The boat
Sea Dragon
A 56ft Formosa ketch built in the 1980s, now in new racing-green paint. She'll be Tim's home, workshop and only company for the whole way around the world.
Before and after
Stripped back, then painted green
Sea Dragon was hauled out and taken back to bare hull, then given a complete repaint: deep racing green on the topsides, oxblood antifouling below, and a cream stripe between them. The carved teak trailboard at the bow, with its wave scroll, is where this site's border pattern comes from.
The numbers
What she is
- Rig
- Ketch (two masts)
- Length
- 56ft (17m)
- Built
- 1980s
- Hull colour
- Racing green, oxblood below the waterline
- Tracking
- Iridium satellite tracker
- Traffic
- AIS
- Internet
- Starlink
The refit
Getting her ready for months with no port
Once Tim leaves Adelaide, nothing can be bought, borrowed or fixed ashore. Everything has to be on board and working before he goes. A refit like this usually means:
- Sails and rigging. New standing and running rigging, and a new suit of sails with storm sails and spares.
- Power. Generator and solar, with a new battery bank.
- Water. A watermaker, with rain catchment as the backup.
- Tracking and comms. Iridium tracker, AIS and Starlink.
- Safety and medical. Liferaft, EPIRB, drogue, jacklines, emergency tiller, jury-rig kit, and a medical kit with remote support.
- Spares and stores. Spares of just about everything, and food and water for the best part of a year.
