Evolene - Nauticat 42

We’ve splashed!  With 140 days to go until we set off it’s all starting to feel very exciting.  Our travel plans have been several years in the planning but the past couple of months have really crystallised our thinking.  We have both now advised our respective works of our intentions and soon after the 18th April next year we will be moving aboard and setting sail for at least the following six months, with future plans thereafter to be decided! We will start updating this blog more frequently as the date approaches but we were both reflecting that each day now we are doing something that edges us forward to our plans.  Over the past couple of months this has included: upgrading safety kit such as lifejackets, having work done on the teak deck, getting the hull polishe   d andensuring all of the necessary maintenance of the parts that will be underwater for the forthcoming season has been completed. As we sit here typing in her home for the winter - James W...

We kept Evolene in the water for the winter, at Dunstaffnage Marina, just outside Oban. This allowed us to take advantage of the occasional spell of decent weather and manage a couple of winter cruises, albeit just for a couple of days at a time. We visited Loch Aline at the end of October and were surprised to find ourselves completely alone on the pontoons - we expected to see one other person at least!  It was a peaceful night and we were warm and secure despite the increasing wind that made the return passage slightly bumpy! Where is everyone? Nature’s deck wash We also enjoyed Hogmanay onboard. We took advantage of light northerly winds and tucked ourselves into Bernera Bay on the SW side of Lismore.  This time we expected to be alone and the only people we saw were a couple of walkers (the crew of Provident, a converted Brixham trawler) on the ridge line above the bay on New Year’s day. Anchor dram! Happy New Year! Peace

On a whim we decided to write about our honeymoon in Yachting Monthly, check out the July 2023 issue to read all about it!  Link here. We really enjoyed the process of writing the article and this is partly the reason why we have decided to start a blog.  It is too easy for photographs and memories just to sit, unloved in phone memories!

This is the blog of Evolene, a Nauticat 42 which we (Stuart & Emma) bought in August 2022. In many ways Evolene found us when she was put on the market by her previous owners just as we started to search for a bigger boat to replace our Moody S31 ‘Tomkat’.  The fact that such a good boat was on our doorstep, in Rhu Marina, just 5 miles from James Watt Dock in Greenock where Tomkat was berthed made it all too easy.  We combined a weekend away with a viewing and test sail and made an offer there and then. Photo from the advert Evolene is a Nauticat 42, built by Sitala Yachts in Finland.  She is hull number 21 of 80 and was delivered to her first owner (a Swiss gentleman, hence her name) in 1999 in Nice on the French Riviera.  A few years later she moved to the south coast of England and then, in 2015, to the Clyde. She is very much at home in Scottish waters with a fabulous pilot house, very comfortable accommodation and a strong 110hp engine which is reassuring wi...