Errance
Errance is the name of the sailing vessel that I will be traveling in for the next few months. It was custom-built in 1996 by Sinek Yachts, located in Graham, WA (!) and it is one of two replicas of a 1970s model called the "Antarctica;" it was special-requested and purchased by a fellow who wanted to sail to Antarctica. It is 44-foot long, and is a cutter, which means that it has a single mast with rigging for a main, a jib, and a genoa sail. Because of its intended destination, it has an aluminum hull (heavier and stronger than fiberglass), and all the parts were built a little larger than normal to handle the extreme conditions (e.g. the shrouds are 1 or 2 mm thicker than typical).
The hull of the boat is an unpainted gray, and the off-white deck is covered with an assortment of gear, including a small inflatable motor boat and 5 solar panels. Since the boat was built in America, its circuitry is all 110V and can't be directly charged by the 220V outlets in the European marinas, but the solar panels are actually sufficient to keep the boat's two batteries charged.
The main cabin of the boat is split cross-wise between the kitchen and a large dining area. Along the port side is all of the electronic equipment -- radar, GPS, laptop, CD player, etc.. The head is near the bow of the boat, and there is a full shower next to it. There is no desalinator on board, but the boat has two water tanks that hold a combined 300 gallons of water. There are two sleeping quarters on the boat, one at the bow, and one at the stern. I am staying in the one in the stern, which is much calmer than the bow.
The original name of the boat was "Voyou," which means "hoodlum" in French. According to Robert, the original owner was something of a hoodlum as well, and Robert re-christened the boat to its current name when he purchased it in 1999. The first owner did sail to Antarctica in this boat as well as many other places in South America. It was in Chile that he and Robert met. The Errance has since been all around the Atlantic Ocean, up and down the east coast of America, all around Europe, as far north as Spitzberg, and as far south as Trinidad.
The destinations for Errance in the near future include: Madeira, Canary Islands, Mauritania, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Brazil, Argentina, and possibly Antarctica. Robert plans to be in Argentina by next May and will evaluate whether or not he wants to take on Antarctica in the fall.
I will put some pictures of Errance up soon.
The hull of the boat is an unpainted gray, and the off-white deck is covered with an assortment of gear, including a small inflatable motor boat and 5 solar panels. Since the boat was built in America, its circuitry is all 110V and can't be directly charged by the 220V outlets in the European marinas, but the solar panels are actually sufficient to keep the boat's two batteries charged.
The main cabin of the boat is split cross-wise between the kitchen and a large dining area. Along the port side is all of the electronic equipment -- radar, GPS, laptop, CD player, etc.. The head is near the bow of the boat, and there is a full shower next to it. There is no desalinator on board, but the boat has two water tanks that hold a combined 300 gallons of water. There are two sleeping quarters on the boat, one at the bow, and one at the stern. I am staying in the one in the stern, which is much calmer than the bow.
The original name of the boat was "Voyou," which means "hoodlum" in French. According to Robert, the original owner was something of a hoodlum as well, and Robert re-christened the boat to its current name when he purchased it in 1999. The first owner did sail to Antarctica in this boat as well as many other places in South America. It was in Chile that he and Robert met. The Errance has since been all around the Atlantic Ocean, up and down the east coast of America, all around Europe, as far north as Spitzberg, and as far south as Trinidad.
The destinations for Errance in the near future include: Madeira, Canary Islands, Mauritania, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Brazil, Argentina, and possibly Antarctica. Robert plans to be in Argentina by next May and will evaluate whether or not he wants to take on Antarctica in the fall.
I will put some pictures of Errance up soon.
posted by james at 10:19 PM
6 Comments:
hey, you almost sound like you know what you are talking about with all that boat speak!
I'm so jealous.
Photos would be great! My question is whether you can run Vista on solar panels though...
Unlike Ashley, at least when James goes away he does it properly, he doesn't keep comming back!
hey! that's not nice David. :P
where is the bar?
Hey,
Tough looking ship.
We saw you and your boat last week in the Whitsundays (Whitehaven and later Stonehaven).
we were on a 32 ft bareboat catalina taking our first steps in sailing.
Of all the sailing glitter on show in the whitsundays - your boat was the only one that caught our eye.
Would love to see any photo's you could post.
Happy sailing
richard_hurl@hotmail.com
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