Adrift !

About a year ago, when I was planning a longer trip which we have not yet made, I started to research parachute sea-anchors, as the route I had in mind would take us quite far off shore into some potentially stormy waters. Having established a preference I asked the manufacturer for a reference, which I thought was quite reasonable as I could be staking my life - and those of the crew - on the damn thing. They sent me a short paragraph about the device written Steve Callahan.  For those of you who don't know, Steve Callahan has a distinguished sailing CV which encompassed sailing a boat he designed and built himself across the Atlantic, and then making an epic 76 day trip back in the life raft following the loss of the yacht. I am by nature a bit sceptical, and was eager to make sure that the review wasn't just the edited highlights.  So I emailed him on the basis of cat look at king. He sent a very gracious and a very helpful reply, which gave me confidence to go ahead an buy the sea anchor - which is a whole other forth coming attraction.... 

So when I came across his book 'Adrift' I snapped it up.

As far as I  know this is no longer in print, but is to my mind one of the keystones of the modern sailing canon; it combines a gripping tale with a wealth of detail which long distance sailors would be wise to commit to memory. Refreshingly for a sailing book, the style it both literate and flowing, and it is clear that his most important asset was fortitude. 

My special sail batten tool

This

This is my new sail batten tool. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
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Many thanks to Jonathan at JKA Sailmakers for not only making this for me but also providing an ad-hoc short course on how to properly insert (and remove) sail batten to pocket and fix with velcro.

Torches on Annabella - Wolf Safety Lamps

We've been using these right angle torches manufactured by Wolf Safety Lamps for about 5 years now, both on Annabella and her predecessor (Papillon) They have a robust body which is self coloured yellow so easy to find, belt / pocket clip and an attachment ring at the top end and a wrist loop at the base. They are water resistant and are ATEX compliant, so they are safe to use in Cat 2 explosive environments. Overall, very good kit which is very well designed.
We used to carry two for general use, but have just upgraded to 2 new LED white light and have changed the lens to the previous incandescent torches to red, hence two red torches for use at night.
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I suppose its a testament to the product that we originally had three, but one of our visitors found it hard to let go of the one they were using.