HOME About Sapphire Sailing Notes Constellations Contact Us OUR VOYAGE British Isles Atlantic Islands Atlantic Crossing Brazil Argentina Falkland Islands Southern Chile Northern Chile Peru Ecuador Pacific Crossing French Polynesia SW Pacific Australia GALLERY Boats People Places Scenery Wildlife Videos

About Sapphire

Table of Contents Statistics Features Gallery

Statistics

Vessel Name Sapphire of London Displacement 12,063kg (26,600lb) Registered Number 905507 LOA 13.3m (43' 6") International Call Sign VSRD5 LWL 10.3m (33' 9") MMSI 235003640 Beam 3.9m (12' 10") Satcom C Email 423590220@satsend.com Draft 1.8m (6' 0") Gross Tonnage 19.28 Air Draft 17.7m (58' 0")

Features

In addition to her very high standard specification, we went to great lengths in equipping Sapphire for long term ocean cruising in any climate. The following list is just to provide a flavour and describes ten of the more significant extras:

• Sapphire's navigation station is exceptionally well equipped. Working from left to right and top to bottom in the photograph, you can see:
  • ICS Nav6Plus Navtex receiver (capable of monitoring both 490kHz and 518kHz simultaneously)
  • Simrad Shipmate RS8400 VHF radio
  • LCD monitor for Sapphire's built in PC
  • ICOM IC-M710 SSB radio
  • Ratheon Pathfinder R80 radar (with MARPA capability)
  • ammeter for the Southwest Windpower AIR-X Marine wind generator
  • Pioneer CD/radio unit
  • control switch for the Webasto Thermo 90SD central heating
  • SatCom C unit
  • ICS DSC control panel (for the VHF and, most unusually, SSB radios)
  • DVD-ROM drive for the PC
  • Mastervolt control panel for the batteries, inverter and shore power systems
  • Tank Tender fuel and water monitoring panel
• Whittall davits provide permanent stowage for the Avon Rover 280 tender and Suzuki 4hp, 4-stroke outboard. The davits are immensely strong and we have no concerns over leaving the tender in place, even in gale force winds. This saves an enormous amount of stowage either in the lazarette or below decks. It also allows the tender to be deployed very quickly. This was a particularly valuable asset when rowing out shore lines under adverse conditions in the Chilean channels.
• Our storm jib is hanked onto a detachable inner forestay, which can be located out of the way near the starboard shrouds when not in use. The stay attaches to the mast close enough to the top that we can dispense with running back stays, which makes for easy handling.
• Our Spectra watermaker is capable of making forty litres of fresh water per hour and operates very economically from a 12V supply.
• We have an asymmetric spinnaker, complete with snuffer for ease of furling. This can be flown either from the stemhead or with a spinnaker pole.
• When sailing downwind in the Trades, there is often not enough apparent wind for a wind generator to produce much current. In these conditions, our Aquair 100 towed generator comes into its own, turning out a consistent seven amps or so when sailing at hull speed.
• Designing a bimini for an Oyster 42 is not easy, because the mainsheet is located forward of the wheel and gets in the way. Nevertheless, we had one custom made and could not imagine life without it in the tropics.
• Our microwave oven was a welcome convenience when in port. It also saved us a lot of gas and could be used at sea, so long as the engine was running.
• Holding tanks are extremely expensive to retro-fit to a boat, so we are glad we specified ours in advance. More and more countries are insisting on them and this trend can only continue.
• Furling mainsails do have their detractors and we thought long and hard before specifying one. However, apart from the convenience, they have the great advantage that they can be reefed incrementally - down to trysail proportions if desired - and we have been very happy with ours. The photograph shows Sapphire approaching Cape Horn with a reef in the mainsail.

Gallery