When I refitted the awning back onto the boat after its trip to Lostwithiel to have the engines services I noticed that some of the stitching on the awning was coming unstitched! I had visions of having to delay the start because I couldn’t get the awning sewn back. However, nothing quite so dramatic because the guys at SlikCut in Plymouth stitched it back together without anything of a fuss. Thank you to SlikCut.

If you need any awning or canvas work done I can not recommend SlikCut more highly and having used them several times before I can say that they are professional, friendly, helpful and give excellent service and value.

Tomorrow Sally and I are off to Poole to visit the RNLI MOB Guardian control room and to talk to the people that administer the MOB Gardian system.

I am really looking forward to this visit. It will allow me to fully understand how the MOBG system works so that I can explain it to fishermen that come to see the system on board.

More details on the visit when we return tomorrow evening or over the weekend.

That’s right… Stargate is back from the engine service safe and sound and I would like to thank Arthur and his team at Outboard Services and Marine in Lostwithiel for being so helpful and doing a great job in getting her back quickly and ready to go.

Now that the engines are serviced I can start to get the bo0at ready in earnest for departure. I have a list… a very long list! I am sure I don’t need all this stuff and I am even more sure it won’t all fit on so there will need to be a bit of pruning. I think I will just start to load the most important stuff first and see when the boat is full .

More details on loading and the final days to departure next week.

Today I have reached the point where I can wait no longer for sponsors and supporters to provide the things I need for the trip and so I have placed the final order.

I have had to buy 13 charts at £15 each out of my own pocket. It is sad that I haven’t found enough people to buy just one chart for me. I shall be selling them individually after the event and hopefully I will get some of that money back.

Cleaning stuff, a new handheld compass, more softwood bungs… now comes the job of fitting it all in to what is quite a small boat with very limited storage. In truth, the Merry Fisher 625 actually has a lot of storage for its size but that still doesn’t amount to a great deal when packing for 3 months away from home.

Today the Suzuki engines go in for a service. Now I know I am getting close to departure!

The boat is being put onto a trailer and taken by road to Outboard Services and Marine in Lostwithiel. I can’t deny the fact that I am a little apprehensive about the boat being moved by road… it is not without the risk that it might get damaged and that may delay the start significanly. However, it has to be done and so I shall just hold my breath until it is back on its dry berth stand tomorrow.

The Suzuki DF115 is getting it’s second service today after about 120 hours of faultless running. The DF6 is getting its first after about 10 hours after proving that it is more than capable to push my boat at 4-5 kts.

Let’s hope that it returns tomorrow unscathed.

I now have a Merry Fisher 625 with a usuable fuel capacity of 226 litres instead of the standard 136 litres! This is great news for the trip as this is the final piece in the jigsaw that was untried. Now all the major boat updates are done. Just a few bits and pieces but nothing that remains is likely to be a showstopper.

Next is that both engines get serviced by Outboard Services and Marine next week. Once that is done and all my stuff is loaded I will do one more proving trip just to make sure all is well before my departure on 24th May.

Thanks to Suzuki dealer Outboard Services and Marine, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, I now have all the necessary tanks, tubes and connectors to allow me to have an auxiliary fuel reserve available without needing to transfer fuel between tanks at sea.

I am hoping to install these over the coming few days and when I have I will post details of what I have done. Until then I have to ensure that the plan actually will work so watch this space for more info…

Today I connected up the Sea-Me RTE and all seems fine. That now completed the electronics fitment. The only remaining electronics to go on is the antenna for the MarineTrack tracking system but that is pretty much self-contained and just requires power. More on that next week I expect.

I installed Sea-Me today but didn’t have time to connect it and try it but it just needs connecting to the power and testing. I also installed the safety ladder which will allow me more of a chance at getting back on board should I fall overboard. Such a simple and relatively cheap device yet one that could be a lifesaver.

The boat had a final clean up today also in preparation for the Plymouth Sail & Power Show which is tomorrow Saturday 26-27 April. If you fancy coming down and meeting me and seeing the boat please do… I will be at the RNLI stand or walking around the show. Tell me you saw the web site please!

Sean Friday and his team today installed MOB Guardian.

MOB Guardian is superb. Designed initially for fishermen, especially those single-handing, but it is ideal for a trip such as this because it allows me to carry a tag which "talks" to a base unit on the boat. If I fall overboard then the communication link is broken and the base unit then sends a signal to the control room in Poole raising the alarm and reporting my position - all automatically. It is done via the Iridium satellite so it does not rely on the boat being in mobile phone range of land.

Here are a couple of photos of the fit…

This first one is of the two antenna… the left one is the GPS and the right is the Iridium.

This second one shows the temporary cable routing to the gland. In a permanent installation this would not use cable tie clips but it is being removed after the trip so a temporary installation was necessary.

This is the base station. The tags, or Personal Safety Devices (PSDs) are on the right. I have 2 but a permanent install can have up to 4. These PSDs "talk" to the base station and have an indicator that shows it is being heard. If the device is immersed in water or gets too far away from the base station then the alarm is sent via satellite. There is an emergency button on the PSD too in case I fall and become incapacitated.

I am delighted to be part of this roll-out of MOB Guardian and if anyone, fishermen in particular, would like to see the system installation on my boat when I visit a port near you then please either get in touch with Sean Friday via the RNLI or with me via this site. You would be very welcome and I would be delighted to show you and have a chat about how it is used etc.

Read more about MOB Guardian here