PicoMicroYacht Safety Devices

I have made a short video of the safety devices used on PicoMicroYacht, including navigation aids. This excludes the radio, automatic identification system and depth finder, mentioned in the recent post 'PicoMicroYacht's Shortest Voyage.'

Living on Board the PicoMicroYacht

I have slept on the PicoMicroYacht three times. 

I used an existing tent, a purpose made boom tent not so suitable for PicoMicroYacht. For a bed-board I used the dagger plate, which worked better than might be expected.

Putting up the tent required being off the boat, and on each occasion I assembled it from a marina pontoon.

The lock-down is giving me plenty of time to think, and I realised I could adopt a more flexible system if I used a bivy tent, which would enable me to assemble it whilst being on the boat.

I chose the Snugpak Stratosphere tent, which is reasonably priced and well designed. It has two small poles at the head end, which keeps the tent fabric off your head, an important luxury. A ‘side entry’ makes it possible to get into it whilst on the PicoMicroYacht.

I also made some light wooden boards that are supported by  the rowing frame and provide a deck for the tent. 

The video above shows me trying it out in my garden. When making the video it felt eerily quiet, deserted - the Stones have released a new single expressing this thought, called 'Living in a Ghost Town,' the best they have done in ages. But I have found friends around me are creating a virtual town instead.

PicoMicroYacht's Shortest Voyage

I am locked down and landlocked. I have managed, however, to slide PicoMicroYacht through the garden gate and assemble the rig for my 'Shortest Voyage' (see the video below). But the pull of the sea remains.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

Bryn Terfel singing John Masefield's Sea Fever

Video: PicoMicroYacht's Shortest Voyage