18th July

I spoke to Ian a couple of times today when he was in range of a cell phone antenna. Santa has brought him all the presents on his list.  Except, his arse is bigger than his poo bucket so balancing in a bouncy boat on a small receptacle is challenging to say the least. The wind is very light, he is moving at only 4 or 5 kms/hr, at this rate it will take him 10 days to get home. It is really hot and sunny, and no shade so he stays inside the cabin most of the time.  He is already burnt to frazzle just from working at the marina on the boat for the last few days so he is trying to avoid the sun. But the upside is that the battery is fully charged by the solar panels.  Tomorrow the wind should pick up a little and he might even get some rain to cool him down .

One very interesting thing is that, yesterday evening, a Belgian yacht sailed past while he was beating towards the north tip of Sao Jorge,.  They were going down wind but turned and beat back to him just to ask "is this a Setka 5.8"?  He explained it is the Setka 5.0.  He was amazed that in our far flung corner of the world a passing yacht knew exactly what a Setka is.  Kudos to Janusz.

 17 July, 2025

Mrs Nuts reporting in on Ian's behalf.

At midday today he left Horta to complete a 400 nautical mile non-stop sailing trip, a requirement to take part in the Setka Atlantic Challenge.

The wind was light when he left and he had to beat out of the harbour.

4 hours later he was half way between Faial and Sao Jorge on a close reach

As he approached the island the wind veered and he had a hard beat to clear the northern tip.

But by sunset he was able to ease the sheets and enjoy a glorious sunset

He is as happy as child on Christmas morning and thoroughly enjoying the experience of sailing on his Setka.

 15th July

Been a bit busy with stuff and neglected updating the blog.  Camera been in hiding but things have been happening.  Mast got put up with the help of Graeme just before his departure to Captain a Mega Monster Motor Yacht - 86m I think.  Had big party for his farewell on Saturday to wish him well.

Nuts ventured out on Sunday afternoon  for her maiden sail.  Wind was light to start -6 to 8kts - and it went like a rocket.  I have a hand held wind speed meter and was doing 4kts in 8kts apparent wind speed on close reach. Smooth like silk and super well balanced.

My home brew wind vane on a trimtab worked very well from a reach to upwind but lacked power going down wind.  Vane too small I think - but that is what all the tests are about.  Also adding a bit more feedback for next test.  I have now made 3 different pushrod systems to achieve different feedback levels.

Wind picked up to 14kts later in the afternoon and I tested my single line reefing system.   It took maybe 10 seconds to put a reef in and worked much better than expected.  Nuts didnt slow down and just sailed a bit more upright .

Decided that the best place to sleep will be the floor.  Being a small boat it is very sensitive to where I put my weight but was surprised at how little spray on deck and how quick to accelerate.  Being a hard chine boat though there were some very loud bangs when in choppy waters and the waves slapped the hull.  Just a big dinghy! - and slightly more comfortable than an Optimist.

Next mission is to do a 400nm sail to qualify for the Setka Atlantic Challenge.  

Nuts loaded up with 3 weeks food and water and planning to leave on Thursday some time.  Im very confident in Nuts - just got to see if I can handle it.  I was pretty knackered after just one afternoon sail but I think that most of that was the built up stress and worry of getting it all going.  I cant wait to get offshore and chill.

Going live on Garmin tracker on Thursday so if you are interested in following the voyage the link to follow is - http://share.garmin.com/MJEXV

Cheers

8th July

Did nothing today (well almost).  Decided to take a break from the frustrations and worry of the delayed transport promises etc.  In the Azores 10am tomorrow actually means sometime in the near future - maybe.

Well - Nuts is floating in the marina.

Going back in time - 

Getting loaded at home.  Then offloading in marina park.  Trailer with keel was delivered a few days before. 

Then it was time to lift onto the keel for sticking the whole catastrophe together.

All got aligned up well and bolted together.

Keel and rudder fitted and touching up antifouling around keel join.

Thanks to my buddy Clive for supplying a tow to the crane at Clube Naval da Horta.

Had to wait till after 2pm for crane driver.  He was not available in the morning as hoped.

Waiting

Got slings into position and went for lunch.

Crane driver arrived and hooked up.

Only just enough height on the crane for the lift.

Sadly no still photos of the christening and bubbles on the bow but Nuts was named and blessed and got a drink of "champers".

It Floats 

Looking from aft - and fwd -

Seems to be spot on the waterline even though she is loaded up with almost all the equipment already.  Only heavy things missing are the anchors and chain.

There is my little fishing boat which was lifted out and put on the trailer.  Sad to take it out but can only use one boat at a time.  Can still go fishing from a Setka though!!

Off to my berth under trolling motor.  Works like a charm in no wind.

I hope to put up the mast tomorrow.

Many thanks to Clube Naval da Horta, Ruben the crane driver and Fernanda who keeps everything going smoothly.

I will post some more info on bits that I did before launching with pics -  like the rain dodger, extra bouyancy - rigging stuff, solar etc but off to sleep now.

 4th July

Just a quickie.  Very late and tired.  Nuts finally got transported to the marina park and lifted onto its keel.  All bolted down and sealed.  Rudder on and waiting for antifouling paint touchups.  Lots of photos and video but late and tired and off to bed so they will be shared soon.  

Lots of thanks to Bryan, Graeme and Bernd for helping with the messy stuff and many others with moral support.

Building up an iceblock supply to keep bubbly cold for Monday!!

 23 rd June.

Still ticking along.  Done a few bits and pieces on Nuts.  Added another 50kg approx of foam buoyancy under cockpit.  There is still space for 2 small bags of chain and at least one anchor.  Got strong U bolts to secure them.

I made up a stainless steel hoop to make a small dodger over the companionway so the top washboard can be left open when it is raining.  Mrs Nuts still has to do some sewing to finish it off. Pics will come soon.  I cant get on board at the moment as Nuts is balanced on 2 little car supports aft and a gas bottle on the tip of the bow to do the antifouling and dont want it to fall over!!

Just finished the second/third coat tonight.  Leaving the antifouling to the last moment as I dont want it to be on land for too long.  Going for 3 to 4 coats on the waterline and under the stern area.  2 over the rest.  Ablative being used.  On previous boats the  barnacle problems only appeared under the stern and above the antifouling - especially aft.  I am painting the antifouling quite high above the waterline.~

Putting keel onto trailer.

My mini tractor was at its limit to lift the keel at its furthest reach to position it in the middle of the trailer.  Was a bit iffy as the back wheels wanted to lift off the ground when I got off.

Made it!!

All tied down and secured for transport to the marina.

Transport truck has some issues.  That is why going a bit slowly at the moment.  It is going for its inspections this week so has been out of action for service, inspection etc.

Crane for lifting at the Clube Naval has been organized and everything is just waiting on the truck.  Mast is all dressed with rigging,  halyards, topping lifts etc.

Hopefully towards the end of the week all the bits will be transported to the marina and I can mount the keel.  Clube Naval is closed over the weekend (for the club crane) and dont want to launch on a Friday so looking at Monday.  Weather is a bit iffy over the weekend so we will see!!

 4th June

1 month since last post!!  Bad me - but you dont need info on garden work and tree felling and log splitting.  Had crappy weather for most of the month but summer has arrived in the last week.  When Nuts is in the water I wont be spending much time in the garden so got to keep Mrs Nuts happy now.

Bits for the trailer arrived (eventually) from Vevor.  Most packages take about 1 month to arrive here except from Amazon which can be from 3 days to 3 weeks.  Temu about 1 month but free shipping to the middle of nowhere which I think is a good deal.

I ordered 4 acrow jacks which I had to cut down as they were too long.  I welded bases and support struts so I could bolt them onto the trailer or use them as a cradle on the ground.  My trailer is not street legal so the plan is to load it onto a car recovery lowbed for transport to the marina (and bring my fishing boat home).  I also plan to load the keel onto the trailer first and position Nuts above to be lowered down for the bonding.  Maybe it will be easier to lift the keel up to the bottom with threaded rods to be removed once the main keel bolts are in position.  I went down the road this afternoon and measured the heights of overhead wires for clearance.  There is 1 electric wire and 1 internet fiberoptic cable that might be a problem but can push them up while passing underneath.

Finished splicing the guardrails and fitted this afternoon.  6mm Dyneema. Pullpit and stantion bases got their overdrilled holes epoxy filled and re drilled before fitting with SikaFlex.

 I reprogrammed the Victron MPPT for LiFePo4 charge profile as recommended by the battery manufacturer.  Now I just have to swap out the battery.  They are the same size so my mounting does not need to be changed.

My buddy Lex had lots of fun fishing on my little boat.

Ive been out a few times and off to sea again tomorrow with Sister Nuts to try some deep drop (250m) to see what is lurking down there.