Photo Credit: James Hale
As a requirement for the Insurance for Northabout we had a survey carried out and this identified a number of work items that would need to be done. Some of these items would have been part of a routine list of items to check and service before departure on such a trip as we were planning to undertake, others were routine maintenance and servicing. Other items to be carried out we had identified from the training that we had received regarding planning trips sailing in high latitude waters, along with some suggestions from the individuals who had looked at Northabout for us. Combining all these items into one list made things easier to manage. We then ran this list past our Skipper – Magnus Day who added a few more jobs. I am sure most boat owners can identify with this an ever growing, never ending list of jobs to do.
We got James Hale involved to help working through this list with the aim of bringing Northabout to England from Kilrush in Ireland. Thus meaning she was a little closer to home / office and easier to access to prepare and provision for the trip ahead. James has a strong engineering background and looked to be the right man for the job. He went over the Kilrush for an initial look at Northabout so he could identify for himself the work that would be needed as well as sussing out the tools and equipment that he would need to have to be able to undertake the work.
James and his side kick, Mr Panter went over to Kilrush and carried out a number of the jobs, systematically working their way through Northabout and the job list. Covering further jobs that would need to be done and as well as the obligatory unforeseen issues that inevitably crop up. Helping to prepare Northabout for the bigger challenge ahead as well and getting her ready to bring her to England.