A big thank you to Mardi Sheryl and Steve for their huge contribution to this repaint refit. We are preparing the boat for our cruise to Tasmania.

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If you have refrigeration on your boat you can use Ice making during the day, when you will have solar power to reduce the load on your ships batteries. Storing energy as ice to keep your ice box cold over night will reduce the power drain on the batteries This means they will last longer and/or you can have less battery capacity on board. I describe two methods I use on board to reduce the power consumption over night.

Mardi is doing her nails and has to do Lucy's plus this cat stealing food from the oven. This is no dumb cat! Have a look for yourself. Enjoy

Storm damage to the front of our boat from the April 15 storms that hit Sydney. Approximately 6 boats broke away from their moorings and one hit our boat.

Relaxing in Porto Bay

The shower/dinette/office area and our new generator.

In this video I explain how to cut down a slightly larger mainsail to fit a smaller rig layout. For more information please contact me directly. The full written procedure is available to customers free of charge. This is a video summary for your information. Thanks for your interest and if you have any questions or feed back, it is always welcome.

Its a beautiful day and we are having a bit of lunch on our way to Sydney Australia. This is our first major cruise shortly after launching. The boat has a temporary mast just over 6m long that we made up ourselves from 2 pieces of mast section, sleeved in the middle and erected on the beach at Southwest Rocks. We used 6 hand swagged wires.

Sail Repair. Do it yourself using sticky-back sail cloth (2.2oz insignia cloth) and spray glue. For more DIY sail repair and alteration methods see my video on "DIY mainsail cut-down". I have developed these methods to create low cost sails for our low cost boat. If you are looking for good value secondhand sails, repaired and ready for service, please down-load a copy of my latest list of used sails. I can often bring sails to Sydney for pickup at Brooklyn NSW 2083 or can quote you freight Australia wide. Here is the link to my facebook page "Sailing Happy Loving Life" where you will find the link for the downloadable list of sails; https://www.facebook.com/SailingHappyLovingLife/ Thanks for your interest. I look forward to helping you. Alan Barber 0408020258

Living on board a sail boat like you were on land has some challenges to be overcome. Mardi, in the bathroom, getting ready for work. Washing, ironing and hair fixing are areas where she has come up with solutions. We are continually trying new methods, some fail some work. Mardi works in Interior design and decoration so she has great ideas and energy. Energy on board is important if you want it to be like home. We will cover this topic in future videos as well as many more. Thanks for your feed back if you are among those who have given. It is a valued contribution. Thank you very much! Here is Mardi's business; http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mardisinteriorsolutions.com.au%2F&ei=Vj5gU6-wFofQkQWWsoHgCQ&usg=AFQjCNHLBTTx0XWN0nDeYRGUs9zWPEdYwQ&sig2=RLFvk_PvS9nOzS4tlqmGaA&bvm=bv.65397613,d.dGI&cad=rja

DIY piston hank removal. The retaining lug is easily broken off when removing piston hanks from a sail. Here is how to do it so you can reuse the piston hanks on another sail. Comments and questions welcome. Thanks for watching.

James Wharram Tangaroa 35' home built Catamaran. This boat is a traditional style of Catamaran. It was designed so the average handyman could build a boat and go sailing. The design dates back to the 1950's so I have made a few changes such as added a centerboard and a bit more cabin space to accommodate a few more comforts. I hope you are inspired to get into sailing. I created this video using some used and some new footage from our archives. We would like you to join us on our future cruises so feel free to subscribe to the Channel. Thanks for watching. Alan and Mardi

Wharram Tangaroa 35' catamaran (modified Mk4). Spinnaker run by Mardi.That perfect sail, holidays in Dec 2012 means sailing adventure!

Wharram Tangaroa 35' modified Mk4 with a central centerboard. Catamaran sailing on the wind in Broken Bay Sydney Australia. Kieran Barber at the helm working to windward.

Showing some of the technical detail of our low tech home built Catamaran "the mobile beach house". We have most of the comforts of home powered by 300 watts of solar panels: fridge, freezer, pressure water system, 240 volts AC for the computer and entertainment system, gas stove, double bunk, and the shower/dinette/video lounge/office/single bunk/workshop multipurpose area.

Motor sailing to windward with 2 reefs in the mainsail. We are trying to get back to the mooring before it gets too dark, so the motor is adding a few extra knots to our speed. The boat is doing around 10 knots in 20 to 30 knots of wind with double reef..

Rig up and sail the sailing dinghy, also my tender for our live-aboard catamaran. Launch off the big boat. I have cut down a VS mainsail with full length battens for the adult sail. It's got serious horsepower and makes for a bit of sport. The smaller sail is the colored one in the video. It is about half the area and will be ok for the grand kids to learn to sail with, if they want to. Some of my most memorable times cruising have been sailing around a coral island in a dinghy. Calm waters, gentle breeze, no noisy motor, you blend in with the environment. I have seen so much more marine life this way; large and small fish, sharks, stingrays, squid, turtles etc. Many of these creatures are quite shy and this is the secret to getting up close.

With full sails up we encounter a few gusts after entering Pittwater, Sydney. Wharram cats don't usually have a centerboard so we are adjusting our technique on a steep learning curve. The boat suddenly accelerates and starts to lean over in this video. I abort my walking around and jump back to the helm and start rounding to bow up into the wind to slow the boat down. It is the first real test of the centerboard and the boat is behaving more like an off-the-beach-cat. It is just a little more excitement than we are used to! The Admiral declares we are going too Fast and she was right! Feedback always welcome and thanks for looking.

Sailing towards Broken Bay NSW in the Hawkesbury River. Like many owner built boats, its a work in progress....We have the basics working and can live aboard for a few weeks in relative comfort. The centerboard has made a huge improvement to the windward performance which was basically a joke before.