Indholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2017 i Cruising World

You CAN HELP In April 2016, I joined colleagues from several of our sister powerboat and fishing magazines to tour four of the most remote islands in the Bahamas that were hit hard six months earlier by Hurricane Joaquin, a Category 4 nightmare. Joaquin pounced nearly without warning. The brute grew out of a tropical low southwest of Bermuda, intensified rapidly, and then parked for days off the southern Bahamas, literally leveling everything it met on a couple of those islands. The trip came at the behest of Bahamas tourism officials who were concerned that reports of the hurricane’s devastation would be as destructive as the storm itself to the islands’ precarious tourism economies. Without the dollars spent by bonefish anglers, deepwater fishermen, the occasional cruising sailboat and other visitors,…

As we near the end of 2017, we would like to express our deepest thanks to Cruising World editor-at-large Gary Jobson for his 25 years of incredible leadership as the national chairman of the Leukemia Cup Regatta series. Under Gary’s guidance, the Leukemia Cup series grew from two events in 1993 raising just over $30,000 to nearly 50 events in 2017 that, cumulatively, during the past 25 years, have raised more than $62 million. These funds have enabled the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to accelerate cancer cures and improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Gary’s relentless outreach to the sailing community was, and still is, the driving force in the results of the Leukemia Cup campaign. In 2003, 10 years after Gary became the Leukemia Cup…

May I speak bluntly? Of course I can. If you’re going to gather together a hundred or so sailors on a dozen boats on Thanksgiving Day with the specific goals of 1) eating too much, 2) drinking too much and 3) laughing too much, then you best do it properly. Of course, there is the option not to raft up. This makes sense from a seamanship perspective, but not from a social one. I love a large gathering where I endlessly stroll from sailboat to powerboat to sea-spider racing trimaran, not only to check out the various vessels and their gear but to run into enclaves of nudists, animal-rights advocates, parents, herbologists, gaffers, kitesurfers, home-schoolers, scuba divers, Frenchies, revolutionaries, bread-makers, wood butchers, anarchists and writers, all tucked into aft cabins…

When we bought Galactic, our 45-foot cutter, it came with an 8-foot sailing dinghy that we called Little Dipper. During two crossings of the Pacific, that dinghy took our sons Elias and Eric zipping over turquoise water to pristine beaches and taught them how sailing could be a way to explore the world. And for Elias, who sailed Little Dipper from the age of 4 to 8, it was also the vehicle for a blossoming independence as he made the transition from passenger to captain of his own solo voyages. For years, we were in the habit of hanging our dinghies on halyards to make sure they didn’t go walkabout in the dark. But during our haulout in Chile, I noticed how scratched the topsides had become where the dinghy…

Whether you are 10 miles from shore or 1,000, if things go wrong and you need to abandon your vessel, there are a few essential items that you will be reaching for. After the life raft and the EPIRB, the ditch bag is, in our opinion, one of the most critical survival items. When we bought our 45-foot sloop, Distant Drummer, 10 years ago, we purchased a new Viking RescYou Pro six-man life raft. Like most life rafts, it comes with an emergency pack containing basic survival gear, such as raft-maintenance items, signaling equipment, drinking water, a first-aid kit and seasickness tablets. Our ditch bag contains many additional things that we deem essential for survival in a life raft for a reasonable period of time. After 26,000 nautical miles of…

SERENE 2005 Malo 45 Classic Serene was commissioned by renowned marine systems expert and author Nigel Calder. Calder’s expertise is evident in Serene’s systems, outfitting and construction. She is optimized for long distance cruising and easy maintenance. From her gorgeous mahogany interior to gleaming gelcoat, build details by Sweden’s Malo Yachts are top notch. Sail handling systems are set up with shorthanded cruising in mind. All major control lines lead to Andersen electric winches at the cockpit. On deck storage is excellent, as is stowage space and systems access below decks. Professionally maintained by knowledgeable owners, Serene is an excellent aft cockpit, three cabin vessel for owners seeking a long distance blue water cruiser. $399,000. PLEASE SEE OUR AD ON PAGE 119 Swiftsure Yachts | Seattle | 206-378-1110 | www.swiftsureyachts.com…

We have just completed the Newport International Boat Show, and I must say that the mood was very upbeat and supportive. There were vendors from all over the U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands, as well as St. Maarten, and they assured us that the cleanup has begun and they are eager to rebuild. There was a lot of interest in charter and Caribbean travel in general. We participated in a fundraiser organized by Cay Electronics during the show, a move to convert to solar as the rebuilding commences (powerupbvi.com). Show attendees were happy to support the drive, and Nicholson Yachts has committed 10 percent of our yacht charter and yacht sales from the show to the fund. You may have heard that Richard Branson’s Necker Island resort was…

Before we upgraded to our current boat, cruising our Hunter 31, Katie 3, in Ontario’s St. Lawrence Islands National Park was our annual summer adventure. I love to cook, and found great joy in creating meals that seemed to exceed expectations on a small sailboat. One spring, I’d begun to explore vegan cooking; that summer, I experimented on board. We were at our favorite spot on Aubrey Island, which afforded a stunning private view of the Canadian Middle Channel. The morning was sunny, with a cool breeze; I decided I’d make a dinner that night to celebrate the view. I had all the ingredients for one of my favorite meals, pad thai, but I was missing a blender. Then I noticed an empty jar in the galley, and decided to…

Writing a message, inserting it into a glass bottle, corking the end and throwing it overboard is a traditional rite of passage for many off shore sailors. Tossing a message in a bottle is similar to playing the lottery, in that the value is in the dreaming and only rarely in the actual outcome. With a message in a bottle, one can dream of the distant shore it will wash up upon, and who will find the message while beachcombing. My husband, Eric, sent his first message in a bottle while on a college research program sailing from St. Petersburg, Florida, to the Dry Tortugas, a small island cluster 60 miles west of Key West. Several months later, he was lucky enough to receive a nice letter from an elementary-school…

While growing up aboard the schooner Elizabeth in the 1950s, I used to swing through the rig, much to the disgust of the timid adults ashore. I loved being aloft. I felt comfortable there, like a proud frigate bird surveying the ocean. Once, in St. Petersburg, Florida, while standing atop our starboard ratlines, I noticed a blue kite stuck in a tree in nearby Vinoy Park. We were poor; I had no toys, and kites were fun. So I quickly slid down our galvanized shrouds, leapt onto the dock of slip No. 7 and dashed across the street. It was tricky because the kite was caught at the very top of a large banyan, but I eventually managed to get it down. Alas, it wouldn’t fly. Again and again, I…

For most sailors, buying search-andrescue equipment is akin to purchasing earthquake insurance — something wise homeowners carry but hope to never, ever use. Take the well-documented example of Leopard, a 57-foot catamaran that was some 400 nautical miles north of the Dominican Republic, sailing south-southeast en route to St. Maarten on the evening of November 16, 2016. Capt. Charles Nethersole was aboard with crewmembers Carolyn Bailey and Bert Jno Lewis as Leopard negotiated 18-knot winds and lumpy seas with a double tuck in her mainsail. Realizing that they were overcanvased, Nethersole, a professional captain with 41 years of experience, and Lewis reefed the staysail while Bailey prepared dinner. Nethersole and Lewis had just entered Leopard’s pilothouse, with Nethersole at the interior helm, when a meteorological juggernaut of wind and waves…

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE Fuel-supply and return hoses, the plumbing used to convey diesel fuel to an engine or generator and then return unused fuel back to the tank, are often designated as USCG Type A1. They are similar to the fuel-fill hose in that they too should be rated for two-and-a-half-minute exposure to flame without failing or leaking (see “Venting Out,” October 2017). Hoses manufactured within the last few years will likely carry a number “15” suffix, e.g., A1-15, which represents the permeation resistance, an EPA requirement for gasoline engine applications. The same hose can be used for either gasoline or diesel fuel. Type B fuel hoses carry no flame resistance rating and thus are not suitable for inboard use, particularly in engine compartments. Supply and return hoses must be clearly…

In the immediate aftermath of last September’s Hurricane Irma, which tore a wide and destructive path through much of the Caribbean, it was difficult getting firsthand accounts from the islands that had been affected. It was a good two weeks before I got through to my friend Robbie Ferron, the owner of Budget Marine, from his store on St. Maarten, which he’d opened for business a week earlier. I’d raced with Robbie in last spring’s St. Maarten Heineken Regatta aboard his J/39, Ossenfeffer, and was eager to know how the boat had fared. “We’re looking forward to finding out where it is,” Robbie said. “Actually, I have seen the top of the mast quite a distance from where I thought it would be. It’s having underwater sex with a friend…

Sailing with my 8-year-old son. The best gift ever. — G.M. In the 1980s, I received top-of-the-line foulweather gear. It was much more expensive than I could afford. It was well-used, wellrespected and lasted years. I’ll never forget that great gift. — D.B. We were given sailing lessons at a sailing school. Two years later, we traded our powerboat for a Beneteau 49. Last November, I sailed the Caribbean 1500 and returned to the Chesapeake via Bermuda. It all started with those lessons. – S.S. A used copy of Don Street’s Transatlantic Crossing Guide, signed by the author! — I.D. A folding bike! — V.M. A plastic disc calculator for figuring out speed, time and distance. — S.J. A two-week charter in the BVI. — D.S. An annual membership to…

In the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria, bareboat and crewed fleet managers and owners are mobilizing to secure the 2018 winter chartering season in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Depending on departure place and date, vacation sailors will be impressed with the speed of recovery and breadth of fundraising efforts to help locals whose lives and livelihoods were directly affected by the powerful storms. Perhaps most remarkable in the face of Irma’s massive destruction is the resilience of the communities, as well as the oft-sounded reminders from business owners to sailors not to forsake island chartering destinations they’ve grown to love for their beauty and for the local people who are like family to them. “We need our tourists to return to the islands as quickly as possible…

If you ever want to visit Tangier Island, the first thing you need to know is that you won’t see it until you’re very close. As we approached from the west, I was nonplussed as we sailed along on Ukiyo, our Catalina 34. I double-checked the chart plotter and GPS; I knew it was out there, but I didn’t see anything. Finally, a solitary water tower poked its round head out of the Chesapeake. Then, soon after, a row of small homes and trees materialized. Other structures appeared, miragelike, but the land you’d expect to see under all this remained hidden. It wasn’t until we were about to turn into the dredged channel that bisects the island, officially listed at 2.95 feet above sea level, that I fully saw the…

Fully inflated and sitting in the middle of the work-shop floor, our life raft looked rather small. This wasn’t the first time I had seen a Viking RescYou four-person life raft in all its glory, but it was the first time ours had been unpacked from its tidy black valise. We had gone way past the recommended service interval, but certified life-raft service centers aren’t that easy to come by in the South Pacific. Blown up, the raft reminded me of a children’s bouncy castle, all gaudy colors and rounded corners. The air was heady with the smell of new rubber like a freshly opened packet of balloons, but I felt no excitement as I crawled over the air-filled pontoons and into our escape pod. I sat in the strange…

SEAMANSHIP Sails do not last forever, but with proper care, cruising sails made of a high-quality Dacron sailcloth will provide many years of service. I know this because I spent more than 70 years maintaining sails, often turning for advice to Graham Knight, of Antigua Sails, who has been repairing sails in Antigua since 1970. Knight has repaired or supervised the repairs to more sails than anyone else I can think of. My sailing career began in the days of cotton sails and manila or linen running rigging. It was a good school in which to learn how to repair sails, as there were few sailmakers in the Caribbean in the late 1950s, just a few locals who made or repaired canvas sails entirely by hand. We yacht owners did…