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:
Can 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]](https://mobius.world/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Jersey-Channel-Islands-_-JTs-Gigabit2.gif "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
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
OK, back to the riddle. Did you find the second Canadian in this photo?
The 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]](https://mobius.world/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Flag_of_Canada-Canadian-maple-leaf-f2.png "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.
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.
Meanwhile, 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. 
I 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.
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.
On 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.
These 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.
In 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]](https://mobius.world/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/D8F19676-8B7C-400F-8383-884031A219802.jpg "D8F19676-8B7C-400F-8383-884031A21980[2]")
We called in some cheap labour to do a bit of final cleanup.
And soon had our boat all officially named and ready for some photos to prove it.
First 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.
With 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.
Lucky 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?!!
lovely story, congrats!!!
Hi Sharon! What a lovely treat to see your name pop up on my screen again!
Hope all is well with you as we all try to best navigate our way through this crazy new world we find ourselves in and thanks much for taking the time to join us on our latest adventure.
-Wayne
Exciting news! And i loved to read that you are registered in the port of Jersey…. childhood memory about sailing almost every summer from Brittany to Guernsey, Jersey and Sark with my dad. I loved Sark!
Oh and big news from us… we just came back to Muir beach! Sophie
Hey Sophie! And the whole Conti Clan. Such a treat to get this note from you here and my apologies for not staying in better touch via FB, Email and WhatsApp with you guys. We’ve been wondering where you were so thanks for the update that you are now back “home” at Muir beach. Though we do worry a great deal about you and our many other family and friends in CA, FL and other hotspots right now. All three of our grandchildren and two of our children are in two of the biggest hotspots, south FL and LA so we are very troubled as we watch things continue to escalate in those spots. However we stay in close contact with all of them and they are all being smart and staying healthy so that does help a bit.
I know you guys will be doing the same and we shall simply look ahead into the not too distant future when we can have all of you join us aboard Möbius for some fun times out on the water and back at anchor together with you all. Till then PLEASE continue to be smart, safe and positive and I’ll do my best to be in more contact with you through our various mediums. You know you can always find out what we’re up to over here by checking in on our blog posts so thanks for that.
Virtual hugs and kisses to you and all the Conti Clan please.
-Wayne
Congratulations on this major milestone! Well deserved and hard earned!!
What a special story and milestone! Congrats you two VERY clever people!
Thanks Sue. Christine and I can’t wait and talk often of the joy it will be when we are hosting you and Bob and any others in the growing Saunders Clan, aboard the Good Ship Möbius.
Also sending some eXtra Hugs and kisses from both of us, Ruby & Barney too, to your B’day Boy Bob!
Congratulations! A huge step not only to have her registered, but to have your own hands put the name on and etch the number into something that will stay with the boat hopefully forever.
Hey Steve! Thanks so much for taking the time to follow along with us and send your comments. Christine and I certainly are avid followers and fans of your fabulous articles on SeaBits and “Seabits Steve” comes up in a LOT of our conversations. (all good BTW)
As a fellow DIY boat owner, “maker” and frequent live aboard, you know well that special joy of building things with your own hands and brains and then seeing that come to fruition and use. Christine and I both have the PNW calling our names the loudest of pretty much anywhere on this awemazing planet of ours so we WILL be headed your way and we WILL be following up with you to find a way to get together somewhere nearby once we get over to your beautiful part of the world.
In the interim, we sure do appreciate all you do to share your extensive knowledge and experience with all of us. XPM78-01 Möbius has certainly already benefited from your sage advise and recommendations already and we’ve barely begun our journey into that world of marine tech and electronics which you revel and excel in.
-Wayne
Uh oh! I wondered why my ears were burning – now I know! I would love to see the finished product in the PNW and spend several days exploring the entire nuts and bolts, if you’ll let me! You could probably sell tickets for that sort of tour – I bet many people would love to see things in person in more detail.
Not burning Steve, glowing!
We really do talk about you and the chance to get together in person and all the more so doing so in the great PNW so expect to see some messages from us once we either get closer to being anchored near you OR perhaps if we are able to fly again sooner and get to your part of the world on what used to be our regular trips to the Seattle and Vancouver BC areas to see family and friends there. Having grown up as a Canadian “Army Brat” and then choosing to keep feeding my wanderlust by traveling and moving around the world even more all my working life, Victoria is as close to a “home” as I ever knew. I was a high school teacher in Delta BC and a BCIT instructor living in Burnaby and elsewhere in the greater Vancouver area for many year and my son lives and works in Vancouver so I have a surprising amount of “roots” in those areas for such a mobile guy. And with Christine being a best selling author with Amazon’s mystery and adventure imprint publisher “Thomas and Mercer” she and we have spent quite a bit of time in Seattle so the whole PNW area is one we know reasonably well but not near as well as we would like and especially so from the vantage point of our own boat being anchored there!
So “see you soon” is NOT a figure of speech here Steve and consider this your first “Wayne Warning”!
Bravo, indeed. Of course, you could have registered her in Guernsey where I live! Mind you, the least expensive diesel in and around any of the Channel Islands, UK and EU by far, is from Guernsey. Just call Rubis and arrange either to have it bunkered in St peter Port, or St Sampsons (a couple of nms north of St peter Port).
Bonjour Piers! Great to hear from you again and please rest assured that our choice of Jersey vs Guernsey is no slight on Guernsey or you. We seriously considered Guernsey and several others in the REG, but all in all, Jersey was the Goldilocks, Just Right; Just for Us, choice.
Thanks for the fuel tip and Christine has started to track fuel prices around the world given our rather sizable tankage that we will need to fill up from time to time. We continue to live life on The No Plan Plan, but we do hope to get to your part of the world there in the Channel Islands on Möbius so don’t be too surprised when we give you a call a few days or weeks out and we would truly love to meet up in person and host you aboard Möbius.
-Wayne
Hi Wayne,
It would be great to see the Good Ship Mobius, as and when. Re the fuel price in Guernsey, it varies with world prices and quantity almost daily. When it comes to it, I will give you the Marketing Director’s name (I know him personally) and I’m sure he’ll look after you. Just to underline the low diesel price in Guernsey, many, and I mean many, super yachts fill up here.
Best regards to you and yours.
Congratulations Wayne and Christine on creating the Möbius ID plaque and achieving such a lofty goal! I can’t wait to see launch day. I love the subtle flag connection to your Canadian roots! I found the second Canadian in the photo btw
I also like the Autodesk shirt!
Stay happy, healthy and safe!
Cheers!
Kathie
Hey there Kathie! What a wonderful surprise to find this note from you and to know that you are joining us on this latest adventure. Who else would have picked up on my shirt!? Being the frugal one I am I still have lots of my various logo merchandise from three decades at the ‘desk (aka Autodesk Inc.) and Christine kindly re-hemmed the sleeves when I “upgraded” two of these from long to short sleeves. Still make great work shirts and I’m still proud to wear them and they bring back memories each time I put them on and see that familiar logo again.
Glad you got the humour and back story to second Canadian in that photo, all thanks to my brilliant Captain’s research and insight. Like you we can’t wait to have that flag flying in the breezes once we launch Möbius so stay tuned for that and thanks again for stopping by to say Hi and for joining us here.
-Wayne
Congrats!!! Long time since we chatted, Wayne! Love your new registration of Mobius!!! Warm regards, Elliott
Wow! What a great “blast from the past” Elliott, thanks. As you know even better than I, one of the fun things about blogging is that you never know who all is following you so it is a delightful surprise to learn that you are joining Christine and I on this latest adventure. As you’ve been seeing it is very much a learning adventure so my focus on Learning, Living and Loving continues unabated. Hope you and Cathy are both doing well along with all the others at the Masie Center as we all navigate our way through this latest global “storm”.
Thanks again,
Wayne