Sailing across San Francisco bay, under the Bay Bridge with Andy and Rose. The first trip on Folie a Deux! We met the previous owner, Robert, down in Alameda, transferred title and then set off. It’s only about 5 miles across to Sausalito, where I’d arranged a berth at Clipper Yacht Harbor. Having had a full survey last week along with a test sail, I was confident the boat was in good shape. I’ve discovered I’m not one for buying “projects”. I’d much rather get up and running first, and then work more on things later. Folie a Deux is the perfect starting point; very basic but in amazing condition, and ready for us to turn into something that’s really “ours”.
The wind picked up nicely, sun stayed out and we had a great sail. She’s a fast boat, even though the main sail is old and baggy! We took a trip into check out the Embarcadero up close, then shot past Alcatraz and headed out to the Golden Gate bridge. We were coming up to full ebb (where the tide rushes out through the gap between the city and the Marin headlands) so didn’t get too close as, whilst everything on board certainly felt tough and reliable, it’s still only the start of me getting used to how the boat deals with headwinds and currents.
It’s strange to think that we won’t be moving aboard for another 5 or more months, but the adventure has most definitely begun!
Golden gate bridge!Me, Rose and MulvFirst mate Mulv
Last year I started to think about moving out to the US to help the San Francisco team at Brightpearl. Rose and I both feel like we’ve reached a point in Bristol where we need to move on. Although it’s a wonderful place where we have lots of wonderful friends and lots of amazing things to do right on our doorstep, it’s time for change. I’ve also longed to move back onto a boat having had a short but enjoyable period living on board Red Bull. Getting back into “big boat” sailing with Rancote has rekindled my drive for ocean adventures … and San Francisco is a great place to live on a boat.
So, I decided to check a few boats out whilst in the US this time in January. On the Saturday I spent a full day with a local broker (thanks Dana from Passage Yachts) taking a good look round ten or so boats of varying shapes and sizes. On the Sunday I took a look at a private sale in Sausalito, discovered in Latitude 38 magazine – a basic but affordable 1985 Pearson 36-2 called “Folie a Deux”. I’d seen a Pearson 36-2 the day before and immediately it felt “right”. Seeing a second one would give me a good comparison. The first had more equipment aboard; including a spray hood, new autohelm, working electronics, dinghy … but was $10,000 more. I figured that I could add the extra equipment when need required and budget allowed. And electronics are out of date the day you install them anyway.
After plenty of discussions between Rose and I about downsizing, moving countries, careers, life … and lots of research, I decided it was the right thing to do. I put an offer it, it was accepted and then deposit was sent! I arranged a survey for when I was next out in the states – although I’d given the boat a really good look over myself, I wanted a professional opinion and a haul out.
Jeff from Keiser Marine checking out the spreaders and masthead fittingsDocked at Grand Marina, AlamedaOpen cockpit. You can see how basic she is; no inventory at all. A great base for a project!
Whilst she was in the water, we had a good dig around deep inside all lockers and spaces.
Steering quadrant
Next was the haul out. Even having done this many times with Red Bull and Rancote it’s still exciting seeing a boat lifted out of the water on one of these cranes. As soon as the boat rises above you it seems so much bigger than in the water.
In the slingsBird’s eye viewUp she goes!
I was surprised at how clean the bottom was. The previous owner last had her out in 2010 (over 18 months ago) and there was only a small amount of growth. Either the antifoul is awesome or the water round here really doesn’t suit little critters trying to make a living in the shadows. Rancote has a good crop of algae on her after just one summer and a decent two coats of antifoul. Jeff ran around with his hammer checking for dull spots that would indicate a dry lamination or osmosis – with everything checking out OK. The lads in the yard renewed the anodes, and then we were back in the water!
Ooh, nice bottomTesting for delaminationGoing back in
We ended the day with a sail out of Alameda into the bay. We ran the engine fully up to speed, got the sails out and gave everything a good test. Probably needs a new main sail – or perhaps maybe I can get the bagginess taken out somehow? Short of a few other minor pieces of work that need doing, Jeff the surveyor declared her “excellent condition”.
Looking over the city
In my opinion, when buying a boat, by the time you get to the survey you’ve generally made up your mind, and you’d have to see some fairly serious problems to back out at this point. I did so once before when looking at narrow boats in Bristol – “La Jolie Demoiselle” needed so much work I would have condemned myself to 6 months of refit had I gone ahead. Anyway – Folie a Deux came up all clean. Time to jump in and commit! Now to transfer the funds across to complete the sale before Rose comes out next weekend…
Rose, Me, Helen and Jon at the top of Jon + Helen’s local ski centre. We were lucky to get a couple of minutes here to catch the shot; there was such a lot of low cloud around that snowboarding and skiing were a real struggle. Happy days.
I stuck my GoPro onto the end of the boat hook for this one. Lucky timing! We’re now heading back north having had a few days off Tanzania. The wind picked up considerably and because we’d torn the leech of the genoa, had to use a No.3 jib. Still made a good 6 knots to windward though.
Brian B down below, cooking up one of his legendary fried breakfasts. We managed to get him into his bright sponsored shirt, too! We ate a fry-up every morning, and didn’t have much else during the day apart from a can or two of Tusker and a bit of stew or curry in the evening. I actually felt really good after a couple of weeks of this. Might have to try it at home…
Dad at the helm on Brian’s boat, sailing south to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from Kilifi, Kenya – on our way to the Dar Tanga race. This was the first year that the race was back on having been cancelled for the few previous years due to piracy in the Indian Ocean.
This shot was taken at Camaret – an old fishing town in Brittany. There were a number of old hulks lying on the beach, decomposing and rusting away. Every tide taking a little bit more away. I wonder how long they’ll be there for …
Enjoying an amazing sunset in Brittany following a crossing over the channel from Plymouth with Ant in Rancote. We took 30 hours to sail 100 miles, with some motoring when the wind got light. It was incredibly warm, and as you can see completely still. Very peaceful.
Road and Ocean 