Customer Research

My grown-up children came over to stay for the weekend and we spent several hours researching where they want to go in the Mediterranean. Our role in this adventure is clearly to move BV to suitable locations so that they can fly out and enjoy lazing about in their choice of idyllic locations. Seems to be a fair trade-off for not being closer to home next year for day to day life-support.

It did prove to be a very useful exercise though. Along with charts, pilot books and the Internet we also studied month by month historical data for the winds and currents. It highlighted that on our current timeline, after enjoying some time on the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal, we have to accept that the winds will most likely be against us when we get into the Western Mediterranean. Getting anywhere until we are about as far east as Sardinia is likely to involve sailing hard on the wind with lots of extra sea miles tacking backwards and forwards. East of Sardinia life is likely to get a lot easier with winds on the beam and BV sailing more upright; faster sailing pointing directly towards our destinations.

Understanding the extra time it might take, and the potential conditions getting from the Straits of Gibraltar on to the Balearics and then Corsica and Sardinia, is important for developing our plan. I'm starting to wonder if my kids have got it right - just get your folks to do all the hard work and simply fly in to enjoy the top locations!

As well as the more cognitive planning and dreaming, Nicky and I hired an electric plane to tackled the forecabin door. We had removed this last week and brought it home because the wood swells enough in winter for the door to stick slightly in the frame. After some careful work with a mallet and chisel the recesses for the hinges had been completed and all that was left was to plane off around 2 millimetres of the inside edge.

It seemed like small task but my heart was in my mouth as I 'drove' the electric plane along the edge of the door. One slip and the damage to the door would have either been very obvious to the eye, or need some much more experienced carpentry skills than I have to rebuild the inside edge of the door.

I did however pass my 'electric plane driving test' and we now have a forecabin door with the hinges accurately recessed and ready for varnishing. It was definitely not the most important job but the sticky door in winter had been a minor irritation since we have owned BV and we are far better placed to do the job properly here rather than half way around the Mediterranean.