What Worked, What Didn’t, After 13 Years Sailing Brick House

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Blue Water Sailing Magazine just published my article yesterday. Usually Patrick writes this one, but this year, it fell to me. Special thanks to Jeff Carlile for helping with editing, back in July, when an article deadline was just one of many problems in my life 🙂

This article talks about the many things we added to the boat in Richards Bay, at the Zululand Yacht Club, as well as at the Hout Bay Yacht Club in Cape Town, just before Patrick passed from Covid 19.

It includes a review of our GOST security system, our Torrid Hot Water Heater, Coppercoat, Hypervent from Defender Industries, our Manson Supreme and Manson BOSS anchor, our Raymarine Autopilot, and Raymarine Chartplotter with Predictwind, Our Victron Battery Monitor, our Freedom Won Lithium Iron Phosphate battery upgrade, our Balmar Alternator, Regulator and serpentine belt kit, as well as Propspeed, and our Cubic Mini woodstove, as well as our Avon Dinghy/RIB.

Link to Original Article for Easier Reading..(the below may be too small to read here…plus there are other great articles in this issue of Blue Water Sailing Magazine!

Communication Evolution on Brick House : Iridium GO! Predictwind!

 

Predictwind & The Stormy Weather of Cape of Good Hope/Cape Aghullas!

 

 

Patrick Childress – His Last Photographs of SV Brick House

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Days before Patrick’s hospitalization for Covid 19, he had been disassembling the boat to supply many many photos of our Sailboat ..a Valiant 40: Brick House, for an article that was being written for Practical Sailor Magazine, about one of the greatest boats ever made for cruising, the Valiant 40. Its a good read and shows my home of nearly 20 years. The link to the article is below.

Maybe just maybe I should sell her, and look for other sailboats to join in all of the beautiful places in the world I have yet to see and sail. No big ocean crossings just the joy of a new destination…hmmmmm…

No decisions the first year they say…and it would be extremely tough for me to sell her. I am turning up short on captain companions ready to continue on with me, and I have no desire to sail on my myself, with groups of woman, or with mere delivery captains. I’m already home. First choice would be to find a very experienced companion to continue this life with, but it’s proving difficult to find and I don’t want to waste my life trying to maintain this boat til the right guy comes along. This boat is meant to sail…and to keep moving. I am too. And I can’t sail off with someone only to sail off…it has to be the right person who is a phenomenal sailor.

If anyone has huge interest in buying my precious home, let me know. I may be talked in to it, with time. Or if you have tons of experience crossing oceans and think we may get along…then give me a shout…rebecca.childress at yahoo.

Practical Sailor Article

Valiant 40 Sailboat Tour (#3) Down Below Part 2. Water Tank Repair, Chain Locker, Marine Toilet, Electronics

Communication Evolution on Brick House : Iridium GO! Predictwind!

 

 

 

 

Predictwind & The Stormy Weather of Cape of Good Hope/Cape Aghullas!

Sailing South Africa with Electronics…Predictwind, AIS, and Raymarine Radar…we used them all!

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In the old days, you used barometers, and GRIB files, and listened to SSB and VHF weather reports to round the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Now there is just so much more to aid a sailor.

 

We used PredictWind Offshore for planning the trip when we had internet, and then during the trip using our Iridium GO! to get updates to know when it was time to seek shelter. This was probably our biggest tool for weather Routing using the ocean current models , as well as four wind and wave forecasts from Predictwind to make sure we got it right.

We would not sail any ocean now without the Iridium GO and the Professional version of Predictwind Offshore. I would simply refuse to leave the dock without it!

Latest Video

Here is the latest video with us sailing from Richards Bay, underway through lots of wind and speedy currents on the way to Cape Town. It’s part one of a 2 part series, as we need to seek refuge from an upcoming storm, in East London for a few days.