SHETLAND OWNERS ASSOCIATION

My beloved F4 with excellent 2015 Yamaha F70A outboard and a rebuilt road trailer
Price tbc
More pictures available.
Lying SW Wales

Oh no, not you as well? Hope all is ok, what’s the story?

I am gutted at losing my beloved F4, and deep down know I am selling the better of my two boats, but the problem is you can’t really make the most of two boats, and Sailing is so obsessive once you get hooked.
It’s time for someone else to have lots of adventures in Pequod.

Has to happen sometimes - follow your heart. You’ll be watching Sailing Uma soon. Binge watched the during lockdown as they sail round the world converting their boat to full electric. Big story and adventure! They definitely have the sailing bug.

2 years ago I'd say 'Sailing? No, come on!'... But now I think about sailing boat more and more! Is it really that addictive? What length is yours boat now?
Good luck with selling your F4, mine will be on the market very soon as well.

I’m completely totally obsessed with sailing, nothing else gets in my head! The difference from motorboats to sailing is like driving an 80s Ford Fiesta compared to flying a large glider. The concentration needed and the satisfaction gained is so far beyond just winding up a big outboard and steering to somewhere you can see. The amount of functional gear on a sailboat, the endless permutations of sail trim, the passage planning to account for variables like tidal streams. At 20kts or more I ignored tidal streams, as long as there was enough depth I just went where I wanted, now at 6kts max I have to plan how 2kt tides will help or hinder. It’s so much more rewarding when it goes right, and frustrating when it goes wrong and you miss the lock gates to get back in to harbour for last orders at the bar.

dellquay13 wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 11:59 pm I’m completely totally obsessed with sailing, nothing else gets in my head...

Thats sounds amazing mate. Do you have a mate wit a boat who taught you how to sail or paid for sailing lessons?
I live in Poole which is a sailing paradise but no idea how to start haha

It was in one of the first covid lockdowns, I wasn’t allowed into Wales to get to my F4, and I couldn’t use it without having onboard heads, shower and holding tank even if I could get there although locals with bigger boats could use theirs (the marina facilities were reserved for liveaboards at the time) so I decided to buy a yacht. I had an online viewing and then bought it off the internet. I had it shipped over to Pembrokeshire and taught myself as soon as I was allowed over the border.
Getting 2 sails up in a triangle, back to back, and some forward progress wasn’t that difficult, getting used to 20deg of heel being normal after 20 years of superstable F4 took some doing though.
I’ve read lots of background to get better, and can now get up to respectable speeds most of the time, although I still live in a state of mild terror when the wind is Force5 or above. Force7 and I stay ashore.
I did my RYA yachtmaster coastal theory a couple of winters ago, and a 5 day YM coastal skipper course a few Februarys back, so I could get some experience of offshore in poor conditions, before setting off over the horizon to Ireland with the missus sometime soon this year. Other than that course, and a week charter with the tutor of the theory course and a couple of other students from the course around W Scotland, I’m self taught.

TBH, I was ready to move to the next challenge, I’d taken my F4 loads of places and there wasn’t much more to do.