Re: Sailing higher latitudes
Peter Killen
Hi Orion,
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When we owned Pure Magic (433) we sailed her from Ireland to Antarctica and back. We had an eberspacher heater fitted from new and apart from it breaking down for one 24 hour period (due to a leak in the fuel line) it worked 24 hours per day faultlessly. When not working, the temperature plummeted and it was intensely cold. Our air-conditioning system could not cope. We never had a problem with condensation on the windows. We also sailed to Svalbard Labrador and Greenland and from time to time encountered plenty of ice. Obviously one has to be very careful, but we never had too much problem pushing through. I have never noticed any scratching damage from ice on either PM or on an earlier boat in which we were trapped for some time in ice. Of course in certain conditions, a boat can be very badly damaged or indeed lost. We came across one metal boat in Antarctica which was badly chewed up around the bow and stern areas and was remarkably lucky to have survived. And yes it’s true.We did spend most of the time in Warm furry slippers, which we had purchased in Ushuaia and which were ideal. With the cockpit area closed off by the curtain, we used to leave the companionway hatch open, and warm air from below made it very comfortable when helming! We only used sea boots when on deck. Peter Killen
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