The boat is a 65 foot wyliecat with a very simple sail plan and perfectly designed for doing research. Only stumbling block is the USCG won’t accept my 200T MCA license so I have a very small amount of time to redo my captains license and take the 6+ exams. So my life for the next month and half will be all about studying to take my exams again using the US methodology. I went out for a quick sail on her today and will be back on her next week getting to know the systems a little better.

The boat is run by Sealife conservation see http://sealifeconservation.org/and has been beautifully maintained since it was built. The efficient auxilliary 100hp turbo-diesel has a cruising range of 1100 nautical miles at 10 knots under power and burns a lot less fuel than many research vessels.

We will be doing a sea floor mapping project, mud grappling and shark tagging this summer with more projects lining up all the time.