Goodbye Ocean Deva

Full Moon

The last weeks seem to have flown by at such an incredible rate with so much that has been happening in a time with so many changes. It has therefore been a little difficult to keep up with our regular Ocean Deva updates from our sailing adventure so our apologies for this late story.

As you probably know, we have decided to end our blue water cruising days and return to a terrestrial lifestyle for a variety of reasons. In a nutshell, after having spent almost 6 years continually living on Ocean Deva, we thought it was time to move on and do some of the things that we could not do with our gypsy lifestyle on a sailing boat.

Waterlemon Bay

The challenge of being able to get safely to where we wanted to sail to, only depending on our own skills, knowledge and courage is probably the most rewarding experience of a sailing life. Looking back, we find it is hard to believe that we did what we did, considering the limited experience we had at our starting point. We have become older and wiser, but in some ways, we still feel like complete novices on the water.

Experiences are an amazing part of life, but we have found that it is not a panacea in itself and what is more important are the relationships that we have with family and friends. Relationships take time and if we are “away sailing” then we cannot always give that time which is needed to build and grow important relationships and friendships.

Having said this, our adventures will not stop, but on the contrary, there are still many things that we want to do, including; building an ecological house in France, growing our own food, writing a book, diving, sailing, surfing, fishing, skiing, improving fitness, exploring some of the remaining corners of this beautiful world that we live in and enjoying life to the full - this simple plan, we think and should keep us fully occupied for the rest of our lives !

The “Last Days” of our sailing time were spent mainly around the British and US Virgin Islands (yes, there could be worse places to hang out.) We were literally hanging out, as we needed to be close to St Thomas for the transportation of Ocean Deva back to Europe, but as the date of loading kept changing, we just had to remain at anchor in one of the many beautiful bays in the area, until we got the call for loading.

Part of the problem was that Mr. Trump was just announcing his 50% tariffs on imported products, whilst our transportation vessel, heading for numerous US ports, was bringing in luxury yachts from Europe. This caused some delays and the progress of our vessel, as owners and importers had to adjust to the changes in taxes and duties that were suddenly being applied.

For us, as the weather changed and the wind switched from North to South and back from South to North, we swapped between the different bays on the leeward (wind shaded) side of the islands. The marina in St Thomas was over $200/day, and not so attractive, so we remained in the national parks where the daily cost was only $26/day and we were happier to be in nature, rather than in civilisation.

We enjoyed our days swimming, snorkelling and relaxing as we knew that busy times were ahead. We met up with other sailing friends who were enjoying the same bays and we even organised a night time lobster hunt.

The hunt was great fun, but we ended up eating prawns that originated from the freezer as our skills in the harvesting of natural resources was not very impressive. However, it must be noted that the number of lobsters caught was not zero but we had to let the one undersized lobster that we caught go free.

Although we received bi-weekly updates to where our transportation vessel was located and its expected time of arrival in St Thomas, the schedule was flexible and ever changing with additional stops being added as the ship progressed.

Easy Life

Finally, with the ship on the way from its last port in Aruba, we were notified that the vessel was only a few days away from a certain arrival at St. Thomas, so we made the 3-hour journey to the marina a little ahead of time. This enabled us to take down the sails and make the boat ready for its ocean crossing back to Europe at a relaxed pace.

We were given our loading time slot for 15:00 and told to be ready and close to the vessel about 30 minutes earlier so that we could be instructed in the direction we should be facing as we drew alongside. As we came to our required position, long straps were dropped from the deck 20m above which Ingrid tied to our cleats. The ship’s crew scrambled down rope ladders on the side of the ship to our vessel and helped to make her ready for lifting.

The Diver

A diver placed straps below the boat and our back stays were removed to give place for the overhead crane. Once all was ready and in place the boat was hoisted out of the water and before we knew it, we were on level with the deck of the ship. Here we climbed over the railings of our boat and over the railings of the ship, leaving our boat to be hoisted from the side to the top deck. This little transfer from boat to ship seemed like quite fun for me, but I was informed that for someone who has vertigo, this was a major exercise of courage and resolve.

On deck, the boat was rested on the keel and supported with a cradle that was welded into position and heavy-duty straps were attached from the deck to the boat for extra stability and support.

The back stays were replaced to support the mast and all loose items were either tied down or locked away.

We left the ship, waved goodbye and prepared for our own journey back to Europe, knowing that we would meet again in IJmuiden in about 2 weeks-time.

We returned first to the UK to make some family visits, then Croatia to meet our new grandson and finally back to the Netherlands for more family visits and to be re-united with Ocean Deva.

The unloading was just a reverse process of loading and at 18:00 we were the very last boat to be discharged on the day of the ship’s arrival in Ijmuiden. From the unloading port we headed for the marina, just 5 minutes away. Here we docked for the night and replaced our back stays and prepared ourselves to be ready for the final step to Medemblik.

Customs and excise ran smoothly and we were very pleased that our boat’s “VAT Paid” status was unchanged and the starter battery had plenty of power remaining to start the engine after 3 weeks of being idle and with no external sources for a voltage top up.

Winter clothes again

Early the following day, with a cold north wind blowing, we were dressed in clothes that we had not worn for a number of years and headed off towards Medemblik via the North Sea Canal, sailing through down town Amsterdam. Passing through shipping locks and stopping Amsterdam rush hour traffic as we needed the bridges to open up and let our tall mast through. We were priority for at least 10 minutes after the hour and if we were not at the right place at the right time, then we would have to wait for another hour for our next opportunity to pass under the bridge. The priority returning to the roads that were filled with Dutch commuters streaming into Amsterdam.

Happy but cold !

From the North Sea Canal, we passed into the shallow waters of The Markenmeer, where we needed to keep in the buoyed channels as we did not want to get stuck in the mud on the last leg of our journey home. Passing the locks of Enkhuizen into the IJsselmeer, we were almost home, with only a few more hours to the Regatta Centre. Arriving in the late afternoon on a sunny but cool day, we had returned to our starting town of Medemblik. Nothing there had changed, but we were different people !

We chose the Regatta Centre as our marina, as the facility had a crane with a lifting capacity of 20 tons. A boat lift out of the water for survey inspection needed to be done before the boat would be accepted by the new owners.

We discovered that the crane was at its limit with a 20-ton load and as they were unsure of our actual total weight, they did not even want to try to lift us out. We were therefore obliged to move our location to the Contest Boatyard, where there was a sufficiently sturdy crane to do the work.

Here we were back in the exact same berth as our starting point where we originally bought our boat, which was quite a coincidence that we really did not expect. However, the clock was ticking with a survey and expected boat sale within a week and our need to pack up our last 6 years of living, move off the boat, clean and prepare the boat for a handover.

We worked like dogs, from morning ‘till night with all that we had to do but we finally accomplished all that was required.

Part of the preparation for the boat survey was to allow the surveyor access to all parts of the boat. This does not mean just opening cupboards, but we had to open and empty cupboards and storage areas. Under the storage areas and behind cupboards was the frame of the boat structure and potential areas where water, if present, could accumulate. All these areas which were designed in times when child labour was not frowned upon needed to be fully accessible. This was quite a task in itself and quite a few kg of equipment (spare anchors etc.) needed to be moved out.

Haul Out for survey

One surprise benefit was that I stumbled across a stash of wine and port that we bought in Portugal and totally forgot about. Bottle after bottle came out of this little storage area from which we recovered over 25 bottles that had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, cruised around the Caribbean Sea for 3 years and then returned across the Atlantic Ocean to The Netherlands.  This little windfall was shared with the surveyor (it was his fault that we found it), the prospective boat buyer, the broker and the rest had kept us going in good wine to date – though we are getting close to the end now and we will need to replenish our stocks when we get to Portugal.

Most things (except for a few bottles of wine) were left on the boat for the new owners, but we still managed to unload about 200 kg of personal effects. We have always tried to be quite minimalistic, yet we were amazed on how much “stuff” we actually had accumulated.

This weight equates to about 20 “house moving” type boxes and you may or may not be thinking what we will do with them – we certainly were desperately trying to think what to do. Considering that we have just returned from a 6 year project, are planning to build a house in France, have an empty house in Portugal and do not have a home in the Netherlands – and less than a week to get organised ! Being practical is always the best option and so the boat contents were divided up into “France” and “Portugal” for what we would need sooner (bedding clothes etc.) and what we would not need until later (diving gear, fishing gear, sailing clothes, etc.).

Fortunately, we have some very kind friends with an apartment in Den Haag and a garage that is just too small for their large Audi SUV. The problems of some people are to the benefit of others as this garage is an ideal location to store our boxes until they can be sent onto their required destinations. In addition, we happen to have the keys to their flat so we have a place to rest our weary and hard-working bones, on a short term basis, until we are organised and Barbara and Jerry return. Life is better with friends.

One additional point to take away from this story – should you ever be considering buying a garage that is not a part of your house. It is not just simply to measure the size of your car and garage but also to consider the space taken up by the roll up door, especially to the available height of the garage.

Dutch Ocean Deva

Finally, the boat was sold after the survey and we said our sad goodbyes and look forwards to the next exciting and ever varied stage of our lives. Ocean Deva will live on, with a new Dutch Flag and Dutch owners who we wish fair winds, happy and safe sailing.

This will be the last Ocean Deva Blog from us, but we may come back with a second series of blogs to entertain you. I am sure there will be many interesting and amusing stories of eco house building and self-sufficiency in France;

“A new life in The Dordogne”, “Endless Summer”, “An Ordinary Life after Sailing”, “The pitfalls of modern day self-sufficiency and making your own wine “, “How to be plant based when they only sell cheese, sausage and foie gras”  ... I am sure we will find the right story title soon !

We wish you warm and sunny days with good health and lots of love in your lives. Thank you for following us so far, we have enjoyed sharing our stories and look forwards to sharing a few more of our domestic adventures that are yet to come. We hope we have inspired you to live a little more out of your comfort zone and enjoy every moment in this amazing world we live in.

Best

Ingrid & Peter