Jellyfish Adventures: October 2009

Back After 67D : 21H : 11M : 12S

What We Are Doing

Well here we are, planning a trip around the UK coast, we leave on the 12th of June for the 2 and a half month trip, in a boat about the length of a modern estate car. Crazy? Foolhardy?

Well we like to think so.

The aim of this sponsored sail is to raise money for the Fellowship Afloat's bursary fund, which provides oppurtunities for people to enjoy outdoor activities who might otherwise not be able to afford it.

One of Fellowship Afloat's big goals is to allow as many people as possible the oppurtunity to enjoy the activities that the centre provides. Over the years this has meant subsidising the costs for many individuals and groups.

The fund setup to provide for these groups and individuals has been supported over the years by generous legacy's and donations, but this has over the last three years been depleted as Fellowship Afloat has sought to offer itself to more.

We plan with this trip to replenish the bursary fund, our goal £10,000 is the amount that Fellowhsip Afloat spent last year from this fund, and if we can raise it will guarantee another years worth of support.

Please keep checking this page as we update it with our location and the tales of our travels around the UK. If you would like to donate money to the bursary fund Click on the link at the top of the page.

Trip Preperation Update

Becky and I have both started our final years at university so not much work being done to Jelly Fish. At the moment we are trying to get sponsorship for various pieces of equipment such as a Chartplotter, Liferaft and Personal Locator Beacon. Other equipment that we still looking for are paper charts, spare GPS, Dodgers, and a Sprayhood, so if you can help with any of those we would love to hear from you! Many thanks to Jeckells who are currently making a whole new suit of sails for Jelly Fish, should definately make her sail better.

Becky and I are taking a break from our studies to go to Laying up at FACT, hope to see many of you of there. We will be trying to get a few jobs done on Jelly Fish such as fitting a new forehatch and sorting out the wiring up the mast. Hopefully we will be able to have all the major jobs finished by Christmas so that we can take her winter sailing over new year.

Mary and Becky

Off Felixstow earlier this summer

More Info About the Boat

We have made some changes and modifications to Jellyfish. These include:

Removing the lining and painting the interior
Removing the toilet to make space for a full size chart table
Installing a Solid fuel stove so we can warm up after cold wet days
Replacing the forehatch with a watertight hatch
Removing Inboard engine and replacing with 5hp outboard
Rewiring all electrics
Installing a wind generator

There are a few more jobs which we hope to complete by the end of this year in time for a New Year's sail. These are

Installing speed and depth transducers
Attaching Radio antenna to mast
Installing an alternator to allow battery charging from engine.

About the Boat

The boat, Jellyfish, is a 21ft Mark II Corribee built in 1980. She is a bilge keel (two short fins on either of side), which makes her ideal for the East Coast where she is moored.

Although easliy controlled by one person we have decided to do this together because 10 weeks on your own sounds like a long time to us, and the challenge of coping with each other for that long will undoubtedly create some intersting posts!

Corribees are well known for their sea worthiness. Dame Ellen MacArthur sailed around Britain in Iduna, her own Corribee, when she was 18 years old. Since then several have crossed the Atlantic, although we don't plan on going that far yet.

For more information on the boat you can go to the Corribee Class Association website, for more information about our trip have a look at our Big Plan