About Sula

                                                                           

Sula is a very special sail boat. Built in France in 1973 she is known as a Joshua design. The design became legendary after the first boat was built and named Joshua, by the famous French sailor Bernard Moitessier. (See next Blog for more information on Moitessier) 

Sula was built in steel at the french boat yard called Meta. She was built by the same hands as those who built Moitessiers Joshua in the 1960s. Today Meta build world class boats in Aluminium. 

Over the years and with previous owners, Sula has made a number of circumnavigations and has visited both the Arctic and Antarctic. Once again it is time for her to sail south.

Sula has undergone several re-fits, her latest major one in 2002 just before we became owners. Since then she has been upgraded in various areas and maintained to a high standard. She is rigged for serious long distance ocean sailing and is capable of sailing anywhere in the world. 

Sula is very comfortable to live aboard with all the necessary creature comforts except hot water and a shower. She has an open plan design giving a feeling of space. She has enormous character and is dry, warm and more than comfortable when things get nasty outside. Living on Sula feels more like living in a warm and cosy mountain hut than on a sailboat. She has tremendous character and draws attention everywhere she goes.

Sula is equipped up to and beyond NZ Cat 1 standard. 

Sula A few details 

Length 40ft on deck 47 overall 

Sails 8 in total

Power Perkins 65 (new in 2002) 

2 burner gas stove,oven and grill

Pressurized Cold water (Solar shower) 

Small fridge 

1 Toilet 

Diesel heater 

Wind Generator 

4 solar panels 

VHF, SSB, Radar, GPS, 2x Weather fax

500 ltrs Fuel and water each 

4 person life raft ( current and tested) 

406 Epirb 

Large inventory of spares

Bernard Moitessier - A source of inspiration for generations of sailors all around the world.

Bernard Moitessier

Sailor - Writer - Philosopher - Spiritual Guru - Environmentalist

Bernard Moitessier on board Joshua 

"I can only give them my first log, with birds, sea, daily sights and little everyday problems. My real log is written in the sea and sky; it can't be photographed and given to others. It has gradually come to life out of all that surrounded us for months: the sound of water on hull, the sound of wind gliding on the sails, the silences full of secret things between my boat and me, like the times i spent as a child listening to to the forest talk."  

Are you eating plastic for dinner?

Plastic degradation rate

Facts and Figures on Marine Pollution

• The numbers are staggering: There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float to the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibres per square kilometre litter the deep sea. 

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• Over 220 million tons of plastic are produced each year.

• Plastics can contribute to reduce our carbon footprint. They provide improved insulation, lighter packaging, are found in phones, computers, medical devices, etc. but appropriate disposal is often not addressed.

• Seven of the EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland recover more than 80% of their used plastics. However, waste and disposal remain an issue in most of the world.

• The United Nations Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic.

• Once discarded, plastics are weathered and eroded into very small fragments known as micro-plastics. These together with plastic pellets are already found in most beaches around the world.

• Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals.

• Plastic materials and other litter can become concentrated in certain areas called gyres as a result of marine pollution gathered by oceanic currents. There are now 5 gyres in our ocean.

• The North Pacific Gyre, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, occupies a relatively stationary area that is twice the size of Texas. Waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean, including coastal waters off North America and Japan, are drawn together.