Bendigedig # 17 – All Systems Go Preparing For Start on August 26th

Everything is now being driven by final preparations for my start date of
26th August. One of the biggest tasks is victuling, also known as shopping
for all the food. You can’t commit too early as you need your stores to
have as long a shelf life as possible, however you do need some idea of
the “volume”, to make sure that you have some idea of how and where you are
going to pack everything on your boat.

I have been very fortunate in having most of my ship’s stores sponsored by
my daughter Elizabeth and her boyfriend Luke. Earlier in the year they
committed to an ultra marathon on the Jurassic Coast. They raised a huge
£1,500 and both finished on the podium, Lizzy on the top step, awesome
achievement.

I’m heading off this evening, 23rd June for some sea trials. Testing some
of the new systems installed over the past month, in particular the
charging upgrade for the new batteries. For the techies, I have gone for an
external regulation of my alternator. The modifications to the
alternator were carried out by Ed Shires of Four Counties Marine Services,
and the Mastervolt Alpha Pro was supplied by Diverse Performance Systems.

You can follow me on the link below, or on any AIS/Marine Tracking app you
may already have on your phone.

forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Bendigedig

I will be relying on picking up a mobile signal to update this tracking.
Otherwise I would need to activate my Iridium SIM card for satellite comms,
however I’m conserving what little funds I have left to make sure I do make
it to the start line on the 26th August.

Other key items I need to complete before departing from West Wales around
the 9th August are

– Medical Kit
– Rationalise Spare Parts
– Documentation
– Paper Charts
– Clothing
– Music

A huge thanks to all who have helped, supported, encouraged and
enthused about my adventure to date. Believe me I would not be anywhere
near as ready without your input.

Dafydd 🙂