This week on Luckyfish
our first guests arrive
we meet a boat built from a single photograph
and the man who built her
rolling hitch and pound our way south to the exhumas
Zaya and I were excited and a little nervous meeting our first guests for the season
thankfully Luckyfish was in tip-top shape and our guests Marcel
Natthida and Louisanto
were no strangers to Wharrams
Welcome aboard Luckyfish, thank you very much for having us we've
we brought you a small gift... Wow, thank-you
Marcel had already started building a Tiki 38 in Belgium
he shares the lessons he is learning via YouTube
a link to his channel is in the description
after a safety briefing and the vital "how to operate the toilet" briefing we
set off for an evening jaunt along Nassau Harbor a good confidence builder
before the leg down to the Exumas the following day
Marcel has some sailing experience
but Natthida who was born in Thailand
and runs a successful fashion design company
and their son Louisanto had never been on a sailing
boat before
our short jaunt turned into quite a pleasant surprise
the owner builder of the Sam Plait said we were the first Tiki he had seen
We dont have any lines ready so we'll just say Hi !
Hi!, Yeah, Hi !
Nice to see you
nice to see you too thank you sir that looks very much like a Tiki 38
Yeah, it's the same size. It's the same. We are sisterships
[LAUGHS]
beautiful
Your one looks very nice
Hello. Hi!
very outstanding
you are the first Tiki I have seen
Nice one. Did you build yours? Yes.
Wow!
Congratulations
This man has just started building a Tiki 38. I just started....
Don't tell him the truth
[LAUGHS]
But you know, by the time I finished it took me 5 years.
It turned out there was a lot more to his story
We returned to our anchorage
and awoke the next day to find the Sam Plait anchored nearby
we've just met Louie
from Quebec who's made a beautiful Tiki 38 look-alike from a picture he tells us
and we've just been aboard his boat and seen many very clever innovations but
one thing that struck me was his method of tying the anchor rode to the bridle
something that we've had problems with our rolling hitches in the past slipping
and so Louie is going to demonstrate for us how he does it on his boat
and then it is stopped
Yes, yes. So the anchor is out
one side and the bridle
the ring on the end of the bridle
gonna be hooked around there
so this is pulling up against the ring
and so it is easy if you ever need to adjust it. if you need to undo it. yes
Let me see that wood
Yeah, the wood has to be quite strong you fibreglass alot fiberglass over wood
fibreglass over the openings
nice bit of hardwood no doubt
yeah and that's the holes so you've drilled through the
yeah okay good
How about we take errrr... do you have another anchor with a rope on?
yeah. let's do it on the bridle
so by way of demonstration this is a fortress and
we've just tied a bit of rode to it to be able to demonstrate how the T-piece works
with the bridle so assuming the anchor is now set in the mud the rode is coming
up towards the boat all the chain is paid out and when our onto the rode
we're in quite a deep Anchorage for example and Louie has brought the anchor
rode up through the ring and the bridle and then through the stick we have to
give the stick a name Louis what are we calling the stick?
I call it T-dog
t-dog? Teeth Dog yes okay teeth dog it is and then that's very
nice yeah very good and so then the load goes on the anchor boats drawing
back and the bridle is taking all the load through the teeth dog okay hey
that's great thank you very much
alright. You're welcome.
I went through 55 knots wind one time
yeah 55 knots and you've got about six layers of fiberglass six to ten layers
of glass around that yeah beautiful all right well I'm gonna make one
I reckon Marcel's gonna get one for his boat very useful yeah thank you very much
Simple
The secret is to keep it simple
The secret is simple. Thank you very much.
so there we had to say goodbye to Louie he told us he had built his boat from a
single picture of a Tiki 38 he jokingly said it was a very good photo
his boat was 80% recycled materials and had cost under $30,000
he had previously built a Wharram and renovated another so he had a pretty
good idea about what he was doing
We've got the Mail Boat going past us
Nassau Harbour control, Nassau Harbour control, This is sailing vessel Luckyfish, Luckyfish, one six
Yes, good afternoon, zero nine
Nassau Habour control, Luckyfish
Yes, Good afternoon
Yes, good afternoon sir, we'd just like to advise we
are leaving Nassau Harbour bound for Rose Island
and thanks very much for a great stay
permission granted have a great day
thanks so much. Back to one six
So we're just leaving Nassau now the boats fully stocked fully provisioned
fully fueled up
We've got everything we need now for a
probably a couple of weeks really away from civilization and if we catch some fish
even longer. Speaking of which we better put
the rods out. Oh yeah !
We have paid our dues to Bahamas $300 to have the boat here
for four months. Well 12 months actually (for the boat) and we have a permit to stay 4 months
and errr, we are really excited...
we've got a short hop now to Rose Island about six half miles we'll stay there tonight and
that'll set us up for a bit of an upwind slog probably motoring the forty
five miles or so down to Highbourne Cay or Allens Cay
at the top end of the Exumas
and then we will really be able to give Marcel, Natthida and Louisanto a holiday
that's where the fun begins many many
little island little stops all along the way
I hope we are going to have a really enjoyable week with them.
Im sure we will.
what have you got to say? camera lady
ahhh, its not hard. They are pretty easy breezy people
I'm actually enjoying. Its nice to have female company back again
It's brought some life on board the boat. Having Louisanto
Yeah. Kids spirit....
See it through a childs eyes. Yeah
Innocent. yeah. very nice.
Why are you not steering?
Its not Romeo or Juliet this time. Its Marcel
he is doing a great job
We have had a great time meeting Marcel and family
and errr, just sharing the boat and the whole lifestyle with them
because they are really new to sailing
even though he has taken on a major undertaking building a Tiki 38
but, errrr, I think he is a sensible man, coming and having a look at one that is finished
and checking it all out
Looking forward to seeing some Exumas now....
that evening we anchored in shallow water
and went ashore for a swim and explore
We learned Natthida was cautious about swimming
for now, anyway
not so Zaya, who was
pretty happy to have all the boat work behind us
we left first thing in the morning for the 36 mile slog to Highbourne Cay
with jib and both engines we made about 5 knots hard on the wind
apart from hooking some sargasso
and keeping a sharp lookout for bommies
there was little of note on this leg
with the exception of poor Louisanto
who was yet to get his sea legs
what a long day huh?
look at our cute crew
they are so happy to see beach !
we wove our way between the anchored craft
Hello, had a good day [Dutch]
anchored in peace near a beautiful beach
the girls found a 4G signal before Natthida, confronted her fears,
and swam all the way to the beach
Hey Louisanto. Ahoy skipper!
Jump!
Jump Jump!
you guys come close
No. Come on. Thats not fun anymore!
Jump ! Jump !
1, 2, 3 Mama step !
no, no, no, no, no !!!
jump, jump!
Yay!!!
[LAUGHS]
Here we go!
Bon Voyage
That night Marcel cooked a beautiful meal and we reflected on what had been a
full and successful first day aboard
.... wild, of course somebody will come at the certain
time in the season to cut away some branches ...
we couldn't wait for the islands they followed
Ha. I think it is a video
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