As you will soon see, Summer is not the only thing that is officially here.  Captain Christine has now officially registered XPM78-01 Möbius with the Jersey Ships Registry in the island Port of Jersey and I can’t resist the chance to start off this week’s update with this riddle:

Wayne-with-old-CDN-flag_thumbCan you find the TWO Canadian’s in this photo?
While you ponder that question and search the photo above for that missing 2nd Canadian, a few more details on our choosing to register our new boat/home Möbius in Jersey which should provide you with a few more clues to solve the riddle above. 

Jersey-Channel-Islands-_-JTs-Gigabit[2]Quick history & geography update;

  • Jersey is one of the Channel Islands which lie Gulf of St. Malo in the English Channel between the south coast of England and the North coast of France. 
  • Not to be confused with its neighboring island of Guernsey nor with New Jersey in the USA, as per this overview on Wikipedia Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (who knew Bailiwick was a real word?!?), is a British Crown dependency[8] located near the coast of Normandy, France.[9]
    Some other Fun Facts for you about Möbius’ new Home Port, the Bailiwick of Jersey:
  • Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy, whose dukes went on to become kings of England from 1066.
  • After Normandy was lost by the kings of England in the 13th century, and the ducal title surrendered to France, Jersey and the other Channel Islands remained attached to the English crown.
  • Jersey has a separate relationship to the Crown from the other Crown dependencies of Guernsey and the Isle of Man, although all are held by the monarch of the United Kingdom.[13]
  • Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems,[5] and the power of self-determination.[14] The Lieutenant Governor on the island is the personal representative of the Queen.
  • Jersey is not part of the United Kingdom,[15] and has an international identity separate from that of the UK,[16] but the UK is constitutionally responsible for the defence and international relations of of Jersey.[17]
  • Population (2019 estimate) is 107,000
  • Currency is British Pound sterling
  • Time Zone is Greenwich Mean Time UTC 0:00

    Jersey-location-on-map_thumb

OK, all very interesting Wayne but WHY register Möbius in Jersey?

Short list of reasons we chose Jersey includes:


  • Location of Jersey (green)in Europe (dark grey)
     
    • As a Canadian I am amongst the few who qualify to register our boat with the British Registry of Ships in Jersey and fly the Jersey Red Ensign flag.
    • When traveling under the Jersey Red Ensign flag we have the full support of British consular services and British Royal Navy protection worldwide.
    • VAT-free temporary importation into EU for non-EU residents
    • Renewal every 10 years with no annual charge

MVIMG_20200627_113738_thumbOK, back to the riddle.  Did you find the second Canadian in this photo?

Canadian-Red-Ensign-1921-1965_thumbThe second Canadian is the flag! 

You would have to know your flag history MUCH better than I do to have spotted this, but the flag I am holding is the Canadian Red Ensign used from 1921 to 1965 ……
Flag_of_Canada-Canadian-maple-leaf-f[2]…… until the current Red Maple Leaf flag was adopted in 1965.[1] The Maple Leaf flag also replaced the Canadian Red Ensign as the civil ensign of the country.
Way more than you ever wanted to know about Canadian flags I’m sure but for Christine, who came up with the whole idea,  and I this is the perfect Goldilocks just right flag for us to sail under on Möbius.

Getting back to where I started this latest tangent, to complete the formal registration of XPM78-01 Möbius in the Bailiwick of Jersey we needed to send them photos to prove that we had “marked and carved” as it is officially called, the transom of the boat with the correct sized and placed letters of the boat’s name and Port of Registration.

Printing-vinyl-Mobius-name-letters_t

Earlier in the week Christine rode her bicycle over to a printer she had discovered last year and they printed out a set of vinyl self adhesive Black block letters of Möbius  and Jersey.
IMG_20200616_152722_thumb3Meanwhile, I did a quick layout of our Official Number and Gross Tonnage on a piece of 5mm aluminium plate to be my guide as I used my fabulous little Milwaukee cordless router to carve these numbers. 
IMG_20200617_183119_thumb1I gave it a quick sand blast, painted over all the numbers with some Black spray paint and then sanded the surface to reveal just the numbers.
MVIMG_20200617_182937_thumb

Asper the requirements of the Jersey Ship’s Registry, “the official number and the tonnage calculation should be permanently carved or marked on a small plaque which should be fixed onto the main beam or on a readily accessible visible permanent part of the structure inside the vessel.  A plaque is usually approximately 20cms x 10cms and should contain the official number and tonnage figure.”
And there you go XPM78-01 Möbius is officially ship # 749887.


IMG_20200626_124836_thumbOn her weekly Friday inspection Christine brought along the vinyl letters and while everyone else was at lunch we carefully laid out and applied the letters on the Aft Transom.
MVIMG_20200626_131458_thumbThese vinyl letters are just a temporary stand in while we await the arrival of the CNC waterjet cut aluminium letters but were enough for us to take the required pictures to send to the Port of Jersey Registrar.
IMG_20200626_132429_thumbIn my youth I once had a job putting decals and lettering on semi trailer tankers so I knew the trick about spraying the surface with some water and dishwashing liquid so you can float the letters onto the aluminium plate and still adjust their position to line each one just right and we soon had the job done.


D8F19676-8B7C-400F-8383-884031A21980[2]We called in some cheap labour to do a bit of final cleanup.
IMG_20200626_133403_thumbAnd soon had our boat all officially named and ready for some photos to prove it.
IMG_20200626_135357_thumbFirst photos we needed are to prove the height of the letters of the boat name and at 160mm/6” tall we are well above the minimum 100mm requirement and that’s all the photos we needed and Christine has sent these on their way to Jersey and they will mail us the official paper Registration document. 


IMG_20200626_135231_thumbWith the stern of Möbius backed up against the aft wall of the shipyard it wasn’t easy to get a shot from the rear like this but I managed to climb up onto a little ledge on the wall and squeeze off this shot to send to the Jersey officials.
MVIMG_20200626_133401Lucky me; in my eyes and heart I’ve got the most Beautiful Bride AND the most beautiful Boat there is!

Our new “baby” is born!  Please join us in welcoming XPM78-01 Möbius to the world.

Displacing a mere 66.83 Gross Tons, little # 749887 in the British Ships Registry and our newest boat and home has officially arrived.

Did I happen to mention that this is an eXciting new milestone for both of us?!!