharing life with a Girlfriend or a Puppy).

With a desire for the opportunity the boat offers me I have come up with 2 plans. Both are based on me saving my wages and using them to invest sustainably to make my future life more affordable both for my wallet and my planet.

Option one

The obvious choice for someone who owns a boat, make the boat seaworthy, sail into the sunset and just keep going... abit like this couple  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17084034

This plan has a lot of merrits, not only how much fun it sounds, but also with the limited space and access to shops at sea, you have to live sustainably to survive.

Option two

I have always wanted land, something inside me wants a small stream or lake, some woods and a horse. 

As a youngster who had been brainwashed by society to thinking that a masssive career was all important, I decided I wanted to work my socks off in the city get rich and retire to a large wooded lake. My Dad was going to be the gilly (his job would be to sit all day fishing then tell people how to catch) and mum would be the gardener.

But now this plan has simplified, I just want enough to live. According to the Feudal System of Medieval England that would be about 1/16th of an acre of land for food production, plus a few shared tools, access to a woodland and an ox.

Mark Boyle (Author of Moneyless Man, and Free-economist see www.justfortheloveofit.org) regularly updates facebook with links and sustainability motivation. One quote he posted was that of Mahatma Gandhi "be the change you wish to see". And like Mark I want to see a reinvigoration of society, reconnection between producer and end user, a reduction on reliance of the monetary system, sustainable lifestyles etc.

Now on that line of thought Option one although fantastically amazing I know a boat with humans is always going to need to come ashore, at least to get an orange to stop scurvy. But if I plough my money into a yacht I will have to buy my way on land. To buy i need money, thus a job, and for a job I need a fixed long term abode, and a bank account (all quite hard on the ocean waves)

So Option Two, work my ass off this summer, put all earnings into savings, buy a couple of acres of woodland/pasture. Move my yacht onto the land (temporary structure so no need for planning permissions). Then my life expenses suddenly over time will diminish. 

Housing - Land and Yacht owned outright = 0 P/A

Food - crops off the land, foraging, hunting, fishing = small inputs in first year, decreasing through time

Heat - existing clothes replaced by skins and wools from land, fire fueled by coppicing and managing the woodland.

Straight away I bet your thinking How can you afford that on one summer's wages. Well land is surprisingly cheap (<6000 an acre in parts of the UK) and I only need a small amount.

For doing this I will be the change I wish to see, I will need to grow links with the local rural society to survive, I will reconnect with local producers and barter my wears, I will become overtime increasingly dependent of the monetary system and I will grow a sustainable lifestyle....

So for now, I will only pay for things on the yacht, which can be used if the yacht is on land as well... In case I never go to sea in her.

So you thought it was cold!

The Golden Cloud - 09/02/12


I thought it was cold the other week, how wrong I was!


As per usual many things have changed since the last blog.


A minor alteration of 2 bus routes has meant my future at Ynyslas is in severe jeopardy. Something that for them wasn't a big change and for anyone else probably didn't make much difference has meant a total change of life plan.


A week ago the last bus to Ynyslas was 10.30pm leaving Aber. This meant I had ample time if I wanted it in the evening to go out for a drink with mates, go to seminars at uni, work abit late, have dinner at a friends, have a social life. This week the last bus is 5.40pm. Now if I want to work late, or have a social life, I have option a) sleep on the street, b) beg friends to stay over, or c) leave the bike at Borth station and cycle the final 3 miles in the dark and perhaps pissed. I really can't be planning a life around any of those options.


A further thing that it reduces massively is my opportunities to start a relationship with anyone, as you can't go on a date and be done by half 5! It also means that friends can't come over to see the boat and have dinner, or give me a hand doing it up!

Car

Harbour

So the conclusion was drawn that I had to either 1) get a car, 2) move to aber marina, or 3) move to aber harbour.

Marina

Now each has its positives. A car I can use to transport bulky items and gives me freedom. The marina I can walk onto the boat from nearby pub. The harbour is cheap and close to everything I need.


However, each also has negatives. A car even being relatively conservative would cost £3000 a year, and burns fossil fuels. The marina costs £2500. For the harbour I'd either have to walk across mud, or row to the boat!


Obviously the harbour is the best option, but it's got a major issue, the harbour master is never there! 


Anyway I came to the conclusion that ideally the harbour or marina are the best options. On discussing with my employers I found there is a possibility of sharing a mooring in the marina, while I have a large amount of work in the pipeline. As such, moving to the marina seems to be the way its going.


So to move to the marina I need to complete the following jobs.... 1) Paint the Hull of the Ship, 2) Get the Engine Running, 3) Get a Windturbine Rigged up, 4) Get the Mast up, 5) Get in the Water, 6) Sail to Aber.


The first job (and the only job I can complete myself) is the painting. So this morning after getting back to the boat last night, I set about this task.... Unfortunately once again this didn't go to plan.


First job, scrub down the hull... issue 1 hull covered in frost, issue 2 washing up liquid frozen, issue 3 sponge frozen, issue 4 when i've defrosted all the above with water that took an hour to boil on the stove, and start washing, the foam from the sponge freezes, then sponge refreezes.... Something tells me that preparing the boat for sea is going to take longer than I'd hoped!


Will update soon!

Mussels on the Woodburner!

The Golden Cloud 27/01/12


Being tired from a long night chatting through thoughts and religion last night I came home today as early as possible to have a lovely evening by the log burner. 



The tide was out upon my arrival home and so I set about a foragers dinner... moules sur le poêle à bois. (Well thats what google translate calls Mussels on the wood burner anyways!)


Recipe number 2! Mussels A La Woodburner!


First walk the 10meters from your boat to the mussel bed!

 (Mussel bed is the gravelly looking stuff bottom right)

Collect a few mussels, choose the biggest ones as they've had time to live and make plenty of babies. Take only what you need, leave some for tomorrow.

Now bring them home put them in a shallow dish with some oats and slightly salted water, leave for 2 to 10 hours (according to the books i've read, i've heard slightly more and slightly less. Too long and they die, too short and they're full of grit and poo)

(My mussels purging in the frying pan)

After the time has elapsed pull the mussels out, if there open tap them on something hard, they should shut, if they don't discard. Then put them in the wood burner fire box so that the crack between the shells is horizontal.

Shut the door, and enjoy the smells and noise from the stove for 5-10 minutes.

While this is happening finely cut some garlic and some parsley in some olive oil and butter, and cook on the hob

After a while check the mussels, any that are open take the worst shell off, and keep the meat in the other shell, drizzle over a teaspoon of garlic oily butter, over the meat and put back in the woodburner to sizzle some more.

 Once the meat goes abit rubbery and all the fluid is gone, pull out and enjoy!
(Beware shells and woodburner = very hot)


Enjoy the mussels!

 Cooked Mussels

 Empty shells at the end!