Black Sheep is for Sale!

Quite a dramatic headline to this post, but, we’re not giving up cruising. We’re changing boats! We’d been toying with the idea of changing Black Sheep for some time. Although she has served us well for the last five years (almost three years living aboard now), we found ourselves being increasingly drawn to cold, wild places and felt that in order to do more of that, comfortably, we’d need a boat that was designed to cruise in those areas. Our three primary goals in making the change were: an ice-resistant (steel or aluminum), insulated hull; heat, both while motoring and while sailing and a warm, dry place to spend watches. Ok and maybe we’d like a few more creature comforts as well. How about hot water and a shower, maybe a bit more storage space? Maybe a few more technical items like an alternate battery charging source, a drogue and a good downwind sail plan setup? At the same time, we also didn’t want a boat with overly complex, expensive, systems.

We’d looked at a few boats and even went so far as to put an offer on one in the U.K. It was a compromise, at best, and with hindsight we are very happy we were outbid. Through another cruiser here at St. Kat’s we were put in touch with a very experienced sailor who was toying with the idea of selling his boat after sixteen years of ownership. So, in our usual fashion, in early November, we immediately flew off to the Azores for a week, where the boat was on the hard for the winter, to have a look.

Terceira, Azores

Terceira, Azores

It wasn’t love at first sight, our hoped-for creature comforts weren’t there, but, after weighing up all the pluses and minuses we decided to go for it. A deal was soon arranged, a deposit paid and here we are. We haven’t actually closed the deal yet, so, will leave more of the details about the boat until that happens. She should be arriving in Lymington, on the south coast of the U.K., after the owner has had his last ocean sail with her. Expected arrival is in early June, which seems to be coming up awfully fast. We have been making plans and getting very excited. It will mean another tumultuous year for us, but, what else is new, it seems to be our normal state of being.

An unexpected and expensive hassle soon materialized when we went to put Black Sheep on the market. We’d read about the need to deal with the boat’s VAT tax status, which we had already done anyway, so, that was ok. We’d also read about the need for a CE mark (European standards certification) on all boats imported into the EU. There seemed to be numerous ways around this restriction, but, unfortunately, for one reason or another, Black Sheep didn’t qualify for any of them. The biggest sticking point was that our thirty year old engine wouldn’t meet current emission standards and would have to be replaced. It didn’t matter that the engine was built in the UK originally, or, that there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of boats currently in the UK with the same type of engine (Perkins 4.108), or, that we could take the engine out and put it into another boat already in the UK and that would be ok also. We also found out that boat brokers won’t even list a boat for sale unless it has the mark. So, were stuck, the engine would have to be replaced.

Once the decision was made, we sprung into action. We had heard good things about a rigging shop at Suffolk Yacht Harbour at Levington, Suffolk (near Ipswich). We needed to repair our mast (the detached interior conduit that I wrote about earlier), so, knew we’d have to make a stop there. Then, we found there was an engine shop there as well and hired them for the job. We took their advice and went for the Yanmar 3JH5E engine, 39HP, which is a comparable replacement to the old one. Other Baba35 owners had also re-engined with this model. We were warned that not only would the engine need to be replaced, but, the motor mounts would need to be adjusted and it would probably require a new shaft and exhaust system as well. This all proved true and added to the substantial cost.

We wanted to get the job done as soon as possible, so, despite it being Christmas week, we decided to move the boat to be ready for them to start right after the holidays. We left London on Christmas Eve, even though there was a gale forecast. Otherwise, we’d have been unable to get out for a couple of days as the marina office was closed. We were only going down the Thames to the Medway (Queenborough) the first day, so, would be in sheltered waters. We made it ok, picked up a mooring, and sat there for a couple of days over Christmas to wait out the gales. It was quite enjoyable, with our new diesel heater keeping us cozy and with a proper Christmas dinner cooked aboard. The only negative was our fridge conked out, but, not a hardship as it was cold enough to keep food outside.

To make a long story short, we were hauled out and the mast and old engine were craned out soon thereafter. It took two weeks to replace the engine with them working on it every day. It was tough living aboard, on the hard, at the same time, but, it all got done. On the way back, we motored the whole way to exercise the new engine. We were amazed to see about a 30% increase in speed, a 50% reduction in fuel usage and quieter operation too! Wishing now that we were going to be enjoying this new engine instead of handing it over to a new owner.

There’s still more paperwork to be got through, a surveyor visit, a stability test and the application for the CE mark submitted, but, I think we’re getting to the home stretch now.

Our visit to Suffolk was a nice break, it was like being on a mini-holiday and it felt great to be back at sea again (even though we were very rusty and made some stupid mistakes). Suffolk itself was a nice surprise. It was good to be back in the countryside where you can see the sky and the landscape. There were great walks right from the marina, through protected bird marshes and deer were spotted among the hedgerows as well. A bus ride took us into the town of Ipswich, a mid-sized town that has everything you need in a compact area. After a brief snow delay, we’re now back in London hoping to get the boat on the market and sold, soon!