Gaias Dream is sailing now with the basic equipment.
In the near future the ship needs more.

I am looking for sponsors for the following:
- A Ray Marine wind-instrument system
- Netting 3 by 6 meter
- 3 Solar panels of 80 Watt
- A life raft
- Head sails
- A haul-out facility crane
- An irridium satellite telephone
- A 40 nautical mile radar system
Preferable new but second hand will do also.

 

News

 

 

Here you find a link to youtube for a small video from her second trip from Coffs Harbour to Pittwater near Sydney:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H0qPgS1_XE

All other pictures you can find under "Gaia's Dream".
Gaia's Dream is now a Dutch seagoing vessel within the meaning of the Commercial Code and is entitled to fly the Dutch flag.

It turned out that shunting was rather difficult single handed.
Therefore I designed an automatic system that shifts the mast.
Travelling of the mast runs rather smooth, so I could use thin dynema cord.
On both end of the mast beam there is an endswitch.
I installed the electronic driven motor underneath the deck.

It works great now, the mast moves 7.5m by the press of a button.

Sailing in Pittwater in light conditions we have been sailing faster than the wind which did present its own problems, tacking up wind.
At one stage doing 13 knots in 10 knots of wind.
Better data will be available, when we find a wind instrument, or when it falls from the sky.
She sails at 35 degrees to the apparent wind, on that day we couldn't get closer than 80 degrees to the true wind because of the high boat speed!

It has been decided to improve handling and performance, so a 30 square meter head sail will be added.
It will be a hank on one to a extra fore/back stay to be installed, and moved from either end before a shunt, this way we can have a few sizes in head sails.

The main engine runs great on vegetable oil, and we just got another supply of 300 litres.