Go to https://surfshark.com/sailingfairisle or use code SAILINGFAIRISLE at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! I think Menorca has firmed itself up as our favourite of the Balearic islands. It just has a nice laid back charm to it. There are good anchorages especially in the North and excellent tapas. We stayed for over a month had things we needed delivered and had all our girls out, although their work commitments ment they couldn't quite all get here at the same time. This years Menorca sailing has meant we have now fully circumnavigated the island, a good thing because it was the Western tip we had left out on previous occasions and that means Ciutadella, which is possibly the prettiest town of all. 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Sail Away by David Gray, https://t.lickd.co/l/JMzXjBaON4R 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Where the Wild Roses Grow by Kylie Minogue, https://t.lickd.co/l/NzJmR4dELO5

Regular viewers will know we've been looking for the best bikes to have on the boat for some time. You may also have seen us try out some Bromptons a few months ago in Gibraltar. Well, after riding a Brompton I can tell you nothing else cuts it, not even close. It's difficult to pin point exactly what it is, obviously they fold up into a seemingly impossibly small size, but they don't ride like a fold up bike, everything is solid. Luckily for us Brompton sponsor the Brittania Americas cup sailing team and they had some very special bikes they could lend us. These are 'T-Line' bikes, so called because the frame is made of Titanium, also the seat post and handle bars are made of carbon fibre, so the bike weighs in at a ridiculously light 7.45kg. This not only makes it easy to carry on and off the boat but effortless to ride, we are seriously impressed. These bikes don't come cheap, but if you have the money there can be nothing better for a boat, nothing to rust. Light, small and great to ride. We are very much looking forward to putting them through their paces this summer.

We now think we have the perfect set-up for our on board power. We have uprated our solar ( which has been very successful with the bifacial panels) and we have greatly increased our battery capacity by getting a Bluetti Elite 300 which is the world's smallest 3 kWh portable power station. It also has other great features for the boat as you will see. The history of setting Fair Isle up for power on board is this: Our big generator in the engine room was unreliable from the start, it cost a fortune but in the 4 years we had it I had to rebuild it twice. So we ditched it. Our first attempt at solar was having two 215w panels on an arch I built at the stern and a small 100w flexible panel on the dog house roof. This wasn't really enough. I also fitted a Balmar 115Amp alternator to give us good power when motoring but we quickly found we needed more. So in Venice I fitted a 400w Bifacial panel in the bit of space we had left in front of the two monofacil ones. We also fitted a bimini an I managed to get a 200w flexible panel on that. We cruised like this for 5 years, it was okay, we mostly had enough power, but we were always conscious of what we were using. We did get a small petrol generator that lived in the sail locker for emergencies. We used it 3 times in 4 years. We don't like to ever run the ships engine to charge, it is not good for a diesel engine to run with no load so we've avoided doing that. This year we decided to swap our 2 original monofacial panels for two new bifacial ones. these panels were rated at 500w. So we now have 1400w of solar on the back arch and 200w on the bimini that charge our 630AH lithium house bank. We did this in April and straight away, even though the weather was not good, we were full before lunch time! Now in summer we have more power than we can possibly use. We cook on an induction stove, charge our epropulsion electric outboard every day and run our DC watermaker every other day, but everything is always full. Obviously as Autumn comes around there will be a lot less sun, but we are now very confident we will never be short of power. This is because we have extra capacity of the Bluetti. We could probably make the house bank itself a bit bigger now as well but you have to be careful not to make it so big that you struggle to get a regular top balance. Lithium batteries need a regular charge to 100% as it's only when this happens that they can switch into their 'balance' mode where they equalise out the charge across all the cells. It's important that the batteries get to do this once a week or so. If you've been following the channel you will know we have been testing lots of fold out solar panels as well. These are great when you are at anchor and very useful if you have a solar power station as they come with XT60 plugs that slot straight into the Bluetti and charge it up. It's really nice to sit in an anchorage knowing that we have all the power we need without making any noise whatsoever! We can thoroughly recommend getting bifacial panels, ours were from Leroy Merlin in Cartagena and were an absolute bargain at €69 each, we couldn't quite believe it! The Bluetti Elite 300 is also a very good buy it gives you an extra 3000W of storage (250Ah), a 2400w inverter and an inbuilt MPPT capable of connecting a 1000w solar panel to, so much cheaper than buying all that lot separately. I can imagine people with a small boat just buying a Bluetti to take care of all their electrical needs. Have a look at the specs on their website, it's impressive: https://bit.ly/4eNzPsV

Join us for our sail from Mallorca to Menorca, one of the most scenic and memorable we've ever had. Use the voucher code FAIRISLE to get a free gift. svb24.com online store: https://www.svb24.com/?stm=Influencer-SAILINGFAIRISLE-Equipment MyBoat by SVB – bring your boat online & join the Owner's Club: https://www.svb24.com/my-boat?stm=Influencer-SAILINGFAIRISLE-Equipment There will be a full review of the Bluetti Elite300 coming up (currently available on Patreon) here's a link to Bluetti: https://bit.ly/4eNzPsV 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Sail Away by David Gray, https://t.lickd.co/l/JMzXjBaON4R

Didn't think you could get on the plane with an electric outboard? Well think again. We've just done a full test of the ePropulsion Spirit 2 and we can report that this is not an upgrade from the Spirit 1, it's an entirely different beast. We've used electric outboards as the main motor for our tender for 5 years now. There are pro's and cons between electric and petrol outboards of course, but for us the electric option has been hands down the best and now it's got much, much better. Really the only thing a petrol outboard has over an electric one is speed and range. Well not any more. The job of a yacht tender is to get you from the boat to shore, the electric outboards do that reliably, they are silently have no fumes and now they also do it as quickly. Yes if you want to go on an expedition for 20nm on the plane then you will need a petrol outboard, but to do that well it has to be at least 15hp even for two people in a small dinghy. So if you've got something like a large catamaran that can take big dinghy with outboard on a strong pair of davits then it might make sense. But if what you're doing at the moment is operating a 3, 5, or even 10hp petrol outboard then you have the worst of all worlds. You have the unreliability, the service schedule the weight, the smell and the noise and you have no more real power than the new Spirit 2. Just to clarify at the end we used 82% of the battery in the longevity test, so down to 18%, watching it back it may have not been clear the way I said it. Obviously I can't fit every detail into one short video but do ask questions in the comments if anything is unclear. There are some other good features I didn't cover because they are not that relevant for a tender, but if you want a Spirit 2 for something like a trailer sailer then it has features like a lock to keep it straight and regen as standard to charge while you sail.. To find out all the info you need have a look here: https://www.epropulsion.com/products/electric-outboards/spirit-2 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's bikini weather in the Balearics, there are spring flowers in the hills and the anchorages have plenty of space. Things were pretty perfect before someone rammed us in the anchorage in the early hours of the morning. Some people should not be allowed to be the captain of a boat! We don't let that spoil our time here though we have our daughters coming out for short stays, their work commitments meant they couldn't arrange it all together so we have a constant stream over the next few weeks so it's nice for us. And have you ever tried foil boarding? Looks easy doesn't it? Well take it from me it's not! 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, https://t.lickd.co/l/nVEgZ9kxGxo

Having a Starlink mini on your boat transforms your life, well it has ours! Starlink means we can work on our YT channel, be constantly connected if we want to, even in the middle of an ocean ( which is a bit freaky!) Have facetime calls with the family whenever we want, always have comprehensive animated weather models not sketchy GRIB files, watch Netflix etc etc The mini goes a step further than that because it is portable, so we can simply unclip it from the boat and take it with us if we go on a road trip, we simply use one of the many great battery power banks available for the mini now ( links to the ones we showed at the bottom of the page) We didn't go into specifics of the cost in the video because it actually depends on where you register the Starlink, this determines the cost they decide to charge. Our monthly charge is 4,867.64 Columbian pesos ( thats £108.35 or $145.80us ) Thats for Roam Unlimited. We choose roam unlimited because with that contract we can flick the switch to 'Ocean' mode when we are more than 12nm offshore and still have connection. While on ocean mode we pay $2 (us) per GB but that's just for the period we are offshore, as soon as we are 12nm from land again we switch it back to our unlimited plan. checkout Peakdo who make that very neat clip on power bank here; https://www.peakdo.com/peakdo-linkpower-2-power-bank-for-starlink-mini-p6885437.html and the XTAR 158 is the biggest capacity you are allowed to carry on a plane so useful for maximum power. Also as I said in the video if the XTAR had been available when we fitted the mini I would have used it to power the Starlink full time instead of buying the Victron Pheonix inverter. It would have been easier to fit as I could have it closer, it would just need to be close to a usb socket to keep it charged up. This would be a vert effiecient way of setting it up and if the XTAR was just in a cupboard or something then you could still take it with you for road trips. Have a look at it here: https://xtar-link.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopuFD2CrXZ_47IoGhCpL4nPAvfbX955tNxy8eqw3znOZIAJohfh

Back to boat life on Fair Isle. Of course living on a boat means boatwork and we get some really useful jobs done, but we also waiting for weather for a good offshore passage from main land Spain to Ibiza. What we didn't know about was the battle we would have on the way. 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Smile by Lily Allen, https://t.lickd.co/l/loY0eqVJgDN 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Right Here, Right Now by Fatboy Slim, https://t.lickd.co/l/G46Wm3Re2dr

This is the next video in our series "How to get into Sailing". Four of our patrons have won a free Sunsail training course in Croatia. In the video, two succeed in becoming competent crew and two become qualified day skippers! We had a great week with everyone and, even in April, when the water is a little cold, this is a great place to learn to sail. The Sunsail courses also give you a bit extra as preparation for going cruising, so if you are thinking of buying your own boat and sailing away - this is a good place to start. You can hire monohulls and cats at the Agana marina base as a bare boat hire or as part of a flotilla. Thanks to Sunsail for providing 15% off for our viewers on all Sunsail holidays using the code in the link: https://www.sunsail.com/uk/offers/sailing-fair-isle-offer?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ss_uk_may_sfiyoutube_offer_2026 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE - IT COSTS YOU NOTHING AND HELPS US OUT WITH THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After our week in Croatia with Sunsail we can thoroughly recommend them as a place to go for a sailing holiday or some sailing instruction.You'll see a lot more of that in the next episode following our patrons doing their day skipper and competent crew courses on a monohull. In this episode though we get some instruction ourselves, on how to manoeuvre a cat. We spend the week sailing the fantastic Croatian waters as a buddy boat to the monohull training boat and we have a special guest star on board, Barry (the old sea dog Perrins) If you check out his channel you will see he's only just posted the episode where he met us in the Azores, he's a long way behind with his timeline. But he's also coming up to the very important episode where he returns home to Portsmouth to a massive welcome as the first YouTube sailing channel ever to circumnavigate single handed, quite an achievement. You can hire monohulls and cats at the Agana marina base as a bare boat hire or as part of a flotilla. Thanks to Sunsail for providing 15% off for our viewers on all Sunsail holidays using the code below... Get 15% off your Sunsail charter using the discount code in this link: https://www.sunsail.com/uk/offers/sailing-fair-isle-offer?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ss_uk_may_sfiyoutube_offer_2026 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Life's What You Make It (1997 Remaster) by Talk Talk, https://t.lickd.co/l/9X3bDrpV281

This Thursday's video is a bit different. We went to Sunsail's Agana base in Croatia to have a week sailing a cat. For those of us who have only sailed monohulls it's a great way to get some tuition, and experience what it's like cruising around in something with two hulls. We had a great time with Sunsail in Croatia and if you are thinking of booking any Sunsail course or holiday anywhere in the world make sure you use our link to get 15% off... https://www.sunsail.com/uk/offers/sailing-fair-isle-offer?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ss_uk_may_sfiyoutube_offer_2026

Last week we had some of the bad bits about sailing. the Mediterranean out of season with a massive katabatic blast almost knocking us flat at dawn off the Costa del Sol. This week things were better. On the last stretch to get to Cartagena we had some blue sky sailing and empty anchorages. It's nice to be the only boat on the water. It's also nice to visit Cartagena again. It really is the a gem of a city, it has no beach as it's a massive protective bay that is home to the Spanish navy so it's remained very Spanish without the tackyness of most other heavily touristed seaside towns on the Costas. So we settle in to enjoy the city and the surrounds and meet some very interesting fellow cruisers with an even more interesting boat. If you've ever wanted to cruise in a motor boat then the Diesel Duck has got to be the way to go. You can find Mayaugust and Bobby's YouTube channel, Highland Duck on the High Seas, here: https://www.youtube.com/@UCntUVliSHaLirOlwJCaySYQ Get 15% off your Sunsail charter using the discount code in this link: https://www.sunsail.com/uk/offers/sailing-fair-isle-offer 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Golden Brown by The Stranglers, https://t.lickd.co/l/LJx9KkqlmZR

Sailing the Costas on the Southern coast of Spain can be difficult as there are very few places to anchor with protection from the South. The weather in March and April can be quite unpredictable and as we found you can get some viscous katabatic storm blasts off the snow topped mountains along the Sierra Nevada's. We are trying to get to Cartagena for Easter as they put on quite a show in the town, the sun is shining but the wind is not playing ball. There is no wind for sailing at night so we hav to contend with some very rolly anchorages! Remember if you are wanting some great sailing cloths for summer then we still have a 15% discount on Henri Lloyd's excellent range. Just follow the link... https://www.henrilloyd.com/discount/SailingFairIsle15?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=instagram&utm_campaign=sailingfairisle Use the code SailingFairIsle15 to get a 15% discount. 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co One Day Like This by Elbow, https://t.lickd.co/l/PBA5wPDbMa7

Gibraltar is always a really interesting place to sail to, in fact it's somewhere every sailor should visit at least once. We've been many times and always discover new things and enjoy our time here. The anchorage here is good but it's on the Spanish side, La Linea, so it's much more convenient to visit the marinas in Gibraltar itself and our favourite is Ocean Village which has some of the best facilities of any marina and is perfectly positioned in the heart of Gib. We had a mix of weather during our stay, but enough warm dry weather to get the varnishing done. I remember usually waiting until at least May to get this sort of work done in the UK so it's great to do it in March. Gibraltar usually has a cable car to get up the rock, so we usually go up in that and walk back down, however it's having a major refurb so will be out of action for a couple of years. This ends up being a good thing as we look for other ways to explore and find a great bike shop right by Ocean Village that rents eBikes, our favourite! We can thoroughly recommend hiring eBikes to explore the rock, it kakes it possible to get around all the good stuff, the caves, the siege tunnels and also the WW2 tunnels which had been closed for a long time so this was our first visit to them. We are very impressed with the Awotrol D1-D2 varnish we are using so far. It goes on easily and looks good. The real test of course though will be how well it lasts. The other thing we were very impressed by was the fishing reel from 'Fish:Helm' which seems like a very good robust design, I'm very much looking forward to using it. You can take a look at their website here: https://www.fishhelm.com/helm If you come to Gibraltar then we definitely recommend an eBike so talk to Stuart at ebike gibraltar: https://ebike-gibraltar.com/ Also you may remember we were trying to find good sailing clothes at METS earlier in the year after a very expensive Musto jacket that we bought in Annapolis just fell apart. Well we opted to get some gear from Henri Lloyd who are really focusing on their sail wear now and have some excellent gear. We've been very happy with the items we got at METS and said so & now Henri Lloyd are offering our viewers a discount, even better! Just follow this link: https://www.henrilloyd.com/discount/SailingFairIsle15?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=instagram&utm_campaign=sailingfairisle Use the code SailingFairIsle15 to get a 15% discount. 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Blue Monday (2023 Digital Master) by New Order, https://t.lickd.co/l/lywgG9Vxwq7

Propellors on sailboats are doubly important. You need your prop to give you the maximum efficient thrust, both forward and reverse. But you also need it to not compromise your sailing ability by inflicting too much drag. So should you pick a standard fixed propellor, a folding propellor or a feathering propellor? They all have specific advantages and some major disadvantages so it pays to do your homework and learn a few technical aspects of how these propellors perform. In this video we go through ass the technical aspects, skew and pitch, talk about drag and the importance of the leading edge. If like us you have a long keeled boat then having a propellor that has good grip in reverse is key to being able to manoeuvre well so we will talk about what you need to achieve that. We made a change from a MaxProp ( which we think is a very good prop ) to a Bruntons Autoprop which so far seem to be an even better prop so if you're looking for a new prop then definitely check out the Bruntons site here: https://bruntonspropellers.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

Do have a look at 'The Book' (The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization) It's a really special encyclopaedia for all ages, available in several languages and beautifully illustrated, use the link below and enter FAIRISLE for 10% off https://mdsh.io/sailingfairisle The storms across Portugal subsided to leave beautiful spring like weather, but some very strange seas.We are sailing towards 'Orca Alley', the strait of Gibraltar and are not hugging the coast for two reasons. One, we don't feel particularly vulnerable to damage by orcas and two it would have been very dangerous to go sail close to shore with the large Atlantic swell we had rolling in. So although the sailing was a little bit testing at times we really enjoyed the trip, it was great to be back in the ocean and we had some lovely places to visit. The lagoon at Faro has always been a favourite and sailing through the strait is something every sailor has to do at least once. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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

It's been the most stormy winter in Portugal for a very long time. We are at anchor in a flooded muddy river hunkering down and trying to get some rigging done in the lulls between the storms. These are just some of the challenges of the cruising lifestyle. We have a lot of running rigging to replace before we can go sailing and we can't make water in the muddy river so have to go to a marina for water. So, how will the new Bruntons prop do with the manoeuvring in the marina especially as I completely miss read the conditions and mess up the approach? Thanks to English braids for the discount they are offering to our viewers. You can get 15% off any orders over £20. Use this link: https://kildalemarine.co.uk/collections/english-braids and put in the code FAIRISLE15 to get your discount. And if you didn't see the Tech Video all about running rigging do check it out: https://youtu.be/rShIU0EcVz4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 Jerk It Out by Caesars, https://t.lickd.co/l/ZwxA9DJPxN7

In this video we go through all the important aspects of running rigging. We have just completed a 20,000nm Atlantic and Caribbean circuit and need to replace a lot of our running rigging so we take you through the process and have a look at the range of lines available. Thank you to English Braids for offering a 15% discount to all our viewers you can claim it by using this link : https://kildalemarine.co.uk/collections/english-braids and using the code : FAIRISLE15 You need to have a minimum order of £20, they are UK based but can deliver internationally. If you want to get James's excellent book covering all you need to know about being the captain of a cruising boat here's a link: https://bethecaptain.com/ If you want a comprehensive book on rigging then Herbie is your man. I will let him off not sending me one yet as the book have only just left the printers. But they are on pre-order with Amazon in the States: Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Rigging-Handbook-Comprehensive-Sailboat-Maintenance/dp/1493086006/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1HNFWIRY945QX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._0k3oVfNVSh-QUp2gHrYhROOhRF4LHWE5XiW-XDkjeiBce4vrJBMhz-FcJw62Bzc0o-6W7DGGkBQ6a10oG50S7wGu5HG4i3LW49KNVOtD5CHIFCGE9kTvMc1yhWEt5q2YBX1d9FTj4A9sMCjFyfcmJ3d3MYFbYMIU7AayeFMlwBkDxRa5BDMSnuDl0W0kT7jCnhIroZIZ70a8A9i6gBbmjzLac0-S5wWhDQyYdqNgX8.iG2SgXhxWPFiRRTutEsbxq02svru8BRPc9N5e-MOyOs&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+rigging+handbook&qid=1770823451&sprefix=the+rigging+handbook%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-1 and weirdly Amazon UK say they can deliver straight away: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rigging-Handbook-Comprehensive-Sailboat-Maintenance/dp/1493086006/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VTW2U3R0P2NM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lBYnGUgORRtQkR0icjVnf55UfIjGuB2a0h3zSEM9KAuJSaHLBBfqyxCwqFa4ngpRxGjt93xbaZgC212R64xttLBMAPlWK6bEbaR9fs8lvJai3f8Lv5d7r6nRQcHyjdkYbYJ4vS4TKXYB75eRbfEKdwfLkR0sLs9uNb2zdRxipyvmTDdBm7rDMYoqaWzRvj2JzCEH5pUXpo_UhJptxdskijC6BMUKLOyC6MRFba_4D6s.7gPIXIEmV18UjG7Y4PfPnZSO55CmbaoQ0dd3yKbiQpQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+rigging+handbook&qid=1770823361&sprefix=the+rigging+handbook%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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

Refitting the huge rudder on a Hans Christian is a massive challenge. It requires pin point accuracy to position massive oversized bronze fittings precisely in line and them literally beat them with a hammer! We also have the whole drive train to rebuild with a new Bruntons prop with blades that swing through a large area forward and backward when we reverse, so will we be able to position that with room to swing in the small aperture we have between the rudder and the hull? There's jeopardy right until the end of this episode when I nearly have to launch without Judy... hope you like the film! 🎵 Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Hold On, I'm Comin' by Sam & Dave, https://t.lickd.co/l/ADyAvZk4Qm0 Use this link to get 15% off any Sunsail holiday: https://www.sunsail.com/uk/offers/sailing-fair-isle-offer.

After years of problems with our many water pumps on Fair Isle, unreliability, noise and constant maintenance, we were impressed when we came across the display of Marco pumps at METS in Amsterdam this year. They had all their pumps hooked up to pump water, lots of water! They were whisper quiet in operation, seemed to move enormous amounts of water with great pressure and had no flimsy rubber and plastic parts. These are 'gear pumps' made with bronze gears, no rubber diaphragms that have to be bashed up and down by cams until they self destruct! We don't accept payment for producing these review type videos as we think that would turn us into salespeople, but we did get a deal on this pump from Marco at the show so YT require us to reflect that and tick the promotions box. In all honesty, we would have bought one of these pumps in any case. We may not have gone for the biggest model as we do have to watch our spending and these pumps are not cheap. But we have been through four pumps in 9 years on Fair Isle have had to buy boxes of spares in between to keep them running, so that adds up to a significant expense as well. Also, we have had 9 years of having to put up with noisy inefficient pumps so frankly we wish we had spent the money earlier. You may have seen in the episode when we fitted this pump that it detected there was a problem with the boat's system. Air was somehow getting in to the system at the manifold and was being fed to the pump. This had probably contributed to some of the problems we had had in the past so it's good that the Marco pump is clever enough to show there is a problem. It seems gear pumps are more sensitive to air getting into the system and the pump will shut down and give you a warning light. This allowed me to find the problem, a stuck one way valve on the outlet of our water manifold, and fix it ( I just removed it, the Marco pump doesn't need it.) It also doesn't need the accumulator which is good because that's just another thing to go wrong. We are on our second. So If you're fed up with inferior pumps then Marco is a great option. Marco Pumps: https://www.marco.it/