Many firms, all of whose products I had already been using over the last few years during my sailing, have very kindly agreed to support me during my circumnavigation by providing new equipment, clothing, software or expertise, or spares for existing equipment on board
I have used Nobeltec's charting system since the Annapolis boat show of October 2000, when their Visual Navigation Suite was bought. I find it really user-friendly. Easy to plot new passages, with good tide/current information for the US and Canada, it is also excellent for tricky harbour and marina entrances. When coming down the IntraCoastal Waterway, it several times enabled Nereida to avoid going aground!
I was using version 7 when I contacted David Neal of Jeppesen, who now market Nobeltec, and he offered me an upgrade to the new version 9 of their Admiral product, subsequently agreeing to give me world coverage of charts for my circumnavigation. I am very excited about exploring the possibilities of Admiral 9.0 since it will allow me to integrate input from my AIS receiver, as well as GRIB and XM weather overlay files for best routeing..
Musto has very generously agreed to keep me warm and dry on my circumnavigation, with donated base and middle layer clothing to accompany their new, excellent HPX ocean jacket & trousers. I am very happy to be working with Musto as I have used their jackets, trousers and boots for years and have always been impressed with the quality and functionality of them. The firm is notable for its friendly staff and the support it gives to its customers. I'd like to thank Simon Payne for his help, also Susie Rae & Emmie Brown.
Raymarine have kindly upgraded my radar scanner & GPS and given me a C70 display to integrate with my other Raymarine instruments and autopilot. I am looking forward to making good use of a reliable, updated set of instruments as I sail over the next few years. Thanks to Paul Lawson for his technical help & support over the last few years and to Derek Gilbert and Fiona Pankhurst for the electronics upgrades sent to me.
Navionics UK - Thanks to Lance Godfroy (& Emma Hawkins) for help with discounted purchase of Navionics Gold+ chart cards for the C70.
Andersen winches are a delight to use! Lars Legarth of Andersen donated a winch handle to replace one dropped overboard(!) sailing north from Hawaii and sent spares from Denmark for servicing my winches - a job I actually enjoy doing, the winches being so beautifully engineered.
North Sails San Diego are close by the San Diego Y.C. Thanks to Jon Gardner for generously agreeing to service my mainsail and genoa free of charge & to Patrick & Andy who worked on the sails.
My Bruntons Autoprop propeller is another lovely bit of engineering & has always performed impressively for over 8 years, requiring noticeably fewer engine revs for a given speed through the water than a fixed prop. Thanks to David Sheppard of Bruntons who donated spare zinc anodes and plastic caps.
Phil Holmes of Icom UK kindly donated a spare microphone for my Icom M710 SSB radio which sees so much invaluable use for speaking to other cruisers and 'ham' radio users, as well as for emailing and, most importantly, obtaining weather information.
Selden - have given (and promised future) support and help with purchase of spare parts for mast, boom & rigging. Scott Williman of Selden US has been extremely supportive to me in the USA and Steve Norbury of Selden UK has promised future help & support if I need it elsewhere in the world. More recently, Selden of Sweden very generously sent out all the necessary fittings needed for a complete re-rig in Cape Town in January. My sincere thanks to Mats-Uno Frederikson for very kindly arranging that.
Nasa Marine gave help with the purchase of their AIS stand-alone unit at discount. This unit will be really useful in collision avoidance when on long ocean passages since I will be able to shut down my computer to reduce power consumption but still be able to see if any ships are nearby and where they are heading, with an alarm to warn me of possible close encounters.
Ambassador Marine - donated spare bushings for their Ropestripper on my propshaft - this has frequently proved very useful in ridding the prop & shaft of rope and even, at times, wire cable also.
I am delighted that Garmin UK have replaced my old hand-held Garmin 48 GPS units (which have, in the past, proved a lifeline when I have had major problems with my old fixed instruments for one reason or another: fog, lightning, power failure) with a larger, up-to-date, handheld GPSmap 76CSx unit with built-in electronic compass and several Bluechart cards. I'm looking forward to making good use of its capabilities. Thank you, Claire & Ben, for your support.
Jotun paints has graciously donated the bottom paint that I put on while in Cairns Australia
I'd like to thank Jussi Saarinen of Suunto of Finland for being so very helpful, efficient and quick over the difficult New Year holiday period in getting a replacement ship's compass (D135) sent to me in time for my S. Atlantic crossing.
Finally, while in San Diego, I'd like to thank Ray Marchetta for all his help sorting out my electronics, Steve Harrison for his excellent metalwork, setting my gooseneck & vang fittings to rights and strengthening them, and Mark Butler for help on the rigging and installing mast steps. I enjoyed working with all three and learned a lot in doing so.
Stellar Systems Solutions