Pete and life in general: New small sailing boat....time to go sailing but first ...

Well it has been a while since I last blogged, I guess life's stuff takes over sometimes and things get 'swept under the carpet'.

I decided that after a sabbatical of 20+ years from sailing that I would get back into sailing again. Sailing is a fantastic way to relax, get back to nature (although, I like getting into nature, I'm not much of a bush walker) and a nice, inexpensive and wonderful way to visit other places of Interest.

So.....I've bought myself a nice little trailer sailer yacht although, looking at it in the driveway it looks larger than it would if on water :-)
I decided on a Trailer sailer (TS) because I can hitch to my car, trailer it to a nice piece of water to sail all in the space of a weekend. On a larger yacht I would need to plan a week to get to a sailing spot, weekend there and then a week to return all in all, 2.5weeks to spend a weekend sailing. Although, the TS is smaller and more compact for living in it does allow me to sail fantastic areas in a weekend.

The TS I decided on is an Investigator 563 model (5.63mtr long) and is very seaworthy. Actually, that's the reason I purchased it because living here in Tasmania and on the Coast (Penguin) of Bass Strait the weather picks up quite strong so a seaworthy boat is a must. The I563 being a trailerable small yacht meant seaworthiness was of greater priority because TS's are not normally known for their righting ability. Investigator 563's are a fantastic TS because they have a righting ability that mimic a much larger sailing boat. (The ability to stay upright rather than excessive heeling or worse capsizing)

Currently, I'm refurbishing the I563 with all new electronics and some electrical 'bling', adding a nice marine oven, sink and LED lighting, repainting the interior and deck, sewing new cushion covers (yes, men can sew), replacing some worn out fittings and generally making her ship shape and comfortable.