Messing About In Sailboats

Yacht Charter Market Study

International online survey of quality in yacht charter business. Minitransat sailor Christian Kargl and software architect Ralph Zimmermann from Austria start an international survey of quality in the yacht charter business. In cooperation with Vienna University of Economics and Business the most substantial report will be continuously updated. It is possible to post the reviews from December 3, 2009.

via www.yachtadviser.com

I got an email the other day from Ralph Zimmerman in Austria asking for help with a survey ion the Yacht Charter market. Sounds like this would be a useful piece of research. You can submit a review here

Lin Pardey - Eight Tips for Selecting a Cruising Boat | YachtPals.com

[Lin and Larry Pardey are probably the most famous cruising couple in the world.  Through their philosophy of simplicity and self-sufficiency, they have encouraged countless others to cast off the dock-lines and live a life of adventure, rather than to spend a lifetime thinking "some day..."  Their books, videos and seminars have brought the dream of cruising down to earth, and their practical, hard-earned advice is treated by many cruisers as scripture.  They've been there, they've done that, and they want to tell you how you can too.

via yachtpals.com

Some absolutely brilliant practical words of wisdom on cruising from someone who knows what she is talking about. Thanks Yachtpals!

The Start of 2009 ARC

PB221276, originally uploaded by Crissi :).

You can read more about this year's ARC here.

Here is a video of the start too. Spot the guy who left his fenders on. Wonder if  he realizes before he hits St Lucia.

Chilling Video of British couple captured by Somali pirates

Mike Taylor of Timmynocky shared a link to an article on Yachtpals about the Chandlers, the British couple captured by pirates last month. It's chilling. They are clearly in great distress but keeping a brave face.We obviously all thinking about you and hoping for your safe release. You can read the full article here

Congratulations Nick

Nick Jaffe and his 1972 26 ft Contessa, Constellaton did it. Nick's goal was to sail from Europe back home to Australia and he did it, completing the voyage in 743 days. When he started Nick had little sailing experience and very little money.

He arrived back in Oz today (or yesterday depending on where you are). You can read more about his landfall here.

Congats Nick. You have an inspiring story.

Joy of Running Aground

Like most sailors I have developed a natural fear of running aground. If I have less than 3 feet below the keel, I start sweating bullets.  Back in the UK, where tides in some places are 20 feet or more, sitting on the bottom, especially in the muddier loci is part of the deal.

In fact in much of the UK the shallow draft, twin or triple keeled stout sailboats like Dylan Winter's Mirror are very common. It's a whole different way of cruising and you learn to love it. In the video below you can see why. More to the point, you can see why the joy of sitting aground in the mud, watching the birds and generally chilling can be as much as part of sailing as blasting along at 8 kts.

Blog of SV Lynn Rival

Like many sailors I was distressed to hear about the British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler who were kidnapped by Somali pirates this week. They were on passage from the Seychelles to Tanzania. News of their kidnapping broke after their EPIRB was activated and they posted a brief message on their blog.

I visited the blog in the hope that I could leave a message of support but unfortunately this is not enabled. It's worth visiting the blog to understand the route they took. They were clearly as careful as they could be. They came through the Red Sea and along the Southern Arabian Coast in a rally and kept going East to India. After working their way down the Indian coast they left Goa and headed Southwest for the Seychelles. After the Seychelles they were kidnapped in transit to Tanzania.

The thing that shocked me was how far from Somalia they were. I assumed that the hijackings were closer to the Somali shore. From what I can calculate they were hijacked 500-800 miles from Somalia and well South of Somalia. The range of these pirates is frightening.

I understand that Rachel and Paul have been taken inland in Somalia. We're all thinking of you and wish for your safety and swift return.

Fall Sailing

 
I love Fall sailing. Sad though it is that it presages putting the boat away, sailing in the Northeast in late September and October can be spectacular with winds in the teens, temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, clear visibility and leaves turning on the banks of Raritan Bay.

I had three great sails in the last two weeks. Two Sundays ago was the Lightouse Race, our club’s annual 25 mile race round the 4 lighthouses of Raritan Bay and the entrance to NY Harbor. I sailed on Knot Again, a 34’ C&C.  Although there was almost no wind at the start, the wind picked up by noon and we had a steady 15 kts for the 5 hours it took to do the Lighthouse circuit. The early light air did not favor us and we were in catch-up mode the whole way round.

On Saturday, I raced on Knot Again again, this time in a 8 mile cruisers’ race. There 8 boats in the race and we finished second. The wind was blasting the whole way round.  We had 15kts of true wind and an apparent wind in the lows 20s. It was outstanding.

On Sunday, Alice and I took Messing About out for a few hours round the bay. The winds were light to start with but by 12:30 the winds were up in the teens and we were cooking.

On the way back, we sailed back and forth at the upwind mark of the RYC Hospice Cup, our club's annual Fall regatta. We had front-row seats as the J105s and J30s made the turn and raised spinnakers. Spectacular!

Picking up the mooring was challenging as it was blowing about 15kts. As ever we had to sail up to the mooring stick, Alice at the helm and me running forward to get the stick. The wind was gusting and we missed it 3 times but Alice has become confident on the helm and tacked us back forth until I could grab it.

It may be our last sail of the season and it will be a great way to remember sailing in 2009.

Clawing our way home

A few weeks ago, I realized that Alice was being short-changed on sailing. I had been racing a bit but had not taken the missus out on Messing About for several weeks. On a whim one Saturday, we headed down to the club for an afternoon sail.

There was no one around at the club and Raritan Bay was light on traffic of any kind – a few fishing boats, the occasional tug and a couple of other sailboats. Readers of this blog will know that our sailboat, a 26’ S2 Messing About has many virtues but a working engine is not one of them. Over the summer, Alice and I have become proficient at sailing on and off the mooring. At the risk of jinxing it, we have sailed in and out of a crowded mooring field without hitting anything and picking up the mooring first time mostly.

The wind was unusually light. The current was ebbing and quite strong. I gave it one look and suggested we sit and wait. Alice gave me a look that questioned my manhood, pointing out that there  other boats were out sailing. So off we sailed. Well sorta.

It was more a case of floating with the current with the sails up. As the mooring field is on the edge of a busy shipping channel that tankers navigate fairly often, I suggested we drop the hook for a while.

About 30 minutes later, it looked like the wind was filling in from the Southeast so we started sailing again. The wind verrrrrrry light and it felt like half our speed over the ground was from the current. After a mile of this, I suggested to Alice that we turn back. Without an outboard, I was concerned that we would have to wait for the tide to turn to get home.

At this point the wind died entirely. The bay was millpond-like. I dropped the hook again.

Every five minutes a puff would blow out of the two rivers that converge in front of our mooring field. Alice and I got into a rhythm of watching a puff head towards us, raising the anchor and with the sails sheeted in tight and flat wait for the light puff to move us 200-300 yards then drop the anchor again. We literally clawed our way back to the mooring field.

Picking up the mooring was especially interesting as the Northern end of the fleet is in the current coming out of Arthur Kill that flows from the North into the Eastern end of the Bay. The Southern end of the fleet is moored in the current from the Raritan River that flows West into the Easter end of the Bay. Our mooring is right in the middle o the fleet where the two currents converge making it very tricky to use the currents to drift in a predictable direction towards our mooring stick. After 30 minutes or so of laying the puffs and figuring out the currents and light air and drifted slowwwwwly up to our mooring.

Not the most invigorating sail but satisfying all the same.

Perfect Labor Day Sail

Alice and I went out for a perfect sail today. Early on winds out of the East at about 15kts with 20kt gusts. Temperature in the 70s and partly cloudy. Enough people on the bay to make it fun but not too many to get in the way.

We sailed off the mooring with main and jib reefed and sailed like that for an hour. As the day progressed the wind dropped below 10 kts and we shook off the reef in the jib and then the main. We sailed for a 4 hours, rocking along with no particular place to go, taking terms helming and napping on the leeward side. We then sailed back onto the mooring, nailing a perfect landing.

September is my favorite month for sailing. It's still warm but there is wind, unlike August and we have been sailing long enough into the season to feel confident and proficient.

In case you are wondering the top flag is our club burgee, which in my case is appropriately the St George's Cross. The lower flag is an old British ensign we have had for over 20 years. I am sure that the way we have rigged these says something like RYC rules the USA and Great Britain has surrendered to the USA. Look forward to being corrected!