Hello,
Pursuing a dream of many years, and having become bored with life as it was, I've decided to purchase a sailboat and learn to sail. Also, at the age of sixty-nine, if I'm going to do it, it's best done now before accident or aged infirmity makes it untenable.
I've agreed to buy Alianco from Dermot Doyle. I'm near the end of severing ties I've had in the USA, i.e., selling everything (nearly). With good fortune I'll be arriving in Castelsarrasin where Alianco is located by the end of the second week of July. Then the real adventure begins.
Sure, it won't be all sunny skies and fair winds. There is much to learn and much to do to make Alianco shipshape and myself sailing worthy. I've read much here in JRA, and no doubt I'll be asking questions of you kind folk who give your time and knowledge.
My first question: Does anyone know of a competent quality surveyor knowledgeable about steel hulled sailing vessels in the south of France? Alianco is located in Castelsarrasin, about 2/3 of the way from Bordeaux to Toulouse on the Canal latéral à la Garonne.
Second question: Does anyone know where I can purchase douglas fir round timbers (power poles?) in the south of France? Alianco currently has solid timber masts, though they are not now suitable for safe use. The farms in Castelsarrasin use solid timbers for supporting espaliered apple trees, so it's possible I could source mast size timbers from the same source.