Southampton UK

June 10, 2025

The ship STINNES Mistral, carrying Home Free, arrived in the UK on June 6th, but didn’t unload my little ship until June 7th (coincidentally my birthday!).

Of course England being what it is, as soon as the slings went on my boat the skies opened up and it poured rain for the next four hours or so. No worries, I got the boat to the dock and began setting up.

The boat suffered a minor bit of damage where the lashings were tied to the boat (cleat/hawse partially collapsed where the lashings were pulled too tight), and I will potentially get insurance to cover the repair.

Being back in a first world country feels a bit weird. First off because there is availability of many things that I need to improve Home Free, but also because the prices are all three times what they were in the Caribbean. Ouch.

Home Free is a UK boat, originally designed and built for a gentleman from Jersey, and that means that all of the systems, electronics, etc. are designed for 230V/50Hz. Being back in the UK means that I can start fixing all of the electrical bits that are broken.

Living on land, we forget how easy many things are, but the first order of business was getting my boat plugged into an electrical pedestal. Five years ago, I changed my cabling to a US 50A power cord that allowed me to plug in at almost every marina in North and South America. Subsequently I also added a SmartPlug on the boat side after a short circuit destroyed my 50A boat side connector. In Europe everything is different. I need to plug into 16A or 32A pedestals with their standard 3 prong plugs. I will write up those changes separately because it is worth the write up and I forget every time I make these changes.

About two months ago, the control panel on the oven stopped working. Almost certainly a victim of a 60Hz connection to a circuit board that needed a 50Hz connection. Yesterday the oven went into the garbage and a new oven was ordered. It should be here on Thursday and it is an easy install.

Today, I will take out the dishwasher I think and take apart the failed motor or perhaps replace a wonderful dishwasher with something new. There are other small items to fix/replace, but that is the big stuff.

The boat itself is also getting a bit of love. My upper rudder bearing has been rusting due to seawater getting in above it, for some time. While it still works just fine, my confidence is degrading quickly, and so I am working with Nordhavn Europe to get that replaced before I go anywhere.

They sent an engineering firm yesterday to assess the whole thing, which caused some consternation (nice guys, but I need someone to replace the bearing not assess it). In the end, I got about half way through disassembly before they arrived, and I will probably finish the disassembly before they come back with a new bearing. There was a lot of chatter about how their tools were amazing and they could handle it. That conversation lasted about the same amount of time as it took me to get halfway through the disassembly.

In any case my spare bearing was the wrong size. The good people at YachtTech suggested the wrong replacement when I put a spare aboard two years ago (or the company I ordered it from shipped the wrong size perhaps), and so I need a new bearing anyway. That spare is just dead weight now!

Hopefully that will be worked out before end of day Thursday and then I can get underway toward Ireland.

During the delays, I have enjoyed a few local activities. Of course IKEA! Who could come to a big city and not go to IKEA! That means new mats (I love their rubber backed mats for entryways and shower mats) and some new bedding. (But not the IKEA oven.)

I have ordered a 3D printer for the boat (AnyCubic Kobra 3). Having been playing with one at home, I love being able to build a solution for a problem quickly, print it quickly. Hopefully on the boat the same thing can come to pass. When I get the printer, first up will likely be chain markers and cup holders.

Yesterday I also took a drive to Salisbury Cathedral. I didn’t actually go to see the Cathedral, I went because that is where one of the original Magna Carta documents resides. The Cathedral was amazing and I knew little of its history, but it is beautiful, inside and out.

The Magna Carta is the foundation of what we now consider to be a normal, free and just society. As the US devolves into tyranny, it might be worth reading. My Latin is weak (that’s a joke, my Niece Hope is the only person I know from this century to study Latin), so I will rely on the translation.

I can’t believe how cold it is here. Early in June the overnight temperature was down around 4C. I know the UK can be cold but this is really, really cold. The new duvet from IKEA will help.

There is more to say, but I must get work done and the Titanic Museum is calling.