Exciting news today; Chris has emailed us some vital statistics, including our hull identification number (HIN) - a long number. Missy Bear will be Beneteau's hull 095, i.e. we thinks she's only the 95th Oceanis 40.1 they have built? Anyway, the HIN allows us to register her at the MCA through the 'Register of UK Vessels Part III' (form MSF 4701), otherwise known as the Small Ships Register (SSR). We will get her SSR number as result at a princely cost of £35.00. We spent a couple of frustrating hours on their beta-test website which clearly didn’t work and was full of bugs. After many failed attempts to contact them, we finally managed to speak to a human and we decided to apply the old fashioned pen and paper way. Once we have our SSR number we can then apply to Ofcom for our Ship Radio License. This proves we have a suitable VHF radio on board and this is one of the crucial ship's papers we will have to carry and present to the various port authorities. Alix and I will also have to carry our radio operator licences.
UPDATE ON THE SCHEDULE
The other good news from Chris (Sunbird) is that Beneteau have confirmed June 21 as the delivery date from the factory. At this date, 'Missy Bear' contractually becomes our asset and so this is that date that we will have to start our boat insurance.
The slightly annoying news is that she will be without the sprung mattress in the forepeak. Beneteau had asked Chris to delay the delivery for 4 weeks to await its arrival, but he quite rightly said "Non!". So the mattress will have to be sent to catch up with us at some point.
Anyway, 'Missy Bear' will be put on a lorry on June 21 and spend the next 2 or 3 days being transported - avoiding motorways - to Canet-En-Rousillon. SAS will then spend three weeks rigging her, completing fit-out and doing sea trials, so she should be ready to sail to Spain (Port Ginesta, Barcelona) on Thu or Fri July 15/16.
Chris has found a Spanish skipper who will do that delivery, although I have insisted I will be on the boat for that trip. The handover will officially take place in Spain, i.e. outside French waters, so that French VAT is not due. [We are sailing her to Turkey, ex-VAT, on a T2L which is a temporary export license, and Chris is liable for ensuring the export/VAT paperwork is all in order.]
At that point, Ruairi is hoping to meet us in Port Ginesta to do the official handover, Covid-19 regulations permitting. He could have been there sooner, but he is dog-sitting his wife's pooch! It's good to know how relatively important the customer is here!! On the plus side, Chris has said that our marina fees whilst we are in Port Ginesta will be free.
In the event that Ruari cannot make it, there is an English speaker at SAS, called Will, who will do the technical handover to me, before we leave Canet. That should be fun.
So, I've told John to cancel his flight to Palma and get a voucher ready to spend on a flight to Barcelona. And breathe...
[Update June 11: The bad news is that there is a 3-week backlog to get the SSR from MCA! The good news is that we have got our Ships Radio Licence: Missy Bear; Call sign MJIK7; MMSI 232036303.]
[Update June 16: A lovely lady called Camilla called me today to respond to a message I had left with them 5 or 6 days ago. Amazingly, she offered to process our application right then. And hey presto, 10 minutes later an email drops in with a link to our online SSR certificate. Life is so much better, when that sort of thing happens. So Chris now has the SSR number for the decals that will go either side of the boom.]