Our Vaquita
Our sailboat is a Najad 331, built in Henån, Sweden in 1998 and was sold to the British Navy as one of a total of nine training vessels. All the boats were delivered to the British Kiel Yacht Club and had names inspired by birds. Ours was christened "Grebe".
One of the marine officers bought the boat and kept it in Sardinia. He sold it on to a Swedish couple who sailed from the Mediterranean back to Sweden through the European inland waters.
The Swedish couple then traded the boat with a Dane for a larger Najad, who renamed the boat "Plaisir". The boat took part in several regattas and even won a short-handed regatta in Skagerrak in the North Sea.
The Danish owner wanted to upgrade to a larger Najad again and sold the boat to a Swedish family at the end of 2018. They renamed the boat Båtis - little boat - and first sailed in Sweden before starting their journey through the inland waters to the Mediterranean.
The last stop on their journey, which lasted several months, was Rosignano Solvay in Italy, where we inspected the boat and bought it in October 2022. Since then, we have sailed our Vaquita in the Tuscan archipelago. Now we are exploring non-European waters with her because Vaquita has not only brought us safely to the African continent but also all the way across the Antlantic.
Najad 331
Year of construction: 1998
Length: 9,98 m
Beam: 3,26 m
Draught: 1,68 m
Displacement: 5,0 t
Mast height (above waterline): 15,2 m
Sail area: 50,0 m2
Motor: Volvo Penta MD 2030 S
V berth
Saloon
Cockpit mit cockpit tent
Head
Our Sails
26 m² fully batten Doyle Raudaschl mainsail with 3 reefs for light and strong winds from 2024
Profurl furling system with 31 m² genoa for downwind sailing
24 m² jib for areas with more variable conditions
One gennaker with recovery tube m² for downwind up to 15 knots
19/20 rig with new standing rigging (2024)
Mast height: 13.7 m (from deck)
Our Motor
Our 1998 Volvo Penta MD2030B drives a Volvo 3-blade folding propeller mounted on a saildrive (gearbox). We have a 90-litre diesel tank and an additional 90 litres in canisters. All in all, our calm-weather cruiser can travel approximately 540 nautical miles (approx. 975 km).
Navigation
The best member of our team is ‘the machine’. Not only does it work before the boss arrives, it also continues working after the boss has left. ‘The device’ is our autopilot, a Raymarine Type 1 linear drive with ACU200 autopilot computer and EV1 gyro sensor. It steers at all times except when docking and undocking. Best substitute: backup linear drive with X10 computer that steers according to GPS course.
Navionics charts on 2 iPads as additional backup Raymarine Element 7 plotter.
Raymarine i60 anemometer (wind meter) with i70 multi-display.
To prevent us from running aground, we also have our Airmar DST 810 log/depth sounder sensor, which constantly tells us the depth and speed through the water.
Electricity Setup
12 V direct current for small consumers and 230 V alternating current for sockets and various devices
Power Supply
890 Wp Solar power is distributed as follows:
4x 120 Wp flexible on the bimini, two connected in series to a Victron 15/75 MPPT
120 Wp flexible on the sprayhood on a 15/75 Victron MPPT
50 Wp flexible in front of the sprayhood connected to a 15/75 Victron MPPT
2x 120 Wp frame modules on the railing, one on the starboard side and one on the port side, each connected to its own 15/75 Victron MPPT
In practice, our setup here in the southern regions, such as the Mediterranean, produces around 2–2.5 kWh per day in spring and summer and/or further south on sunny days. This is more than enough for us and allows us to cook electrically and charge our electric outboard motor for our dinghy. When the sun isn't shining as much or we're crossing the sea, we have to use the gas stove, as cooking requires by far the most electricity.
What if the sun isn't shining? We live off our stored electricity for the time being, for which we have two 200 Ah 12.8 V Victron LiFePO4 batteries (approx. 5 kWh). If that's not enough, we can still charge the service batteries with our 60 A alternator via the engine and a Victron Orion DC-DC charger.
For our AC power supply, we have a 3000 kW Victron Multiplus 2 inverter/charger. This allows us to operate all of our AC appliances, including our double induction hob and the charger for our dinghy motor.
Water System
Grey water: We use a saltwater foot pump for rough washing, and the toilet also works with saltwater.
Fresh water: We have a 170-litre tank and 60 litres in jerrycans for crossings, and we also have 80 litres in drinking water jerrycans as a backup. With the Acuva tap, we can use the water for drinking, otherwise we need a little fresh water for rinsing and cooking and now and then for showering. In clean bays, we can use our Katadyn Survivor 40E water maker, which desalinates 5 litres of drinking water per hour.
