SV Impavidus
From early retirement in the UK to the shores of Tunisia, Ant and Cid of SV Impavidus define the technical grit of Mediterranean liveaboard life.
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In the evolving landscape of Mediterranean cruising, where high-gloss aesthetics often mask the reality of bilge pumps and battery cycles, SV Impavidus offers a refreshing antidote of technical transparency. Led by Ant and Cid, a British couple who traded the UK corporate grind for a life on the water in 2018, the channel has become a go-to resource for practical boat maintenance and the "forensic" reality of living aboard a 2015 Bavaria 37. Their philosophy—embodied in their name, Latin for "fearless"—is less about reckless bravado and more about the quiet confidence that comes from knowing every nut, bolt, and wire on your vessel.
Key Takeaways
- Channel Vibe: Pragmatic, instructional, and deeply authentic. Ant’s "top tips" and technical deep-dives provide a masterclass in independent boat ownership.
- The Boat: SV Impavidus, a 2015 Bavaria 37 Cruiser, heavily modified with high-authority energy systems and blue-water safety gear.
- The Journey: A multi-year exploration of the Mediterranean, currently navigating the waters between Tunisia and Malta while managing the logistics of long-term liveaboard life.
⚓ Quick Specs & Channel Vitals
| Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vessel Name/Type | SV Impavidus / Bavaria 37 Cruiser |
| Sailing Style | Blue Water Mediterranean Cruising |
| Key GEO Focus | UK, Malta, Tunisia, Italy |
| Primary Tech | Victron Orion XS 50A B2B, Brunton Autoprop, Winchmax Remote |
| Technical Focus | Power Management, Ground Tackle, Outboard Repair |
| Notable Milestone | Successful transition to full-time Mediterranean voyaging (2018-2026) |
Meet the Crew and the Vessel
The Sailors Behind the Helm
Ant and Cid represent the pinnacle of the "early retirement" sailing dream. Leaving the UK in 2018, they brought with them a dedication to self-reliance that has defined their content ever since. Ant is the primary technical voice, often seen with his "26kg suitcase of boat parts," while Cid provides the vital logistical and navigational support that keeps the ship running smoothly. Their journey in 2026 has been marked by resilience, as they navigated personal family challenges while maintaining their commitment to the cruising community. Source: SV Impavidus YouTube
The Boat: SV Impavidus
Their Bavaria 37 is a masterclass in production boat optimization. While the vessel came off the line as a standard cruiser, Ant has transformed it into a self-sufficient expedition platform. Key modifications include a Brunton Autoprop for increased efficiency under power, a massive solar array, and a recently simplified electrical backbone featuring the Victron Orion XS 12/12 50A charger. From "Franken-pumping" DIY plumbing solutions to replacing stainless steel anchor chains, every system is treated as a learning opportunity.
Voyages, Destinations, and Local Waters
⏳ Voyage Milestone Timeline
- 2015: Purchase of the Bavaria 37; initial outfitting in the UK.
- 2018: Cast off for the Mediterranean; beginning of full-time liveaboard life.
- 2021-2023: Extensive cruising through Italy, Malta, and the Balearic Islands.
- 2024: Focus on North African cruising, with significant time spent in Monastir, Tunisia.
- 2025-2026: Managing complex Mediterranean logistics, including the "90/180" Schengen rules and winter refits.
🌪️ Regional Weather Guardrails
Navigating the Mediterranean requires a deep understanding of local wind patterns that can turn a calm bay into a lee shore in minutes. Based between Tunisia and Malta, Ant and Cid must respect the Mistral (the cold, powerful NW wind from the Gulf of Lion) and the Meltemi (the dry N winds of the Aegean). Their technical approach to anchoring—including a new stainless steel chain and wireless remote—is a direct response to these regional challenges. Source: WeBoating Maritime Weather Reference
Life Aboard: Techniques, Gear, and Challenges
🛠️ The Gear Locker: Crucial Hardware
| Category | Equipment |
|---|---|
| Energy | Victron Orion XS 12/12 50A B2B + Expanded Solar Array |
| Propulsion | Brunton Autoprop + Rope Cutters |
| Ground Tackle | New Stainless Steel Chain + Winchmax Wireless Remote |
| Water | Spectra Watermaker (Technical Refit 2025) |
📊 Vessel Systems Health Scorecard
| Energy Autonomy | 9/10 (Optimized DC-DC charging + high solar density) |
| Structural Integrity | 8/10 (Well-maintained Bavaria Cruiser; proactive hull/anode care) |
| Communication Grade | 9/10 (Starlink + Radar Overlay + AIS) |
| Water Independence | 8/10 (Fixed Spectra system + high-capacity tankage) |
Top Episodes: Where to Start Watching
- Why Are My Anodes Disappearing?: A technical deep-dive into electrolysis and hull protection.
- Installing an Anchor Remote: Improving solo handling and safety with modern tech.
- 20 Boat Checks Before Launch: The definitive checklist for any cruising sailor.
Channels Similar to SV Impavidus
- Sailing Fair Isle: Fellow British cruisers Steve and Judy bring a similar level of broadcast-quality storytelling to Mediterranean cruising.
- Carl and Jenny: Focused on the technical and emotional reality of liveaboard life in the Mediterranean.
- Adventures of an old Seadog: Shares the same dedication to "technical grit" and honest boat maintenance.
Frequently Asked Questions about SV Impavidus
SV Impavidus is a 2015 Bavaria 37 Cruiser. Ant and Cid have heavily modified the vessel for long-term blue-water cruising, focusing on electrical autonomy and system efficiency.
The crew are Ant (Anthony) and Cid (Cindy), a British couple who retired early in 2018 to sail full-time. They are often accompanied by their faithful boat dogs.
As of 2026, SV Impavidus is based in the Mediterranean, frequently transiting between Tunisia (Monastir) and Malta for maintenance and seasonal cruising.
'Impavidus' is Latin for 'fearless' or 'undaunted.' It reflects Ant and Cid's philosophy of tackling boat projects and blue-water challenges with steady confidence.
The boat features an optimized DC-DC charging system powered by the Victron Orion XS 50A charger, supported by a massive solar array and expanded battery bank for off-grid living.
The couple retired early to sail and currently support their journey through a combination of personal savings and their Patreon community of 'Impavidians.'
SV Impavidus Journey and Videos Locations
SV Impavidus Latest Episode
Support SV Impavidus
At WeBoating.com, we profoundly acknowledge the unwavering dedication that SV Impavidus invests in crafting each and every video or voyage. Their passion for delivering exceptional ocean content shines through every frame, and it's a labor of love that deserves your attention.
We invite you to watch their captivating videos here and actively engage with their content, including their social media links above. Liking, commenting, and sharing their work goes a long way in fueling their creative fire.
We're also inviting you to explore the gear, sponsorships, and boat partnerships highlighted in the videos descriptions, or directly on YouTube. By engaging with these offerings or purchasing services and items, you directly support SV Impavidus, their collaborators, and the brands they're associated with.
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Watch SV Impavidus's Latest Videos
Catch up on the most recent updates. Browse the complete video archive and Follow the journey.
On to Augusta. Where we encounter a fisherman and his nets.
We sail on from Porto Palo then Syracuse and Augusta We find an illegal fishing has been stretched across the bay ready to catch our anchor chain. Sail Safe Guys, Ant & Cid XX 🇬🇧 ⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️ =================================================== 👋 We’re Ant & Cid aboard SV Impavidus – ...
I Couldn’t Save the Cat!
A peaceful afternoon at anchor suddenly turned into one of the most dramatic incidents I've witnessed in years. What I first thought was a catamaran anchoring too close to SV Impavidus turned out to be something far more serious. With nobody on board, the yacht had dragged its anchor and was dr...
The Night Malta’s Fireworks Shook Our Boat!
We were expecting Malta’s fireworks to be spectacular. We weren’t expecting them to explode directly above Impavidus from morning until after 11 o’clock at night! The thunder flashes and maroons were so powerful that they shook the boat. By morning, Impavidus was covered in burnt paper, string, fir...
Moving on.. She’s back!! 😁♥️😁
In this Weeks video, we take a look at the market in St Georges bay. Has it changed or is it still the same? We take a gentle sale round from St George's Bay to Manoel Island. I go to the childless to pick up some gear and the boat gets a jolly good tidy up why because Cindy is on her way back....
Is Your Boat’s Shore Power Safe?
Have you ever plugged your boat into shore power and simply assumed everything was safe? After an electrical fault aboard SV Impavidus, I decided to investigate exactly how marina shore power works, what reverse polarity actually means, and whether our boats are really as well protected as we think...
Crossing the Med Pt2
Join me for Part 2 of my solo Mediterranean crossing as I leave Lampedusa before sunrise and make the final passage to Malta. After a slight navigational detour leaving the harbour to avoid a restricted area, the day quickly turned into one of those passages we all dream about. A spectacular sunris...
Crossing the Mediterranean Solo | North Africa to Malta – Part 1
Leaving Tunisia wasn’t as simple as slipping the lines. In this episode I set off solo from Monastir on a 98-nautical-mile crossing to the Italian island of Lampedusa. The plan sounds straightforward, but there was one problem… I had just over 13 hours to get there before darkness fell. The route ...
Malta is such a lovely place. (St Georges bay)
Having crossed the Mediterranean from North Africa to Malta via Lampedusa it's time to chill for a few days. Our upcoming vides show the whole journey.... Tune in on Sunday.
Tunisia Got It Right This Time! 🇹🇳 (And So Did We)
After the frustration of our saloon upholstery project, it was refreshing to finally find a local Tunisian company that delivered exactly what they promised. In this episode we visit a local print shop to have new SV Impavidus graphics produced, including replacement boom decals, YouTube branding a...
£1,700 Later… And It Still Wasn’t Right!!!!
Replacing the saloon cushions on a cruising yacht should have been straightforward. We spent weeks choosing fabrics, selecting the correct foam, creating detailed layouts and even producing design renderings to ensure the finished result was exactly what we wanted. The contractor inspected the boat,...
When Should We Leave Tunisia? | Planning a Mediterranean Crossing
After months in the marina, it's finally time to start getting SV Impavidus ready for sea again. In this video I sit down with the charts, weather forecasts and route options to answer one simple question: When should we leave Tunisia? Using our previous crossing tracks, weather data and passag...
We Spent £7.50 at a Tunisian Market… and Couldn’t Believe It
After months in the marina, it’s finally time to start getting SV Impavidus ready for sea again. In this episode we refit the sails, re-thread the running rigging, sort out the German mainsheet system and begin preparing the boat for life back under sail here in the Mediterranean. We also take a loo...
Why Are My Anodes Disappearing So Fast?
This week Impavidus comes out of the water for the usual haul-out jobs — cleaning back the Coppercoat, polishing the topsides and checking everything underneath the boat. But while inspecting the underwater gear, we discovered something that genuinely surprised me. One set of anodes was disappeari...
“ANCHOR REMOTE!”
Installing a wireless remote control on our Bavaria 37 anchor windlass sounded simple… until we started digging into the wiring! In this video we install and test a WINCHMAX wireless windlass remote system so we can control the anchor from anywhere on board. We explain how the contactor system work...
New Water Pump Didn’t Fit… So I Built a Franken Pump!
I thought this would be a straightforward job… swap out the old freshwater pump and fit a new one. It wasn’t. The new pump looked identical, but the quick-fit connectors were just slightly different — enough that nothing would fit. So instead of a simple replacement, this turned into something else ...
“Outboard Won’t Start? Replace the Carb (Tohatsu 3.5HP Fix)”
If your outboard won’t start, won’t idle, or just refuses to run properly… there’s a good chance the carburettor is the problem. In this video, I take you step-by-step through replacing the carburettor on a Tohatsu 3.5HP 4-stroke outboard, including removing the old unit, fitting a new one, and expl...
I Replaced TWO Chargers with ONE (Victron Orion XS Upgrade)
In this video, I replace my existing dual battery-to-battery (B2B) charger setup with a single Victron Orion XS 12/12 50A — simplifying the system, reducing wiring, and improving efficiency. We start by looking at the existing installation (with a full circuit diagram), then strip it all back before...
Everything’s Changing… What Happens Next?
Hi folks, This video is a bit of a practical one — I’ve just unpacked a 26kg suitcase full of boat parts that I’ve brought back into Tunisia, and I go through it all item by item. It’s not just a list of what I bought, but what each piece is for, why I chose it, and how much I paid. I’ve also includ...
He Built the Perfect Fishing Setup… Then Quit the Industry…………..
This week we follow Ryan on one of his final marine projects — a custom-built fishing module for a Rodman 31. The brief was simple: create a practical, durable solution for serious fishing. The result is a bespoke unit incorporating a live well, sink with running water, and dedicated tackle storage...
A Personal Appeal for Our Daughter Roxanne
Roxanne’s GoFundMe: As many of you know, we don’t normally use the SV Impavidas page for personal family matters. We keep this page for our YouTube channel, our sailing life, and all the usual chaos that comes with it. (Other than the amazing artwork our daughter Roxie does when she is well enough...
20 Boat Checks Before Launch (10 In The Water, 10 On The Hard)
Boat checks before launch can prevent expensive failures — and even sinking. In this video we show you 20 essential spring commissioning checks: 10 to do while the boat is still on the hard, and 10 once she’s back in the water. Sail Safe Guys, Ant & Cid XX 🇬🇧 ⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️ =================...