History of my ship "Selene" / Plans with the ship

Hier gibt es diesen Beitrag in Deutsch

On SteemIt exists a really nice association of sailors. It was not formed by itself, but was created by the user: @ankapolo and bears the name knOt.

At first I didn't really know what I should think of it, probably because I was within the first members.

Anyway, @ankapolo asked me if I could tell something about my ship “Selene” so that he could do a little introduction about the members of knOt.

First: I don't know much about the history of the ship, but I'll give you what I do know;)

The small Dufour (35ft long, 3.40m beam, 1.85m draft, 4.8t weight) was launched in 1981 with hull number 66. There are different specifications, but I suspect about 240 hulls of this type were built. There are 2 hull versions. An on-shore and an off-shore version.

According to the drawings, the on-shore version looks like this:

Immediately noticeable is the machine, which is installed astern at the ship. This means that there is no real aft cabin, rather only 2 sleeping niches. On the starboard side, the end of the sleeping accommodation is also used for the navigator.

Here is a comparison of the off-shore version:

The difference is obvious. The machine has been moved midships, making room for a rather large aft cabin. The navigator also deserves its name now. In addition, there is now a washbasin and plenty of storage in the aft cabin. The machine is located below the sofa in the saloon, so practically no space is lost. In addition, it is complete accessible from 3 sides (top, right, front) and from behind through a large door.

Selene is the off-shore version.

About the history of the ship:

• The oldest piece of paper tells that the ship was registered on August 17, 1982 under the name "Kanina". The home port was Hamburg and the owner was from West Germany (we are still in the time before the German reunification).

1981, La Rochelle/France, shipyard of Dufour S. A.

• On May 27th 1987, the ship was transferred to the "loose-leaf system" in the register of shipping.

• The next date is April 16th 1991, when the ship was transferred to a community of three owners under the name "Calvados" in the register of shipping.

Yes, "Calvados."

(Source: Wikipedia)

• It continues at January 5th 2001, when 1/3 of the ship got a new owner. In principle, the whole thing consists of only a treaty and the corresponding change in the register of shipping.

• On November 15th 2016, I contacted the seller and made an appointment for an inspection. The appointment was planned on November 1st.

A brief excursion: If you have never bought a ship before, nowadays you will go and ask the "all-knowing, all-seeing Trash Heap":

(Source: http://muppet.wikia.com)

Of course I mean Google & Co. What you read there: test sailing, bilge, underwater ship, smell, engine, hinges, repairs, fraud, cheating, broker, assessor, etc. etc. Also the instructions "What do I have to pay attention to, when I buy a ship"

This you can actually forget

They are rather written in a way that nobody can come and say: "I bought my ship according to your instructions and came a cropper".

In my opinion you should have chartered a few years on different (older) ships. And very important! If something breaks, then do not immediately call the charter company or give up, but try to repair it with things you have on board or will/may get in the next port. This will give you a certain basic understanding of the function of the components on a ship.

So I went to Hamburg and took my expert (Claudi) with me. I knew that I would look mainly at the technical aspects, but Claudi will have her eye on the whole package and what one could make out of it. Arriving in the hall, I was immediately thrilled by the condition of the hull. Although it was only cleaned, it was in a really good condition. So we checked the next 2 hours every possible hatches and boxes. Also things which should be renewed were discussed. I didn't see mast and sails, but since the sails had to be renewed, I didn't have to. Anyway, the ship is old, well maintained, so important parts have been already renewed (diesel and water tank, water catcher were made from stainless steel etc. pp.), but it has not been modernized much. I didn't care much about that, because I knew anyway that if I want to cross the Atlantic ocean, then I have to adapt a lot.

So I talked with Claudi about it for a long time and agreed to the purchase on November 2nd. So no test sailing and so on:

gut instinct - you can rely on that more than you can imagine!

So on December 2nd 2016 I signed the contract and picked the ship up from Hamburg in beginning of April 2017. On June 12th 2017 (my birthday!) I got the certificate from the ship register that I am now the owner. The ship is mine and I am allowed set the German flag.

Since then the ship bears the name "Selene", the moon goddess of Greek mythology:

(Source: Wikipedia)

I chose this name because I love to sail at night. There's another reason, but I'll keep that one to myself ;)

Like I mentioned in the text above: "I bought the ship because I am planning a longer work-break for a couple of years now. In that time I want to sail to the Caribbean sea, and of course also back again! The start date is August 8th 2019. For about 1.5 years I planned the project single handed, but I always kept myself the option to do this as a couple. That happened, when I met Claudi - but that's a story for an other time.

That's the reason why I created this blog. I want to document the project from scratch. Therefore the first posts are very technical and show a lot about alterations. But the blog will show more and more about actual sailing in the future.

Of course I also plan to document the 12 to 14 months at the Atlantic as detailed as possible - just as the internet connection allows it.

If anyone is interested in the project, you are welcome to register here at the newsletter. I do not send newsletters, there is only a short notification if post a new article.

so long,
Martin

Segler auf Steem? Knot!