Something is Missing from our Keel!

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Something is Missing from our keel…

Patrick Childress, after 12 years on Brick House, on his second circumnavigation explains what he does when he finds out we are missing the proper amount of structural foam in our keel…it is hollow! When sitting on the hard, this problem can cause a keel to oil can, or even crack,  when its blocked in the unsound section of the keel. Patrick then shows the process for the correction of what to do when your keel is hollow or damaged. He demonstrates sailboat keel repair with epoxy fiberglass, and how to fill the voids. Keel repair can be done by a sailor, it just takes some sailboat diy knowledge.

We have been sailing around the world for 12 years on our sailboat Brick House. We are hauled out of the water , and it’s time to fix and upgrade a few things on this 41 year old boat!

We received a lot of valuable technical support from AMT Composites here in South Africa, and we thank them for their patience and time. Very knowledgeable and like-able people to work with.

We will be using a number of products they recommended, imported from all over the world, namely Gurit Fiberglass Resin which is very comparable to West Systems. They seem to have all the supplies we need for this fiberglass keel repair, as well as for our blister repair, epoxy barrier coat, and right down to the paintbrushes! They supply the materials for many of the major boatbuilders in South Africa, and are highly respected among the professionals here.  Every cruiser who hails out here, should definitely consider doing business with this company to make sure they get the higher quality resin and other materials in South Africa! If Sarah doesn’t know the answer, ask for John…he is an absolute wealth of knowledge and will help you figure out the right materials for your fiberglass boat project or repair.

Contact here:

Sarah Cochrane|Amt Composites (KZN) | Tel: +27 (0) 31 705 2034| Email: sarah   

https://www.amtcomposites.co.za

 

What Worked, What Didn’t, After 11 years…on Bluewater Cruising Sailboat Brick House

Finances When Cruising Around the World IMPORTANT UPDATE

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FINANCES WHEN CRUISING AROUND THE WORLD…AN IMPORTANT UPDATE regarding the “The 3 Most Valuable Sailing Tools We use Sailing Around the World” (Original article here)

I have made an update regarding Transferwise in this article…regarding when you sign up…and the phone number to use when signing up. Transferwise is one of the financial tools I recommend for managing your finances as you sail around the world. It is a way to quickly pay in a foreign currency without exposing your credit card to fraud as you pay foreign businesses for products for your sailboat as you travel. I have used it for years with great success, and many many other sailors have too.

You MUST choose a phone number you will always have when signing up for Transferwise. If you should forget your password, they will need to use your listed phone number to reset your password! (Otherwise there is a security concern!)

I use Google Voice for my round the world phone number…http://voice.google.com. It can receive texts and phone calls anywhere in the world. Skype hasn’t worked for texts for me. There are probably other products too, or if you keep you home cellular plan with roaming, or your same Satellite phone number that could maybe work too…but choose carefully! Google Voice for sure works and it’s free though you may need to put some small credit on it. I signed up 12+ years ago and have never put anymore money on it! But you MUST have access to a phone number in the US to initially set it up. I do not think a number on Skype will allow it, but possibly worth a try if you are not in the US, at a friends house or other. After the original setup, you do not need a US phone number anymore

Read original article about financial tools used on Brick House here: Original Article

Sign up to use Transferwise here. We each get a free transfer (but they are so cheap anyways…) when you sign up through this link.

Mozambique Cyclone Idai – Sailing towards a storm In March (a little earlier than planned-still in cyclone season!)

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Mozambique Cyclone Idai – Sailing towards a storm, a little earlier than planned, during cyclone season…

Late April, May and June is the right time to sail this coast….We left mid March because of an extraordinary weather window which would carry us the first 1000 miles downwind, instead of upwind…

Was it 100% safe? NO.

Did we get more than we bargained for, or just what we signed up for? Watch the video to find out…

Also…Wish we were on Patreon? We aren’t…but you can support us in 5 other ways:

🍯(Tip Jar) http://whereisbrickhouse.com/tip-jar/

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⏩FREE Predictwind

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What do most people do when they see a cyclone on the Predictwind forecast with their Iridium GO or other ways of getting weather at sea? They stay safely in port, right? We saw an opportunity to go south with the north winds that would be north of the cyclone in the the Southern Hemisphere near Tanzania and Mozambique. It promised, if we played it just right, to carry us at least 1000 miles south with nice north winds!

So we grabbed our last veggies and eggs for 3 weeks, and set sail to South Africa, chasing Cyclone Idai down  down the coast of Mozambique. We wanted to be close enough for the winds, but not too close!!! We later found out that this cyclone was the worst cyclone to ever hit Mozambique, killing thousands of people and demolishing even more homes. It’s a good thing we played it just right!

Even with that, we did get the remnants of it when we got a little too close…and we were socked with 50 knot winds for a bit, complete with driving rain and lots of thunder and lightening. Seas mounted fast. Luckily it was short lived.

Too bad it was too rough and most off all too dark, to film during the very worst of it, or I know Patrick would have been up filming it!

Hope you enjoy the video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe, and have a lovely Easter weekend! If you have any spare change, leave it in the TIP jar in the top right corner of the screen…thanks!

We studied the two following books/guides (click on either to see more detail), and utilized our Professional Subscription at Predictwind  to help make these very important and intricate decisions about our trip south. Des Cason, a local Weather and anchorage guru and long time cruiser in this area also provided daily updates and advice as we moved south.

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See our Track…from Year One to Now with Predictwind!

 

Mozambique In April, May and June

Mozambique Cyclone Sailing Tanzania to South Africa