Preparation

1988 Dehler 34 Top Nova, the Slender Delta was bought in Northern Ireland during the winter 2009-2010. Thanks to the helpfulness and camaraderie of previous owner, she lies at Killyleagh, East Down Yacht Club, and is being prepared for a Viking Quest sailing trip from Northern Ireland through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness and on across the North Sea, through the Skagerrak & Kattegat to the Baltic and her daughter, Helsinki, and on further East along the Gulf of Finland, eventually to Pernaja, Backstenstrand. The people at E.D.Y.C have been great - extremely friendly and helpful. I will not name anyone here for privacy reasons but the ones deserving a particular mention will know who they are.

During the winter she was given a new royal blue faux suede interior to freshen up the dull greyish interior that no doubt was very fashionable when the boat was launched in 1988. The curtains, at least, could be dyed. She is the Top Nova -version with a white, rather than traditional mahogany bulkheads and surfaces. That means a more light interior for this relatively small space that even a traditionalist can learn to appreciate, especially with the royal blue cushions!

Just before the tidal launch, which was a new experience for a Baltic Boy, she got a royal blue anti-fouling on the hull, which according to the previous owner who was, again very helpfully, in charge at the launch, looked better than he had expected. Well, the fish will either agree or disagree - we won't be seeing much of it during the trip, hopefully.

Interior lights got some new energy-saving LED-bulbs and some wiring was re-done to replace less reliable cables and contacts. The ever-so-crucial navigating lights got a new connection too, to rectify an on-off situation that puzzled us for a while. A radar was fitted too, the radome of which on a pole at the stern, supported by two stays and a rigid bar on the stern railing. The second hand radar monitor unfortunately eats up quite a lot of space on the navigating table, but for that bulky object, that was deemed the only possible location. All essential instruments were already there and working, including a fresh Garmin plotter. On the less important entertainment side, there's now also a new Fusion ipod-gobbling radio/music player that replaced a trusty and rusty old panasonic that had clearly been there since 1988.

Frantic preparation is at an advanced stage but one can seemingly never do enough and get everything done. A solid boat that has mostly been club-raced rather than cruised, for a voyage like ours, needs a careful, closer look: worn gooseneck pinion hole, damaged Tuff Luff groove - one groove will not be enough on a long trip because there needs to be at least 2 options of everything that is crucial, sealing of instruments coming off, allowing moisture to get in, a loose screw here and there and some requiring a bigger screw, floating MOB lights requiring work on contacts and obviously fresh batteries. Speaking of batteries, two new ones - a 105Ah deep cycle Leisure battery for the instruments and another biggish starter battery for cranking the 27 hp diesel, which 'purrs real harasho', were fitted and the old ones given maintenance (distilled water, Granville BatAid tablets and a slow charge) and taken along for backup.

What sort of provisions, how much and where they'll fit could easily be a chapter of its own. The water tank obviously needed chlorinating, but still, all drinking water will be boiled - we cannot afford to be unwell, or the watch roster will be torn to shreds. We'll have a jolly crew of maybe 5 to Inverness, 4 across the North Sea and 6 from Denmark on. The minds are already focused to the tidal streams, tides and timing of arrival at the mouth of the Caledonian Canal in Corpach, some time during the coming Sunday, we hope. But preparation is not advanced by writing blogs, so...