Boat & Safety Systems
This is unforgiving water. Here's what stands behind every passage: certification, the refit, and safety equipment.
Gran Blau is a Belliure ketch, built and equipped for genuine offshore ocean voyaging.
Owned and sailed in the Mediterranean since 2019, with an extensive refit undertaken over that period to prepare her specifically for blue-water passages.
Onboard Systems
Every major system aboard, with links through to the full write-up on the Journal where one exists.
A Duarry liferaft and Hammar hydrostatic release mounted at the stern, an EPIRB, MOB3 beacons fitted to every lifejacket, plus harnesses, jacklines and fire suppression. See the liferaft and lifejackets & EPIRB gear reviews.
A full Raymarine instrument suite, autopilot control head, radar and AIS at the helm. See the navigation gear review.
New standing and running rigging (2021), 12 Lewmar Ocean Self-Tailing winches and Seldon furlers and mast tracks, plus proper ground tackle for genuine blue-water anchorages. See the rig & winches gear review.
Bunks, heads, galley, watermaker, power systems, and full air conditioning throughout — genuine guest comfort, not just bare-bones cruising.
A Volvo Penta main engine, with a full overhaul carried out by Catmar, an authorised Volvo Penta dealer.
A comprehensive offshore medical kit is carried aboard, backed by STCW first aid training among the crew.
Gear Reviews
Ongoing reviews of the equipment actually used aboard Gran Blau — not sponsored placements, just what's carried and why.
Read the Journal