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Issue #16 Fall 2016
Contents
Special Stuff in this Issue 12 22 51 62 68 82 114 120 124 136 142 146 152
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G od g r a n t m e th e s er en ity to a c c ep t th e ter m s a n d c on dition s th a t I w ill n ot r ea d.
The Whole Nine Yards What Have I Done? Women Who Sail Beyond the Coast Docking - Two Sides to Every Story Featured Veteran Cruising Vessel Adia Life’s A Beach! Matthew Turner Update There’s This Place: Albania Featured Cruising Vessel - Cuttwater 28 Telesto Bitch Wings Cruising with the Gunas Storm in Fiji
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Regular Stuff in this Issue Attitudes Bob Bitchin Scuttlebutt Another Way Tania Aebi What’s Out There: New Boat Designs Lifestyle Did I Do That? Flotsam & Jetsam Book Review Capt. Jim Cash Life Aboard Robin Stout Talk of the Dock Zuzana Prochazka Weather by Lee Trouble with Treb Rich Marker I Found It at the Boat Show Tech Tips Captain Pauly CO Events & News Bubba Whartz Morgan Stinemetz Mackie White Latitudes & Attitudes Cruisians
8 30 48 56 70 92 96 110 112 132 134 157 158 164 166 168 187 189 190
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A c c ep t c h a llen g es , s o th a t y ou m a y f eel th e ex h ila r a tion of v ic tor y . - G eor g e S. P a tton
Attitudes B y B ob B
Okay, here’s the q uestion of the day. How many of you have stood on the deck of your boat looking into a black and stormy sky and asked yourself, “What the hell am I doing out here?” Come on. Fess up. I can tell you with all honesty, I can recall numerous times I found myself standing at the rail, gripping a shroud, looking off into dark and stormy skies wishing I was anyplace but there. Why the hell would anyone want to face a storm? It doesn’t make any sense. Yet every time I ever cast off my lines to go on a voyage, I K N E W there would be days like that. So the q uestion remains: Why do sailors go to sea knowing they will be facing some uncomfortable sailing, or, at worst, a life-changing adventure? Well, I do have the answer. It took me a lot of years to fi ure it out ut here is hy do it. To live. After living aboard for about 35 years and sailing thru pretty much any and all conditions one would e ect to find moved ashore. don t remem er ex actly how it happened, but I soon found myself living up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Oh, I am still near water, and I still get out sailing 4-5 times a year. I even get to do a few ex tended crossings so I can, once again, throw this overly-large body into harms way, which is how I discovered the answer to my q uestion.
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itchin
hen first ecame a land slu as ha y as a clam when a storm would come in. Instead of throwing out another anchor I would throw another lo on the fire. could en oy the storm. But as soon as the thunder stopped and the lightening subsided, it was over. Where was the feeling of accomplishment? Where was the thrill I used to feel when we’d see a storm like that pass over us and watch it disappear off our stern? Livin ta es sacrifice. istin does not. f you want to feel the pride of sailing out from under a dark and stormy sky there is only one way to do it. You need to live it. Yes, your friends might think you’re nuts for doing it, but all those who have ever done it seem to get a little more out of their life. Sailors, for hundreds of years, have known you cannot become an able seaman if you never face your fears. Ask anyone who has ever crossed an ocean or even sailed through a local storm. You are more alive for the exp erience. I am not suggesting you take the boat out nex t time there’s a hurricane in your area. I am not totally craz y! But I am suggesting that on the nex t voyage you undertake, see a sq uall for what it is: a chance for you to feel alive! To feel the wind blowing and the sea spray in the air will do more to make you feel you are truly living than anything else you might ex perience!
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Cruising Outpost 9 7/26/16 6:00 PM 7/27/16 1:49 PM
The Whole
Two wo Girls + One Dog
Part IX The End of an Adventure By Jessica Zevalkink
My nighttime anx iety has thickened. Never been one to be anx ious, but Katie’s prescription of X anax i s starting to look like a jar of cookies. I haven’t slept through the night in weeks. Not because I have been deprived of the opportunity; merely because in three days we will sail back into Northport, Michigan and cross our wake from two years ago, completing America’s Great L oop ex actly two years to the day. Katie and I have been traveling non-stop for 1 27 d ays from Key West, Florida. ish could record ith a chi er attitude a out this rand finale ut if am going to be honest with myself (which I have gotten much better at), I am the opposite of chi er. am uiet. And for the first time ever atie is uiet. hen anythin comes out of either of our mouths it’s rather crass, and the only thing that really gets a grin on either of our faces is when we bitch about something that does not, at all, req uire bitching.
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Nine Yards + One 27-Foot Boat
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Cruising CruisingOutpost Outpost 127 13 7/22/16 11:23 AM
The Whole Nine Yards
oes ron can call the i ard even thou h he have yet to sort out hy it is so difficult to in ro a ly ouldn t ans er the hone. oint my thou ht rocess and am e innin to thin very de ree e turn the ind follo s. very am sim ly rocessin nothin eriod. e ash into the tac e ma e is ushin us ac ards. n ei ht hours ind and aves er usual. e ush L ouis e hard and for no reason other than it is satisfactory to test not only her limits the ac inac rid e is the e act same distance ehind us. hen e assed underneath the structure it as ut ours as ell ecause e are so close to home. hey say ust ant it to o a ay. most accidents ha en ithin t o miles of your o n home. ma nificent. o y 00 .m. e ive u . ar ness is closin in currently ear a coat of false confidence and am fully eaver sland is too far. A mushroom cloud a are of it. e have cruised so conservatively so is ta in over half of the s y and it s cautiously e have een so timid since day een cree in on us all afternoon. one. art of me ishes re hatever At this oint e are ein stal ed. set of rooster e els carry ith me “The hardest thing he ind continues to increase no a year a o. in the world is to simplify m crum lin li e a stale nearly sto in us in our trac s. e divert to tur eon ove. muffin. creamin li e a oilin your life, its so easy to make it he chan e of course lays L ouis e tea ot. other nature does complex� - Yvon Chouinard on her side and e y for ard ant us to ma e it home. he is movin the same s eed as the storm dictatin every decision e ma e as clouds. e can t outrun them anymore. incorrect. ith miles to travel from hy e didn t chan e course hours a o ac inac sland to eaver sland e left the is the only uestion to e as in ourselves. he s y har or no in it asn t oin to e a leasant ride. t has turned ammatus my favorite of all clouds althou h is not unusual for atie and to e the only ones leavin the har or e et a ic out of that. e no it s never they re resent nastiness. e set anchor in a sandy cove hich is not the most rilliant of ideas ut e no e ill e fine. at all a cove e osed in every direction ut one. n the At this oint home is around the corner. f somethin
14 Cruising Outpost _pg 12-19 Whole Nine YardsR.indd 4
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Part IX - The End of an Adventure cockpit I am stiff, perplex ed... I am done. I don’t know if I am frustrated that we are struggling to get home, or just frustrated that we are even going home. I think I am frustrated I am going home. The feeling of “the end” sinks in and it seems to be nothing but an unsurpassable road block. L ooking where the sun sinks towards the sea rests the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, which is kind of making me angry. The sky has been raping us all day, and suddenly it wants to cuddle? Come on, that’s contradicting. Two days later we round Northport Point (my attempt to make this sound like an accomplishment eq uivalent to rounding Cape Horn) on a cloudy day wearing nothing but smiles. Well, not really. We have clothes on. The king sheet (genoa) is unfurled to its largest and we are closehauled in 1 5 knots of wind. I have a bit of weather helm ut don t care ri ht no . e sna e around the final red buoy and adjust our course for my house on North Shore Drive. L ouis e lays gracefully sideways on a beam reach and we adjust the king sheet as per her req uest. The mainsail is not up because… because that req uires work, of course.
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Nothing really seems to matter today. It doesn’t matter that we have completed America’s Great L oop. It doesn’t matter how many miles we have covered. It doesn’t matter it took two years. My bank account doesn’t matter. My awful Walmart haircut and damaged skin doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is right in front of me: Katie, Reggie, and L ouis e. I am so proud of them. Katie and I worked through situations that, with no one else, I could have. The trust and respect I hold for her will doubtfully be trumped by another. She is still my best friend - my sister. Reggie dog, the wise and properly traveled creature, has taught me many things aside from the value of companionship. Katie took care of Reggie better than I have ever witnessed anyone take care of anything or anybody. L ouis e took us to places I never would have otherwise seen. L ouis e showed me the power of simplicity. I am at a loss for words as I recogniz e what I have had in front of me since the day I left. I don’t even notice the last few miles of bohemian blue water. All I see are people who helped Katie and I accomplish this. There are doz ens, if not hundreds, who
Cruising Outpost 15 7/22/16 11:24 AM
What
Now approaching two years into retirement, my wife, Torie, and I have been settling somewhat successfully into our new, watery life aboard Solitude, our Hylas 54. Since leaving the working world in May, 201 4, we have sailed from Washington, DC to New E ngland for the summer, then to the Bahamas to hide from the winter, then up north again to Nova Scotia to hide from last summer. Now we are back south again, hiding from this winter in the Caribbean. It’s good to be us. We continue to hear about the poor winter weather in the Northeast and the craz y election politics in the U.S. The news is hard to escape even now, as we are working our way down the E astern Caribbean islands with less access to good Internet. On the days when I begin to feel that I have had enough of full-time sailing and start thinking about going back to work and living a more normal safer climate controlled life find that readin the ne s our only o tion out here since we have little access to E nglish speaking TV or radio -- can be particularly emotionally restorative in that it serves to reinforce our decision to be right where we are. To be sure, this life has its ups and downs, particularly for a person like me who enjoyed working and yet, to my colleagues’ disbelief, voluntarily cashed out early to sail around
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Have I Done? B y G ary R u bi n aboar d S
V S ol itu de
the world. While not recogniz ed by the psychiatric community, “paycheck separation anx iety” is real - especially when ex pensive things break on the boat or that really nice bottle of Scotch whiskey calls out to me. But aside from my occasional feelings of “What have I done?” this is a great way to live. Reading about the political circus in the U.S. makes us even happier to be down here in the Caribbean, away from the cold and madness. More than ever, we feel so grateful WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
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What Have I Done? to be able to ex plore the world by boat, meet fascinating, onderful eo le and have an o ortunity to re ect on what is going on… from a distance. We made the big hop to the Caribbean in November via the Salty Dawg Rally, which was a 1 500-mile miserable, upwind slog from Hampton, VA to Virgin Gorda. Besides a great crew of friends and an amaz ingly supportive rally, the only thing good to say about the crossing was that nothing broke and we did manage to avoid that surprise late-season hurricane that threatened to make an already uncomfortable trip even worse. We arrived in Virgin Gorda with a time of just over 1 0 days. Trying to get out of the way of a hurricane was the best motivation I have ever had to sail q uickly. Our usual considerations of how to balance speed with comfort was no longer in effect. Sailing fast upwind in stiff breez es kept everyone on their toes and wore us out. Tired, salty and wet was far better than to be scared, salty and wet if we were to have been caught in that hurricane. We hung out in the Virgins for a few weeks and then said a sad goodbye to our crew. Back as the sailing team of Gary and Torie, we picked our way south, making the upwind overnight crossing from the BVIs to St Martin without drama in comparatively pleasant 1 0-knot winds on the nose. We motored upwind for this leg. I am not too proud to press the Yanmar easy button. Motoring in benign conditions was the right way to go, especially because we were still nursing raw nerves from our crossing from Hampton to Virgin Gorda. After leaving St Martin, where we stayed for several ee s e continued our south ard tre . ur first sto was at the British islands of Barbuda and Antigua. Then we continued further south to Guadeloupe, a French
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island, where once again we were reunited with our old friends: baguettes, croissants, and espressos. The French really know how to do carbs and caffeine, and for that we are grateful. We decided to bypass the main island of Guadeloupe and instead, headed right to a cluster of beautiful smaller islands off the southern tip of Guadeloupe called Iles des Saintes, known as “The Saints,” where we enjoyed a calm anchorage and superb diving for a couple of days, followed by an easy eighthour sail to Dominica. To make destination and routing decisions, in addition to the Internet (when we could get it) and our on oard li rary of re ion s ecific uide oo s e ere relying more on our VHF radio for information. While transitioning between islands, we occasionally saw another vessel traveling in the opposite direction. We called them, or they contacted us via VHF radio, to ex change information on where to go and what to do, and more importantly, what and where to avoid. Information like this is invaluable for us both and is as fresh as it gets, using an age-old low-tech method of information sharing called talking. The community of sailors - both formal and informal – a re an essential resource to keep this a fun, rather than a scary, adventure. Out cruising, in-person and online social interactions are very powerful tools, just as they are in business, to drive good decisions. We trust sailors who have recent ex perience in the places we are planning to go and rely on their valuable insights to augment the information in our library of guidebooks and the Internet. In my prior life hen ran a si nificant ortion of the usiness at the Society of Human Resources (SHRM), I used the same process for decision-making, but rather than using a VHF
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radio to gather fresh information, I relied on attending conferences, staying up to date on the latest information via periodicals and the Internet, meetings with my team and maintaining a good network of association professionals to consult, to enable fully informed decisions. It is the same out here… j ust without a desk, conference rooms, air conditioning, and that paycheck. As we have sailed further south, we have encountered fewer large yachts and cruise ships and the number of sailors and sailboats like ours are thinning out. That’s OK with us. We are seeing fewer Americans and many more sailors who have sailed here from E urope. Meeting more people with backgrounds that are different than ours makes our travels all the more interesting. Despite geographic differences, we share the same love of adventure, the desire to ex periencing new things, the sense of accomplishment derived from crossing seas and arriving safely in beautiful
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anchorages, and so on … with one ex ception: we have noticed that sailors from one particular country like to be naked (you know who you are). I am not sure how to feel about this. While I think – how nice, they are probably more comfortable strutting their stuff in public than I am – one must consider that on a sailboat in the tropics with the intense sun, there is a lot of upside to keeping your parts covered. E ven in the sky you rarely see the sun and a moon at the same time. And, for the most part, after seeing our sun-loving nei h ors from distant lands have found that fit and naked are infreq uently found in that combination… not a judgment, just an observation. The nex t island we sailed to was Dominica. Dominica was one of our favorite islands. It is a special place whose residents have shunned much development to preserve the natural state of their island. The island itself is volcanic ith nine distinct ea s. hese volcanoes are classified
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A s oldier w h o s ur v iv ed m us ta r d g a s a n d p ep p er s p r a y is n ow a s ea s on ed v eter a n .
Scuttlebutt
All the news that fits It’s Come to This
Dark & Stormy 20th Anniversary!
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Dark & Stormy Regatta in the British Virgin Islands, we have decided to move the CO/ Tradewinds Radio Cruisers’ Bashes to coincide with this fun event. Soooo... We will hold our St. Maarten Party on Kinsha Beach at the Buccanneer Bar on Feb. 25th, and then, for those who want to sail in the Dark & Stormy, you have five full days to sail the 100 miles north to Marina Cay where you can join the “Cruiser’s Class” in the regatta. But you don’t have to sail in the regatta to join in the fun of the post-regatta Cruisers’ Bash on Nanny Cay on March 6th. And, it’s free, of course! (More details on pg. 45)
Yes, Pokémon Go has invaded our waterways. Because of this, BoatUS has issued these tips for capturing Pokémon while boating: 1. Avoid accidents. Let the first mate and crew look for Pokémon so the captain can focus on driving or sailing the boat. 2. Watch your cell battery usage. The game eats up your battery charge so make sure you have a spare charger and a VHF radio for emergency calls. 3. Have fun!
Nautical Trivia Of all the pirate captains throughout history, which one was the most successful? (Wanna cheat? The answer is on page 46)
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O ay
oney I‛ve eci e to forgive you for screa ing at e last night! WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
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Scuttlebutt E asy Catamarans? The American Sailing Association (ASA) has announced the publication of the new official manual for its Catamaran Cruising Course (ASA 1 1 4). It focusses ex clusively on how to operate a larger catamaran with its distinctive characteristics and operating systems. Published in full color, Cruising Catamarans Made E asy was written by a team of ex pert sailing instructors with more than 250 years of combined sailing ex perience. The 1 00-page book was also co-edited by Peter Isler, two time America’s Cup winner. It’s currently available for purchase on the ASA website www.asa.com.
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Oh no! We‛ve lost our life raft! It‛s the only place we have been able to use to get away when we argue!
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WINDPROOF. WATERPROOF. WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED? IN32 INSHORE LITE JACKET AND TROUSERS You don’t have to sail every day to enjoy every minute. Protected enough for inshore. Sharp enough for onshore. This is one jacket that has it all. Lightweight. Breathable. Waterproof. When you’re ready, it’s ready. Wherever. Whenever. Available from West Marine and other fine Gill retailers. G I L L NA .COM
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Cruising Outpost 33 4/20/16 12:32 PM 7/30/16 11:27 AM
Another Way At noon, on a very fine July Tuesday, we pulled up the mainsail, which still had in the fi rst reef from the last sail, steered off the mooring and drifted up toward the Sakonnet Bridge. The next five and a half hours were spent taking out that reef, snacking, waiting for the wind to pick up so we could do more than just ghost along, and, when it did, tacking around the upper reaches of Narragansett Bay. I was with my sixteen-year-old nephew, Gregory, who’d said he wanted to sail with me, hadn’t been pushed into service by his parents, cajoled into cultivating an interest in something or anything by anyone. He had genuinely wanted to come, asked for it independent of any prodding, and I was flattered to have a teenager seek my company, even if it was just for access to a boat. He’d been dropped off by his mother and sister, who spent Monday night on this very small 32-footer, a size selected precisely to discourage people from inviting themselves over. My boat was to be for me, shared with another person for any length of time, sometimes a third, briefly. After a quarter century of raising two boys between taking people sailing as a vocation, I wanted to enjoy my avocation again without worrying about anyone other than myself. Those who came aboard would have to be types who could share in the worrying. Aside from having more space and comfort, big boats take more out of their owners in every way, and this stage of life was all about trying to avoid anything that cost too much, emotionally or financially. So, we had been four for the night, temporarily using up every available square inch, and losing two bodies was a really good way to make a boat feel bigger. In all our newfound roominess, Gregory eagerly hoisted the mainsail and steered us up the channel between Tiverton and Portsmouth, around the northern tip of Aquidneck Island, under the Mount Hope Bridge,
48 Cruising Outpost pg 48-49 Another Way.indd 2
almost all the way to Prudence Island and Potters Cove, one of our potential destinations for the night. But, it had turned into such a beautiful, breezy and sunny afternoon, I decided to keep going to Dutch Harbor, off the west coast of Conanicut Island. As we tacked between Prudence and Aquidneck, out of the path of an approaching barge, Gregory decided his book was more interesting, and he went below to read, which pretty much became his idea of sailing. Politely offering to come up whenever it was time to tack again, he left me alone in the cockpit, and I steered for the northern tip of Conanicut, through a fleet of racing boats doing drills. Gregory is not a talker, but when asked if he was enjoying himself, he said what he really wanted was to be out of sight of land, on big ocean swells. Originally, I had suggested we might go to Block Island, or Cuttyhunk, but the winds were forecast to be on the nose for at least one of the legs to and from either place. I am constitutionally hard wired to avoid headwinds whenever possible, which was why I had decided learning how to actually sail in protected waters would be more fun for both of us. It definitely was for me. One week earlier, I’d been bringing a 48-foot boat back from Bermuda with the 2016 class of people seeking offshore experience. Before leaving the dock, there’s always one who says they hope to experience some rough weather, to which I tend to reply: careful what you wish for. We had a downwind trip, but the southerlies also brought thunderstorms and mighty squalls, conditions that are anything but relaxing or idyllic. The skies lower, the waves are angry, the wind is just waiting to ruin your day. I was down below, pulled aside by one of the people aboard who was oblivious to the worsening conditions, saying he’d come to learn how to steer and wanted to do some more practicing, when a particularly ferocious squall hit. The helmsperson on watch, who actually knew how to steer
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very well, was overwhelmed. The triple-reefed mainsail jibed against the preventer, the jib back-winded, everything below went flying across the cabin, the rail went under, the sea washed past the portholes, and the wind keened. We were in irons, unable to tack or come about in either direction. I had been starting to put on my foul weather gear when stalled by the thwarted helmsperson making his request, so I had to run up on deck unprotected. While furling the jib in driving, stinging rain, the wind gusted to nearly 50 knots, which was when druthers aboard changed. I was thoroughly soaked and shivering at the wheel, steering until the situation settled, looking at three relieved faces who declared fair weather preferable. Duh. Nothing good ever comes of rough weather, except for memories. At the end of this trip, when we’d gotten through the last night of more dramatic thunderstorms followed by a pea soup fog, and were making landfall in a cheery and much calmer dawn, the girl who’d been steering when the monster squall hit, the one who’d asked for something more challenging, said she’d never been so terrified in her life, and asked what had been my favorite part of the five days. Easy cheesy. I loved one dinner in particular—delicious frozen homemade chicken cutlets that had only required a defrosting and reheating, a rice pilaf, and a cabbage salad. Yum. Then, I asked her what everyone else had said. No exceptions, the best memory had been the squall. Ugh. We were lucky nothing broke, I said. I told this story to Gregory on Tuesday, while explaining why we were staying within the protected waters of Narragansett Bay for his three days aboard, and he remained unmoved. He still wanted big waves, the ocean, and I said he could come with me as fi rst mate on my next Bermuda run.
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Hopefully, he wouldn’t get seasick. But, on Thursday, we tacked out to sea for a couple of hours to round the bottom of Aquidneck, heeled over hard, pounding into moderate swells. Gregory started turning green at the same time he realized I may have had a point. Back on Tuesday, when he went back down below to resume reading, and I steered us up West Passage toward the Jamestown Bridge, beyond which lay our anchorage, I’d figured this would happen. But everyone has to learn for himself the value of an apparently boring sail. The afternoon sun beamed down on the boat heeled over on the sparkling flat waters as we screamed along at 6 knots, rail under in gusts. If the waves had been any bigger, a reef would have been necessary, but here, surrounded by the comforting bulk of protective land masses, I was as relaxed as I ever feel on a boat, tacking, pinching, perfecting sail trim, full of purpose in the moment. It was the kind of afternoon I dreamed about. No hankering whatsoever for the big bad sea, this was as good as it gets. For now. Gregory and me. Pure happiness.
Cruising Outpost 49 7/26/16 2:12 PM
50 Cruising Outpost
pg 44 Sailtime.indd 1
7/27/16 10:38 AM
Wo m e n W h o S a i l 2nd Annual Rendezvous
Sea of Cortez
B y Ju
l ie Thorndy craf t
A ddition a l p h otos b y A n n e Sek els k y , D ia n e B r odie, F r a n k ie G r a n t, J a n et D a r t, C a p ta in P a ts ee O b er , T r is h M a c k en z ie
reen ash ve een atchin for a reen ash orte this year and the rende vous ic ed off in at sunset since my fi rst sailin tri to mid A ril in La a a a alifornia ur. southern aters in 1 . ve seen as one of omen on charter The crew of S / V H aw aii hiki ng scores of ama in sunsets oats accom anied y a eet of s rin your o n on sailin tri s since ut not once have seen that oat rou ht y additional le endary ash. ntil the mem ers. ea of orte . t asn t is a ace oo rou a i s lashy event. he ith over 000 mem ers orld ide. he omen sun slo ly san into the hori on and at the last attendin this rende vous second there as a tiny came from anada and across the . . and their o of reen. reen ash sailin no led e ran ed from fi nally sa one t as the third day on the ea er ne ies to seasoned veterans ater durin the nd Annual omen ith 100 on licenses and thousands of miles of offshore e erience. ho ail ende vous. e ere on the ea of
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_pg 51-55 Women Who Sail.indd 1
Cruising Outpost 51
7/22/16 3:24 PM
What’s Out There?
The Sun Odyssey line from J eanneau has been a favored design for cruisers since its inception. The Sun Odyssey 38 9 is a siz e that will serve couples and small families well for long-distance cruising as well as weekend gunkholing. The performance and ease-ofhandling also make this a good siz e. The performance hull was designed by Marc L ombard. It features a hard chine, and the keel design and deep rudder give the boat ex cellent speed and stability while on open waters.
56 Cruising Outpost
pg 56-57 Jeuaneau 389.indd 2
CRUISING MONOHULL
elo dec s you ll find comfort s ace and seaworthiness are the key. The galley has numerous storage compartments with a large fridge and saloon table. The wood interior mix es well with the stainless steel and light fabrics to provide a warm feeling. This boats was designed for comfort and safety, whether under sail, motor or at anchor. E verything on board the Sun Odyssey 38 9 shows this boat can be a true cruiser. So if you’re looking for a well-found cruising boat, this could be it!
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7/25/16 12:41 PM
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 389
G etal lt he f ac ts : www.jeanneau.com JEANNEAU SUN ODYSSEY 389 LOA 38’ 6” LWL 34’1” Draft (standard) 6’ 5” Beam 12’ 4” Power 29 hp SD Fuel 34 USG Fresh Water 53 USG Displacement 15,256 lbs. Holding Tank 23 USG WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
pg 56-57 Jeuaneau 389.indd 3
Cruising Outpost 57
7/22/16 10:49 AM
What’s Out There?
Power cruising is becoming a lot more popular, partially due to the lower fuel prices. This design from Outer Reef features a 1 7 ’ 2” beam which has made a lot of “living room” above and below decks. The accommodations include a king berth master cabin amidships, a q ueen VIP cabin forward and a guest cabin. This makes plenty of room for the family and friends. The open main deck layout allows great allaround viewing from the pilothouse. The adjoining
60 Cruising Outpost
_pg 60-61 Outer Reef 580DF.indd 2
POWER CRUISER
galley includes full siz e appliances with large pantries, and there is a comfortable salon with covered aft deck for alfresco dining. But it doesn’t end there. Going below into the large and well fitted engine room will make the skipper smile. E verything is laid out for easy maintenance. A lot of thought has gone into the interior design of this vessel, and the 1 ,000 gallon fuel capacity will allow for long crossings that will open up new and ex citing territories to cruise!
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7/22/16 11:34 AM
Outer Reef 580
B ridge D eck
G etal lt he f ac ts : www.outerreefyachts.com U pper D eck
L ower D eck WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
_pg 60-61 Outer Reef 580DF.indd 3
OUTER REEF 580
LOA 57’ 5” Hull Length 53’ 5” Draft 4’ 10” Beam 17’ 2” Power Twin John Deere 6090 (500 HP) Fuel 1000 USG Fresh Water 300 USG Holding Tank 100 USG Displacement 69,000 lbs Cruising Outpost 61
7/22/16 11:34 AM
Beyond The Coast
62 Cruising Outpost
_Pg 62-67 Beyond The Coast-Edited.indd 2
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7/22/16 11:36 AM
H ow V entu r i ng I nl and W i l l E nr i c h Y ou r Cr u i si ng E x p er i enc e
B y Je ssie M acke l prang- C arter
Thirty miles off the coast of Mex ico, my husband, Neil, and I coasted into a watercolor sunset. Mother Nature painted the sky vibrant shades of pink and orange from horiz on to hori on colors efittin of alentine s ay. he ocean as on fire and our sails ere a la e with color as we cruised into Guatemalan waters. It was February 1 4, 201 5. ore than 00 nautical miles of acific cean had rushed eneath the hull of our Catalina Morgan 440, T h eR edT h r ea d, since we departed Seattle the prior autumn. We severed our dock lines with aspirations of swallowing all the majesty of the ocean we could possibly imbibe— we wanted to sail, snorkel, dive, paddleboard, kayak and swim. In many ays e had e erienced much of hat e d ho ed. e had en oyed henomenal sailing under blue skies and watched meteors stretch across the heavens while at anchor. We had seen doz ens of spouts ex plode from the sea and witnessed humpbacks breaching. ol hins had danced in our o a e eneath te uila sunrises and e d lost count of the
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_Pg 62-67 Beyond The Coast-Edited.indd 3
Cruising Outpost 63
7/22/16 11:37 AM
T eh M ont e A lbanr c he ologi c al s ite inSout he r nM ex ic o.
number of meals we had harvested from the sea. We’d also established new friendships, some we ex pect will continue to grow as we become old salts. Yet six m onths into what we had “planned” as a one-year cruising adventure to Australia, we began to q uestion whether cruising is about more than water. Something was missing; our ex perience felt incomplete. e had sailed the entire coast of acific e ico and our most immersive cultural ex periences had involved ridin u lic trans ortation in a atl n and eatin street tacos in La ru de uanaca tle. hat revelation eventually led us to discover that part of the magic in cruising lies beyond coastal ports. Seaside villages and S om e of the m ost el abor ate M ay an ru ins are at C opán , H ondu ras, where stru ctu res su ch as this enorm ou s head of a m an can be f ou nd.
64 Cruising Outpost _Pg 62-67 Beyond The Coast-Edited.indd 4
port cities are rich with interesting things to see, but are we cruisers truly ex periencing the heart of a nation if we only see it from the ater s ed e he more e s o e ith fellow cruisers, the more resolute our answer became: No. e didn t oin the acific uddle um as e had planned; the world’s largest ocean would be waiting to be sailed another season. Immersing ourselves in Central America became a priority for us. During the nex t four months e sailed 1 00 nautical miles ac and forth along the coast of Central America and completed four inland e cursions throu h five countries. hrou h our travels and the stories of cruising comrades we learned a few lessons about inland voyaging. I’ve integrated some of our ex periences with those of sailboats M er idia n and ‘ O h a n a to describe where and why venturing inland will enrich your cruising ex perience. G etting O f f the B oat Creates O p p ortu nities to Connec t w ith L oc al Cu l tu res E ach fall, a bright-eyed cohort of cruisers descends u on the acific oast of e ico and entral America. Some are well salted; others are cruising greenhorns. In each port seeds of friendship are planted, but within months many faces have ecome familiar. he acific cruising circuit is in full swing and many boats are on similar paths. It’s easy to slip into a routine of spending time with other cruisers almost ex clusively. Accordin to a e and anielle on the e ort 1 ‘O h a n a ruisers need to ar the oat at times to WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
7/22/16 11:37 AM
enjoy inland touring of the countries they visit, not just the port side bar during happy hour. Stepping out of the cruising circle gives you a chance to interact with the culture.” During a day trip from Puerto Chiapas in Southern Mex ico, they wiled away an afternoon with their daughters, Katelyn (age 1 2) and Hannah (age 7 ), learning to make chocolate near the Guatemalan border. They cracked cocoa beans, observed the roasting process, and helped mash beans in a local family’s backyard. Their eyes were opened to a process centuries old, but they also felt embraced as if they were family. Similar sentiments were echoed by the crew M er idia n , who befriended a local man and spent a day touring E l Salvador’s countryside and capital with him. Crew member Dominiq ue shared, “He taught us about his culture and showed us his country… and through that became a lifelong friend.” Inl and Travel Il l u minates the Diversity W ithin— N ot J u st B etw een— N ations Heinz , Margrit and Dominiq ue, crew of the Tayana 48, M er idia n , embarked upon several inland trips during the year they spent in Mex ico. Their most memorable ex cursion began in a marina in Maz atlá n and involved an overnight bus and a train to Copper Canyon in Northern Mex ico. They described impressive aerial views of the canyon as they raced down the world’s longest z ipline (8,3 50 feet!) and embraced an opportunity to interact with the Tarahumara community, indigenous people whose traditional ways of life have been largely preserved by their remoteness. Dominiq ue was inspired by the ex perience. “That particular road trip opened our eyes to differences in cultures between coastal and inland, even within the same country.” As M er idia n sailed south along the coast of Mex ico her crew enjoyed several more inland trips, including to Guadelajara. They took an eight-hour bus ride from Huatulco’s Marina Chahue to Oax aca, a city renowned for its culinary delights and colorful handicrafts. They also ex plored nearby Monte Alban and Mitla ruins, complex es that date to the pre-Columbian era. From Puerto Chiapas they traveled to San Cristó bal, where they swam in the waterfalls of Agua Az ul and visited ruins at Palenq ue. They also ventured into secluded villages such as San J uan Chamula, where photography is forbidden in the town’s church, and Z inacantá n, where women use centuries-old weaving methods. Dominiq ue was invited to don traditional clothing and to try her hand at operating a traditional loom, intimate moments inaccessible in an urban port. As for Neil and I, our most enlightening inland voyage began in E l Salvador. From Puerto Barillas we hopped a series of local buses and a shuttle to Antigua, a colonial city nestled in the Guatemalan central highlands. We spent three days captivated by the most WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
_Pg 62-67 Beyond The Coast-Edited.indd 5
elaborate Semana Santa (Holy Week) festivities in Central America. We stood shoulder to shoulder with locals and tourists as thousands of worshippers cloaked in purple ro es marched the streets to reenact the final days of esus Christ’s life. Ornate offerings, called alfombras, lined the cobblestone streets like carpets. Comprised of colorful sand fruit o ers and dyed ood shavin s alfom ras represent a stunning fusion of indigenous tradition and Christian worship. I felt intense admiration for a people whose traditions have survived hundreds of years. We observed the rituals with inq uisitiveness, recogniz ing that complex r elationships between cultures and faiths are part of what makes Guatemala so colorful. From Antigua we shuttled to Honduras, where the Mayan ruins at Copá n took our imaginations far into the past, and a macaw preserve offered us a chance to interact with the nation’s national bird. After sailing into Nicaragua we docked at Marina Puesta del Sol and traveled by bus to L eó n and Granada. Travel time from the boat was less than half a day in either direction, but the opportunity to visit geographic and cultural landmarks (e.g., volcanoes, historical sites) made the ex perience far more interesting. Nicaragua’s cultural centers are not on the sea, as is the case with much of
J es ex c m ac ep r
s iec item aw c hn
noa t c ont ai nhe r ent a s t hr ees pe c ies of m ak ehe r ar m s t he ir ear C opán,H ondur as .
Cruising Outpost 65 7/22/16 11:37 AM
B y R ichard F ritz of B etsy squ eez ing Wh irl w ind throu gh F ace C any on, L ake P owel l , A Z
70 Cruising Outpost _pg 70-81 Lifestyle.indd 2
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7/22/16 11:52 AM
L i fe s t y l e A Look at Why We Do What we Do
E v er wonde red why peopl e l ov e the boat ing l if esty l e? Wel l , here in the L if esty l e section f ol ks f rom al l ov er the worl d giv e an insight into what it’ s real l y l ike ou t there. I f y ou hav e a photo y ou think tel l s a good tal e, why not send it to u s? We pref er y ou send a di gital pic, in as high resol u tion as y ou can. Tel l u s who took the pic and where it was take n. We wil l probaby throw it into ou r “di gital pil e” and pu l l it ou t som eday . We won’ t send y ou any m oney , bu t y ou wil l be f am ou s worl dw ide ! E m ail to: L if esty l e@ C ru isingou tpost.c om .
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_pg 70-81 Lifestyle.indd 3
Cruising Outpost 71
7/22/16 11:53 AM
B y I an D av ies
B y N ate K raf t, P acif ic C oast of M exi co
B y R ob O be rg, take n f rom S / V Al c heringa on the isl and of I bi z a
B y E d Try gar on S / V R ej oyc e2
74 Cruising Outpost _pg 70-81 Lifestyle.indd 6
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7/22/16 11:54 AM
B y M ik e of S arah and K ristina on his G rand B anks
B y H enry M cK ev itt, G u l f of M exi co
Tay l or S wif t sail ing on the K ennedy
B y E d C arl son of Je ssie on her f irst sail
by
y acht
D ianna P eercy , L ake E rie
B y D av id M il l er, of f the coast of B el iz e
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Artificial intelligence is no match or natural stu idity _pg 70-81 Lifestyle.indd 7
Cruising Outpost 75 7/22/16 11:54 AM
Did I Do That?
We all mess up at least once, and most of us a lot more than that. Here are some anecdotes from folks who not only have made a few mistakes, but actually fess up to them. Got a story of your own? Why not send it to us!? These folks did!
First and Foremost... A Sense of Humor! or, It Seemed Easier when We were Younger Choosing the right mate can make or break your life. How do I know that? I’ve been married over four decades, I’m a practicing psychotherapist for 36 years, and I know what I’m talking about. Here are my observations I tell every woman I know: Pick a mate with a humorous disposition and you’ll be blessed, whatever the fates allow. But pick a mate without a sense of humor and you’ll pray daily for a sudden death by lightning, sailing in the middle of L ake Mille L acs, MN, or Barnegat Bay, NJ . I picked a humorous mate. My husband and I met while riding together in a crowded elevator. Being in our early 20s we immediately fell under the spell of hormones. Without hesitation I seiz ed his manly hands and blurted out, “Wow, you have really cold hands!” (You see, I’m a great believer in breaking every rule of elevator propriety: be silent, stare straight ahead and keep your hands to yourself. hat very afternoon leanin on the office coffee machine, he smiled a sex y grin and told me he thought I was fast. Ha ha on him!
92 Cruising Outpost
Pg 92-95 Did I Do That?R .indd 2
Subm
ittedby
M
ar y J ane
H ur ley B r ant
Sometime after the elevator and coffee machine irtations e drove to the ersey shore for a day of sailin . That breez y, glorious afternoon was the start of a great day with my date, Dick. After sailing several beautiful hours on the open bay, we docked and headed to the Surf City Hotel bar. Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass’ “This Guy’s in L ove with You” was playing on the jukebox a nd Dick joined Herb “karaoke style” while singing to me. After much enthusiastic applause from the i o and ase all ca wearing sailing crowd, I smiled to myself and thought, “he’s really cute, but does this man’s charming side q ualify him for a place on the Potential Husband L ist?” Four years and two kids later, hearing Dick sing “the wheels on the bus go round and round” became my aphrodisiac. Yes, my old boyfriend turned husband turned father was not only cute, he was clever, encouraging me nightly to keep nursing our infant because, “mother’s milk is so good for a baby!” Yea, yea I would nod and smile as he fell back to sleep.
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7/26/16 1:57 PM
But is it enough to sustain a marriage when a man is a hoot or clever or looks like Matthew McConaughey? Maybe yes, maybe no, but humor sure helps when a couple encounters rough tides with those typical struggles most relationships deal with sooner or later. Sudden sq ualls don’t only occur in open water, they surface in marriages... all marriages. When our own power and control issues rocked our little dinghy we sailed away from our safe harbor right into a counselor s office. t as a ood decision. hy let our marriage topple over into a knockdown? Weren’t we better sailors than that? After the third session reali ed e d chosen a tain Calamity for a skipper - a counselor who knew jack about rough currents in a marriage of two strong eq uals. hat s hen shot my hus and the eye then ushed the landlu er thera ist over oard. oc e re cuttin this last session short. As motioned my head to ard the door my hus and and stood u and e ited. hat spontaneous gesture was like CPR to a drowning man – my husband’s humor returned before we even reached our parked car. are onderful e ecutive decision didn t ant to o to counselin in the first lace and didn t li e octor c lueless in the second lace. esides you re my favorite thera ist. here as that se y rin a ain and
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Pg 92-95 Did I Do That?R .indd 3
ith that smile an out ourin of loo in ac re ections. ary ane remem er hen e ere datin Now he had my attention. o e used to lay more o m really ayin attention. o e loved sailin sa here this reverie as oin . emem er uyin that ailfish sail oat hen the ids ere little hat remem ered and as smart enou h to ee to myself as him almost slicin his fin er off hile cutting a cork to plug some hole somewhere and his blood s illin all over the sail n the enthusiastic voice of a ne ly ed he literally shouted are hat do you say e uy another sail oat omethin i er and ashier li e an ay 0 ouldn t that e a esome fun A week later we were back sailing on the tranq uil ersey ay li e the days of yore. ein surrounded y swooping gulls and brilliant sunshine in a nice, clean, ay 0 on a erfectly fa ulous uly day ave me a splendid opportunity to practice the dreaded sport men hate and omen love tal in a out our feelin s and our relationshi . ut uys hat man ouldn t choose sailin under a gorgeous open sky with tuna salad on a Kaiser roll and a cold si ac no matter hat the conversation
Cruising Outpost 93 7/26/16 1:57 PM
Am I A Sailor?? By Monica Grant
I used to think sailing was only for some; that sailors were a breed of people born with wind in their sails and a degree of daring and physical prowess balanced perfectly with a cast iron stomach; everything I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I have been on boats before: 1 0-foot aluminum dinghies, J -24 sailboats, a 30-foot cabin cruiser, but I’ve never been good at it. I get seasick. I’ve even been sick on a 200-passenger ferry on calm water.
96 Cruising Outpost
_pg 96-109 Flotsam edited.indd 2
When I met my husband, J ay, I had no idea he was a sailor. At the time he was a long-haired biker who loved spending his days cruising country roads on his Harley-Davidson, which suited me ust fine. oo late the truth came out and reali ed would need to become a sailor or become a single. J ay had been yearning for the sea and for some reason, which I still don’t fully understand, I encouraged him. I’d ‘ ooo’ and ‘ ahhh’ over boats on the internet and in
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7/30/16 11:03 AM
ma a ines read e ui ment lists and discuss s ecifics of hull sha es len ths and layouts. even ent alon to loo at a fe and offer intelli ent comments a out the merits or ro lems of each one. t too many years ut eventually he found the oat he d een loo in for and our future as decided. hen it hit me. o could ossi ly have a reed to uyin a oat and oin to sea erience had lon a o convinced me that sailin as one of those thin s ould never e a le to en oy ust as some eo le are una le to en oy coffee or chocolate or a ood red ine. hou h loved the ocean and the feel of salt ater on my s in and as a ed y the o er of tur ulent seas as a land lover a erson ho li ed the security of solid round and lac ed the confidence and stomach for oatin . e ardless had often fantasi ed a out ocean sailin . he idea filled me ith romantic visions of late afternoon s ies a ash ith shades of ochre and dus y lues erha s a lass of ine in hand olives and cheese alon side ein seduced y the su tle mysteries of the ently undulatin ater. erha s these ere the ima es that tric ed me into encoura in ay in his almost daily search for a oat a oat hich ould ecome our home on the ater. e ou ht a 1 ayana cutter. ur lan as to ta e our five year old olden retriever ira and sail a ay. e ould or as e needed hile cruisin and livin a oard. had 10 days to et used to small s aces and constant movement hile e rovisioned and made a fe minor re airs. After only four days thou ht had learned enou h to fill a small manual. e ere still tied to the doc .
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_pg 96-109 Flotsam edited.indd 3
A ee later on a calm sunny mid ay afternoon e untied our lines motored out of ey iscayne and set sail for Anna olis . y first voya e as under ay and as full of confidence and enthusiasm. hat lasted a out an hour and a half after hich as vomitin over the side. should have seen this as an omen as over the ne t si days and ni hts learned that the reality of sailin at sea is as remote from my fantasy as fish are from the desert. f you had as ed me to descri e an ocean voya e efore ay ould have een i ant. ome ind small foam ti ed aves on dar rey lue seas and erha s some rain. didn t no sailin could involve so much contrast in one voya e. ur assa e as s rin led ith a taste of almost every condition. in e tune as ivin me the eader s i est introduction to cruisin . e e erienced stron inds under cloudless s ies comforta le coastin on the ac of the ulf tream still ni hts on hich e ere luc y if e sailed at one not uncomforta le s ells and as the innacle of my initiation a testin overni ht storm off a e atteras a lace have since heard called the raveyard of the sea. ver t o evenin s e had atched li htnin dance on the hori on heat li htnin e decided. ithout a radar e ere o livious to any recent re orts ut e vie ed the distant eather as non threatenin . n the third evenin e ere roven ron . As dar ness descended so did the storm. Li htnin ashed to the north and to the east. Land lay far a ay to the est. ature s net as cast and e ere cau ht in the middle. ortunately my seasic ness
Cruising Outpost 97
7/30/16 11:04 AM
,,
Flotsam & Jetsam
Hanging onto a Topmast By John Simpson
Once we did a night passage with a young crew on J olie B r is e (J B a fine rench ilot cutter. e left from calasai olonsay ust efore sunset then rounded the est coast of ull finishin in o ermory. he ind had een lo in uite hard south esterly most of the day hilst e d een visitin the island. Accordin to the forecast the ind as due to moderate to that ni ht. After e d cleared the northern end of the island e felt the full force of ind and s ell left over from the day s lo . han fully the meteorolo ical ods had ud ed it ri ht ivin us a fast reach in 1 1 nots of ree e. J B could easily carry much more than all lain sail consistin of mainsail lar e i and staysail ut the cre ere all teena ers. oistin and settin even these sails too a lot of s eat effort and time. he d easily have
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_pg 96-109 Flotsam edited.indd 8
carried the to sail ossi ly even her enormous an ee ith its foot luff han ed on at the end of her 1 foot o s rit. e ere sli in alon ell at seven or ei ht nots ud ed that as enou h. here as no need to have youn fol s on dec or out on the s rit co in ith more heavy ear at ni ht. After clearin the south est corner of ull and ona and earin a ay the ind suddenly died. he sea and s ell left over from the earlier lo e an rattlin her hu e aff oom and sail around fri htenin ly. er heavy mainsail ith all its ro es loc s aff and oom lus associated iron or started ma in horri le noises tryin to tear the ri a art. hou h her to mast as su orted y a lon forestay lus one runnin ac stay the youn mate and had a ad feelin . e mi ht easily rea or s rin s lit crac
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7/30/16 11:10 AM
this 30-foot spar if we didn’t do something rapidly to stop it waggling around. J B ’ s topmast was new. It had already been broken in the Channel Isles earlier that season! (Not by me I hasten add, though I’d been aboard on a Fife schooner, B elle A dv en tur e, in the Caribbean when we’d sprung one!). If a topmast breaks on the foremast of an old vessel, very often the bowsprit also snaps because there is no forestay to sto it e in do n ards. ence J B was sporting a brand new bowsprit too!
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_pg 96-109 Flotsam edited.indd 9
Cruising Outpost 103
7/31/16 11:37 AM
Life’s A Beach! A First-Time Power Cruising Family Make The Break!
The kids shouted “Goodbye Tex as!” as we motored into the murky brown waters of Galveston Bay with the sun beaming down. It was so miserably hot and muggy that my glasses were already fogging up, which wasn’t good because this was the first time ever s i ered a oat in saltwater. I attempted to look as calm and collected as possible under the circumstances, but I knew I wasn’t fooling my wife who was gaz ing upon the fear and dread in my eyes. I knew that I was a moron, but I didn’t care because I was living my dream. I had purchased my 33-foot Cruisers Yacht in Austin, Tex as, from someone who kept her in a covered slip and never took her out. I kept her around for a couple years and took her out sparingly. I did none of my own maintenance. Hell, I could barely get
114 Cruising Outpost
_pg 114-119 Life's A Beach.indd 2
By Robert Hamic
her back into the dock after a day on the lake. It was truly embarrassing, but somehow worth paying for the dockage. al ays thou ht ould fi ure it out. My wife, Aubrey, and I had a whirlwind romance after meeting on match.com. My screen name was aptly titled “L ife’s A Beach.” We moved in together after a month and we were married in six . In the intervening seven months I had somehow convinced my new bride to sell all that we owned and move aboard with two small kids and my very large service dog. In all fairness, all she had to do was say, “yes.” I did all the rest. I had learned that second chances don’t come along very often, and after a 1 4year marriage to a wretched woman, I retired from the Army and somehow met the love of my life. The happy
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7/27/16 1:38 PM
Does YOUR Anit-Fouling Last
10 + Years?
COPPERCOAT DOES!
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place in my mind had always been aboard a boat in the Caribbean and now it was all possible, if not probable. I would never let a little thing like ex perience stand in my way. How hard could it be to captain a boat? I remember watching alone as the Travelift lowered my vessel into the seawater. M is s L on eS ta r never looked so unfamiliar. “Make sure you check to make sure the plugs are in and she doesn’t take on any water,” said the dock master. I froz e. What plugs? I ran down a possible list of problems associated with not knowing where the plugs were located on my boat, and I weighed it against the feeling I would have if I asked her the obvious after I had already committed to being a boat captain. I can’t tell you the relief I had after I cracked the engine hatch and watched for a few moments, not seeing any water coming into the hull. My problem was solved for the moment and I got to defer the obvious conclusion that I was a freaking rookie wishing to undertake a seriously dangerous voyage that might be the end of all aboard. I had allotted a couple days to get the boat all sq uared away at the dock in Kemah, TX , which q uickly turned into a week. I had the usual problems, such as not knowing how to get the AC working or knowing where my seacocks
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The CU TW ATE R 28
D ownsiz ing Withou t G iv ing U p By Kurt Antonius
W
e sail ed over 20, 000 mil es on ou r N ord havn 4 3 . I t w as a w ond erf u l vessel and w e l oved her, b u t the time had c ome to sel l her. O ver the ensu ing t w o years af ter the sal e, I f ou nd mysel f missing a b oat. A l ot. I missed my man- c ave. I missed Catal ina. I missed the d oc k sc ene. I missed b eing o n the w ater. I missed seeing w hal es and d ol p hins u p c l ose and I missed tool ing a rou nd in a b oat.
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So I started looking around for my next boat— a smaller, simpler boat, less costly, easy to singlehand, yet with some of the creature comforts I had been spoiled with on the Nordy. I wanted a small galley, a comfortable bed, a wet head, room to hang out, a decent cockpit, swim platform, a fuel efficient but reasonably fast boat. I was spoiled by the Nordhavn’s great looks and constant compliments from fellow boaters. So I wanted a boat with similar good looks. The cudy-cabin type boat didn’t cut it for me. The plasticEuro look and whaler type didn’t do it either. I looked and looked and looked. Voila! The Cutwater 28. Best of all, the dealer was close by in Long Beach (CA). The boat exceeded all my expectations. The Cutwater 28 has a DownEast-style look and 25 knots top speed. There’s a large V-berth forward, nice little galley and salon, refrigerator with freezer, wine cooler, roomy 16 sq ft cockpit, big swim platform, Volvo Penta 260 hp Diesel, built-in small diesel generator (3.5 kw), AC/Heat pumps, state of the art Garmin electronics, and much more. The designers at Fluid Motion, builders of Cutwater and Ranger boats in Seattle, did a really good job of space utilization, especially important on a 28 footer. It’s a Swiss Army knife of a boat. There are many cool little features that really maximize space and utility: A skipper’s seat that flips and folds to convert two-person seating to four-person seating at the salon table. Folding seats in the cockpit that tuck under the gunnel. The two-person transom seat flips
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D ownsiz ing Withou t G iv ing U p
over to face aft while at anchor. A flat-screen TV is mounted on a swing hinge and serves either the salon or the V-berth. The CW 28 features a multi-purpose lower berth that accommodates a tight sleeping area for two people, but also serves as a storage area and place to sit and access the boat’s electrical breakers and meters. My vessel is a special production, Limited Edition model, Cutwater 28 LE. It is so loaded with features that it amazes any boater who comes aboard. Standard on my model: Bow and stern thrusters, full Garmin electronics including Garmin 7612 chart plotter, high def, 4 kw radar, Garmin sonar and auto pilot, 3.5 kw gen, ac/heat pump, air conditioning/reverse cycle heat, refrigerator/freezer, electric wine cooler, Fusion stereo system, flat screen TV, 140 watt solar panel, 260 hp Volvo Penta diesel, remotes for auto pilot and thrusters, LED lighting and more. The big test came when I saw a break in the winter weather and headed to Catalina Island for a three-day, two-night stay, meeting a friend in his Saber 40 who crossed from Long Beach. The 25nm crossing went fine with four- to five-foot seas at a 12-second period. I had to adjust to the motion of the boat which is profoundly different than on my previous vessel - 60,000 lbs vs 8,000 lbs produces a very different ride on the ocean. It has much quicker responses to the waves and it’s not as smooth, but there’s not the slow roll of the Nordy trawler, even with it’s stabilizers. My wife, who is prone to seasickness, likes the ride on the Cutwater better.
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Bitch Wings A nother f orm
of com m u nication aboar d B y B il l and JoA
nne H arris
he o ficial “ itch ings” stance as sho n y the authors a oard Ultra
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For most cruisers worldwide, it is an understood international language and yes, it is used by both men and women. However, in some circles it is just plain ignored. Okay, so what is it, you ask? Think of this scenario... You just made a long and ex hausting double or triple overnight passage with the wind hard on the nose 9 9 .9 % of the time, of course, and you arrive in a very beautiful but very crowded anchorage. As you make your way to one of t o ossi le anchorin s ots you decide the first one looks like an ex cellent and safe choice. Since you are ex hausted and want to sleep soundly, you drop the hoo and settle ac on your anchor to confirm all is well. However, as you are doing so, you notice that the lovely couple off to starboard are standing on the bow of their sailboat just 50 feet away. Upon a closer look, you see that the pair of them are standing with their hands on their hips. Are they holding their shorts up? efinitely not they are olitely communicatin in the boating international language. Yes, after logging tens of thousands of miles aboard, with the last seven years cruisin full time e have definitely een on oth sides of this scenario. S o What the H eck a re B itch Wings? So the q uestion is, what are they trying to say with their hands on their hips and what is the term for this action? Well, up until six a nd a half years ago, we had seen this action but never knew there was a term for it. he first time e met our fun lifelon friends and buddy boat, Kevin, Dena and Connor aboard the L agoon 41 0 catamaran Sa b a tic us , it was 201 0 in the beautiful Bahamas. During Happy Hour aboard U ltr a one night, we started swapping funny boat stories and amaz ing adventures with them. During one of their stories they brought up the term Bitch Wings. We q uickly asked, hat the hec are itch in s heir definition Picture this‌ W hen another boat is coming closer and closer and appears to be making the decision to drop anchor either ex tremely close to your boat or on top of your anchor, rather than stressing out or screaming o scenities and as in them to o and find another lace to anchor, you politely put your hands on your hips‌ hence the term Bitch Wings. So funny. You are sending a messa e to them to find another lace than you. Sa b a tic us was sold a few years back and the wonderful previous owners now have resumed their great life on land. We have shared this funny term with everyone we know over these last six a nd a half years,
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so if you hear this term in a conversation, now you know where it originated - aboard Sa b a tic us . A few years ago we were anchored at one of our favorite spots in St. Martin (French side) called Orient Beach. It the site of a fantastic white sand beach and an all nude beach resort. After being in the very crowded lagoon anchorage for several weeks, before dropping the hook closer to the beach we anchored a little further out for a few nights to have some peace and privacy. We were blessed to be anchored all by ourselves in a remote area of this ex tremely large bay, with the closest boat being a catamaran charter boat anchored a couple of football fields a ay that as ta in uests from the each resort for day cruises. U ltr a q uickly became a fun part of their daily sailing route. After spending a day of sailing, snorkeling and working on their head-to-toe Caribbean tans, the charter boat and its guests would sail off of our stern every afternoon li e cloc or . hey ould find us lounging in our stern swimming pool with cocktails in hand. We would raise our glasses and toast all of them. ote hen e find a reat location that e really enjoy, and we plan on staying there for two weeks or more e in ate our si and a half foot diameter swimming pool on the stern of U ltr a and fill the ool ith a collection of either rain water or watermaker water. A few days later a very large bareboat charter catamaran motored into this tranq uil and almost empty anchorage. We watched as this boat came all the way across the bay and proceeded to drop their hook directly off of U ltr a ’ s bow, so close in fact, we could almost reach across our rail and hand them slices of lime for their Cuba L ibres. Yes, we have in the past just picked up our anchor and moved to another location, but we had been settled here for days and were not too keen on re-anchoring mid day. We had learned from all of our anchoring e eriences so e tried the itch in s method first ut to no avail. ote here is a henomenon in the oatin life that if one boat sees one or more boats anchored in a location, then for some reason they feel that this must be the correct or the best location to anchor. We refer to this as a Cluster E ffect. M em b ers O nl y U l tra S ty l e Since the Bitch Wings method did not work for us that day and the boat was sitting directly on top of our anchor with barely any scope, Bill came up with an alternative plan to Bitch Wings. Bill is super
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Cruising With the in Panama
B y M ark P arke r, S / V Al l W ays & Al w ays
G or K ? T he G unaI ndi ans hav enow r ittenl anguage . A s ar es ult,any G unaw or dt hat ape ar s i npr int i s s om eone ’ s c hos ens pe lling of t he w or d,us ual ly phone tic , andus ual ly f r om Spani s h.I n m any pl ac es y ouw ills ee‘ G una’ s pe lled‘ K una.’ I nde ed,t he pr onunc iat ion,t om y e ar ,i s about hal f w ay be tw een‘ K ’ an d . In , the Panamanian government o ficially changed the nam ef r om K unat oG una i nr ec ogni tionof t he i ndi ge nous pe opl e’ s c lai m t hat i tw as ac los er r epr es ent at ionof t he pr onunc iat ioni nt he ir nat iv et ongue .I w ill,t he r ef or e,us et he c ur r ent ly apr ov ed‘ G ’ i ns teadof ‘ K ’ i nt hi s ar tic le.
One of the joys of cruising is the opportunity to ex perience different cultures. Never was that so dramatic as on our first tri to the an las slands of anama. e had een cruisin in the an las for a cou le ee s visitin the usual cruisers han outs li e the immin ool the rec at o sland the oco anderas the olandes and more. e anted to et a ay from the cro d and so decided to sail east to see the less visited islands. (There were 1 00 cruisin oats in the an las at that time as re orted y the hursday mornin oat count on the net.
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e found a cou le deserted islands ith no other oats and en oyed each com in and snor elin y ourselves. hen e sto ed at sla i re to re rovision ith more fruits and ve ies e first learned a out the celebration scheduled for February 25th. Fernando met us at the to n doc introducin himself as a uide. e sho ed us his island hel ed us uy some rovisions and then insisted that we needed to return by February 24th to be sure to see the reenactment of the revolution on the th in hich he as an actor. mentioned this on the WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
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I Found It At The Boat Show
Clean Waters Solutions It Does a Job No One Else Wants to Do! Cleans the Bilge and the Head!
here i a o o cien ific o o on heir e i e ha i a oi do n o i e he e icro e in o r head and o r i e and o r oa i ar e in ood eno h o ie do n he ie ho e ee er e no hi or a ac ince o r ho e a ha een in he e on heir oa or ear he or he Bi e har he eneficia icro e ac a di e he oi o ha dan ero h drocar on co o nd are ro en do n a he o ec ar e e he re i a r c ean and odor ree i e and c eaner ocean a e ri er and ond i ie o he ad in he i e and re ace a er hree on h or hen odor or heen e in o i d a ain
an a e an a e rea he odor in ho din an he eneficia icro e con e he a onia hich ca e o en i e odor he a o rea do n or anic o id o ha he an or ore e ficien B re en in cr a i d in he o ho e he icro e ee he e i en r nnin oo h Beneficia icro e rin ed on r ace ch a a e en concre e dec a er ond e c an here here i a i he icro e ac a di e he oi o ha dan ero h drocar on co o nd are ro en do n a he o ec ar e e ea in r c eaner ro nd and a er h eah did en ion he are a ai a e a o r hi ore cr i in o o rod c co
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I Found It At The Boat Show
Rescue Bond Magic? Nope! It’s Just Rescue Bond.
I m agine com b ining an ou td oor- rated weatherproof seal ant with a strong constru ction ad hesiv e that wil l gl u e any thing to any thing - that’ s j u st the starting point of R escu e B ond . F rom the m ak ers of R escu e Tape, t his new hy b rid ad hesiv e and seal ant d oes the j ob o f d oz ens of d if f erent prod u cts al l in one cau l k ing tu b e. R escu e B ond X L 1 P ro is a “ go to” c au l k ing tu b e when the going gets tou gh. W ith incred ib l e hol d ing power and instant grab , y ou can m ak e onb oard repairs on v irtu al l y A N Y m aterial and k now with confidence ha e c e Bond i oin o do he o This is som e seriou sl y stick y stu f f ! N o other prod u ct on the m ark et wil l ad here to as m any su rf aces, i ncl u d ing those “ hard t o gl u e” m aterial s l ik e pol y sty rene or pol y ethy l ene. R escu e B ond e v en work s whil e wet or u nd er water! P atch y ou r canv as whil e it is raining, s eal a l eak y hatch in the m id d l e of a storm , or m ak e an
em ergency hol e repair on the hu l l of y ou r b oat. . . u nd er water. . . w ith j u st a tu b e of R escu e B ond a nd som e patching m aterial . T he v ersatil ity is second t o none, a nd t he perf orm ance is ex actl y what y ou wou l d ex pect f rom the m ak ers of R escu e Tape. . . i t’ s b itchin! * A l l in one hy b rid constru ction ad hesiv e & seal ant * N O V O C s - C al if ornia com pl iant! * N O S ol v ents * N o H arm f u l Toxi ns - S af e to u se in nonv entil ated ar eas * Works whil e wet and u nde r water * Works on sensitiv e m aterial s incl u di ng granite, C orian, an d e v en pol y sty rene * P aintabl e * R eseal abl e Tip - P rodu ct l asts u p to 6 m onths A F TE R opening * R epl aces m u l tipl e produ cts - I f y ou cou l d c arry O N E tu be of cau l ki ng on y ou r boat , t his wou l d be the one
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* Cruisians W h y does Sup er m a n s top b ullets w ith h is c h es t, b ut duc k s w h en y ou th r ow a r ev olv er a t h im ?
*A small, exclusive group of people who are mentally ill and feel, for some reason unbeknownst to anyone, that by getting on a small boat about the size of a jail cell and heading out into the most inhospitable place on Earth (the ocean), they will somehow enjoy themselves.
This is a great pic of Carl Ostiguy at the wheel. It was taken on a daysail out of Newport, RI. In Baltimore it had been raining for 1 9 days and he decided it was time to get out of the rain, so to speak. It looks like he picked the right day to go sailing! Scott & J anet Clarke are lucky enough to live in St Maarten (for the time being!) while they cruise on their boat S/V W in ds w ep t which is an E ndeavor 40. They spend abour seven months sailin and a out five months working, as they realiz ed they had to do the one in order to enjoy the other!
This is L awn & Susy Woodrum. They sail on a 41 ’ trawler named E ur ik a out of Sausalito. This pic was taken at the Matthew Turner Project in Sausalito, CA. We originally met them in Roatan while cruising on L os t Soul.
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Who are these cruisers that sail on S/V L a dy J a y lll? They sailed from BVI to St Maarten so they could do both of the CO parties. We never got their name, but what a great picture!
We met L isa & Anthony Vandenberg in the BVIs when they were sailing aboard S/V C a s tillo D el Sol. It’s a J eanneau 43 DS that they sailed from Canada. They have been cruising for almost a year now and plan on staying out as long as they can manage it! Ivy has been a part of our family about as long as she’s been alive. Her dad, Dave Dudgeon, worked with L atitudes & Attitudes and then cruising Outpost Magaz ine for over 1 0 years. She now helps out at shows when she can make it. Cute and smart; a great combo!
This man is Delux e. No, seriously! His name is Make L ux , but evertone on the marine industry calls him De-L ux . he is an avid sailor, and for years was a rep for new Found Metals. WWW.CRUISINGOUTPOST.COM
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