Saltwateranddiesel

⚓ TONIGHT — LIVE FROM THE SWAMP — 21:00

🌍 17 COUNTRIES. ONE SMALL BOAT. AND FAR FEWER VISA PROBLEMS THAN WE EXPECTED.

When we first started planning Sophie-X’s route towards the Philippines, visas looked like they could become one of the biggest obstacles.

So we started researching them properly.

Country by country. Border by border.

And the picture we’re finding is very different from what we expected. Most countries on our route either have an electronic visa system, don’t require a visa for us, or have a specific exemption we may be able to use.

Algeria has been particularly interesting, with its 2–7 day provision for ship crews potentially fitting exactly what we need for a short coastal stop.

There are still countries requiring more work, and an eVisa doesn’t automatically mean arriving aboard a private boat will be straightforward. Immigration rules and actual seaport entry procedures are two different things, and we’re researching both.

But another problem that once looked enormous is becoming manageable.

Tonight at 21:00, we’ll get the route up on the whiteboard and explain the visa situation in detail — including Algeria, the difficult countries and how we’re planning to deal with them.

Bring your questions. ⚓

One boat. One skipper. One hell of a journey. 🌊

⚓ THE SEA STILL RUNS ON LAWS WRITTEN LONG BEFORE ANY OF US WERE BORN.

Maritime tradition may be centuries old — but some of the consequences are very modern and very serious.

As we prepare Sophie-X for an international journey, we’re discovering that something as simple as which flag you fly — or why you choose not to fly one — can have major legal consequences.

For a UK-registered vessel, deliberately concealing its nationality isn’t a harmless technicality. Under UK maritime law, the consequences can potentially include heavy fines, imprisonment and even forfeiture of the vessel.

That certainly gets your attention when the vessel in question is also going to be your home.

There’s a huge amount more to preparing for this expedition than rebuilding an old diesel boat, stocking spares and plotting a course.

Every border. Every harbour. Every flag. Every document.

The further Sophie-X travels, the more the old laws of the sea matter. 🌊⚓

And we’re learning them before we leave — rather than learning them the expensive way.

SOPHIE-X IS OFFICIALLY REGISTERED. ⚓️

Another important box ticked.

Sophie-X is now officially on the UK Small Ships Register as SSR314346.

She’s a 1979, 22-foot motor cruiser that we’re preparing for a very long journey — from the UK, through the Mediterranean and beyond, eventually heading for the Philippines.

There’s still a mountain of work between this piece of paper and casting off, but every job completed and every bit of paperwork sorted gets us one step closer.

No massive budget.
No new boat.
Just an old diesel boat, a lot of work and a ridiculous idea that we intend to make happen.

SALTWATER & DIESEL
Adventure • Engineering • Freedom

⚓ GOOD NEWS FOR SOPHIE-X.

Another potential obstacle on our route may have just become a lot easier. 🇩🇿

We’ve been researching Algeria’s visa exemption for seafarers arriving by sea — and what it could mean for Sophie-X and our journey east.

One more problem to solve. One step closer. 🌊

⚓ ANOTHER BIG STEP TOWARDS DEPARTURE.

Sophie-X’s application has now officially been submitted to the UK Ship Register.

It may look like another screenshot and another bit of paperwork, but for us this is a significant milestone.

Over the last few months this journey has slowly moved from an idea to something very real. We bought Sophie-X, started sourcing the spares, planned the route, sorted her Ship Radio Licence and maritime identity — and now her UK registration application is with the Ship Register.

They’ll check everything and, provided they have what they need, they aim to process the application within 10 days.

And the timing couldn’t be better.

We’ve now located a marina in Wales, which means Sophie-X will soon leave Titchmarsh and make her first proper voyage around the South Coast of England and into Wales.

Every job completed and every piece of paperwork approved brings us another step closer to eventually pointing her bow towards the Philippines.

There’s still plenty to do.

But tonight we can put another tick on the board:

UK SHIP REGISTRATION — APPLICATION SUBMITTED. ✅

This is getting very real now. 🌊⚓

⚓ ANOTHER IMPORTANT STEP FOR SOPHIE-X — DONE.

It might look like another piece of paperwork, but this one matters.

Sophie-X now has her LIVE Ofcom Ship Radio Licence under her new name, while retaining the vessel’s existing MMSI and call sign.

The MMSI is essentially Sophie-X’s unique digital identity at sea. It allows our marine radio equipment to identify the vessel during DSC communications and, most importantly, in an emergency.

For us, this is another important box ticked before we leave Titchmarsh and begin the journey around the coast to Wales.

Every spare we source, every repair we make and every bit of paperwork we complete takes Sophie-X one step closer to sea.

The preparation continues. The first voyage is getting very real. 🌊⚓

⚓ SOPHIE-X IS MOVING.

The decision has been made.

Instead of leaving Sophie-X where she is, we’re going to bring her around the South Coast of England and up into Wales to a harbour much closer to home.

And that changes everything.

What started as a boat sitting hundreds of miles away is about to become our first proper journey aboard Sophie-X.

New waters. New challenges. And one hell of a way to find out what we’ve actually bought. 😂

The journey starts before the expedition does.

Who wants to follow the trip around the coast with us? ⚓

On 20 August 1960, exactly 60 years ago, a new destroyer of what was then the West German Navy (Bundesmarine) was launched in Hamburg. The ship, pennant number D-182, of Class 101, was given the name “Schleswig-Holstein” and entered service in 1964. Until 1965 she was based in Kiel with the 1st Destroyer Squadron, then—as part of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron—in Wilhelmshaven. She was decommissioned on 15 December 1994 and subsequently scrapped.The state of Schleswig-Holstein, represented by the State Chancellery, was the ship’s sponsor. For this reason, on special occasions the ship also flew the official flag of the state.

When the Bundesmarine began purchasing and building larger numbers of new major warships during the 1960s, the sensitive question arose of what these ships should be called. After initial experiments with personal names for the destroyers Rommel, Mölders and Lütjens, as well as attempts to revive names from the Imperial German Navy for training ships, such as Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, it was decided that future destroyers and frigates would use the more “neutral”, but equally traditional, names of German federal states and cities.

At the same time, through partnerships with the places after which the ships were named, the Bundesmarine was able to establish a closer relationship between the Navy and civilian society.

The name “Schleswig-Holstein” in particular was not without controversy at the time, because an earlier ship of the Kriegsmarine bearing that name had fired the shots that opened the Second World War in 1939.

Interestingly, there was even a—somewhat hidden—tradition connecting the old and new Schleswig-Holstein. The old radio call sign of the battleship Schleswig-Holstein—“SX”—led to the new Schleswig-Holstein being given the nickname:

“Sophie-X”

The “old” Schleswig-Holstein, incidentally, was built in 1903 and was one of the few major warships that the German Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic was permitted to retain under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

⚓ BEING PREPARED STARTS ON LAND.

When Sophie-X eventually leaves the UK, we can’t just pop down to the local marine supplier when something goes wrong.

So right now we’re stripping, inspecting and learning every system we can — and deciding exactly which spares are worth carrying thousands of miles.

This is the Polar BL180 heat exchanger apart on the bench. It’s not glamorous expedition preparation, but this is the stuff that could make the difference between carrying on under our own power and being stuck somewhere waiting for a part.

The aim isn’t to carry an entire workshop onboard a 22-foot boat. We simply don’t have the space.

It’s about knowing Sophie-X well enough to carry the right parts, the right tools and the knowledge to use them.

Every component we go through here is one less unknown when we’re out there.

Preparation for the journey starts long before we leave the dock. 🔧⚓

What spare would YOU refuse to leave port without?