Missing Jessie...

One month to go before the Southampton boat show - yikes! This is Kit blogging as Jess is away with the boys in the french Alps... So forgive the drop in quality! I've spent most of the last week bolting deck fittings and chainplates down onto the beautiful Kebony laid deck. Like so many jobs they always take longer than you think. Below deck we have an electrical wizard - Jamie Marley from Marley Marine helping us and Graeme Hawksley from Hybrid Marine will be here towards the end of the week to install his Hybrid engine systems. So, I'm hoping the next week will show a great leap forwards towards being Show ready. The prop has arrived from Darglow - and she's a real beauty - at 17" diameter it is well over sized but being a feathering prop it shouldn't affect our sailing speed too much and when it comes to regeneration it should perform well. Other news is the mast which has arrived from Selden and looks great - complete with LED nav lights by LOPOLIGHTS which are very cool looking and super efficient.

When Jess returns refreshed and relaxed (with four slightly wild boys I'm not so sure) after her alpine adventure I hope she will be impressed by our progress with Calypso... I can't wait!

The hybrid donkey arrives

Much excitement this week as the hybrid engine arrived courtesy of Graeme Hawksley at Hybrid Marine. As we come to terms with how much power our system (including propeller, wind turbines and solar panels) should be able to pump out we are realising that we have to rethink the whole way we develop Calypso. The latest debate has involved how to cook, now we're thinking of ditching the idea of gas and going electric instead. We can boil water efficiently using a quooker (a clever little immersion heater) and we're even thinking of having a microwave! That might sound extravagent on a 32 foot boat but if we're creating the energy ourselves it could be the way to go and certainly electric is a lot safer than gas on a boat.

To hybrid or not to hybrid?

Not long ago we all sat down around Jeremy and Fiona's kitchen table and did a good job of convincing ourselves that we didn't want a hybrid engine. There would be constant drag with the prop spinning we thought, and anyway, the brief was to keep things simple. Then Graeme Hawksley from Hybrid Marine came into the yard and quietly but very convincingly explained why we definitely do want a hybrid engine. He allayed our fears about a constantly spinning prop (we can feather it when it's not needed which won't affect performance when racing) and we can integrate it with the solar and wind systems, helping to keep things simple. The truth is, electric is way things are going in the car industry and it's going to be true of boating too, so we might as well lead the way!