It has been a while since my last post, and it has been a quiet time for Spellbinder. She spent her winter on her berth in Gosport being kept dry by a dehumidifier and warm by an oil-filled tube radiator.

Back in October she went through a significant refit though. She came out of the water for a touch up of her Coppercoat antifouling, and the replacement of a seacock and her cutlass bearing.

Once this maintenance work on the hull was complete I undertook 3 projects which will make life more comfortable for all aboard.

The first was to have a mini Starlink dish fitted, replacing a redundant WiFi boosting system which never really worked that well. Whatever one’s views on E Musk Esq, the technology is excellent and reliable, and will give us internet wherever we go, including offshore, at fast speeds at a reasonable price (and you can reduce your subscription to standby mode in winter, which costs very little). It will be an important safety tool as we will be able to plan passages with a constantly updated and clear weather forecast, as well as being able to communicate with all. I will keep my SSB long range radio as a backup though.

The second job was to improve the electrical set up. I had a separate lithium battery / inverter system put in called an Ecoflow Delta Max 2, together with a separate charging system. This allows me to have 240 volts while away from shore power, allowing me to run a kettle, a coffee maker, toaster and other devices (perhaps even a hair dryer…) making life more comfortable, increasing resilience and saving on gas.

The system charges via the engine alternator and when attached to shore power. The battery has enough juice for perhaps 20 kettle boils, and everything is controlled (like most things these days) by an app.

The electrician also tidied up and modernised various switches, and installed 3 new USB ports.

The third and final upgrade was to put in an electric heads. I guess I have finally got fed up with pumping and the inevitable crud build up which makes for a messy, smelly replacement of pipes every 2-3 years, despite one’s best efforts to keep them free of the stuff. An electric heads passes much more saltwater through the system and resolves many of the problems, as well as being far more comfortable. For the very few of you who are interested, I had a Sanimarin SN31 put in! I also had an automatic bilge pump installed – for some reason Hallberg Rassy never specified one.

The work achieved, we only had one outing in the late Autumn. Tom Cunliffe, the UK’s foremost yacht cruising guru, came on board with his wife Ros to shoot parts of a short promotional video I had made to support the Cruising Association, of which I am the current chair.

You can view the resultant short video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W8ArgLdMlY

The CA is a great organisation – if you are a cruising sailor, or motorboater, you should really join them.

Apart from that, it was a quiet winter and the first outing to check all the new systems was not until late March, when regular crew Crispin and I sailed to Cowes and Yarmouth in blustery conditions one day, and serene calm the next. All worked fine, and it was great to be back out on the water. Thank you Rupert and Anna for a great supper at your house!

Plans for 2026 are forming up. We plan to sail locally until the end of May, before heading to London and East Anglia, then to northern Norway, north of the Arctic Circle, to explore the Lofoten Islands and the west coast and the fjords. Spellbinder, her skipper and crew are ready for this; world events may prove to be a head wind. But we planning hard, and have filled the diesel tanks at some expense…