Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i Cruising World

Here at CW, we hear all sorts of reasons why people go sailing, but I think I like Tracy Howard’s the best. Last year, racing in Columbia Yacht Club’s Chicago Leukemia Cup Regatta, she raised $130,034 — top in the nation — to help fight blood cancers. Donald and Margret Steiner and team My Girl put a day on the water to good use too. Their crew collected and donated $130,010 during the New York Yacht Club’s Leukemia Cup in Newport, Rhode Island, earning them the Robert Edward Maher Memorial Trophy, a new award to honor a lifetime member of the Southern Yacht Club who died last fall after a long fight with multiple myeloma. New Orleans’ SYC hosted last fall’s Leukemia Cup Regatta Fantasy Sail, an annual affair where…

1. SHAKESPEARE GALAXY INFL8 • $149 • SHAKESPEARE-MARINE.COM Any well-equipped offshore sailor knows that they should have an emergency VHF antenna aboard. The trouble is the space needed to stow them. Solving this problem is the new inflatable emergency VHF antenna from Shakespeare. The 3dB antenna inflates quickly to 5 feet using a CO2 canister, yet can easily stow away when not needed. 2. MUSTANG SURVIVAL KHIMERA • $199 • MUSTANGSURVIVAL.COM This useful PFD has both integrated floatation panels and an inflation chamber that can quickly inflate if you need more buoyancy. Unlike most inflatable PFDs, no repacking is required — simply squeeze the air out and attach a new canister. The Khimera is slim, form-fitting and comfortable, and is suitable for a wide range of activities. 3. SCANSTRUT ROKK…

One thing all cruising cooks learn as they go is this: Flexibility is called for, especially when required ingredients are not always available. There is nothing my husband, Bob, and I love more than a big bowl of seafood stew on a foggy night at anchor, when the mist calls to mind San Francisco – the city renowned not only for its fog, but for its unique rendition of an Italian fisherman’s stew called cioppino. Alas, not always do we have access to all the shellfish needed to make this dish. At such times, I fall back on a recipe I discovered when we were newlyweds back in 1980, sailing our J/24 every available weekend in Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey. This mock “cioppino” is much easier on the galley…

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE As the old saying goes, water and electricity don’t mix, especially aboard a cruising vessel. Even the best-designed and-installed electrical systems can come to grief if left to their own devices; the damp, salty environment virtually guarantees it. If you haven’t suffered an electrical failure, you simply haven’t cruised long enough. That said, in my experience the vast majority of failures are entirely avoidable. Let’s take a look at a few of the more likely examples. Improperly installed solderless or “crimp” connections: When properly installed, high-quality solderless terminals are extremely reliable; millions of them are literally in flight at any given moment aboard civil and military aircraft. However, using terminals that don’t match the wire size, or ring terminals whose hole is larger than the fastener over which…

Whether crossing an ocean, lying on a beach or curled up beside a fire on a cold winter night, for almost any sailor there’s nothing better than a good book, especially a great sea tale. Over the last few months a slew of new, interesting titles has found their way to our offices, several of which have been penned by authors with strong connections to Cruising World. Here are a few of our favorites, all of which are available on Amazon and other outlets. They’re perfect for wiling away some time on a lonely watch, or connecting us to the sea when high and dry. Second Wind by Nathaniel Philbrick (Penguin Books): Before he was the best-selling author of books including In the Heart of the Sea, Nat Philbrick was…

Coming out from under the lee of Tongatapu, Tonga, we were rail-down despite flying only our small trysail and tiny storm staysail. The wind was easterly. It was blowing a steady Force 7, gusting to gale force. The resulting seas were huge. Our boat speed was 8 knots on the crests — slightly less as we labored in the troughs. We were attempting to punch through the high-velocity wind wall of a BFH (big fat high) that had established itself between us and our destination: New Zealand. Ganesh, our rugged but weary 43-foot Wauquiez Amphitrite ketch, was beam-reaching amid mountainous seas, not the most comfortable point of sail when Mother Ocean is in a boisterous mood. Rolling is a real possibility while beam-on. Occasionally, a boarding breaking wave would ring…

It was early May in New England, filled with sunshine and the promise of budding flowers and green leaves, and my 36-foot sloop, Tazzarin, was ready to go into the water in a few weeks. However, my spirits felt differently. My sister, Isabel, had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly; it took the wind from my sails. I needed a change. As Ishmael says in Melville’s Moby-Dick, “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth, whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul … then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” There was only one thing to do. I called my oldest boyhood sailing pal, John Winchester, at his home in Manhattan. I had been contemplating chartering in Cuba for…

Something that is rarely mentioned in projects like this is the time and patience it takes to finish the trim, especially when reusing much of the 35-year-old original wood, as I did on this alteration and, indeed, as I have throughout the boat. The original lockers and all the teak-faced plywood had multiple layers of varnish that looked as though it had just been slapped on over the years. This had to be stripped to bare wood, then re-varnished to make everything look uniform and presentable. For this I used nearly a gallon of Goof Off semi-paste paint stripper and a lot of elbow grease. I glued more than 50 teak wood plugs into recessed screw holes, shaved them smooth and varnished them to match the surrounding wood. The Plas-Tex…

Many United States-based sailors headed offshore choose to document their vessel with the U.S. Coast Guard. The Certificate of Documentation tends to be more readily accepted than just a state registration when clearing into another country. In addition, some banks and insurance companies even require it. In the middle of the government shutdown, the Coast Guard has done something nice. On January 4, 2019, it sent out a bulletin announcing a new multiyear Certificate of Documentation for recreational boaters. This eminently sensible approach to paperwork means you can now apply for up to a five-year expiration date when you renew, paying $26 for each year, up to $130. Five years may be a bit of a gamble depending on how long you tend to keep boats, but this definitely seems…

Attention Caribbean sailors! If you’re looking for some fun festivities with fellow cruisers, then head to Portsmouth, Dominica, the week of March 10, 2019, for the 4th Annual Yachtie Appreciation Week! The big news this year is the completion of the mooring field, which has 30 moorings for visitors. During Yachtie Appreciation Week, the moorings will be free on a first-come, first-served basis. Also, during the week, cruisers can take advantage of discounted island tours and a free party at Cabrits National Park on Saturday, March 16th. The annual event is organized by the Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services.…

Wiping oil on my tan Carhartt pants and a bead of sweat from my bow, I turned and gave Yahtzee’s 34-year-old Perkins 4-108 a yank forward. Out it came from the engine compartment, and I quickly climbed on deck to take it up a few inches with the main sheet. After a bit of back and forth, a more able mechanic looked down the companion-way with a thumbs-up of approval. This hunk of metal was coming out. Re-powering a sailboat is never easy. Whether you do the work yourself or with help, it’s an endeavor in patience with highs and lows that reflect the cruising life you hope to get back to leading once it’s all finished. With our old engine off the boat and a box full of new…

Albania Port Authority, this is sailing vessel Champag ne requesting permission to enter harbor.” Radio silence. This was now our fourth time trying to hail the local authorities, something we were instructed was necessary prior to arrival. “Albania Port Authority, this is sailing vessel Champag ne. Do you copy?” More radio silence. “Champag ne, this is your port agent, please proceed into the harbor and to the commercial dock. We have secured a berthing space for you. You will need to enter stern-to alongside the passenger ferry and use your anchor. Someone will be on the dock to catch your lines.” “Good, copy. Thank you very much; see you soon. Champag ne clear.” Albania was the first country we’ve visited that requires the use of a third-party agent in order…

To an already long list of life’s imponderables, an absolutely remarkable week floating about on Ontario’s Rideau Canal brought me to this: Is 5 mph fast or slow? For the record, I’d not gone to North America’s oldest continually operated waterway and UNESCO World Herita ge Site last July in search of an answer to that quandary. In fact, as I drove eight hours northwest from Boston to Le Boat’s newly opened base in Smiths Falls with my wife, Sue, and daughter, Rebecca, I had many more immediate things on my mind: In particular, how much of the 124-mile-long waterway could we see? From Smiths Falls, the largest town on the canal and roughly at its midpoint, should we voyage north toward Ottowa for an urban experience, or south toward…

SEAMANSHIP Lightning lashed the ground somewhere over the mainland of the Florida peninsula, signaling that our day on the water was rapidly coming to an end. I was seated on the starboard-side of a Colgate 26 with four other people, three of whom were, like me, sailing students. Each one of us glanced sharply upward as an ominous clap of thunder growled across the sky. This was my home-state summer weather, and I was prepared for the impending rainstorm that was tiptoeing our way from the western shore. I was far less prepared when Kurt, our sailing instructor, shimmied slightly to port and offered me the tiller. He shouted above the rising wind: “All right, Jon, it’s your turn to take the helm.” I’d been at this for two days,…