After 4 years of battling with chalky gel-coat on Fair Isle we've bitten the bullet and painted. We had enquired about this a few years back in Lagos but the cost was astronomical. Like most places having the boat sprayed there means taking the mast off and putting the boat in a sealed shed so conditions can be controlled for painting. We knew we had to spray as with the ridges in Fair Isle roll and tipping would have been fiendishly difficult and also wrapping would not be straight forward as the wrap would have to be pushed down into the groves and would even though people have told me this can be done I remain dubious that it won't pull away over time. Fortunately we have had very good reports of the outdoor spraying done in the yard in Portimao. Several friends have had their boats done here with excellent results so we had high hopes of getting a good finish. We did our own prep work to keep costs down even more which was hard work but the guys here are very good at helping and advising so all perfectly doable. Luckily we had a nice break before the onslaught of work as well, a lovely trip down the canals in Belgium. If you've even fancied a barge holiday around the best Belgium countryside, Karina and Tim will take you in style and comfort on board Delfine between Ypres and Gent, also taking in the wonderful city of Brugge. We've actually put together a seperate little video with more info on the trip which you can see here: https://youtu.be/0Iay6ofPVcQ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Downtown by Petula Clark, https://t.lickd.co/l/Bok6AKOKZgj

There's steady progress in the yard but we do have to wait for the perfect weather window to paint the top sides so we are finding other things to do during the windy rainy spells. This week our distraction has been METS - the boat show in Amsterdam. It's the biggest boat show in the world and there's not a boat in sight! It's a trade show really with 1,700 exhibitors of boat equipment. To give that some perspective, the biggest actual boat show in the world, Fort Lauderdale, has just a few more than half that number . As a result it takes all three days to get around METS and I'm sure we missed some! We did find some really interesting things though. Great new products and we learned about some established ones as well, things that would be really good to have on the boat, so it was a very successful trip. It's not always possible to give the depth of information that people want so we've added links below to the products we looked at so you can find out more. Also do feel free to ask questions in the comments and remember we will be reviewing some of these products on board Fair Isle so keep watching the episodes to see how they do. ePropulsion Spirit 2: There has been talk of a more powerful version of the Spirit outboard for some time and we have been eagerly waiting for its arrival. So it was a pleasant surprise to see it launched at METS this year and it looks like they have done a great job with it. Boosting power and range but still keeping the ease of portability we love with the Spirit 1 and even improving some design features taking ideas from the eLite version. The Spirit 2 won't be available to the public until spring / summer 2026 unfortunately, but we do hope to get an advanced unit for testing early next year. https://www.epropulsion.com/products/electric-outboards/spirit-2 Comfort Seat: We get asked about the seats we have on board more than anything else. We actually bought our small ones off some friends in Cartagena 6 years ago who had purchased too many and we are very glad we did. These seats are amazing and the larger version with the leg and head support changed our lives on board as we use them while sailing as well as lazing around. It means we dont have to have a bunch of cockpit cushions that need to be stored somewhere when not in use and they are a whole lot more comfortable too. Comfort seat are a small family run Dutch company and we are glad that people are getting to know about their fabulous seats. https://comfortseat.nl/# Marco: We have had several domestic water pumps on Fair isle, all have been unreliable and very very noisy! We mentioned this in our last episode and several people said to go and look at Marco pumps which are made in Italy. Luckily they had a stand at the show and we were very impressed with what we saw. Look them up, you won't be dissapointed! https://items.marco.it/en/products/pumps/gear-pumps/marine/page/4.html Mantus: We have been very impressed with Mantus after swapping to their anchor and swivel. They are a great company to deal with, take pride in their products and listen to feedback and constantly strive to improve their gear to be the best available. So it was no surprise at METS that the M1 and M2 anchors have gone through a round of changes, little tweaks to improve them further based on feedback from users and in house testing. The M1 has some ribs on the shank to improve strength and the M2 has a twist on the little ears to help the fluke dig down in softer substrates and to help keep the anchor square on a reset. We will be testing the new design later this year. https://www.mantusmarine.com/new-m1-design/?srsltid=AfmBOor0sSv9g6o2Tm_NIHdInuq_761rHf7IJIOqIVZm7_mjwQi534dS&v=28886f13f578 Bruntons Props We were looking for a possible replacement for our MaxProp which is now on the limits of its wear. We need a feathering prop on Fair Isle that fully flips around to give proper grip in reverse as this is key to maneuverability in tight spaces with a long keeled sailboat. The MaxProp does well with this but the Bruntons prop does the same job in reverse and has some other key advantages with its ability to constantly vary its pitch. We are very much looking forward to testing a Bruntons Prop so do look out for the review video which will be coming next year. https://bruntonspropellers.com/ Henri Lloyd: We have been very disappointed with the quality of some of our sailing clothing over the years. This culminated in a very expensive sailing jacket I bought at the Annapolis boat show 2 years ago literally falling apart after being worn about a dozen times. Asking around, the company that people were rating for quality was Henri Lloyd and they have recently been focusing on their marine clothing over all their other lines. It was great to meet the guys that run the company who are all keen sailors and are passionate about what they do. https://www.henrilloyd.com/

Lifting Fair Isle this time and having a couple of jobs to do that we hadn't tackled before I did have some worries about how things would go. Getting the rudder off, removing the cutlass bearings, I didn't have sliding the propshaft out, down as one of those difficult jobs, how wrong I was! At least it makes all the other slightly annoying and time consuming jobs seem easy! 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Love Is Hard Work by Van Morrison, https://t.lickd.co/l/kgZj1bwjnEq If you're interested in the Peakdo Starlink power bank have a look here: https://www.peakdo.com/PeakDo-LinkPower-Power-Bank-and-Mount-for-Starlink-Mini-p6467650.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle

Fair Isle's top sides have resisted every attempt at renovation. The two weeks we spent 2 years ago cutting the gelcoat back as well as attempts with nano technology ceramic coating have all failed, so painting is our only option. Painting though can be very expensive, prohibitivly expensive for us if we went down the route of taking the mast off and spraying indoors in a controlled environment. Hand painting is also a challenge with Fair Isle because we have routed channels and frankly I think it would be impossible to roll and tip successfully. We have however found a yard in Portugal where were friends of ours have had their boats sprayed very effectively, so we've decided to give it a go. If you're interested in Tozo's waterproof earbuds they are very good value and there's extra money off with this link: https://www.tozostore.com/products/t10?utm_source=youtube_kol&utm_medium=Sailing or if you get Amazon deliveries then you can try this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CJHXX7NP?maas=maas_adg_9EBFBD1092E87045F33EAF1588F2B342_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle

Two years in the tropics have taken their toll on Fair Isle so the time has come to put things right. We have a long list of jobs to do and we need to do something about our top sides. We are in a very good yard in Portimåo, Portugal who are able (if the weather plays ball) to spray paint outside, so we are facing a lot of prep work to get that going. Go over to the boat tour video of Moonstone to see more of Redman's boat and it's details of sale which are in the description of that video. Link here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/boat-tour-of-of-141191160?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link If you have deeper pockets and are in the market for one of the best blue water boats available have a look at Jeffrey's Passport 456 here : https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/2003-passport-456-cc-9843955/ This is the link to the report on the sinking of Essence that we talked about: https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/media/ymtdublr/essence-mnz-report-22july2021.pdf ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle

With three hurricanes roaming around the Atlantic basin it wasn't an ideal time to be completing our Atlantic circuit! We did have what looked like a decent weather window to sail from the Azores to Portugal but we always knew with all the disturbance the Atlantic was not at its most stable. Hurricane Gabrielle was making its turn near Bermuda and all the models had it disappearing into the Northern Atlantic. However hurricanes tend to have ideas of their own especially when being affected by other nearby hurricanes so in the event Gabrielle turned South and chased us to Portugal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle 🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators. Bring Me To Life by Evanescence, https://lickd.lnk.to/QvKmm5ID!Sailing+Fair+Isle License ID: K5ypKoRJXND If you want to use music from famous artists, try Lickd to get track credits and unlimited stock music: https://go.lickd.co/soundtrack-your-videos

Sao Miguel is the last Azorian island we will sail to before completing the Atlantic crossing and sailing on to the European Mainland. It's the largest island in the chain and the most popular for visitors. It's the island that has everything .Lakes, mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls and a wonderful summer climate thats warm but not too oppressive to spoil the fabulous hikes that cover the whole of the island. We even manage to anchor next to the small volcano at Villa Franco do Campo and explore by kayak, we knew the Azores were going to be something special but we had no idea just how much. If you're interested in the SwitchBot sensors we showed do look them up, just google the name or if you're in the UK they are available on Amazon here... https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=switchbot&crid=GCHSRP3JW019&sprefix=switchbot%2Caps%2C192&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators. Yellow by Coldplay, https://lickd.lnk.to/ZtWmCsID!Sailing+Fair+Isle License ID: 6aA34gjow0K If you want to use music from famous artists, try Lickd to get track credits and unlimited stock music: https://go.lickd.co/Get-A-Free-Trial

We continue on sailing through the wonderful Azorian islands in this episode, starting in Sao Jorge anchored off the lovely town of Velas we find some amazing hikes before sailing on to the lovely to the island of Terciera where they have a very different way of exploring the country roads and tracks. We then sail overnight to the largest of the islands Sao Miguel, a chance for boat jobs at the dock before investigating this active volcanic island. INFO: The buggy tour we showed in Terciera was with Viator https//www.azoresretreat.com, it lasted about 2 hours and cost €160, it was good fun! We can also recommend Crossing Hills car hire www.crossinghills.pt who were very nice and very efficient delivering a car to the dock. 🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators. Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, https://lickd.lnk.to/GsIMVGID!Sailing+Fair+Isle License ID: YNzWEVPGq6d If you want to use music from famous artists, try Lickd to get track credits and unlimited stock music: https://go.lickd.co/soundtrack-your-videos

✅ Support our channel by getting Fishing Clash on your phone for free https://fishingclash.link/SailingFairIsle! Use our gift code FAIRISLE to get a $20 reward The Azores are definitely one of the must go places for any sailor, in fact we think they are at the very top of that list. After sailing into Horta at the end of the last episode we were met by our good friend Barry (the old sea dog) on the dock and had a great couple of days hanging out with him before he set off on his final leg of his solo around the world passage, well done Barry! There's a full version on the interview we filmed with him here : https://youtu.be/8BBSyDIFHH8?si=Cvn86-Q8QrWri6EK We loved Horta and the Island of Faial, a big thanks to Alan and Lesley who showed us around and welcomed us to their home, the best thing about having a sailing channel is definitely these sorts of connections we make. We have a visit to the island of Pico in this episode and show a little bit of the next Island island we sail to, Sao Jorge, but there's more on that island in the next episode. LATEST ON BARRY (Thur afternoon) Barry hasn't made as good progress as he hoped in the last few days with light winds. He is now under 200nm from Plymouth but is worried that he he does not get wind he will get caught by the remnants of hurricane Erin which is now racing back across the North Atlantic. He has a contingency plan to make for safe harbour in France, but if the forecast is correct then he should be getting some south in the wind soon which should allow him to get in to Plymouth at the weekend. 🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators. Praise You (Radio Edit) by Fatboy Slim, https://lickd.lnk.to/iQmcKMID!Sailing+Fair+Isle License ID: 5omZ6kYbmbR If you want to use music from famous artists, try Lickd to get track credits and unlimited stock music: https://go.lickd.co/Get-A-Free-Trial

When we arrived in Horta a few weeks ago we were met at the dock by our friend Barry 'the old sea dog'. This was a surprise because although we knew he was a bit behind with his videos (he's in South Africa in his current videos) but we didn't know quite how far! So we managed to overlap for a few days with Barry in Horta and had a lovely time hanging out with him, mainly in the pub! Peters sports bar is one of the most famous sailing bars in the world so it seemed appropriate. Obviously with such a monumental milestone just around the corner we sat down for an interview with him to discuss the 9 years he's been circumnavigating the world and filming his exploits. As this video goes out (Weds 9th Aug) Barry is 900nm from Plymouth where he will make landfall back in the UK. Barry will try to give updates on his social media as he gets close, but dealing with all that at sea while you're sailing single handed is not the easiest thing so we will try to keep everyone informed on our facebook as well. At the moment Barry thinks it will be around the 20th August, so if you're in the area we know Barry will really appreciate anyone who turns out.... especially if they buy him a beer!

This is our second Atlantic crossing but the first going from West to East which can be a much more challenging route. Thanks to constant up to date and detailed weather modelling we managed to have over a week of perfect sailing positioning ourselves just to the South of a slow moving front which supplied us with 15 knots on the beam in calm seas. On this passage you have to deal with different weather zones though so not quite the whole trip was like that! Arriving in the Azores has been a dream for us for a long time. It really is a must visit destination for any sailor. These are magical islands and we are enjoying every minute of being here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle 🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators. Never Ending Story (12'' Dance Mix) by Limahl, https://lickd.lnk.to/i9Ex5xID!Sailing+Fair+Isle License ID: M3O1zG3Em5n If you want to use music from famous artists, try Lickd to get track credits and unlimited stock music: https://go.lickd.co/Get-A-Free-Trial

We have a last tour of Bermuda before setting off on our second Atlantic crossing, this one looks like it could be tricky! If you are looking for new Mainsail cars then we can't recommend Ronstan enough. Check them out at http://www.ronstan.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle 🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators. On the Beach by Chris Rea, https://lickd.lnk.to/LsuvTDID!Sailing+Fair+Isle License ID: 4OevQl67n0k If you want to use music from famous artists, try Lickd to get track credits and unlimited stock music: https://go.lickd.co/Get-A-Free-Trial

I had been meaning to build a J-Pole Antenna for oue AIS for years. I had heard they perform very well and do away with the complexity of having a splitter in line which can compromise the VHF and the AIS if things go wrong. Well of course with the constant list of must do jobs that all cruisers have that particular job got pushed to the back until this week when we are preparing to cross the Atlantic and my AIS was playing up (it had been glitchy for a while) I tested everything and could not find a definite fault so decided to do away with the splitter and build a separate antenna for the AIS. J-pole designs are very simple and as we had some old spare copper tube from replacing the gas pipe onboard last week so this was the time to do it. It only took a morning and I'm very pleased with the results so I decided to share. Here is the page for the J-pole dimensions calculator: https://m0ukd.com/calculators/slim-jim-and-j-pole-calculator/ Hope it's some use for you guys. PLEASE REMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE!!!

Many people just use Bermuda as a quick staging post on a West East Atlantic crossing. We think that is a massive mistake as Bermuda is one of our favourite places. Now that The Bahamas have hiked their cruising costs to thousands of pounds per vessel, Bermuda may be a better bet at just $70 for a 6 month permit. Plus , Bermuda really does have everything. Great anchorages, lovely walks, crystal clear water with healthy reefs... and we haven't even mentioned proper beer and excellent food, you can get a fantastic curry here! If you're interested in making a J-pole antenna here's the calculator for the dimensions you will need: https://m0ukd.com/calculators/slim-jim-and-j-pole-calculator/ Check our Ryan and Sophie sailing here: https://www.youtube.com/@UCeB8v6Yo60cTcmRUilSVZhA People have asked about the clamp I showed in the video, so here's a link... https://www.mantusmarine.com/product/mantus-rail-clamp/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle

The first leg of an Atlantic crossing is often the most tricky. Coming West the trade winds from the Canaries to the Caribbean are pretty reliable but getting down the the Canaries from Portugal can be a challenge. It was for us as you can see in Ep104 when we got hit by a force 9 gale. Similarly getting to Bermuda 850nm off the coast of America is not a stable trade wind area, it's subject to storm fronts coming off the Eastern seaboard of the US and even hurricanes looping up from the tropics. So we had to pick our weather window carefully. Thankfully we got it right, so this video is all about what life is like offshore when things go well! We are having a lovely time in Bermuda, a really stunning island with wonderful people. If you want weather routing advice Chris Parker is the go to expert, his website is below with all the details: https://www.mwxc.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle

Having sailing Fair Isle full time for 8 years and 25,000 miles we know we can cope without electric winches so we had the eWincher down as a 'nice to have' item rather than a 'must have' But there were certainly occasions when we would have loved to have the speed and power one of these winch handles gives you. After 6 months of use I can tell you we are very glad we went this way and the eWincher has become a very valued item on the boat, we wouldn't want to do without one now. If you want more information on the eWincher go to: https://theyachtrigger.com/products/ewincher-2?srsltid=AfmBOooDACDxc_6Ha7Bo6MCmjix7mtwiudfOAilShgZk-RUvkQSnCqmG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle

We are now in the really nice bits of the Bahamas, we did have to spend a day fixing a potentially boat destroying fault, but we are enjoying the prettiest spot so far this side of the Atlantic. Eleuthera is a lovely region and the jewel in the crown is Harbour Island which is difficult to get to off the beaten track at the end of a tricky reef system called the Devils Backbone. We were very glad we made the effort though, a lovely village with a long pink sand beach and a fully protected anchorage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle

We keep hearing good things about the Mantus anchors and we told you in last week's episode we've had major problems with the Ultra swivel so it was definitely time to test out a Mantus anchor while we are in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas.This first test was an eye opener, we subjected the anchor to more abuse than we've ever done before with a vicious snatch test with no snubber, real gear breaking stuff, so have a look and see how well the Mantus manages. The popularity of our anchoring videos 'Anchoring 101' https://youtu.be/M06kq7pffZo and 'Which Anchor' shows that lots of you care about your anchors! We've now had half a million views on those videos and we appreciate all your valuable comments. If you are interested in looking at Mantus anchors this is their website (they do quite a few other interesting things too, not just the anchors and swivel, so have a look!) https://www.mantusmarine.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! Check out Steve's excellent anchor test videos on SV Panope here: https://www.youtube.com/@flygoodwin RIGHT TO REPLY Since the last episode "A testing time in The Bahamas" https://youtu.be/M06kq7pffZo we have had some feedback from Erkutay Yucel, Ultra Products West. He is critical of experts, particularly from Ketten Welder, who say some types of stainless steel are superior to others. "I know our friends in Ketten Welder use it as a marketing tool, claiming that duplex stainless steel is superior to 316Ti and 316L in warm waters. However, we couldn't find any scientific evidence that demonstrates a difference in performance between a 30-degree average water temperature and a 20-degree average water temperature. There isn't even a difference between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, as 90% of our customers use our products in the summer in the Mediterranean when the average sea water temperature is 30 degrees, which should be the yearly average in the Caribbean”. Erkutay Yucel, Ultra Products West Our experience is that we have had no corrosion on our duplex chain, nor on the Ultra Anchor which is a mixture of duplex steel and 316L. It is just the swivel which has corroded so badly.

With packages delivered and the major boat jobs done, we are finally getting to see the best parts of the Bahamas. We are not just sitting around drinking cocktails though! We have some serious anchor testing to do, and what better place with the crystal clear waters and variable sea beds here. The anchor we are testing this time is the Mantus M2 (105Ib model) if you want more info on their gear this is their website... https://www.mantusmarine.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle RIGHT TO REPLY We have had some feedback from Erkutay Yucel, Ultra Products West. He still maintains the pins in the Ultra anchor swivel never drop out, whether or not loctite is used. He is also critical of experts, particularly from Ketten Welder, who say some types of stainless steel are superior to others. "I know our friends in Ketten Welder use it as a marketing tool, claiming that duplex stainless steel is superior to 316Ti and 316L in warm waters. However, we couldn't find any scientific evidence that demonstrates a difference in performance between a 30-degree average water temperature and a 20-degree average water temperature. There isn't even a difference between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, as 90% of our customers use our products in the summer in the Mediterranean when the average sea water temperature is 30 degrees, which should be the yearly average in the Caribbean”. Erkutay Yucel, Ultra Products West

Andros is not a well travelled cruising ground, but it has a lot to offer. It's the largest island in the Bahamas, in fact it could fit every other island in it's space with room to spare. It's known as the 'family island' and is very friendly it also has an abundance of natural water and an amazing geology that supports it. More cruisers should visit Andros even if it's just a stop to check in and out if you're coming from the States, definitely a better option than Nassau. Do check out CMP they do all sorts of good stuff and are very helpful: https://cmpcordage.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATREON: We couldn't make these videos without the support of you, our patrons. You are our first line of feedback, our team, our support and our friends. We are really grateful and it means we can keep the videos coming! If you would like to join us you get to see (and comment on, which really helps us) the current videos with no ads at all before they get released to the public. There are also lots of extra videos available on Patreon and you can contact us directly on board. Ask us anything! We have regular ZOOM sessions and a WhatsApp group where we talk about boats, passages and life onboard. Join us! https://www.patreon.com/sailingfairisle