Papay Arctic Adventure: June 2015

Last year for our adventure to Norway we found ourselves delayed partly to insurance difficulties, this year in our attempt to avoid the same issue we started our Insurance hunt early. We were hoping to get fully comprehensive unlike last years third party cover, but after trying 30+ insurance companies we had neither fully comp or third party... Even from companies offering coverage for transatlantic voyages, northwest passage adventures and circumnavigations, which seemed unbelievable when we plan to take our RIB up the coast of a country where 1 in 3 have access to a boat.

With the company that insured us last year pulling out of the small pleasure craft market all looked quite gloomy on the insurance front, until both Alan and Thomas and Yachtline offered us a third party policy! We could not recommend these companies more, their knowledge and advice was hugely helpful. If we were wanting coverage for another out of the ordinary adventure, or indeed standard coverage we would be sure to go to them. In the end though out of the blue BayMarine came up with an all risk policy.

Having this type of coverage gives us a great peace of mind especially since we have spent many times the purchase price on the boat! They have been most helpful again and if anyone is planning a RIB trip to Norway (Or anywhere else...) we recommend you try the above.
Bay Marine have kindly offered us sponsorship in the form of a reduced premium for which we are most grateful.

Insurance policies for an unusual journey can be difficult to come by, we are very thankful for the advice and coverage offered to us by Bay Marine.

They offer a personal tailored service which we found very useful for our out of the ordinary request. Thanks Bay Marine!!

The crew of the Papay Arctic Adventure is proud to hail from Papay. We are proud therefore to be sponsored by the islands coop, The Papay Community Coop. The Papay coop is a community run shop that stocks an amazing range of diverse foods as well as fuel. If you fancy a trip to Papay the coop also runs the island Hostel, in a great location and with lovely rooms, this coops got it all!

It is a vital part of island life at the very heart of Papay, a social meeting and greeting area. The shop has been successfully serving the islands needs for over 35 years.

The Island of Westray just a mile away from Papay is home to WESTRAY PROCESSORS. They have been part of the community for over 40 years buying fresh sustainably caught crab from the local fishing fleet. They produce fresh and frozen crabmeat for sale locally in Orkney and elsewhere.

They have kindly sponsored us in the form of two waterproof smocks. These are often used in commercial fishing so will stand up well to regular use aboard.

Neighbouring island Shapinsay is known for its Castle and archaeological points of interest, but for us (and many others) when Shapinsay is mentioned our mouths water with the thought of ORKNEY ISLANDS PRESERVES! Kindly we have been sponsored by OIP some very warming Chilli Jam... our favourite!

It will make a great warming treat in winter, on a Stockans oatcake, or indeed on anything!!

Another local sponsor we are proud to be supported by is ORKNEY FACTORS serving the Orkney islands for all things vehicle related! We were in need of a suitable battery charger for keeping our batteries "ship shape" especially throughout the winter when we wont have engines charging them.

Kindly Orkney Factors have sponsored us a Sealey charger. Ideal for our needs. Thank you!

Being supported by local folk is a great boost. J C TULLOCH from neighbouring island Westray have supported us in the form of some long life goods for our adventure.

43 years in the business serving Westray with food and essential supplies, an impressive feat! Thank you Aaks!

At the end of last years adventure our VHF antenna snapped, leaving us without our main VHF, this year SALTY JOHN have kindly sponsored us a Metz Manta VHF
antenna and accessories.

Salty John is the European agent for Metz Communication which has been manufacturing antennas since 1977. Metz antennas carry a lifetime warranty on the coil and are used by US and British search and rescue organisations as well as thousands of other professional and recreational boaters the world over. Another great safety addition, thank you Salty John!

We are very proud to be sponsored by local Orkney oatcake manufacturers STOCKANS who have sponsored us a selection of their Oatcakes.

Stockans Oatcakes are ideal for eating with, well just about anything! In fact they are pretty tasty on their own too! Personal favourites are cheese triangles on their own, and mini oatcakes with slice of cheddar and chilli jam! They will be great aboard as they last well and can be a substitute for bulkier items like bread.

Even in today's world of GPS and Chartplotters there is no substitute for paper charts. MARINE CHART SERVICES have kindly sponsored us the Admiralty charts north of the Arctic Circle, which we will need as we explore further along the coastline.

We have now got charts all the way to the Russian border, we have so many lovely places to explore and the charts to help safely get us there.

Living aboard with no refrigerator can be challenging, last year we found the perfect answer to our lack of meat dilemma was Wild West Beef Jerky and Bundu Biltong. This year THE JERKY GROUP have generously sponsored us a variety of their meaty snacks,

long shelf life and their ability to be stored at room temperature mean we will have these super tasty snacks throughout the adventure... Having picked them up tonight the hardest part will be resisting the temptation of eating them before we go! Yum!

One of the most important factors in our journey is making it as safe as possible. Because the adventure will involve both a major ocean crossing and coastal sailing we need a wide mix of flares. With the help of Drew Marine Signal and Safety Ltd we have been sponsored a fully comprehensive variety of PAINS WESSEX flares.

Pains Wessex are a leading manufacturer of flares and we are comforted in their long history of supplying reliable and superior pyrotechnic marine distress signals. Although we hope the occasion to use them never arises, knowing we are carrying the best puts our minds at ease.

We are extremely proud to have the backing of VOLVO and MITCHELL POWERSYSTEMS for the second year running, this year they are providing us with new Propellers and other service items.

Our 26 year old Volvo sterndrive and 11 year old Volvo engine has been infallible. Truly made to to the finest quality and without a doubt made to last. The advice and support offered gives us an extra boost.

BOAT FENDERS DIRECT are suppliers of top quality fenders and buoys and have kindly sponsored us six of there F - series fenders, as used by Coast guards and Navies we are reassured by their superior quality!

They are tested for strength and flexibility in temperatures ranging -30 to +60 Celsius, great!

In a year we will get through a lot of food, and having some essentials aboard is a necessity, so with TODAYS sponsoring us a variety of groceries (including 56 bars of chocolate!) we have a great start to provisioning the boat.

We are well accustomed to Todays goods as our island shop stocks many of Todays great products.

A big thank you to TUNNOCK who have kindly donated to our Arctic Adventure. Tunnock's is a Scottish family owned baker, who are still a family business after 125 years of trading. They are well known for their delicious chocolate biscuits!

We will be sure to enjoy some Snowballs in Norway!

Living on a small RIB for a year means we have to make use of every space, for this reason we are removing one of the underdeck fuel tanks, in its place we gain storage space. OVERBOARD have sponsored us four of their 30 ltr dry tube bags, absolutely ideal for the void left by the fuel tank.

The Dry Tube bags are 100% waterproof, float on water and protects our stuff from dust, sand, dirt and water.... Perfect! With the added bonus of different colours we will be able to store stuff easily, without loosing smaller items in to corners etc, and safely away from water and dirt. The bags come with a top carry handle which will make getting them out of the space easy, and they will also be handy for taking stuff ashore by dingy.

Last year we were kindly sponsored by CREWSAVER three ErgoFit 290N OC lifejackets, which we wore throughout the 29 day adventure. Without a shadow of doubt all three crew found them to be the most comfortable lifejackets we have ever worn, we barely noticed we were wearing them.

The lifejackets themselves not only look good and feel good they offer the standard safety aspects but with extras, 290N of buoyancy perfect for the ocean, built in chin support and sprayhood, easy adjustment and many more... Needless to say we were exceptionally happy with them, so the offer of continued support from Crewsaver was brilliant news. This year they are sponsoring in the form of servicing our life jackets for us, adding that extra bit of reassurance. We again will wear them daily, although being so comfortable its not daunting at all.

This year we are fortunate to be sponsored by the German sports optics manufacturer MINOX with a fantastic pair of MINOX BN 7x50 DCM Binoculars to take with us.

The truly revolutionary set of digital binoculars comes with a fully integrated digital display in the centre of the field of vision. Digital Compass, digital barometer, automatic tilt compensation, air pressure reading to name but a few of the specs that make these innovative binoculars something of a must have aboard. With water tight and antifogging qualities along with non slip rubber armouring they really are ideally suited to our adventure. We can't wait to receive them and try them out, and are sure they will be used daily once we are aboard.

We are also very proud to have been sponsored by BOYE KNIVES. The Arizonian family business produces what can only be described as the ultimate in marine knives. When it comes to safety aboard, a knife that can be relied on is a necessity.

Boye Knives are not only known for their cutting abilities but the dendritic cobolt blades are completely resistant to salt water corrosion and compass safe. The Boye Knife company are in the process of rebuilding after a fire in their knifemaking shop and we wish them all the best for their future.

Spending the year aboard in a small space can lead to things getting damaged and wet, but we wont have to worry this year thanks to VANGUARD who have sponsored us their (aptly named) Supreme 53D the best there is in extreme protection cases.

Not only is the rugged case virtually indestructible it is waterproof, air tight and can withstand even Arctic conditions! We will find this very useful to protect and contain our valuable and fragile equipment during our stay aboard.

Last year Daniel Elves brought his LOTUS GRILL along with him on our adventure. The smokeless charcoal grill was extremely helpful for a variety of cooking, and having our own caught fresh fish grilled was a huge treat. This year while Daniel E continues to use his Lotus Grill we were sad not to be able to take it.

So when Lotus Grill kindly sponsored us there Stainless Steel grill we now be taking with us the perfect cooking companion. Being stainless steel it is ideally suited for the marine atmosphere and it will be used regularly as a very handing cooking appliance aboard.