Blue Water Sailing October 2018

ANNAPOLIS BOAT SHOW

ANNAPOLIS SHOW PREVIEW

NEW BOATS & GEAR CHARTER SPECIALS SEMINARS FOR SAILORS CRUISING LIFE

GEAR THAT WORKS WHEN CREW GO BAD SEAMANSHIP

COLLISIONS AT SEA

volume 8 2018

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{ CONTENTS }

ANNAPOLIS BOAT SHOW SPECIAL

32 Living Aboard

4

What Worked, What Didn’t After 11 Years

by Patrick Childress

22 22 Cruising Life

Taking on Crew for a Long Passage A cruising couple decide to take crew with them for the 3,200-mile passage across the South Pacific from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. It didn’t go well

by Patricia Gillette, PhD

28 Sail Tips

Sails for All Seasons

Choosing the right sailcloth or laminate is a vital element of building your new sails

by Brian Hancock

36 36 Annapolis Boat Show

Inside the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis For five days in early October, the city of Annapolis, MD becomes the sailing Mecca of the U.S. with more boats, more booths and more sailors than any other all-sail show. Here’s a wrap up of what you will find over the weekend of October 4 to 8

by BWS staff

32 42

DEPARTMENTS 6 8 18 48 52 62 64 66

Captain’s Log Blue Water Dispatches Bill Biewenga Offshore Chandlery World Sailing Adventures Brokerage Classifieds Broad Reaching-Andy Cross

42 Blue Water Boats Beneteau Oceanis 46.1

by George Day

Cover photo: Beneteau Oceanis 46.1

under sail

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{ CAPTAIN’SLOG }

Going to Sea in Modern Cruising Boats

L

ast winter, when I was invited to sail across the North Atlantic with my friend Steve aboard his ultra modern Hanse 505 cruising boat, some of my old friends raised their eyebrows at the thought of taking a very beamy, light, fin-keeler with a skimming dish hull out into the possible fury of the northern latitudes.

What lay behind their skepticism was the notion that good sea boats need to sail in the water—displacement hulls—instead of on top of the water—light displacement hulls. The former will be more comfortable and safer, it was contended, while the later will be, well, possibly dangerous.

If you are reading this, then you are a sailor, and you know that sailors tend to form strong opinions of matters like this and are very slow to accept new ideas, new designs, new tricks. They are, or we are, old sea dogs and we don’t like new tricks.

But, unlike my old friends, I didn’t question Steve or the boat or the idea of sailing it across the North Atlantic. In this job at BWS, I get to sail a lot of new boats and have many opportunities to sail modern boats offshore. So, I knew something about light-displacement, fin-keel designs and how they work at sea. And, I’d owned a Jeanneau 45.2 for a decade or so and sailed it some 16,000 miles offshore through all types of weather. It was fine and so would be the Hanse 505.

But these modern designs are not like the boats I voyaged on years ago, boats that would have been given the seal of approval by the old sea dogs. I crossed the Atlantic the first time on a Little Harbor 50, a heavy displacement design that had a nice slow motion. Then I sailed a Tahiti ketch—full keel, double ender—across the Pacific. It too had a slow motion and rolled a lot.

Then I sailed my Mason 43 around the world—full keel, attached rudder, long overhangs—and it also had a slow motion at sea. The Mason 43’s average speed was 5.5 knots. As you can see, the operative word here is slow.

So, what was the Hanse like sailing across the North Atlantic? Well, it was the opposite of slow. It was fast and quick, very like my Jeanneau. Steve had put quite a few miles on his boat and estimated that we would average 8 knots over the 3,100-mile passage. That did not surprise me. On a trial sailto-nowhere shakedown before the passage, we sailed straight offshore for 12 hours and then turned around. We had a bit of breeze and at one point crew member Henry remarked, “We don’t have to figure out how to make the boat go fast, we have to know how to slow this beast down.”

And that’s what we did whenever the wind and seas got up during the passage. The Hanse would start leaping forward like a race horse and accelerate to nine and 10 knots. The big stern would begin to corkscrew in the waves and the flat underwater hull shape forward would slam as we leaped over waves.

To preserve our sanity and to avoid breaking anything, we reefed and reefed and reefed until we had her calmed down and sailing right on eight knots.

Perfect.

When he did the math after making landfall in England, Steve announced that we had not averaged eight knots for the trip as predicted. We had, in fact, averaged 7.8 knots. In my book, that is fast passagemaking and we did it in complete comfort by slowing down.

6

photo by Bill Kund

BLUE WATER

SAILING Volume 23, Number 8 Blue Water Sailing, LLC 747 Aquidneck Avenue, Suite 201 Middletown, Rhode Island 02842 - USA phone: 401.847.7612 • fax: 401.845.8580 web: www.bwsailing.com SUBSCRIBER HOTLINE 866-529-2921

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BLUE WATER SAILING

31 35.1 38.1 41.1 46.1 51.1 55.1

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{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }

OFFSHORE SAILING SCHOOL CELEBRATES 55TH ANNIVERSARY WITH SPECIAL SAILING COURSE PACKAGES AND SEVERAL SPECIAL EVENTS

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BLUE WATER SAILING

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{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }

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O

ffshore Sailing School CEO and President, Doris Colgate, announced the company is heading into its 55th Anniversary Year in 2019, launching course specials and exciting events and programs throughout 2019.

“Steve Colgate and I never imagined what began as an idea on the back of a cocktail napkin in 1964, to start a sailing school in City Island, New York, would thrive for 55 years, allowing us to teach more than 150,000 adults and families how to sail, race and charter on their own. And for all these years, the enthusiastic support and loyalty from our graduates and colleagues in the sailing industry, has enabled us to make our livelihood enjoying the sailing lifestyle and sharing our passion with family and friends,” Doris Colgate said.

The Colgates recently hosted three generations of family members on a catamaran sailing vacation in the British Virgin Islands. Steve and Doris Colgate created the idea of flotilla sailing vacations decades ago, working with founders of The Moorings and have personally hosted over 100 Colgate Sailing Adventures™ trips to such exotic ports as Tonga, Spain, Greece and the like.

Offshore Sailing School just kicked off a year-long celebration with 15-percent savings through its Year End Sailing Special on Learn to Sail, Fast Track to Cruising®, and Live Aboard Cruising courses at three premier resort locations on Fort Myers Beach, Captiva Island, and in downtown St. Petersburg, Fla. The company offers certification course packages aboard its 48’ Leopard catamaran from the Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village in Cape Coral, Fla. and training aboard Power Catamarans on Tortola, but those courses are not part of this special.

Next up will be Women’s Weeks in November 2018 and January 2019. These Fast Track to Cruising® courses are for women, taught by one of the company’s female instructors at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina on Fort Myers Beach, Fla. In December 2018, the company will host its 3rd Annual Racing Clinic on Fort Myers Beach, Fla., featuring US Sailing National Coach of the Year and Olympic Sailing Team Coach, BLUE WATER SAILING

10 ALXS_halfpage.indd 1

7/3/2018 10:54:02 AM

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Morgan Reeser, among other winning coaches.

The company will hold a record six Colgate Sailing Adventures flotilla vacations in 2019, including the unique, behind-the-scenes “Insider’s Guide to the BVI,” hosted by Offshore Sailing’s popular Caribbean Manager, “Dutch” Jongkind.

“Both of the company’s bases at The Moorings in Road Town, Tortola, and the Marriott Autograph Collection Scrub Island Resort, Spa and Marina, are operational, a credit to the resilience of the residents, workers and visiting tourists to the beautiful British Virgin Islands. The Caribbean islands are very popular cruising grounds for sailors from around the world,” Steve Colgate said.

Five additional trips will embark from St. Lucia, Grenada, Spain,

Agana and Dubrovnik, Croatia.

These extraordinary, fun trips are hosted by husband and wife, Nate and Heather Atwater. Nate was the company’s manager in New York several years ago. The company’s flotilla trips in 2018 sold out in Belize, the Greek Islands, and Tahiti.

Also in April 2019 the company will host its 19th Annual Performance Race Week on Captiva Island, Fla., in conjunction with North Sails’ NorthU. The company’s 55th Anniversary Year celebration culminates with its Supporting Sponsor role at the 22nd Hobie 16 World Championship being held November 1-16, 2019 at one of Offshore Sailing School’s partner resorts, South Seas Island Resort, on Captiva Island, Florida.

“What makes Offshore Sailing School unique is that we offer

turn-key course packages for US Sailing Certification. That means that students receive textbooks in advance, classroom and on-water training by a US Sailing-certified instructor aboard a Colgate 26 (designed for training by Steve Colgate) or 40 to 50-foot cruising yachts and catamarans, resort accommodations with resort taxes and amenity fees, US Sailing certification, logbook and diploma, graduate lifetime discounts and benefits,” added Doris Colgate.

A full-time Fleet Maintenance Manager keeps Offshore Sailing’s fleet in tip-top shape in Florida, while charter company partners at The Moorings look after the BVI fleet. The Fast Track to Live Aboard Cruising® course includes all provisions aboard the boat for the week, except two dinners ashore. The company’s most popu-

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BLUE WATER SAILING

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{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }

lar combination course provides three US Sailing certifications, Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, and Bareboat Charter Cruising, enabling one to skipper a boat up to 50 feet upon completion.

In addition to US Sailing certification courses, other Offshore Sailing School activities include two-hour sailing lessons for resort guests and the public, ‘Tweens & Teens family sailing packages where up to three children ages 7 to 17 can learn for free with two paid adult tuitions, and team building,

14

leadership development sailing programs and group regattas.

Offshore Sailing School was founded in 1964 by Olympian, America’s Cup Sailor and National Sailing Hall of Fame Inductee, Steve Colgate. The school provides a full range of sailing and boating instruction with US Sailing & Powerboat certification – from beginning sailing to racing, advanced cruising, and passage making – at six locations in Florida and the British Virgin Islands. Offshore Sailing School continues its decadeslong commitment to

the national Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by supporting 40 Leukemia Cup Regattas across the country and LLS Fantasy Sail weekends. The company also supports several other philanthropic causes and organizations located in the areas where its employees live, work and play.

For more information log on to www.offshoresailing.com BWS

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{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }

Andaman Islands Open for Cruisers Without Restrictions

C

ruisers heading west across the Indian Ocean from Thailand or Malaysia, have long eyed the Andaman Islands on the edge of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, as an exotic and unspoiled cruising ground.

The islands are filled with rare wildlife and home to indigenous people who have not been exposed to the advance of civilization. The islands are beautiful and the diving on the many reefs is some of the best in the world.

But, the islands have long been virtually closed to cruising boats or, lately, only open under very strict restrictions and short sailing permits.

Now that has all changed. The islands are open to cruisers.

“There is a big change in the Andaman Islands of India for visiting yachts… they are no longer restricted by the 30 days stay regulation”, reports Andaman representative R. Rathnam.

“The restricted area permit (RAP) is now completely removed and foreigners may stay as long as desired, per the visa validity. Thus, yachts may now stay for much longer than 30 days if they wish,” he explained.

“Before cruisers who were interested in a longer stay had to leave the country and then return. The crews had to have a multiple entry visa if they wanted to spend more than 30 days in the islands. Now crew and guests may visit with a single entry visa and stay as long as they want as per the validity of the visa”.

In a major move to boost tourism in the Andamans, the Indian government decided to remove the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) from 29 islands in the Andamans for foreigners. So, now yachts planning a trip to the gorgeous Andaman & Nicobar Islands will no longer require the RAP to visit these islands in the Union Territory; the restriction has been lifted through December 31, 2022.

16

BLUE WATER SAILING

“Visitors will still require separate approvals of the authorities for visiting reserved forests, wildlife sanctuaries and tribal reserves, as in the past,” Mr. Rathnam said. “Some of the islands may require a permission from the tribal department or forest department. Earlier most of the tribal reserve and forest reserve areas were totally banned for tourists. Now it is open with permission from the concerned authorities”.

Many boats arrive in Port Blair from Phuket, Thailand and Langkawi, Malaysia and other destinations, bringing friends, family and crew members to join in exploring the beautiful islands. Those arriving may come as a group by yacht or fly into Port Blair to join the visiting yacht.

Sharing the natural beauty of the Andamans is at the heart of the visitors to India’s most remote state, the Andaman Islands Archipelago. Situated more than 1000 kilometers off the east coast in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, the archipelago is thickly covered by deep green tropical forest that supports a profusion of wildlife, including some extremely rare species of birds.

However, the principal attraction lies in the beaches, exploring and the pristine reefs that ring most of the islands. For more information log onto www.asia-pacific-superyachts.com BWS

Annapolis Boat Show Special

17

{ BILLBIEWENGA }

@Laurie Warner

We Hit

SOMETHING! Hitting semisubmerged objects at sea doesn’t happen often, but when it does, the results can be catastrophic if you’re not prepared.

Thorough preparation won’t eliminate the possibility of the collision, but it may alter the final outcome

I

t had all of the trappings of an adventure unlike any other I’d undertaken: a delivery from Cape Town, South Africa, through the Straits of Hormuz, bound for Dubai – during a period of increasing reports of piracy along the most direct route. While I’m more than merely familiar with weather routing, this would certainly add a new spin to the art of selecting a route. And piracy wouldn’t be the only factor in determining how we’d proceed from Point A to Point B aboard the Gunboat 48 catamaran, Nirvana.

Provisioning, stowing gear and further inspections of the boat were 18

completed as we awaited a suitable weather window for our departure.

Within a week we were underway, heading south towards the Cape of Good Hope, the Agulhas Bank, the currents, weather and multiple ports that lay over the horizon.

Initially, we intended to stop in Mauritius, the Chagos Banks, the Maldives, and Lakshadweep before arriving in Dubai, northwest of the Gulf of Oman in the Middle East.

As a parting gesture while leaving Cape Town’s Table Bay, we were bid farewell by a humpback whale breaching and waving his tail at us.

In retrospect, I’ve come to wonder if he might have been issuing a warning – or perhaps mooning us for leaving on a Friday.

For the most part, the weather cooperated, and as we progressed across the Agulhas Bank, it appeared that we would make good time towards our initial destination of Mauritius. Nine o'clock

one night, less than a week into the trip, we were jolted into a hard reality. We hit something with our port hull! I ran forward, out onto the nets with Lia Ditton close behind me. While running, I looked up, and the rig was OK. With light in hand, it was quickly apparent that there was damage to the sacrificial bow at the waterline. Whatever we’d hit – whale, log, or other flotsam – it had been hard enough to cause damage that required attention, but fortunately soft enough or a glancing blow that didn’t break through the watertight bulkheads forward. We would need to stop, and with Port Elizabeth to our north, we altered course.

We were fortunate. Had the submerged object been larger or heavier, we might not have been so lucky. Whales have sunk friends of mine. For Steve Callahan, that resulted in 76 days adrift in a lifBLUE WATER SAILING

{ OFFSHORE }

eraft. We’ve all heard about containers falling off ships, and I’ve seen a large steel bell buoy untethered and drifting in mid-Atlantic.

Whether your boat hits something or there’s a serious structural failure, the possibility of being holed or otherwise developing a major leak is very real. Rare but very real.

Fortunately, preparation has the potential to turn major disaster into a serious inconvenience.

Aboard Nirvana, the damage was below the waterline, and we needed to get the port hull up, out of the water so the fiberglass could be ground back and repaired. I’d heard about some people in St. Maarten using airbags to lift boats out of the water ten to twelve inch-

Annapolis Boat Show Special

es, and thought that might be one way to get us up and the repairs started. The local talent in South Africa had a better idea. Using a “mini drydock” of sorts that is normally used to store small power boats out of the water, we were able to submerge the contraption, move it under the port hull, and inflate the PVC pipes that made up the “mini drydock”. The hull was lifted the twelve inches that was necessary to work on the problem.

Working with 220v power tools in that environment is not for the faint of heart or the casual user, and I doubted whether the technique would have been OSHA approved. Care was exercised, however, and the task was

19

completed within a week of our original altercation with the whale or floating debris. Following a farewell BBQ that will be long remembered, we were back underway. Help isn’t always within range, however, so other preparations can also help when necessary.

Hulls want to fill up with water – at least up to the waterline. It’s your job to keep that water out.

It may want to come in through a thru hull fitting or a smashed porthole, a hole created at the base of a fatigued prop strut or one created in a collision. Regardless of the source of the water, it’s your job to keep it out. In some cases wooden bungs will quickly solve the problem if the hole is circular such as a speedo thru hull. Wooden bungs work best when they are surrounded in cotton such as an

old cotton tee shirt or piece of cotton string. Cotton, unlike synthetic material, will absorb water and swell to fit the hole, thereby cutting off the supply of water. Having a few cotton tee shirts around or some cotton string in your pocket may be just the ticket to solve your problem. Larger holes may require something else.

Onboard Great American II, when Rich Wilson and I set the San Francisco to Boston and New York to Melbourne, Australia records, we had a 3’ x 4’ sheet of 3 ply fiberglass made for us. It was flexible enough to stow against any bulkhead and didn’t take up much space. We also carried a couple of tubes of 5200 marine adhesive which will kick off in the presence of salt water and a bag of stainless steel self-tapping screws.

If we were holed, we could attach a storm sail over the side to try to limit the amount of water entering the boat and inside the boat we could run a couple of beads of 5200 around the hole, placing the fiberglass patch over the hole and 5200 and secure the patch with the self-tapping screws. It wouldn’t be pretty, but it could serve as a base upon which we could build layers of fiberglass and resin to further reinforce the patch. Alternatively, we could pile sails or bedding against the patch and hold the water back. On Drum during the 1985 Whitbread Round the World Race, we had to do a similar reinforcing job when the Nomex core sheered inside the composite in the forward section of the boat. The hull was flexing like an under-inflated dinghy, and several 4’ holes were

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BLUE WATER SAILING

about to open up in the bow. The temporary bracing was enough to hold the weakened composite together and keep us afloat for 500 miles.

Ultimately, if and when the water gets into the boat, it now becomes your responsibility to get it out. Automatic pumps work great – usually. Emergency pumps work great, as well – usually and especially if they’re properly maintained, the rubber bellows isn’t rotten and they have sufficient capacity to offset the inflow of the water. But there can be times when neither of those means is available or sufficient. If your engine is able to work, you may be able to close the raw water intake, fit a hose into the cooling water intake hose and use the engine to pump out the bilge in lieu of drawing water from

outside the boat to cool the engine.

It would be a good idea to have a clean bilge, because it wouldn’t be very helpful if a matchstick or other litter was sucked up into the engine’s cooling system at a time like that. Having a few hoses of varying diameters and sufficient length to get to the bilge sump might be a jury rig that keeps you afloat. It has for me – twice. Carrying a roving crash pump onboard might be a luxury when it comes to space and weight, but it might also save your vessel or even your life.

There are, of course, other ways to handle offshore emergencies due to collisions or structural failure. I wouldn’t recommend Robert Redford’s solution in “All Is Lost” in which he jumps off the leaking sailboat in favor of a halffloating container; that approach

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was enough for me to stop watching the movie. Assess the damage, stop or slow the water if there is any, and start repairs or get to a place where those can be accomplished. In the meantime, putting on life jackets and preparing to abandon ship if absolutely necessary might be the necessary course of action. It was for Steve Callahan.

Hitting a container or other object at sea can be a very serious event. It deserves your full attention. Before it happens, it deserves your intelligent and sincere preparation. BWS Bill Biewenga is a navigator, delivery skipper and weather router. His websites are www.weather4sailors.com and www.WxAdvantage.com. He can be contacted at billbiewenga@ cox.net

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Barrington, NH 03825 603-868-5720; www.seafrost.com

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Taking On Crew for a Long Passage

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vocados can go bad in a very short period of time. Believe me, crew relationships can do the same. Take a recent experience my husband and I had while traveling from the Galapagos to the Marquesas.

Ahead of us was a very long – 2,971 nm passage - not just any old crossing, but probably the longest passage we shall take in our current circumnavigation. Therefore, the decision that – if possible – we 22

A cruising couple decide to take crew with them for the 3,200-mile passage across the South Pacific from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. It didn’t go well by Patricia Gillette, PhD would take on additional crew was initiated. We read ads and talked about the pros and cons several times. We had already had several six-to-nine-day passages and did well with the just the two of us.

Yes, it is physically draining but one does adjust. But, we both missed the social interchange with other people.

We had a wonderful experience with a couple who helped us go through the Panama Canal and we actually asked them to join us.

However, they had their own boat and wanted to turn right instead of left after the Panama.

We were in the Galapagos when we made our fateful decision. Our date to leave was set BLUE WATER SAILING

–April 30. Four days before takeoff we were approached by a young French woman, Bene, who said that she and her boyfriend were looking for a boat to travel on to the Marquesas. Ultimately, they wanted to go to New Zealand and wanted to enjoy the sailing experience to the Marquesas.

Sam, the other half, said he had been in a sailing training program in France and had blue water experience bringing a boat from Martinique to France, which is not a small trip. As David and I were open to the idea, we invited them to visit our boat the next morning to explore the idea more. At that time, we asked several questions about their experience (his more, her none), their health (no issues) and their expectations (just to get to the Marquesas).

Annapolis Boat Show Special

She was American/French with dual passports and spoke perfect English. He was French but his English was excellent so there were no language barriers.

I clearly stated we would expect them to stand night watches and they saw no problem with this. I said we expected no money from them but simply wanted to share the cost of food. So, time was short, we wanted the help, we saw no big red flags, so, we went for it!

They agreed and we planned to meet them on Saturday morning to visit the local market. Bene and I met at 0500 and headed off to the market. Bene had been in South America for a while and her Spanish was helpful with the vendors. We only had three lifejackets on board and insisted they buy a

fourth. They were unable to find one but the night before departure we convinced a water taxi driver to sell us one from this boat for $25.

We were all set.

We left under sunny skies Sunday on April 30 with little wind. The first hint of a problem came quickly. We decided to fly our asymmetrical spinnaker, which is attached in front of our jib roller furling with one line. To jibe, one snuffs the sail in its sock and then it is moved to the other side and reopened. While sailing downwind and to everyone’s surprise, Sam decided to jibe the spinnaker without snuffing the sail so it tangled on the wrong side of the roller furling. However, the way our spinnaker was rigged, the sail can get caught

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on the spreaders when jibing and, as it is quite fragile, can easily rip on our radar reflector.

As David and I realized what he was doing, we told him to stop. But we were too late; the sail ripped in several places on the radar reflector. Sam immediately responded that he had not done this. Not a good sign that he tried to warp reality? How does one check for this? The next day, David and I spent several hours repairing the spinnaker and re-stuffing it in the sock.

Bene then stated she was unable to stand up and felt very weak.

We all agreed that this was part of adjusting to life at sea. This was not unusual except that her horizontal position was in the cockpit and, as we were changing sails frequently, we would have to constantly ask her to move, which she refused to do. I explained to her that she needed to be more aware of what was going on in the cockpit and I suggested to her that getting more involved could facilitate her adjustment process.

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The next several days at sea always started with “Bene, how are you?’ followed by her “I don’t know” response. Idea after idea was provided to assist her – use ginger (we actually had fresh ginger on board), get busy – stay on the wheel (I gave her lessons), get involved in cleaning the boat, do anything but don’t just lie there.

Nothing worked so day after day this continued.

There were, however, some bright spots. One day, Sam asked her to go swimming with him.

Bene thoroughly enjoyed this, laughing, swimming, talking (all in French, mind you). For hours on end, Bene and Sam would sing and laugh together. also all in French. However, when it came time to stand watches, cook dinner or clean the boat, Bene continued her story of being sick.

As the captain, I seriously considered turning around and returning to the Galapagos. Although I did not see serious signs of illness (constant vomiting, temperature, lack of energy), I did feel responsible for Bene’s well-being. Turning around would mean going into heavy winds and seas and would probably take twice the time we had spent sailing to our destination.

I have had many seasick people on my boat over the years and Bene’s situation did not pass the smell test of “sick”. So, I began to approach the problem from a different angle.

Maybe, I suggested, she was terrified and regressing into behaviors that make her feel comfortable. I asked

her if she was feeling fear. “No,” she replied. I then asked her if she had ever felt fear. She could not recall. I explained that fear can sometimes grip us and “freeze us” from productive activity. She was having none of this and continued her unproductive, lazy and selfish behavior. (Can you sense irritation growing?) She refused to try anything that had been suggested.

We even had her email her parents who suggested the same thing.

Nothing changed.

About 12 days out I hit my breaking point. I think when she got up and said she had a sore throat and then Sam got up from the dinner table to bring food to her in her berth as she was saying she could not sit at the table, I said to her quite clearly that I did not believe she was sick. This behavior was looking much more like she was simply being lazy and wanting to be waited on.

At this point she had done no jobs. Sam was helping with shifts, cleaning the toilet they used and cooking for them and for us at times but Bene showed no improvement. Bene and Sam immediately stated I did not know what I was talking about and she definitely was sick. Then they said I did nothing to help her. I countered, defended myself and tried to point out to them that I had suggested several things that have helped others (none of which she tried), that I had suggested she email her parents (who were doctors) for assistance, and that I even tried to counsel her since the problem seemed more emotional than physical. They still thought I was against her. However, they did agree that at that point they would take a six-hour shift together from midnight to 0600. Bene also acknowledged her behavior was a BLUE WATER SAILING

problem and she would help more.

OK some progress. And, no more discussion of sickness.

This confrontation initiated what I refer to as “the long cold shoulder phase” which lasted 10 days. They would talk, laugh and read together, all in French, and totally ignore David and me. For the most part, I accepted this as it was – I know that communication takes two willing people. However, my anger slowly boiled inside.

It boiled up one evening as we were in the saloon and Bene asked Sam something in French and he turned to me and said “Where is the glass baking dish?” I immediately retrieved it from the cupboard and (yes, bluntly) stated “Yours is the rudest behavior I have ever encountered.”

This opened quite a dialog in which Bene clearly stated she did not want to talk to me since I was so “violent” and “said bad words.”

(I think I had said she should “grow up”, maybe slightly more colorful). She then said I hated her so much that she could not even approach me. I hadn’t seen myself as “violent” (merely blunt) and I could hardly hate her as I hardly knew her. Following that conversation, there was a noticeable relief of tension on the boat. In fact, Bene even said good night to me that evening. By this time, I was much too guarded to hope for change – merely hoping we would quickly come to shore and this temporary hell would soon be over.

But the trouble was not over.

Sam considered himself well trained and an experienced sailor.

He was neither. On several attempts at simple sail changes, often “instructing” Bene on what to do, the jib had got caught on the roller furling and several attempts were needed to free the jam. He would Annapolis Boat Show Special

not listen to instructions from either myself or my husband. As this situation evolved, we trusted him less and less during his watch to the point where we said “If you need to change sail, change course or if you need to ask any question, please wake us up.” We gave him a walkie-talkie to call us.

One night, as we lay in our berth listening to the sails luffing, David went up on deck and the situation he saw set him off. Sam was locked into Bene’s eyes; they were having some sort of deep communication with no awareness of what was going on in the boat. David reminded them that this was an important watch and they needed to be more aware and active.

We persevered during the last week until one fateful night. The weather for a few days had been very bad. Constant squalls going over us with winds of 25-to-30 knots and shifting directions. We had been sailing for 24 days and progress was slower than anticipated. We informed Sam that due to the weather, we needed him to be on the wheel during his shift.

David said good night to them when he left them at midnight with the usual instructions to please call us for anything.

David joined me in bed and we both lay there listening to the sails banging. David got up to see if he could reset the jib, when he encountered both Sam and Bene in the salon while it poured rain and blew like crazy outside. Sam’s response was “I did not want to

get wet.”

I have seen my husband frustrated but I have never seen this wide-eyed anger when he entered our berth and said “I will be on the wheel. I will call you when I can’t do it anymore.” When asked if he needed me, he said “I have so much adrenaline rushing through me, I will be OK.” He woke me at 0330 totally exhausted. Sam and Bene were still up. Bene explained to me that it was a “misunderstanding”.

We chatted about the stars, went through another squall and finally I suggested they go to bed. They did.

The next morning began with Sam accusing us of changing the password on our computer because he had tried to get into it and could not. (We had freely given them our password and they could send and receive emails as needed.) Apparently, Sam had interpreted his inability to get into the system as something diabolical on our part! Insulting and totally untrue. We asked Sam to try it again, which he did with the The author, with husband David on the opposite page

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regular password and got in. The situation was deteriorating.

The next day brought an entirely different kind of trouble.

We were now within 200 miles of Hiva Oa, the Marquesas. Because we carry such limited fuel, we had planned on running the engine only when we were close. The generator had to be run for four hours per day to charge our batteries, make water and power our SSB for emails. We decided it was time to turn on the great iron horse so we could arrive in port the next day. The engine ran for a while and then stalled. Several hours and three new fuel filters later, we still had no engine. The manufacturer’s filters did fit onto the casing so we could not get a tight connection.

This did not make sense but it was

happening.

We did request that Sam and Bene take their normal shift. Sam’s response was good, “We can all learn from our mistakes” so it was left at that. David was on the last shift and reminded Sam to wake us up if anything occurred. Both David and I fell into an exhausted sleep and were both aware of the boat going fast.

We woke up at 0600 and looked on the chart. When we went to bed at midnight, we were 136 nm from Hiva-oa. Through the night, we had sailed 73 miles and should have been within 63 miles of the island, with plenty of daylight to make landfall. However, our location that morning was more than 86 miles northeast of our destination.

Sam said he thought about waking us but then decided not to as we had initially set the course and so it must be ok. Thank God the winds were strong and in our favor. We arrived in port at about 1900 that day and were met by the local Emergency Response Team who towed us into the harbor.

Sam and Bene had their bags packed and were off the boat as soon as we cleared Customs and Immigration the next morning.

Would we ever take on crew we didn’t know again for an offshore passage? The answer is simple: “No.” BWS Patricia Gillette and her husband David have crossed the Indian Ocean and are cruising the East Coast of Africa.

Rainbow in Academy Bay 26

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Landfall!

Annapolis Boat Show Special

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SAILS FOR ALL SEASONS

Choosing the right sailcloth or laminate is a vital element of building your new sails by Brian Hancock

C

hoosing the right fabric for your sails is one of the most important things that you can do to ensure that you not only get the endurance and performance you expect from your inventory, but that you also get sails that are within your budget. There is no need for an expensive membrane if you just putter around on Sunday afternoons. By the same token, you are not going to cross an ocean with under engineered sails.

In terms of fabric and engineering, there is one truism: with sails, as with most things, you get what 28

you pay for. The more you invest in fabric and engineering up front the better your sail(s) will be. I like to say that you should measure the length of the life of a sail by how long it holds its shape and not just by how long it holds together. If you go for a good quality laminate or membrane, the sail will hold its shape longer than a cross-cut Dacron sail; but, of course, it will cost more.

THE BASICS

Let’s start with some basics. The loads in all sails differ across the sail. There is generally a higher load up the leech and along the foot of the sail, and much less load

in the body and along the luff. The loads also change depending on the apparent wind angle that you are sailing. As soon as you ease sheets from sailing hard on the wind to a close reach or a broad reach, the loads will dramatically decrease and change within the body of the sail.

With this in mind, the sail designer needs to engineer the sail for the highest loads; in other words, the load on the leech of the sail when sailing hard on the wind.

The sail will be over-engineered for all other points of sail but that’s just how it is. The goal of all sail designers is to engineer the lightest possible sail but at the same time BLUE WATER SAILING

make sure that it is adequately strong for all conditions.

For many years the only choice sailors had for fabric and engineering for their sails were cross-cut Dacron sails and for many years cross-cut Dacron sails suited them just fine. They were durable, aesthetically pleasing and not too costly, all good attributes in a sail.

Things, however, have changed and these days there are a myriad of choices. For starters, there are numerous kinds of Dacron fabrics all engineered to make different kinds of Dacron sails. Single ply, two ply, two ply leech only, bi-radial, tri-radial, you name it.

Essentially what sailmakers have been trying to do is accommodate the different loads in a sail with an inefficient fabric for the job.

Then along came a simple laminate that changed the way sails are engineered and made the engineering much more efficient by combining different weight fabrics in

Annapolis Boat Show Special

the same sail. These days there are membrane sails and not just simple membrane sails. Membrane loadpath sails are built using space age fibers developed for the defense industry and adapted for the sailing industry.

It’s confusing and made more so by over enthusiastic sailmakers all touting their products as the best way to do things. Let’s step back and really dig deep to try and understand what it is you need, what it is you are getting, and what’s right for you not only for your budget, but also for the kind of sailing you do.

WOVEN VS LAMINATED

In most woven fabrics you have fill or weft yarns that run across the fabric and warp yarns that run the length of the fabric. During the weaving process the fill yarns are shot across the fabric by the shuttle and they are laid down absolutely straight. The warp yarns, however,

have to go over and under the fill to form the weave. They are pushed up against the fill yarns by a piece of equipment called the beater.

The problem is this. As soon as a load comes on the fabric the warp yarns try to straighten out and the result is stretch. You can’t have it any other way. With a woven fabric you are going to have crimp and therefore you are going to have stretch.

Some fabric makers have now figured out how to weave sailcloth where the warp yarns remain straight and the fill yarns are crimped and this is the fabric that can then be used to make radial sails. The load in radial sails will go onto the uncrimped warp yarns which is what you want. Only a very small percentage of woven Dacron fabric is used for radial sails but it’s use is increasing.

Laminated sails were introduced three decades ago and have become the way to go for many cruis

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ers. The initial problems associated with delamination have mostly been fixed with the introduction of better adhesives and more modern ways of manufacturing sailcloth. A laminated sail allows you to build either a cross-cut or a radial sail, but most are used to build radial sails.

Let’s examine a basic laminate.

At the heart of a laminate is a mylar film which, being extruded rather than woven, is there to support any off-threadline (bias) stretch.

It’s usually encapsulated between a variety of different scrims. This is where the engineering comes in. A basic cruising laminate will have one or two scrims laid down at different angles to absorb different loads. The scrims can be a basic polyester or something more exotic like Vectran or even Carbon.

The outer layers of a laminate are usually light polyester taffetas that have been treated with anti-mildew and anti-UV additives. All the layers are then placed under enormous pressure with heat added to bond them as one.

The real advantage of a laminate, other than the fact that it’s 30

a lot lighter and stronger than Dacron, is that you can use the fabric to build a radial sail, either a bi-radial or a tri-radial sail. This way you can use fabrics of different weights in the same sail. You can have heavier fabric in the high load areas like the leech and foot and a lighter fabric in the body and along the luff of the sail. The problem that sail designers were having with cross cut sails just got solved and the result is a much lighter sail that is just as strong and as stretch resistant.

For a sail designer, laminates are a gift because you are not limited to only a few layers and only to polyester fibers. You can have a fabric engineered that has multiple layers with each layer designed to accomplish a different and specific task.

And you can mix and match fibers using more exotic - read more expensive - fibers as the principal load bearing yarn and then back them up with less expensive fibers in the lesser roles. If the fabric has multiple layers and incorporates exotic yarns, you are going to pay extra, but you are going to get a much better sail. It will perform

better and hold its shape better over a longer period.

MAKING CHOICES

So, what do you really need for your purposes? It’s confusing because these days, in addition to Dacron and laminates, there is a growing trend toward high-tech membrane sails being used on cruising boats. It really all comes down to two things; your budget and your sailing plans.

If you day sail and don’t go too far from land, then a nice set of Dacron sails will suffice even if you do the occasional Wednesday evening race. There really is no point in spending the money on more high-tech sails, unless, however, you daysail and want to win the Wednesday evening series; you may want to invest in a light laminate or even a membrane.

Membrane sails are increasingly popular among cruisers in large part because the cost of manufacturing them has come down a lot and they really do add to the performance of the boat. There is more competition with more sailmakers having the ability to BLUE WATER SAILING

manufacture membrane sails, but the main reason for the lower cost is because when you build a membrane sail you are building the fabric and the sail at the same time. If you are manufacturing a laminate sail the fabric is made in one facility and then shipped to the sailmaker who then uses the fabric to make the sail; a two-step process which adds to the cost.

One of the key elements to manufacturing any kind of laminate, and membrane sails are laminates, is the amount of pressure you can bring to bear on the surface of the fabric while it is being manufactured. More pressure means less adhesive for the same bond and less adhesive means a lighter sail.

The companies that manufacture bolts of laminated sailcloth will claim, and probably rightly so, that pound for pound their fabric is stronger than a molded sail and also less likely to delaminate. Bolts of sailcloth are 54-inches wide; molded sails, by contrast, are made on a massive mold and as such you are not able to exert the same pressure as you can on a bolt of cloth.

Molded sails are vacuum bagged and with some newer technical advances the difference between the amount of pressure exerted on the molded sails as compared to a laminate is decreasing to a point where its almost the same.

Let’s remind ourselves why we might want to have a sail that incorporates all this new technology if all we are doing is cruising and not racing. What sailmakers strive to do is to build you a sail that is strong enough to handle the expected conditions, but also to make that sail as light as possible.

There are a number of reasons for this. Light sails are easier to handle and they take up less storage space.

They are also easier to set and trim.

One often overlooked reason to www.bwsailing.com

have a light sail is that you can reduce weight aloft. Reducing weight aloft reduces the boat’s heeling and pitching moment, which is important on long offshore passages. A smoother ride is less taxing on the crew. You would be surprised how much difference a 20-pound bag of sand strapped to your mast near the top changes how a boat sails.

There are no formal guidelines for when you should start to consider a laminate or membrane sail.

It depends on the kind of boat that you have; but, around 50-feet in length is when you will start to see the beneficial effects of a more high-tech construction. For boats larger than 50-feet, especially those going offshore, Dacron sails start to become heavy and unwieldy and, as already mentioned, you will have that extra weight aloft.

Because the more precise way that membrane sails are engineered, you get a much lighter sail and this can be especially useful if you are using an in-mast or in-boom furling system. They roll up much tighter on the mandrel and take up less space in the mast or boom cavity.

For boats above 60 or 65 feet, I would strongly encourage the use of membrane sails. If your plans include some offshore sailing then by all means have taffetas added to give the fabric some extra grunt. The taffetas are treated with antiUV agents so the delicate load bear-

ing yarns will be protected in the tropics.

Much of your decision on what to use for fabric and engineering will be driven by your budget.

While the thought of an exotic high-tech mainsail might be appealing let’s not forget that Dacron has been used very successfully for decades and if your budget is limited, by all means choose crosscut Dacron. For those that have the budget and choose more highly engineered sails you will see a big jump in performance and over the life of the sail they will have a better shape across a broader set of conditions. BWS Sailmaker, circumnavigator and raconteur, Brian Hancock owns Great Circle Sails and makes his home in Marblehead, MA.

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{ LIVINGABOARD }

WHAT WORKED, WHAT DIDN’T

AFTER 11 YEARS

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ear 11 of wandering the oceans of the world has moved us into the expanses of the Indian Ocean. We have passed the half way mark towards a circumnavigation in longitude only. It is doubtful our sailing course will ever return us to our starting point and the stagnant life of a house with a backyard in Rhode Island. Life is far more interesting when we stay on the move to places many people have not heard of. To maintain this pelagic life, we are always working to keep our mobile home mobile and very livable; here are a few items that worked and one that didn’t.

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Patrick & Rebecca Childress FLIR DownVision

After installing our new Raymarine HybridTouch eS128, 12-inch chartplotter and color HD radome (www.raymarine.com) for seeing far out over the sea, at our next haul out, we installed a new fairing block and transducer for the Fish Finder/Sonar and Down Vision, to see what is below us. The fish finder contains a 2D color Sonar that goes down to 800 feet. But rather than be-

ing stuck on one frequency for pinging, it sweeps sound energy across 320 to 370 kHz for better resolution.

Switch to another screen and there is the DownVision. This is a CHIRP, “compressed high-intensi-

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ty radar pulse.” The DownVision system transmits across 170 to 230 KHz. If you could hear it with your ears, it would sound like a whooping siren. This is all in a range above what humans, fish and marine mammals can hear. The sweep of frequencies, a broad band, gives a much sharper image of what is below than conventional 50kz or 200kz transducers. Because the modulated sweep of frequencies is so sensitive, it takes far less power to produce sharper screen images of fish and the bottom than the old 50 or 200 kHz transducers.

Rather than bands of colors to form an image, DownVision’s sweep of higher frequencies produce a finer resolution, and shading, for more of a photographic image of fish and hard things below the boat.

Jeppesen C-Maps

One big caution using those almost microscopic SD cards in any computer-like device; make sure the power to the device is turned off before inserting or removing the card. If your hands are mostly thumbs, and this comes from experience, it is very easy to insert the tiny Navionics SD card slightly askew which will instantly evaporate whatever information was on the card. Additionally, if it gets stuck inside the card reader, like in our Raymarine ES128 chart plotter, ripping it out with pliers might free the card but the result is as useful as forcing out a fishhook backwards, against the barb.

Rebecca was not impressed when I fessed up to what I had done. The chartplotter fortunately has two slots in anticipation of consumers like me. In our second slot was a backup Jeppesen CMaps chip that we use to compare to our Navionics chips. This was now our primary card to get us Annapolis Boat Show Special

from the speck of land of Chagos, in a remote section of the Indian Ocean to Rodrigues1,000 miles away. Luckily, we could still use the chartplotter as our primary navigation instrument and I am no longer allowed to insert or remove SD cards.

We also had another backup because we had the Navionics charts on our Navionics Boating application on our iPad. Navionics are the charts we have trusted around the world for 11 years and are always our first choice of charts, but the Jeppensen C-Map charts are a great tool for comparison and, in this case, as a backup for our primary charts.

Additionally, Navionics charts on the iPad had recently been synched with the chartplotter, so all the preplanned waypoints through the reef entrance and anchorage information was still there, ready to follow. Approaching Rodrigues and going in to the very narrow channel, it was excellent to have the C-Maps on the chartplotter, the Navionics on the iPad as well as a satellite picture running on Ovitalmap, with the Bad Elf GPS assuring our GPS position in all applications on the iPad. We were able to choose the most conservative approaches over the outer reefs, and verify waypoints and routes provided by others.

Always have backups for backups; you never know which system or software some big thumbs might damage.

thieves in boats moving about a dark harbor, or even wild animals on a night jungle walk. While coastal sailing, if we think we see something in the darkness ahead, we first look through traditional binoculars, and then the Ocean Scout. When we get to Africa, it will be fun to search our surroundings for animals at night. Click the shutter and an image will be saved, or for recording video, hold the same snapshot button for one second. Images are kept inside the camera and are downloaded with a supplied USB cable. What a fun, valuable instrument.

Plastic Chafe Protectors

Split plastic chafe protectors that slip onto standing rigging will only last a few years, especially in the harsh UV rays in the tropics.

In many countries away from the U.S., replacements for such yachtie equipment is nonexistent.

But there is something bet

Flir, Ocean Scout-TK, Thermal Handheld Camera

As a Christmas gift, we received a Flir, Ocean Scout-TK, Thermal Handheld Viewer/Camera. It is used in the dark of night to see warm objects cooling from sun rays or the warm bodies of possible 33

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ter. Foreign hardware stores sell 12mm (.47-inch inside diameter) PVC tubes that will fit over our 8mm and 10mm stays. Initially, to install each piece, I disassembled the mechanical terminal and cut through the wires just above the Norseman end fittings. After slipping on two 13-foot lengths of tubing, I reassembled the Norsemans, using new cones. But, of course, there has to be sufficient length in the rigging wire to reassemble everything so the terminal can be screwed into the turnbuckle barrel and tightened down.

But what if a boat owner does not feel comfortable disassembling their terminals? A thin slit, the length of the tubing, can be cut by using a multi-saw or a Dremel with a tiny rotary blade. The tubing can be pried open to snap onto the shroud. Although it will not open up, PVC cement can be used to spot weld the slit. PVC is known to be unaffected by the UV rays of the sun. The PVC tubes are held at their proper height with two wire ties, leaving the lower section of stay wires unprotected to ensure a secure grip for a crew working his way forward. For further instructions and more great boat maintenance ideas, go to YouTube and search “Patrick Childress”.

Titanium Bow Roller Assembly

It is generally agreed, 20-yearold stainless chainplates are close to their expiration date and should be replaced. It is the same idea which keeps airplanes so safe 34

to fly. Change a component at a predetermined point before it has a chance to fail. All of our chain plates have b e e n re p l a c e d with grade 5 titanium.

The problem on our 41-yearold Valiant 40 was the bow roller assembly. It was heavy, thick, stainless that was fully exposed for inspection and looked acceptable.

But we know the shiny looks of stainless can be deceiving. Each day that passed, that expensive assembly was edging closer to failure. In preparation for crossing the Indian ocean, we bit the bullet and had a new assembly made of the same material as our chain plates, grade 5 titanium.

Titanium is an incredible material. It weighs about half as much as 316 stainless yet it is 3.5 times stronger. Titanium is completely unaffected by salt water and the marine environment. It will never corrode or be affected by electroly-

sis. The price of titanium has come down over the years, too. So, we replaced the bow roller with an all-titanium assembly. All the new bolts holding it in place were also made of grade 5 titanium. The titanium parts are made by Allied Titanium, now located in Sequim, Washington. www.alliedtitanium. com.

Your Offshore Doctor

We have onboard plenty of reference books for the repair and maintenance of a voyaging cruising sailboat; but only recently did we add a book about fixing the crew. Where we sail, we often have to be self-medicators so we keep an extensive store of pharmaceuticals.

Although we have kept a list of each medication and what each is to be used for, we really needed a book to describe typical diseases and ailments that is more comprehensive than the first aid books.

We need to know how to suture a laceration, how to remove a fish hook, deal with bladder catheterization and other doctorly things.

We have the sutures and needles, we have the anesthesia and have watched videos on the processes, but we still need a reference book to refresh our memories. We have finally found the straight-forward, serious medical book we need: Your Offshore Doctor by Dr. Michael Beilan. It is written by a medical BLUE WATER SAILING

doctor who has spent over 10 years circling the globe on his own boat.

This is the third, updated version first published in 1985. The book is available from Amazon in ebook or soft cover.

3M4000 UV Sealant

One product that didn’t work is 3M 4000 UV Sealant. It was used to seal the small continuous gap between the teak coach roof’s “eyebrow” and the fiberglass.

Three years later, it was weathered, cracked and leaking. I dug it all out and reapplied a new bead of sealant, but this time I painted over the top of it to protect it from sunlight. In a few years, the 4000 again severely deteriorated.

Anywhere I used it to bed a hatch or deck hardware, it eventually failed, causing leaks. Along the eyebrow, after digging out the second batch of failed caulk, I filled the gaps with thickened fiberglass resin and painted over everything.

Done. No more deterioration or maintenance headaches. For bedding hatches and deck hardware, I have switched to using butyl, in a tape form when possible, but more often the more pliable butyl in a calking gun, bought at the local hardware store. It must be American made butyl in a caulking gun, never Chinese-made butyl.

Manson Anchor

Our old Bruce anchor was a good anchor and far better than the poor performing CQR. But I wanted an anchor that would dig in faster and better. So far, the Manson anchor is fulfilling our expectations.

Morningstar Prostar MPPT Solar Controller

The team at www.altestore.com coached us on which solar panels Annapolis Boat Show Special

and controller to purchase last year, and it’s been a great improvement to Brick House.

In the same footprint as our 25-year-old solar panels, we now have the technology to more than double solar energy generation, which is wonderful since our power consumption is always increasing.

The people at altestore are not just solar experts, but sailors too.

Check out their videos, which are very helpful.

Predictwind and the Iridium Go

We bought the PredictWind marine package last year (https:// www.predictwind.com/iridiumgo/?satellite) and we could not be happier with it. What an incredible leap in technology for getting detailed weather reports, email, etc. any time we want via satellite. No longer do we have to deal with propagation issues with the Single Side Band radio for obtaining weather information!

Profurl Roller Furling

Our Profurl, C42 and C32 roller-furling was installed on our bow over seven years ago. It has seen many thousands of ocean miles with the equipment getting countless dowsings of sea water.

Only once in a great while has this

equipment gotten a proper fresh water rinse from a marina hose.

But everything is working fine, as we would expect it to.

We have sailed thousands of miles this past year, over calm and rough waters. We are fortunate to have very little to complain about.

Hopefully as we slowly work our way across the great expanses of the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Africa, our luck will hold.

For additional tips and tricks for crossing oceans, check Patrick’s YouTube channel, www.youtube. com/patrickchildress. BWS

UNITED STATES

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{ BOATSHOWPREVIEW}

Beneteau 46.1

Inside the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis

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or sailors, the Annapolis sailboat show is the one show that we all like to attend every year.

There may not be a lot of sailors in the U.S. when compared to countries like England, France, New Zealand and Australia, but we are a passionate tribe who like to get together at this annual happening. BWS has been going to the show to exhibit for the last 22 years and our staff has been at the show well before that. Every year we are amazed at how vibrant the sailing industry seems when it is all gathered together in one spot.

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For five days in early October, the city of Annapolis, MD becomes the sailing Mecca of the U.S. with more boats, more booths and more sailors than any other all-sail show.

Here’s a wrap up of what you will find over the weekend of October 4 to 8 by BWS staff

There are some general trends worth mentioning. The number of boats in the water is down from the industry’s heydays in the late 1980s but Annapolis is still the place to go to look at all the new boats on the market. Monohull numbers are down a lot but multihulls have grown in number every year. This year, the show will be the largest multihull show in the country.

Also, boats are getting steadily larger. A 36-footer used to be considered a perfect size for family cruising, not too big, not too expensive, and not too hard to maintain. But nowadays, 45 to 50 feet seems to be the average among cruising boats and we’re seeing many production boats larger than 55 feet that are designed to be sailed by couples. Forty-five to BLUE WATER SAILING

55-foot cats are now about average in the multihull fleet and offer so much space, they are equivalent to 70-foot monohulls.

It is now a year since hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the Caribbean and Florida Keys.

The charter companies based in these areas were severely damaged but now almost all are getting their fleets up and running and are looking forward to a more normal winter charter season this year.

THE BOATS

It has been a tradition among boat builders to display new models for the American sailing public at the Annapolis sailboat show and this year is no exception. Beneteau will be showing the all new Oceanis 46.1, which is a couple’s cruiser that is bound to be a huge success.

The large French builder is also launching their new sportboat line under the First banner. The boats started life as Seascape boats from Slovenia and provide Beneteau dealers with a new entry level style of fun cruiser/racers that should appeal to the younger generations.

Jeanneau will have two new boats at the show, their Sun Odyssey 410 and the new pocket cruiser the Sun Odyssey 319. The SO 410 is the little sister to the new 490 and 440 that were launched last year. It falls right in the middle of the range and will make an excellent couple’s cruiser. The new SO 319 is a perfect entry level boat for a family who want a simple, fun and inexpensive way to get out on the water. Plus, the 319 will definitely appeal to older sailors who are downsizing from a larger cruising boat.

Another large French builder, Dufour will have at least three boats at the show with the Grand Large 412, 460 and 512. Dufour Annapolis Boat Show Special

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410

rivals Beneteau and Jeanneau in Europe but has not made the same inroads in the North American market. If you are looking at a Euro-style performance cruiser this fall, you should add Dufour to the list of boats to visit at the show.

The large German builder, Hanse, always has a big display at the show and will have five or six of their performance cruising models for you to look over. Like the other big European production builders, Hanse has a wide range for you to choose from 34 to 55 feet. Hanse has always combined modern Euro-styled hulls and rigs with interiors that evoke the old days of teak and holly.

Island Packet will be displaying their all new, American built,

IPY 349 that has only recently been launched. The new entry level Island Packet comes in with an attractive price and all of the traditional design and build details that have made IPY cruising boats favorites in the blue water fleet.

IPY will also have a Blue Jacket 40 and a Seaward 32 to fill out their company’s brands.

Another venerable American builder introducing a new model, Tartan Yachts will be displaying the new Tartan 395. This mid-range cruising boat offers a lot of the quality and attention to traditional detail that has been a Tartan hallmark for almost 60 years. Tartans are built with epoxy hulls and carbon fiber spars, so they will serve their owners for generations.

Hanse 495

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{ BOATSHOWPREVIEW} Tartan 395

Catalina Yachts, which was once the largest builder of sailboats in North America, is still going strong and will have their full line of cruising boats on display. The new 425 is the latest design in the fleet and offers an updated and thoroughly modern take on the values and quality that have made Catalina owners some of the most loyal repeat buyers in the industry.

The company uses the marketing line “The closer you look, the better we get,” which is a very honest assessment of the company’s commitment to their core values about quality and integrity.

Passport Yachts, based in Annapolis, always has two or three boats in the show that are usually show-stoppers. These elegant, traditional couple’s cruising boats,

are loaded with fine joinery below decks that is assembled to each new owner’s specification. While the hulls and basic accommodations plans stay more or less the same, each new owner can spec out his new Passport to a very high degree of detail. If you are looking for a boat that evokes generations of traditional boat building, you should take a look at the Passports.

A number of European builders of semi-custom yachts will be displaying new or relatively new monohulls, among them Amel, X-Yachts, Hallberg-Rassy, Discovery Yachts, Southerly, Gunfleet, Oyster and Swan. These high-end boats are built to order and offer their exclusive customers a level of quality you would expect from a builder who makes each boat

uniquely for each customer. There are often long lines to board these boats since for most sailors such sailing craft are out of their reach.

Among the multihulls you will have the widest selection of brands and models to choose from of any boat show in North America. In fact, the size of the multihull section of the show has grown to rival even the large multihull shows in Europe.

The big three multihull builders will be there in grand style.

Lagoon. Leopard and Fountaine Pajot all will have their full lines for you to view. Among the new boats, Leopard will introduce their new 50 footer to the Annapolis crowd. This new design offers a huge cockpit aft, a large forward cockpit and the option of a third

Passport 54

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BLUE WATER SAILING

Leopard 50

cockpit on top of the hard top over the aft cockpit.

Lagoon will have their all new 40 and 50 foot cats that debuted at last winter’s Miami show. Both boats combine excellent family cruising design ideas with the practicalities of building boats for the world’s bareboat and crewed charter fleets.

Lagoon has made a lot of innovations with these designs, including all new rigs that reduce the mainsail size for ease of handling and increase the genoas for more power that can be easily reefed from the cockpit.

Fountaine Pajot has been growing rapidly and introduces new designs at least once a year.

This year they will have their new Astrea 42 cruising cat and the all new 45 foot cat. The 42 is tailor made for a couple or cruising family who want to keep things simple, elegant and affordable. The new 45, which has a cockpit on top of the cockpit’s hard top, offers truly elegant and spacious living yet is not too large for a couple to manage the boat by themselves.

Catana and Bali will be at the show with the two brands. Catana focuses on building cruising cats for couples and crew who are planning serious ocean sailing. The Bali line targets buyers who want to put their boats into the Dream Yacht Charter fleets around the world.

This last year, Dream became the world’s largest charter company, in no small part because of the success of the Bali cats.

Performance cruising cats is a design category that is getting a lot of attention these days. Boats in this more rarified air, are built more or less to order on a semicustom basis and offer owners both exotic designs and materials Annapolis Boat Show Special

which is combined with high end elegance. You FP Astrea 42 will find at the show boats like the Balance 526, which is a fairly new brand that is being built in South Africa. In addition, you will see the new HH 55, built in exotic materials by Hudson Yachts in China, and the new Outremer 5x, which is built in France for the performance and semi-custom market.

South Africa is a hot bed of catamaran builders. In addition to the Leopards and Balance cats,

you will also find small builders

at the show who offer interesting cruising designs that often are perfect for cruising couples. The St. Francis 50, Xquisite 50, Knysna 48, Majestic 53 and Maverick 44 are all semi-custom cruising cats that have proven to be perfect for couples who know what they want Lagoon 40

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{ BOATSHOWPREVIEW} Neel 45

and are planning to live aboard and sail the world.

From Asia, you will find the new Seawind cruising cats that are built in Vietnam. These open plan Australian designs combine great sailing qualities with indoor-outdoor living accommodations. Seawind plans to have their 1160, 1160 Lite and 1260 at the show. If you are looking for a cat in the smaller and more affordable range, the Seawinds should be on your list.

Other short run semi-custom cats at the show will be the Antares 441 from Argentina and the Maine Cat 38 which is built in Maine. The Antares is a dedicated blue water boat that comes from the builder ready to sail across oceans. The Maine Cat is more of a coastal cruiser that will be excellent in the Bahamas or Caribbean; built in Maine the Maine Cats are imbued with that special “Maine built” quality that has made the state such a famous home for quality boat building Trimarans are gaining in popularity because they sail so well and in the smaller range can be trailered by a family SUV. These folding, trailerable tris include the Dragonfly designs from Denmark and the Corsair designs from Vietnam. You do sacrifice some interior 42

volume in these tris, but for the sheer love of sailing and the ability to explore cruising grounds far and wide by trailer, they make a lot of sense.

The Neel 45 and 50 tris are something entirely different. Neel has created cruising boats that combine the great sailing performance of a tri with the living accommodations of modern catamarans. If you haven’t stepped aboard a Neel trimaran, this fall is the time to do so. After all, how many boats do you see that have a full utility room below decks or as some call it a ”basement.”

CHARTERING & SAILNG SCHOOLS

Traditionally, the big charter companies like to offer good discounts on bareboat and crewed charters during the Annapolis sailboat show because they want to get their booking books filled up for the winter charter season in the Caribbean. The Moorings, Sunsail and Dream Yacht Charter all have big tents right in the middle of the show and over the five days they will all be doing a land-office business signing up charters.

This year, the fall bookings and great offers are especially important because of the devastation

that hurricanes Irma and Maria inflicted on the BVI, St. Martin and Puerto Rico last year. As the rebuilding goes ahead in the islands, and it is going ahead slowly, the charter bases and fleets are all back in business and ready for you and your friends to go chartering.

Plus, the big companies all have bases around the world, so if you hanker to explore Thailand or the Seychelles, you can make that happen and probably get a good deal at the show.

The success of the big companies at Annapolis has spawned what the show now calls the Vacation Basin and the Mediterranean Corner. These two venues are in what locals call “Ego Alley”, which is the body of water that runs right into the middle of town. In Vacation Basin, you will find dozens of charter companies with their booths erected on large floats. You can find charter opportunities, sailing schools, time sharing packages and much more. The show has made the basin a one-stop-shop of anyone looking for vacations under sail.

Right next to the basin, the Mediterranean Corner is a tent filled with charter companies and vacation brokers representing charter opportunities throughout the Med. You can talk with folks from Turkey, Greece and the Ionian Sea. You can look into chartering in Croatia or Montenegro. Or you can explore Italy and the Balearic Island in the western Med. They are all in the same tent.

For sailing schools, you will find them scattered around the show with J/World, Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School and the Blue Water Sailing School always well represented. Stop by these booths to discover how you can transform a winter sailing vacation into a family skill building vacation that BLUE WATER SAILING

will help you be a better skipper and crew and make your time chartering or sailing your own boat more fun.

THE TENTS

There are so many tents and so many booths in those tents that you would need a month to visit them all. You will find vendors representing and selling everything from clothing to marine electronics, from marine engines to the latest in sails.

If you have a mission to find certain products and companies, it makes sense to get a program at the gate or download the program PDF from the show’s website and do some homework. The way the show has grown and evolved over the decades, most companies with similar products are not in the same tents so you can spend hours searching for what you need. So, make a plan and then go forth and enjoy the sailing buzz.

EDUCATION

The show management has made a concerted effort over the last few years to expand the seminars and educational opportunities

Annapolis Boat Show Special

provided by the show.

The First Sail program offers new sailors courses in the basics of sailing and sailboat ownership.

If you are new to the game, this is the seminar program to start with.

You’ll be amazed at how much you can learn in a short span of time.

The Take the Wheel program, sponsored by Jeanneau, allows new sailors to get hands-one experience actually sailing in Annapolis harbor. You will go out with experienced instructors who will assess your skill level and help you become more proficient at making a sailboat go where you want it to while trimming sails and navigating.

Paid and sponsored seminars are run throughout the show schedule and you can take daylong and half-day seminars that will introduce you to the cruising life, teach you about catamarans and cat cruising and help couples learn how to be self sufficient and capable aboard their own boats.

Cruiser’s University runs for four days at the tail end of the show from October 8 to 12. There are more than 40 different seminars offers and you can purchase

individual courses or buy a track of courses aimed to build your specific skills.

THE BREAK UP

On Monday the 8th, the show closes at five pm and then the break up begins. All of the boats have to be out of their slips that evening and once the break up starts it goes very quickly in a kind of chaotic dance of boats, floating docks and work boats.

It is traditional to watch this from the docks next to or the roof bar above Pusser’s Restaurant, which is right in the middle of the show. And it is customary to do so with a pain killer or two in hand.

The skippers running the boats often put on a good show and there will be enough close calls and even the occasional collision to give the breakup something of a NASCAR feel. It is always a great way to end the five-day show. BWS

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{ BLUEWATERBOATS }

BENETEAU

Oceanis 46.1

W

hen Beneteau launched the all new Oceanis 51.1 last winter at the Miami boat show, it was obvious that the new line of designs under the Oceanis banner was going to revolutionize the brand. With a hard chine that runs the full length from bow to stern, a plumb bow with a built-in bow sprit, a broad transom with a huge folding swim platform and a voluminous cockpit, the boat takes all of these modern elements and synthesizes into a design that is entirely new and, in many ways, the best Oceanis concept yet.

44

I had a chance to sail the 51.1 on a lovely day on Biscayne Bay after the show and came away truly impressed by the way the design sails and by how well the accommodation plan was executed. With that in mind, I was eager to sail the all new Oceanis 46.1 when it was introduced to the press and to the U.S. dealers in early September in Newport, RI. The day was a picture-perfect late summer day with plenty of sun and a pleasant but very light northerly breeze blowing down the bay. This is common on summer mornings in Newport and as locals know the northerly will blow until about 1230 pm and then fade as

the sea breeze from the south begins to fill in.

At 11 am, with a couple of journalists, a sailmaker from North Sails and the Oceanis 46.1 project manager aboard, we motored away from the docks at Newport’s Ft. Adams and headed out into the bay to see what the boat was made of. We rolled out the mainsail and genoa and trimmed for upwind sailing. The breeze was light but with the engine off and the sails drawing, the 46.1 leaned into the wind and started to go. We tacked back and forth as we headed up the bay and were pleased to see that the boat tacked inside 90 degrees in light air.

BLUE WATER SAILING

Once we each had had a chance to steer upwind and fiddle with the sheeting angles and trim, we rolled up the jib and fell off onto a beam reach. We had a large reaching sail similar to a Code 0 set on the bow sprit ahead of the jib which we rolled out and trimmed. The 46.1 reacted immediately and really showed a turn of speed. In the 8 knots of true wind, we were sailing at over six knots. That’s remarkable for a cruising boat.

The 51.1 was out sailing, too, so we engaged with them and were pleased to see that the 46.1 was just about as fast as her big sister. The boats were designed by the French firm Finot Conq, who have a repuAnnapolis Boat Show Special

tation for creating fast racing boats and competitive offshore racers for French singlehanders. The speed gene was obviously passed on to the new 51.1 and 46.1.

The design has a shallow draft hull with a lot of volume in the forward sections and then the maximum beam is called all the way aft to the transom. This type of hull offers a huge interior volume for the accommodations, plus it provides a lot of initial stability so the boat will sail very flat. The hard chines also add volume and stability.

Under the water the standard keel in a L-shaped fin that has a low center of gravity, which adds to ultimate stability and the boat’s ability to carry sail as the wind increases. The twin rudders have a very positive bite on the water and make the boat feel like it is sailing on rails. We all noticed that the helm was balanced and getting the boat into the groove upwind was easy.

The cockpit is well laid out for both sailing and comfortable outdoor living. All lines and sheets run to winches on both sides of the cockpit, so one person can steer and trim at the same time.

The tangle of lines and sheets are captured in fabric lined bins on both sides.

Our experience sailing on Narragansett Bay for a couple of hours in light breezes gave us a good feel for how the 46.1 will behave when cruising. She is easy to sail, fast and comfortable. And, the boat certainly can be handled by a couple on their own.

LIVING ABOARD

{ BLUEWATERBOATS }

Like most modern production boats, the 46.1 comes with several interior plans that can be mixed and matched to suit a new owner’s preferences. The three-cabin, two-head plan has a large master cabin forward with a centerline double berth. The cabin has a huge amount of storage, which will be useful for those choosing to live aboard. The head and shower are separate, to port and starboard, so both are large spaces. Aft there are two quarter cabins and a single shared head to starboard. In this basic plan, the galley is aft to port

46

and the dinette and a bench settee are amidships.

You can opt for a three-cabin, three-head plan that moved the galley forward to the port side so a head can be fit into the space the aft galley had been. You can also opt for a four-cabin, four head configuration or even go with a five-cabin, three head plan. For a couple who cruise mostly on their own and are visited from time to time by friends or grown children, the three-cabin-two head plan with the galley aft, makes the most sense.

The ambience of the new 46.1 below decks is of bright natural light that streams in through large hull windows, deck hatches and cabin-side windows. The use of light-colored veneers and pale fabrics adds to this impression of lightness and open space.

The interior designers worked hard on the lighting systems down below, so you can create both mood lighting and full lighting for cooking or reading. The saloon will work well for entertaining or for quiet evenings at anchor with a good book.

BLUE WATER SAILING

Beneteau Oceanis 46.1 BWS THOUGHTS

Beneteau and the Beneteau Group are the world’s largest builders of sailboats. They own a large percentage of the sailing market in the U.S. and have dealers in every major sailing port. The company can provide it’s own finance so buyers only have to make one stop to purchase a boat.

With this dominance, you might expect the company to become complacent but the exact opposite is true. The new designs in the 51.1 and 46.1, show a serious commitment to innovation and product renewal. The 46.1will be a great boat for living aboard, sailing far and wide and enjoying relaxing times with friends. And it is also a great value. The new 46.1 is bound to be a trendsetter for the years ahead. BWS

Annapolis Boat Show Special

LOA 46’11” LOD 44’9” LWL 43’5” Beam 14’9” Draft (deep) 7’9” Draft (shoal) 5’9” Displ. 23,356 lbs.

Ballast 6,000 lbs.

Water 98 gals.

Fuel 53 gals.

Sail area 950 sq. ft.

Engine 57-hp. Diesel www.beneteau.com

47

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50

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51

ADVENTURES SAILING

Offshore Sail-Training

WORLD

Aboard Mahina Tiare III, a Hallberg-Rassy 46

With a combined experience of 665,000 miles and 81 years, John and Amanda Neal’s unique curriculum offers you a dynamic hands-on learning experience including seamanship, navigation, storm avoidance and heavy weather tactics.

w w w. m a h i n a . c o m 52

BLUE WATER SAILING

Celebrating

Years on the Water

It’s been five decades since The Moorings story first began, born from an immense passion for sailing and a slim fleet of six yachts. Our unique cruising culture has helped guests establish new traditions, bridge generation gaps, and capture rewarding experiences—so here’s to another 50 years of priceless vacation memories on the water...

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Fast Track to Catamarg®an Live Aboard Cruisin “I took the Learn to Sail course in St. Pete, Florida, and the Live Aboard Cruising course in the BVI five months later. Both courses were absolutely amazing and exceeded everything I could have hoped for. Our instructors were incredible and truly wanted us to know how, and most importantly ‘why’ we needed to do things a certain way. Hands down, one of the most rewarding trainings I’ve ever had!”

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OffshoreSailing.com | 888-385-6177 Basic Sailing | Cruising Certification | Passage Making | Racing Programs | Flotilla Cruising Vacations BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS: Scrub Island, Tortola • FLORIDA: Cape Coral, Captiva Island, Fort Myers Beach, St. Petersburg

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Hinckley 41...1966 Offered at $125,000

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The Moorings Yacht Brokerage has the world’s largest selection of pre-owned charter yachts.

2013 LEOPARD 39

Thula Thula II- 3 cab/ 2 head Located in BVI Asking $269,000

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Following Models available in Tortola starting February 2019 ’14 Leopard 51PC.....$650,000 ’11 Leopard 47PC.....$399,000 ’11 Leopard 47PC…..$399,000 ’10 Beneteau 50…....$199,000 ’11 Leopard 46...…...$389,000 ’10 Jeanneau 44i.......$115,000 ’12 Jeanneau 409......$119,000 ’13 Jeanneau 33i....….$79,000

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BOAT SELECTION CONSULTATION SERVICE Looking for the right boat for offshore voyaging? For a flat fee I will use my extensive experience to help you evaluate, locate and purchase the best possible boat for your investment. John Neal www.mahina.com/consult

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64

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Beta Marine....................................................... 49 877-227-2473 • 252-249-2473 Coppercoat......................................................... 51 321-514-9197 Gowrie/IMIS....................................................... 49 800-541-4647 J Prop................................................................. 49 401-847-79656 PYI..................................................................... 51 425-355-3669 Sailrite............................................................... 48 260-244-4647 Shadetree.......................................................... 51 888-684-3743 • 251-987-1229 Switlik................................................................ 51 609-587-3300 CHARTER Blue Water Sailing Sch.................................. 56,57 800-255-1840 • 954-763-8464 Cruise Abaco...................................................... 52 321-473-4223 Dream Yacht Charter.......................................... 59 855-208-7567 Island Yachts...................................................... 60 340-344-2143 Mahina.............................................................. 52 360-378-6131 Moorings .......................................................... 53 800-669-6529 Offshore Sailing School...................................... 61 888-385-6177 Sunsail.......................................................... 54,55 800-437-7880 TMM................................................................... 58 800-633-0155 BROKERAGE Moorings........................................................... 63 800-850-4081 Northstar Yacht Sales.......................................... 62 401-683-9200

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www.selfsteer.com 65

{ BROADREACHING }

Cruising FRIENDS

S

itting on Yahtzee’s deck, I can’t help but smile observing our boys playing dockside with three girls from another cruising boat. Drawing sailboats, whales, mountains and beaches with vibrant colors of chalk, their laughter and connection is infections. They’re doodling what they’ve all seen in their travels, and though they’ve only known each other for a few days, it seems like they’ve been friends forever.

Watching friendships like these grow, and grow rapidly, is one of the things that we cherish most about the cruising lifestyle. And it is especially true now that our children are making their own friends out here, too.

To us, these fast and deep bonds 66

by ANDYCROSS

Then, now and on the horizon

really come as no surprise. Living in similar circumstances as other cruisers, sailors and adventurers, we form lasting relationships with those around us because we share the same highs and lows of life.

And though miles eventually separate us, distance never matters.

Over time, though, we have also come to recognize that this particular part of our life is commonly misunderstood from the outside. People often assume that by living on a sailboat and moving relatively often, and sometimes very quickly, we’re actually not developing quality relationships.

Time and again, we’ve received some form of a comment that without firmly planted “roots”, lasting friendships must be hard for us to generate and then nurture.

In general, we get the underly-

ing sentiment but nod and smile knowing that it is simply a lack of knowledge on their part — which is fine. What we’ve found when making friends while cruising is that the barriers to fully understanding the joys, challenges, triumphs and frustrations of this lifestyle are already down. Accordingly, we’re able to instantly start on common ground when we meet new people in a far-flung anchorage or on the dock in the next port.

Age is of no consequence, and the connections can be — and in many cases are — quick, real and long lasting.

What we try to explain is that our cruising friendships are strong because they are born through a unique connection, people stay in touch and come visit, and we make an effort to meet up along the way.

After all, it’s along the way where we encounter these kindred spirits that turn into wonderful friends.

Then, when we come back together after all the years and miles, we don’t skip a beat. We hug, laugh, savor drink and food, share sea stories of water under our keels and make the most of our time together because we know it will likely be fleeting. We’re ok with that.

If anything, we’ve found these nomadic relationships to be incredibly fulfilling. They’re free from the the immense clutter of houses, cars, 401ks, traffic lights, more stuff and bigger everything.

Instead, they’re untethered, genuine and hassle free. They roll with time and tide, which is the way we prefer to live the cruising life. BWS Andy, along with wife Jill and sons Porter and Magnus, are currently cruising Alaska aboard their Grand Soleil 39 Yahtzee. Follow their adventures at threesheetsnw.com/yahtzee.

BLUE WATER SAILING

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