Delivery Update #5

Holy cow - they're really motoring, or should I say sailing.  It seems almost surreal to see the track progressing across the map on a daily basis...

January 24  0811GMT  N23 11.781  W35 26.157  (194 nm)
January 24  1503GMT  N22 57.170  W36 19.416  (  51 nm)
January 26  0717GMT  N21 58.111  W41 22.945  (287 nm)
January 27  2045GMT  N20 52.736  W46 12.599  (277 nm)

Over these last few days they've been averaging 7-8 knots which is a good cruising speed but not pushing the boat too hard.

Registration Frustration

Trying to wrap up the Canadian registration today and it really is a process designed for Canadian built commercial vessels.  I'm sure it all works fine for fishing boats on the coast or for the big tankers on the lake/seaway, but for an itsy-bitsy catamaran in the Caribbean that had the audacity to be built offshore, the beaurocracy is living up to its name.

Neither of the two bills of sale that Fountaine-Pajot have supplied seem to be what Transport Canada is looking for although they haven't been able to articulate what is wrong with them.  One of them is signed and notarized on the TC form itself so I am going to send the original (praying they will return it) and hopefully convince them that this is it.  I also need to lay hands on the original builder's certificate which has not yet appeared from F-P so that is the next paper-chase.

Finally, the "Attestation de Juage" from the French Direction Generale Des Douanes et Droits Indirect Interregion de Bordeaux (say that 10 times fast) does not meet the requirements for a Measurement of Tonnage.  TC requires that the measurement is done by one of their certified measurers but when I called one listed for Europe, they laughed at me and told me that the ships they measure are used to transport boats like ours.  Now that Mowzer is almost in the Caribbean, I'm going to investigate one of the BVI measurers to see if he can go to the USVI to complete this requirement.

The good story in all of this is that John has already obtained a USVI registration for us so the boat can be brought into port.  We just need to get the Canadian side completed for our own ownership requirements.

Nice of the government to have cashed our cheque already though - hope they're enjoying the fun as much as I am.

Delivery Update #4

Well out in the Atlantic now and the updates become a series of latitude/longitude posts.  The plot really shows the progress.

January 19  1015GMT  N23 23.492  W24 55.649  (275nm)

January 20  1037GMT  N23 21.627  W27 27.134  (139nm in 24 hours)

January 21  1634GMT  N23 9.816    W29 55.353  (137nm)

January 22  1605GMT  N23 7.324    W31 55.364  (110nm)

That's 2095 nm done and 1870 nm to go!

Delivery Update #3

Mowzer's been underway now for two and half weeks and has begun the final but immense stage of crossing the Atlantic.

Here's the progress of the last week:

Jan 11 - evening - arrived in Lanzarote, Canary Islands
Jan 13 - 12 noon GMT - departed Lanzarote (ETA in St. Thomas - 3 weeks)
Jan 13 - 1529 GMT  N28 36.756  W13 50.598  (24nm)
Jan 13 - 1819 GMT  N28 17.069  W13 50.895  (20nm)
Jan 17 - 0622 GMT  N24 31.467  W20 3.609  (403nm)

I`m trying to figure out how to map out her progress - here`s my first attempt:

For this, I used a little app I found on the web that lets you take lat/long co-ordinates and track them on a Google map.  It's designed to work with Garmin GPS track logs but I just typed in the co-ordinates that the delivery crew has sent out.  Of course I have a couple of problems - I only have sporadic locations so some of the track crosses land as they came around Spain and Portugal (obviously, they didn't chase the birds but had to go the long way round!)  The second issue is that the picture is very nice and shows the track on the map, but it is not a link or app that I know how to post so I just took a 'picture' of it and posted that.

On Becoming Legal

Mowzer

OTTAWA, CANADA

This entry is actually about the registration process for a vessel in Canada...  We decided that although we could look at registering Mowzer in other countries such as the U.K., we would rather have the boat registered in Canada, Ottawa in particular.  So began the adventure of navigating the waters of Transport Canada Small Vessel Registration.

First things first, in order to leave France our new baby needed a name.  Thus began the investigation to figure out what would be involved in registration.  Once I figured out that it was Transport Canada who looks after the registration, their web-site is actually quite helpful with all forms and names of actual people to contact with questions.  For vessels that are to be registered in Ottawa we would have to go through the Toronto office, but given that there is an office in Ottawa that deals with registrations in northern waters, I decided to pick up the phone and see if I could talk through the process with a live person.  I ended up in the very capable hands of Darlene, whom it turns out is responsible for approving all names of vessels in Canada.  We had searched on the internet listings and Darlene was able to confirm for us that the names we were considering (Mowzer in particular) was available.  She even went so far as to put a hold on the name for us until we could get our paperwork completed and the fee ($250) submitted through the Toronto office.

The paperwork we've had to supply so far has included:

1. Application for Registry - with three possible names for the boat
2. Declaration of Ownership - one each for both of us since we want to set up joint ownership (notarized)
3. Appointment of Authorized Representative - who is Transport Canada going to deal with?
4. Payment of $250.00
5. Measurement of Tonnage - this one has proved a little tricky as monohulls have a specific set of measurements that can be taken to calculate the tonnage, but there are no such specifics for a multi-hull (other than a pontoon boat).  We have an "Attestation de Juage" from the Director General of something or other in Bordeaux, France, but I have a feeling that this may not be acceptable from TC's view.  We'll have to deal with this when we get to St. Thomas.
6. Builder's Certificate and Bill(s) of Sale - the originals are on their way from France and I'll forward them on to Transport Canada once they arrive.

Yikes - I hope we get this completed soon as it seems that every time I think we've met the requirements, something is not quite right.  I thought there would be quite a few boats built overseas, delivered to the Caribbean and registered in Canada, but I guess there are many more fishing vessels and such that make this a little unique for the folks in the registration office.

As an aside, we also have a registruation in the USVI, but this one was easy as John took care of all that (phew!)

Back to the Factory (oops - just kidding)

Here are some pictures we received from the factory - our first glimpse of Mowzer (the real deal!)

There's our baby!

Must Do's and Wanna Do's

Once Mowzer arrives in St. Thomas there's still some work for the intrepid CYOA crew to accomplish before she can set out on her first charters.  John has just forwarded the list to us.  Some are "must do's" before her first cruise and others are things that will be done for sure, but don't have to be done first.


Propane System - changes to factory butane system

• provide propane tanks
• LPG regulator
• LPG solenoid and switch at galley

Electrical - 110 volt

• provide end to shore cable that matches US mains
• install inverter
• connect outlets to inverter (do not connect hot water heater)
• provide and install converters for freezer and fridge to operate on 110V (and 12V DC)

Ground Tackle

• provide and install main anchor chain
• provide and install main anchor
• provide and install secondary anchor rode
• provide and install secondary anchor
• install foot switches for windlass operation (wanna do)

Electronics

• provide and install TV and DVD player (wanna do)
• provide and install chip for plotter
• provide and install remote VHF at helm (wanna do)

Electrical - 12V (all wanna do's)

• install fans in cabins and galley
• upgrade house batteries
• marry charging from both engines to all house batteries
• add switches with pilot light for freezer and fridge
• provide and install visible and audible alarms at helms for engine room flooding 

Deck

• install sun protection for helm (wanna do)
• provide and install sheet stopper and leads on coach roof for port jib sheet
• upgrade lazy jacks to be adjustable from deck level (wanna do)
• remove cast parts from end of davits, machine rough edges and re-install
• provide and install blocks and sheet stoppers as neede for davit lines
• provide and install USCG PFDs
• provide and install misc deck gear (boat hook, bucket, etc.)
• provide and install engine room fire suppression systems (wanna do)

Plumbing

• provide and install electric toilets in lieu of manual toilets (wanna do)

Interior

• provide and install door stops for all doors
• provide and install USCG approved fire extinguishers
• provide and install bell
• provide and install all galley gear, linens and other domestic items

Miscellaneous

• provide and install "No Smoking" decal
• provide and install "Do Not Step" decals on hatches
• provide and install oil polution placards in each engine room
• provide solid waste placard in galley

Tender

• provide and commission tender

Lots to get done but it should all be possible before our first visit.

Delivery Update #2

Apparently the weather is less than desirable so the crew has had to pull into Sines, Portugal for a 36 hour stopover - the seas were running too high.

They have now departed for the Canary Islands (rather than Madeira.)

Position on Jan 8 at 1806 GMT:  N34 32.245  W9 44.379

Delivery is Underway

Mowzer was built at the Fountaine-Pajot yard in La Rochelle, France.  La Rochelle is on the western coast of France about half-way down and of course this is a long way from St. Thomas.  The solution - a delivery crew.

Mowzer was actually completed and delivered to the marina for rigging and testing on December 10.  Once the boat was masted, rigged and the sails were bent on, she underwent a period of testing and tuning before being handed over to the delivery crew just prior to Christmas.  With some pretty nasty weather hitting Europe, the crew decided to wait out the weather and then finally departed from La Rochelle on December 31st.

Here's the progress so far:
Dec 31  -  1700 GMT - departed La Rochelle, France
Jan 2     -  1447 GMT - N44 2.779  W7 1.196
                  crossing the Bay of Biscay, north of Spain
Jan 4     -  stopover of 36 hours in A Coruna, Spain to avoid a warm front
                 departed in the morning for Madeira

I'll post more updates as they come in.