Blue Water Sailing January/February 2018

NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR CRUISERS

BLUE WATER

SAILING MIAMI BOAT SHOW PREVIEW

OFFSHORE PASSAGES

RALLY TO CUBA BAHAMAS DELIVERY MED DELIGHTS BWS BOAT REVIEWS

ELAN GT5 BENETEAU OCEANIS 51.1

JAN/FEB 2018

Picture : Easyride

31 35.1 38.1 41.1 45 48 51.1 55.1

OCEANIS AND NAUTICAL NAPPING. #BENETEAULIFE

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See the Oceanis range at Strictly Sail Miami, February 15 -19, Pier 9 in Miami Marine Stadium Park & Basin.

Visit OceanisLifestyle.com to learn more and register for the Beneteau Exhibit to expedite your check-in process.

Inquiries: 410-990-0270 or Sail@Beneteau.com

JAN/FEB 2018

{ CONTENTS }

20 20 World Cruising

40 40 Electronics

Mahina Tiare Sails Into the Med

From Liston on the Atlantic coast, they cruise to Gibraltar, the south of Spain and the Balearic Islands

l

Navigation Systems for Cruisers

After a lightning strike, we had to replace all of our electronics – it was an eye opening task

by George Day

by John Nea

44 Boat Review

2018 Miami Sailboat Show Preview

With dozens of new monohulls and multihulls and acres of tents filled with sailing gear and equpment, the Miami show is a great winter escape and an excellent place to buy a new boat

28 28 Cruising Life

Rough Night to Havana

Part 2... the author and two pals set off in his Catalina 31 with an organized rally to Cuba

by James McFarlane, Jr.

36 BWS Interview

Owning a Boat in a Charter Fleet

BWS caught up with multihull experts Steven and Estelle Cockroft, who run the website www.catamaranguru.com,

52 52 Blue Water Boats

52 Elan GT5 58 Beneteau Oceanis 51.1

DEPARTMENTS 6 8 12 16 4

Captain’s Log Blue Water Dispatches Biewenga Offshore Heather Francis Onboard

60 64 71 72 74

Chandlery Charter Companies Brokerage Classifieds Broad Reaching-Andy Cross

Cover photo: Sitting in English Harbour, Antigua Photo: @istockphoto

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

NEW

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389

SUN ODYSSEY

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440

NEW

479

490

A new vision of life onboard Designed by Philippe Briand in conjunction with Jean-Marc Piaton, the Sun Odyssey 490 becomes the second model to join the new generation of the Sun Odyssey range. Like its predecessor the Sun Odyssey 440, the Sun Odyssey 490 features the same innovative concepts that have redefined the modern cruising boat such as the convertible cockpit, walk-around deck, electric drop-down swim platform, and a clever contemporary interior.

North American Debut | Miami International Boat Show | Pier 9 | February 15-19, 2018

jeanneau.com

490

519

{ CAPTAIN’SLOG }

BLUE WATER

And a Star to Steer Her By SAILING

A

s we were preparing the electronics and navigation feature for this issue, going over all of the wonderous inventions of the last 40 years that make cruising and blue water sailing so much easier and safer than it was when I first starting sailing across the ocean in the early ’70s, it occurred to me that it has been a long time since I’ve used celestial navigation.

With that in mind, here’s what it was like before all of this technology was developed. I was sailing with my friends Bunny and Ruth on a delivery from Portugal to the Caribbean via Madeira and the Canary Islands when I first learned celestial. It was 1972 and the most advanced equipment on their 50 foot ketch was a Zenith Transoceanic shortwave receiver. The most important pieces of equipment on the boat for this 3,000 mile passage were the sextant, Nautical Almanac and the sight reduction tables. With these we could always find our latitude. But, we needed the Zenith receiver to find longitude since you need to know the exact time to do the calculations.

The daily routine offshore was to take three rounds of sun sights a day at 1000, 1200 and 1400. Prior to each sight, we’d get WOO or WOH on the radio where we could get the time signal that was broadcast constantly. When 1000 was broadcast, we’d start a stopwatch and then when we were happy with a sun sight we’d call “mark” and the person with the stopwatch would write down the time and the angle of the sun above the horizon that the sextant measured.

For each sight through the day, the next step was to consult the Nautical Almanac for day and time in question and then do the calculations on a work sheet. Without going into detail, this involves arithmetic, not the spherical trigonometry that Captain Cook used. The solution to this math problem will give you the numbers you need to enter the sight reduction tables and plot your position.

What you are doing is trying to come up with a line of position and you can be confident you are on that line somewhere on the planet; the line is actually a small segment of a huge circle but that’s another story. To make this all work and to enter the tables, you need to come up with an assumed position on the ocean which you mark on what is called a universal plotting sheet where you will plot your line(s) of position before transferring your calculated position to an actual chart.

From this assumed position you draw a line along the compass bearing that you got from the tables and then mark off on that line the distance you got from your calculations and at that point you draw a perpendicular line that is your line of position. There’s a little more to it, but that’s the essence, and basically that’s how it has been done since the invention of celestial navigation. Now you just have to go through it all again at 1200 and 1400.

With the line of positions for all three sun sights you can make what is called a cocked hat on your plotting sheet by advancing the morning line to the noon line on the course and distance you sailed in the two hours between and then advance those two lines to the 1400 line in the same way. The three lines will form a triangle (cocked hat) and you are somewhere inside of it. You can then transfer that position to the chart.

Simple. And then, when you are close to landfall, you might want to start taking morning and evening star sights. But that’s in lesson two.

Once you get good at it, you will take about 15 minutes to shoot, calculate and plot each sight, which is not a bad way to break up a day at sea.

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photo by Bill Kund

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BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

40 | 43 PC | 45 | 50P - 50L | 51 PC | 58

www.leopardcatamarans.com info@leopardcatamarans.com

{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }

American trimaran in the race, none other than the 50-foot Moxie that American Phil Weld sailed in the 1980 OSTAR to become the first and only American to win that famous singlehanded transatlantic race. Moxie was designed by Dick Newick, America’s great multihull and trimaran designer, to be a boat that is both easy for a middle aged man, Weld, to sail and fast in a wide range of weather conditions.

Weld proved to be a true American hero by beating several of Europe’s best and most famous solo sailors.

Giroire owns a smaller Newick design that he sails near his home in Florida. Moxie is on the hard in the south of France and will no doubt need a serious upgrade to be competitive. But with his connections in the marine industry and in France, he is well placed to pull the retrofit together.

The Route du Rhum has a great

American Etienne Giroire Enters 2018 Route du Rhum Race

T

he annual singlehanded dash across the North Atlantic every November known as the Route du Rhum will celebrates its 40th Anniversary in 2018. The event, which is sailed in both monohulls and multihulls, is one of the most popular sporting events – not just sailing – in Europe. More than one million fans will visit the festival at the race’s start in St. Malo, France before the start and millions more follow the race online as positions and news are streamed

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live from each boat as they sail to Guadeloupe.

American Etienne Giroire has announced that he will enter the 2018 race. Giroire is the founder and owner of ATN, Inc, which designs and creates innovative sailing products such as the ATN Spinnaker Snuffer, Mast Climber, Tacker and more. He is also a veteran singlehanded offshore sailor and has competed in the Route du Rhum in years past.

For 2018 he plans to sail an historic

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

HARKEN FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T NEED HARKEN.

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That’s good. Because at Harken, we make products for sailors.

Consider our new Element blocks: aluminum sideplates forged into compound curves for strength, paired with a bearing proven to deliver for years. Compare them to plastic plain-bearing blocks from competitors. We bet you’ll be surprised. Element. Arriving in early 2018.

Harken design, engineering and build quality — priced for sailors.

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{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }

tradition of accepting both the cutting edge professionals as well as spirited amateurs. Over the years, many of France’s most famous record breaking sailors have competed in the event.

And, even at the age of 75, Sir Robin

Knox-Johnson, who won the first singlehanded nonstop around the world race, competed and finished third in his class. Etienne Giroire hopes to have that kind of race this year on Moxie.

For more information on ATN log on to www.atninc.com and for more information on The Route du Rhum log onto www.routedurhum.com. BWS

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Chris Parker’s Marine Weather Center Available via almost any communications method onboard... SSB radio voice...email... voice telephone...interactive Internet webcast...fax • Weather Forecasts & Routing Advice: geared specifically for small sail & power vessels, with the information you need to support good tactical decision-making.

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BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

{ BILLBIEWENGA }

@Laurie Warner

The Winds of Christmas

Technically the hurricane season is behind us. The reality is that while some of the devastation remains in some places, the weather will be idyllic in the Caribbean again this winter 12

I

t was a particularly rough fall for many of the islands in the Caribbean. Hurricanes mercilessly swept across many of them, destroying much of what was in their paths. Puerto Rico, already burdened by economic woes well before hurricane season, was battered more than once and is still a long way from recovery.

None of this is news to most of us. However, there are still many places in the Caribbean that are open for business and relatively unscathed by the recent hurricane season and looking forward to a warm, sunny winter. For those of us living up north, “warm”, “sunny” and “winter” may not seem like words that belong in the same sentence, and those of us with short memories or a more idealistic inclination may like to think of the Caribbean as the place of Eternally Beautiful Weather. It too, however, has its good BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

{ OFFSHORE }

days and its bad – seasons with plenty of brisk sailing breezes, rainy seasons, and intermittent calm periods – often characterized by the time of year.

Charter captains and delivery skippers have been waiting since the beginning of November to define the time of year to return to the Caribbean. This year, with much of the island infrastructure still awaiting repairs, there are fewer deliveries south, but some boats – even those aboard which I’ve sailed – are still heading to places like St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia or the Bahamas. Hurricane season is, for the most part, at a close. While it’s true that the only month of the year that has no recorded North Atlantic hurricane to its “credit” is April, 15 or 20 years ago even that month “boasted” a tropical storm. Bad weather can occur anytime. But for the most part, November marks the time when the greatest threat of tropical storms or

www.bwsailing.com

hurricanes has passed.

Boats of all sizes, shapes and means of propulsion are heading south from Europe and North America as the sun’s track across the sky also moves to the south. The fall equinox, September 22nd, 2017, 4:02 PM, EDT marked the time when the sun’s track moved directly over the equator and began tracking further to the south. As the tropical waters in the Northern Hemisphere cooled and the energy that fuels hurricanes began to dissipate in October, the jet stream and associated storm track for migratory extra-tropical lows began their trend to move further to the south.

CHRISTMAS WINDS The “Christmas winds” of the Caribbean, characteristic of early winter months, is the result of the jet stream assuming a more winter-like pattern and moving to more southern lati-

tudes. Along with the jet stream, low pressure systems track further south.

Low pressure systems tend to form more frequently near Cape Hatteras, travel in a more northeasterly direction, perhaps south of Cape Cod and dump snow in New England rather than the more summer-like track nearer northern Vermont. Along with the jet stream and storm tracks moving more south, the extra-tropical high pressure system resident in the North Atlantic also moves to a more southern region. In fact, it seems that any and all weather patterns, along with travelers with any common sense, move south for the winter. The Christmas winds of the Caribbean are waiting.

Water temperatures hover around 80 degrees, waves build out of the east with the brisk Northeast Trades and places like the Grenadines only have distant memories of a rare hurricane that took place over a decade ago.

13

You don’t need to be in the Caribbean in December to experience the wonderful and warm “Christmas winds”, but at least as important is understanding the weather that’s around the corner The December and January winds are generally quite reliable, but they’re not always present. The winds will be most consistent when the high pressure is strong and located further to the south, assuming the ITCZ remains in its normal position, somewhere near 4 degrees North Latitude.

Migratory, extra-tropical storms to the north, however, can disrupt the party in the Caribbean even in winter. Fronts from those storms can extend down to the Caribbean as they approach from the northwest. While they may not carry snow with them as they may off New England, prefrontal conditions in the Caribbean can typically bring calm conditions for a couple of days followed by rain and northerly winds as the front makes its debut further south. For those of us from the north, it may seem like a small price to pay in the short term to avoid the snow and cold back home for a week or two of otherwise perfect sailing weather.

THE HURRICANE CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN Mid- to late May and June begin to see a reversal in that trend, however.

Days begin to get hotter and the winds begin to subside as the sun makes its track directly over the Caribbean again.The jet stream, migratory extratropical low-pressure systems, and charter fleets all begin their annual migration back to the north. The more direct sunlight overhead begins to heat the tropical waters more efficiently again, and the energy is again on tap for tropical storm systems.

With the temperatures rising in June and July, more evaporation takes place, putting more moisture into the atmosphere. Rain starts to be more commonplace. Tropical waves, sometimes the precursors to low pressure circulation and the attendant tropical depressions, tropical storms or potential hurricanes, increase in frequency.

The Caribbean summer is beginning to get underway. Winds are generally calm. But huge convective, towering

EASING INTO THE CARIBBEAN March and April typify spring in the Caribbean. March 21st witnesses the sun’s celestial track across the sky back directly above the Equator on it’s way to a more northerly track during the Northern Hemisphere Spring and Summer. Tropical storms are relatively rare. Fronts from the north are somewhat less common, and the days are pleasantly warm while the winds are generally reliable. Welcome to the Spring Regattas of the Caribbean.

Whether it’s in St. Maarten, BVI or Antigua, you can find the weather that will be just about perfect to vent the competitive side of your sailing. With sunny days and 15 to 20 knot winds the norm, the temperatures are warm and the competition is hot.

14

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

cumulus clouds increase in frequency, and they can pack their own punch with high winds along their leading edge and downbursts from above.

Hurricane season hits its peak in September as sea temperatures reach their maximum across the tropical North Atlantic, and wind speeds aloft often are relatively calm. Hurricanes require 81 degree Fahrenheit sea temps and minimal wind speeds aloft in order for the convective systems to reach their full potential. September is the month that most frequently satisfies those criteria.

During October, there is generally a substantial drop in the incidence of hurricanes and tropical low-pressure systems. But, as with all tropical low-pressure systems, especially storms or hurricanes, the one you’re in is the most important one of the season.

There is a pattern to it all, and that pattern starts with the movement of the sun’s track across the sky. But patterns don’t tell the entire story. I’ve raced boats to the BVI in late November to be greeted by a tropical wave destined to become a tropical depression. Our fear was that it would become a tropical storm or late season hurricane. It didn’t. But winds still hit 35 to 40 knots and there was 24 inches of rain recorded in a 24-hour period in the BVI. It was raining so hard that it was difficult to see the bow of our 45-foot sailboat during the worst of the downpours!

Trends and understanding their basis is important.

You don’t need to be in the Caribbean in December to experience the wonderful and warm “Christmas winds”, but at least as important is understanding the weather that’s around the corner. The “anomalous” weather feature that doesn’t “usually happen” at that time of year is the one you should watch. Stay in touch with the latest weather forecasts. Even sailing in the Caribbean, you can have a lot riding on it. BWS

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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

EU: +49 (40) 75 10 30 > USA: +1 (843) 654 7755

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www.bwsailing.com ALXS_halfpage.indd 1

12/1/2017 11:20:25 AM

{ HEATHERFRANCIS }

Galley Guide: Solar Cooking

A

long, long time ago, on a dock far, far away I had my first taste of solar cooking. It was Baja Mexico in Spring. The sun arched high into the cloudless sky every day and, while attempting to keep the cabin cool, we cooked almost all our meals on the barbeque.

Always curious about innovative cooking techniques I couldn’t help but question our neighbors when, one afternoon, I spotted a solar oven on the bow of their catamaran. After patiently fielding my inquiries about all things solar cooking, they insisted that I take the contraption home and try it out for myself. I jumped at the opportunity and lugged the big, boxtype solar oven down the dock.

The next day I made a batch of bread, baking one loaf in my regular oven and one loaf in the solar oven.

To my surprise, except for a slightly softer crust, it was impossible to tell which had been baked out on deck using nothing but sunshine. I was 16

www.gosunstove.com • www.sunflair.net

excited by the possibilities, but it was disappointingly obvious that my days of solar cooking were numbered; I simply had no place to store a two foot square wooden box when not in use. Hopes of making solar cooking a regular part of my galley routine were put on the back burner.

My curiosity about solar cooking simmered for 9 long years. Recently I found two solar ovens–the GoSun Sport and the Sunflair Solar Oven– that were compact and portable.

Although not specifically designed for marine use the size and design of both suited my space constraints.

However, could solar cooking really replace traditional cooking methods?

Only time, and many cooking experiments, would tell.

FEEL THE FORCE Solar ovens, and solar cooking, have been around for hundreds of years. French scientist, Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, recorded temperatures in a glass-topped, black cork box of 212°F in 1764, and as early as the 1870s the French Foreign Legion included a solar cooker in their expedition kits. However, it hasn’t been until recently that we’ve seriously started to consider integrating solar powered devices into our everyday lives.

The science behind solar cookers is quite simple, in fact if you’ve ever felt that overwhelming blast of hot air while getting into a car on a hot summer’s day you already know how it works. Sunlight (UV light) is directed into a closed compartment

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

{ ONBOARD }

either through a piece of plastic or glass, or via a reflector. The UV energy is converted to thermal energy and is trapped in the closed compartment.

The food placed inside the now hot compartment begins to cook. Solar cookers can reach between 180-550°F, depending on the design. There are several types of solar cooker designs; the box cooker, the parabolic cooker, the reflective cooker and, most recently, the evacuated glass tube.

The Sunflair Solar Oven is a simple box-type cooker but without all the bulk. Made from a closed-cell foam is it lightweight and portable. It has a nylon outer, a foam core and employs a reflective foil-like material inside the oven to better direct the sun’s rays. It folds flat and is easily assembled, with the transparent plastic cover zipping into place to hold its upright, oven shape.

The GoSun Stove is a little more sophisticated, using a double layer glass tube as it’s cooking compartment.

Inspired by a solar hot water heater, this laboratory-grade glass tube has a reflective coating facing inwards that traps the UV rays inside the oven. The space between the layers of glass has been evacuated and acts as a thermal insulator, like a high-quality vacuum flask thermos. The tube is surrounded by two metal parabolic reflectors that help direct the sun’s rays and fold like a clam shell to protect the glass tube when not in use.

DO. OR DO NOT. THERE IS NO TRY I started my solar cooking experiments exactly where I left off, bread.

After 25 years of bread making I know exactly what each step of the process should look, feel and smell like. So, if the bread fails it is the cooking method, not human error.

Bread thrives in a moist hot environment, so it was no surprise that loaves baked in both the SunFlair and the GoSun were a success. Due to the shape of the GoSun Sport I was www.bwsailing.com

confined to making a baguette-style loaf, but the stainless steel cook tray browned the crust nicely and bread was ready in 30-45 minutes.

The SunFlair solar oven allowed me to make a larger loaf but the bake time was between 3-4 hours, which meant no bread for lunch. The results were tasty but despite several attempts I never got a dark crust, not a deal breaker.

Next, I tried roasting vegetables and again had a successful afternoon cooking. Potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, anything that you would think to throw in a traditional oven can be cooked using a solar oven. Larger vegetables like squash were much easier to cook in the SunFlair oven as the GoSun cooking tube is only a few inches wide so everything must be diced to fit inside. Both solar ovens produce a lot of steam so none of the veggies developed crispy edges. However, I don’t roast vegetables on board that often because of the heat my old oven throws into the cabin, so it was nice to include this cooking technique into our meal prep again.

Feeling like I mastered the finesse of monitoring and moving the solar ovens to maximize sun exposure, I was ready to dive into the main course; meat. I made a quick marinade, threw in some chicken thighs and after an hour I transferred half the chicken into the GoSun cooking tray and half into a black pot that I placed in the SunFlair. All that was left was to point the solar ovens at the sun and wait.

It didn’t take long before I started catching wafts of dinner on the breeze,

the first sign that it is time to check your solar oven. It was necessary to drain liquid from both chicken dishes halfway through cooking so that the meat roasted rather than poached, but the result was moist, fork tender meat that was perfectly cooked. To go along with the chicken, I tried to cook rice but wasn’t satisfied with the results.

Rice in the SunFlair took a couple hours and was rather crunchy. Using the GoSun I found the liquid easily spilled from the shallow tray during cooking. I ended up with slightly over cooked rice and a sticky mess on the deck.

All that was left was the dessert course. I experimented with brownies and muffins, confidently giving away most of my wares to friends who agreed, between mouthfuls, that solar ovens can cook just about everything.

With an excess of bread on the counter 17

{ HEATHERFRANCIS }

from my previous bake tests I decided to try a dessert that I made often as a child but had yet to attempt on board; bread pudding. The low, slow heat of the solar oven was a perfect match for this classic dessert, transforming some bits of stale bread, eggs and milk into a warm bowl full of sweet nostalgia.

ALWAYS PASS ON WHAT Chicken and vegetables YOU HAVE LEARNED I must admit that I was skeptical about solar cooking. I honestly didn’t think a solar oven would we had guests onboard I would have be much more than a fun gadget that to cook in batches. The SunFlair Solar might be useful occasionally. As it Oven allows you to cook for a crowd, turns out I use my solar ovens on a but its lower temperatures mean it regular basis and have cooked every- acts more like a slow cooker than a thing from eggs to squid to cookies, all traditional oven. I did find that using with scrumptious success. Enamored the black cookware that comes with with solar cooking in the tropics I it helpful in maintaining a warmer decided to take the solar ovens to cooking surface.

Canada with me this fall just to see Solar cooking does have one how they would perform in the dull, major benefit; sustainability. Harnesslow sun of high latitude autumn. I am ing the power of the sun and using a happy to report that not only did they solar cooker is making a conscience survive the 20 hours of flight time, decision to cut down on fossil fuels, if but other than a few more shadows only for one meal. By regularly using to contend with on land both solar a solar cooker on board we noticed ovens worked perfectly in the cooler a dramatic reduction in our propane October climate. consumption, getting an extra 4 weeks However, no cooking method is out of our 20lb tank. I guess you could perfect. The first stumbling block is say that a solar cooked meal not only obviously that you do need a lot of feeds your hunger it also nourishes sun to efficiently use a solar oven. your soul. BWS Lunch is an easy meal to make in a solar cooker, but if you want to serve *All items were sent to Blue Water your dinner hot from the oven you Sailing for testing, however all opinmight be disappointed. ions are those of the author.

Neither the GoSun or the SunFlair are designed with life on board in Heather Francis is originally from Nova mind. Windage is the biggest problem, Scotia, Canada but has lived and worked especially if you don’t have a large, on the ocean for over a decade. She has sunny cockpit or aft deck. Although cooked professionally on land and on the GoSun Sport consistently reached yachts. These days you’ll find her cookhigher cooking temperatures the ing on the deck of Kate, the Newport 41’ narrow tube of the cooking chamber sloop she and her Aussie partner, Steve, restricts what fits into it and how have been sailing since 2008. For more much you can cook at one time. I stories, photos and recipes log onto www. had no problems feeding two but if yachtkate.com 18

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

{ ONBOARD } Sunny Day Breading Pudding Servings: 4-6 45 mins-2 hrs Bake

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 2 hrs Prep,

Bread Pudding is a beloved dessert that is easy, delicious and economical. Using the bits and ends of stale bread it is a great recipe for a solar oven as the low, slow heat allows the egg and milk mixture to cook gently into a sort of custard.

It is difficult to give exact cooking times in solar oven recipes as it all depends on how much sun you have and how hot your oven gets. I recommend baking for 30 minutes and then checking every 20 minutes for doneness. This also makes a great breakfast…if you have any leftovers.

INGREDIENTS 4 Cups Stale Bread, diced into 1” cubes 2 Cups Warm Milk or Soy Milk 1 Cup Hot Water 3 Eggs 1/3 Cup Raw Sugar or Maple Syrup 1 tsp Vanilla 1 tsp Cinnamon, Ginger and Allspice ½ Cup Raisins, Candied Ginger or Dried Fruit METHOD Dice bread and put in a large bowl. Pour milk and hot water over bread and mix well. Let sit for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally, so that the bread can absorb the liquid. Separate eggs. To the yolks add the sugar, vanilla and spices and beat until frothy. Add egg yolk mixture and dried fruit to bread and mix well.

Beat egg whites until fluffy. Add egg whites to bread mixture and fold in gently to combine. Pour mixture into a dark, heat proof dish and place in oven. Bake until firm and cooked through, 1-2 hours depending on the sun.

Serve hot with a drizzle of maple syrup, cream, a splash of rum or all three!

www.bwsailing.com

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{ WORLDCRUISING }

MAHINA TIARE Sails into the Med

From Lisbon on the Atlantic coast, they cruise to Gibraltar, the south of Spain and the Balearic Islands

A

manda and I had an excellent time in Cascais, Portugal, between Legs 4 & 5 with perfect weather for varnishing the toe rail and dodger trim for the first in a year and instead of renting a car or taking the train for explorations, we hiked and ran around Cascais.

Leg 2 expedition member Helge lives near the marina and we enjoyed his company along with meeting his wife 20

by John Neal

broad reach 30 miles to anchor off the cliffs near Sesimbra for a swim and dinner before setting sail again.

Our 120-mile overnight sail to Portimao, Portugal, was a powerful downwind sail and it was a quick learning curve for the crew as they got to reef and unreef the mainsail, rig the whisker pole and set the preventer on numerous jibes. Once daylight arrived, the wind increased to 27 knots and John K. hit our season high boat speed of 10.1 knots surfing down a

Susanne and three kids. Together we had lovely home visits, a fun outing to the market and a sail on Mahina Tiare down the coast to the entrance of the Tagus River that leads to Lisbon.

DOWN THE PORTUGESE TRADES Our Leg 5 crew came aboard Thursday and within an hour we were off on a fast BLUE WATER SAILING • October 2017

The remote Cabo de Sao Vincent lighthouse; Amanda teaching the Rigging Spares class; looking north from the Rock, MT is moored further around the Rock to the right.

Opposite page; monkey on the Rock of Gibraltar; Helge, Susanne and the three wee trolls after sailing on MT

roller. We were so intent on passing Scottish friends on their Island Packet 420 that we didn’t think to lower the pole before rounding Cabo de São Vincent where our point of sail changed from a deep broad reach to a close reach. Caught off guard, Amanda and I had to wrestle down the pole and throw in a few reefs while MT charged off into the Atlantic.

Portimao Marina and the surrounding condo, hotel and beachfront development is all relatively new, and we found the marina excellent and the staff very professional. They have a registration and fuel pontoon directly in front of the marina office where we easily topped up our fuel and slowly checked in.

Slowly because the customs/immigration officer was concerned that we didn’t have inbound clearance into the Schengen area with our arrival in La Coruña, Spain from the UK. I explained that the marina had checked us in, made copies of all passports and ship’s registry, saying they would forward these to the border control.

According to this officer, we should have properly cleared in with a retaining clearance paper. Eventually he had me sign a statement stating the date and time we had arrived in Spain and I was relieved when he finally gave us outbound clearance to Gibraltar, our next landfall.

The temperature in Portimao was considerably warmer than in Cascais, and it felt like walking into an oven as we left the marina, looking for the adjacent beach. The beach was highly commercialized with areas roped off where beach goers pay €15 for access and more for beach clubs with pools to hear DJ’s play loud music.

Crewmembers Mindy and Nils went wading, while Amanda and I climbed www.bwsailing.com

by Heather Francis

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{ WORLDCRUISING }

A ship appears out of the fog as we pass by Gib’s Rock

a nearby fort to a lookout with a view of thousands of party beachgoers for miles down the beach. As it is not quite our scene, we soon all headed back to MT for dinner.

By 0800 the next morning we were underway, hoping to cover the 175 miles to the Strait of Gibraltar before a forecasted wind shift occurred from a favorable westerly to a fresh easterly Levante. We’ve found www.windy.com the most helpful site for wind forecasts and have been able to utilize Wi-Fi as far as 12 miles offshore for updates.

Otherwise, we’re receiving GRIB forecasts from www.saildocs.com over our Iridium satphone and frequent, very accurate Navtex updates.

We had some brilliant downwind sailing in modest winds but it soon became light and variable, making it prudent to motor to ensure we got past the narrowest part of the Strait before conditions deteriorated.

Staffan, Nils, Mindy and John K devouring tapas

GIBRALTAR There were several highlights as we entered the Strait. We were visited by a pod of dolphins, Eva spotted her first flying fish, a spectacular moonset and sunrise at the same time, seeing the lights of Morocco, Africa, for the first time and passing a huge mid-channel parking lot of anchored super oil tankers lit up like an amusement park. We were able to stay well out of the busy TSS traffic lanes most of the way but soon were were just 10 miles west of Tarifa, Spain, which is the southernmost tip of Europe and one of the narrowest and busiest points in the Strait. Fortunately, daylight was just 30 minutes away.

Light conditions held and by 1045 we were tied up at Ocean Village Marina, Gibraltar, next to a swanky permanently-moored cruise ship hotel/casino and had in-bound customs clearance completed in a couple minThe restored Roman Theatre

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utes by the marina staff. After tidying up the boat, we all headed to the cable car queue to get to the top of the Rock.

The queue seemed long, but the ride up the mountain was spectacular, reminding us of Madeira. Even before the car reached the terminal, a monkey jumped on the front window, scaring the kids who had their noses pressed to the glass. Monkeys (technically macaques) hang about all over the mountaintop lookout, some sitting unconcerned in the middle of footpaths nursing their tiny babies while others just wander and laze about although a few are rather cheeky and leap onto the half open windows of the tourists taxis.

We all hiked down the mountain, stopping to visit St Micheal’s Cave, an amazing huge grotto with many stalagmites and stalactites, that has been lit in technicolor and also functions as a concert venue. On the way down we visited a Moorish castle and various gun emplacements. The signage and maps were challenging and we all ended up seemingly hiking up and down the mountain several times in the blazing sun but with amazing spectacular views across to Morocco, Africa, and northeast up along Spain’s coast so it was hard to complain.

We were all exhausted by the time we returned down the mountain to town and MT and we’d hoped to go exploring following dinner, but after a sing-along all but Amanda (who checked out the swim deck and casino of the adjacent cruise ship) crept off to bed.

Monday morning Amanda and I were too exhausted to go for our

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Staffan takes a noon site

normal hour run so instead hiked the waterfront for a fairly serious shop at Morrison’s, a UK-chain supermarket that has a huge nearly-new store with excellent selection and prices.

UP THE SPANISH COAST We had hardly a breath of wind as we set sail at 1000 for Benalmádena, Spain, 50 miles up the coast but used the opportunity to complete our marine weather and rig check and spares classes while we motored in and out of numerous fog banks before arriving at our destination, a very denselydeveloped beachfront city with a onethousand-berth marina.

We tied to the registration/fuel dock, just inside the breakwater and in a couple minutes the marina had copied our Gibraltar outbound clearance, ship’s registration and insurance papers, our passports and given us a berth assignment. One of the marina staff hopped in a marina car and met us at the slip, taking our bow lines.

Pointing out the tag line which was connected to the stern line he instructed us to haul up, pull in on, and secure to our aft mooring cleat. The whole operation was done in a couple minutes and from reading the cruising guide, this is the standard mooring arrangement for much of the Med. After dinner, we tried walking to town, but never made it out of the absolutely packed marina/hotel/ shopping development. Along the walkway industrious young African men and Asian women were selling purses, logo wear and flashing toys as thousands of locals and tourists wandered about, shopping, strolling, www.bwsailing.com

A tranquil downwind sail to Ibiza

visiting and checking out the abundant restaurants.

Early the next morning, Amanda and I ran the part of the super long beachfront promenade but we never saw the end and it all began to blur to a sameness. Hundreds of people were out walking, running and cycling with hotels on the inland side of the wide pedestrian boulevard and beaches scattered with beach restaurants here and there on the seaward side.

The apartments, condos and hotels stretched up the side of the hills as far as we could see. Amanda investigated the options for renting a beach chair with shared umbrella and prices ranged from five to six euro depending on how close to the water you were although most front rows were booked out weeks in advance.

We’d all been frequently a monitoring www.windy.com and had noticed a break in the normal northeast winds,

with a forecast of following westerly winds for 60 hours. Aha! We all got the same idea. Instead of daysailing along this very developed and not too interesting coast, why not take advantage of the fresh following winds and travel as far as possible before the wind changed to headwinds? Our goal is to now get to the Balearic Islands as quickly as possible, providing more time to explore the islands which we’ve all heard are much more attractive than this coast. So we set off and sailed north along the coast.

Small problem… the next time we checked the forecast, it showed that at midnight that night instead of the next day, the winds would change to 24-to-35 knot headwinds. It seemed that the weather was quite changeable. Since setting sail that morning, we’d been enjoying surfing up to 9.5 knots in following winds gusting to 30. We’ve had some excellent down

We had a less desirable anchoring spot here before securing this one, in the late evening, when the smaller boats had departed back to their marinas.

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{ WORLDCRUISING } A happy arrival in Puerto De Andratx

windward before arriving at Moraira, a small town and marina located just 12 miles from Cabo de la Nao. We poked MT’s nose into the small marina and two marineros (dock attendants) motioned us toward a slip, but Amanda shouted we were just having a look and would be anchoring outside the marina. We found sandy bottom and dramatic cliffs, enjoyed a swim and colorful sunset.

wind reefing practice, set the whisker pole and before lunch Amanda taught provisioning and cooking at sea and now this afternoon she’s teaching sail design and construction as we continue to surf along. Although it’s toasty outside in the sun, under the dodger with the windscreen open or below with all hatches and ports open, it was lovely!

We were hoping to at least make it the 180 miles to Cartagena, which we had read was a charming, historic city just three-minutes’ walk from a first-class marina. We sailed and motorsailed 90 miles and stopped for a rolly six hours of sleep while anchored off Almerimar before continuing on another 90 miles to arrive at Cartagena at 2000, well before dark. Amanda, always planning ahead, The view of the waterfront from our mooring in Puerto De Andratx

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served a delicious fish dinner at sea.

After our arrival, we all took off in the full moonlight to explore this old, historic and beautiful city. Just six blocks from the marina, we were in the old city center; the streets were packed with local families and couples out walking, dining, chatting and just enjoying life. The historic buildings including the town hall were all lit up with colored lights and although we were exhausted, we didn’t want to stop exploring. We all caught up at a cool waterfront street-side bistro to enjoy beer and ice cream.

Thirty six hours later, at 0200, we departed the anchorage at Cala Cortina, next to Cartegena to play dodgem through a chaotic fleet of active fishing boats for an hour. We then covered a boisterous 96 miles to

ON TO THE BALEARIC ISLANDS Saturday, we slept in until 0600 before setting sail for Formentera, the southern-most of Spain’s Balearic Islands. We had an excellent beam reach for the first half of the 60-mile passage, but had to motorsail the second half in diminishing winds.

Dozens of pleasure boats between 40 and 100-feet passed us, headed back to Spain, their vacations ended, but we were unprepared for the 100+ boats anchored off Cala Saona, Formentera that included many very radical 50120-foot motor yachts and a massive Wally 120-foot sloop. We ended up far from the madding crowd in a quiet anchorage with a view of Ibiza that looked like Bora Bora, clear water and an interesting cave to snorkel to.

I taught Storm Survival before dinner and after sunset, masthead lights looked like a constantly-moving field of lights as the anchored yachts rolled back and forth in the swell.

Yesterday we swam and several of our gang did yoga on the back deck before we sailed and motorsailed 38 miles to Ibiza. Our first stop was San Antonio, the second largest city where we anchored for an hour, going ashore to buy groceries and explore before continuing, checking out each bay on Ibiza’s west coast. We passed several stunning anchorages, all framed by rugged cliffs and one, Cala Portixol, was so tiny that we would have had to anchor bow and stern so we wouldn’t bounce off the cliff walls.

Our crew chose Puerto de San Miguel which proved spectacular, if a little crowded. Early this morning four out of five of our crew joined us

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

for a sunrise hike/run up the steep dirt They took delivery of their lovely new roads and trails. boat in The Netherlands, where they We had a relaxed departure at lived, sailing several years through the noon after Going Aloft class and spent Pacific to Philippines, from where they considerable time demonstrating and shipped Tenaya to Turkey, sailed to St. learning Lifesling Rescue techniques. Petersburg in the Black Sea Rally and Everyone got it and after class we were eventually to Palma where they left on our way up the windward coast in Tenaya in Dirk Jan Colgee’s capable moderate winds, enjoying the sea and hands. Both Eva and Staffan and seeing the island from offshore.

Mindy and Nils were very interested We’ve all been studying our Imray in checking out this turn-key 2006 Balearic Islands cruising guide and bluewater cruiser now listed for only several of us came up with the idea of €199k. Here you’ll find Jim and Katie’s anchoring in the lee of Illa de Tago- incredible story of sailing to 50 counmago, a tiny island, one mile offshore tries over eight years aboard Tenaya: on the east side of Ibiza, with a trail to www.tenayatravels.com/ the lighthouse.

The last evening was very special, We arrived at Mallorca the next and a kind of a roast. Staffan, a former afternoon, the Club de Velas (yacht cruise ship captain, gave a speech club), Puerto de Andratx had the after dessert, giving me a hard time mooring we’d reserved and we en- for temporarily misplacing the key joyed exploring town before meeting to the dinghy (it had slipped behind ashore for dinner. William, the mari- our spare sails when I chucked it in nero, recommended a restaurant that the head window) awarding me a his mother cooks at, directly ashore funny little fluffy yellow key chain of our mooring. We were seated on doll. Amanda was given a Gibraltar the edge of the water overlooking the monkey, she’s named Rocky, that bay and mountainside and the food screeches, but his main job will be to was excellent. We had magical mo- now keep Sallyhamna, our polar bear ments after dinner as we stood around from Svalbard, company. listening to two street musicians, one Our crew, keen to master the latiplaying the saxophone, the other the tude by noonsite class, sweated away guitar plus singing. Behind them were the lights of homes going up the steep hills behind the yacht club.

We had a fascinating morning including five of us running and exploring the waterfront and hills behind Puerto de Andratx followed by Clearing Customs Worldwide class and a viewing of Jim and Katie’s Hallberg-Rassy 40 that White’s International Yacht Brokerage has for sale. Jim and Katie were not sailors (Jim was a surfer and they were keen skiers and kayakers before join- Eva and Staffan discovering ing us on Leg 1-2007. Valldemossa’s secrects www.bwsailing.com

on calculations, even with all of our cabin fans on, until 22:30 that night.

It is rare that we see this level of dedication to learning, and it is exciting!

That dedication to learning of our Leg 5 crew never diminished, even on the final morning! We still had a couple of requests to meet, so first off, they hoisted both the storm staysail and storm trysail, then we reviewed their 13-page test books and covered, for the first time, overall cost of ownership and maintenance in detail.

Two weeks had flown by. Both couples went away with serious lists of attributes they would be looking for in their yet-to-be-purchased cruising boats and John K. went away considering purchasing a boat to put into charter or timeshare either in the Virgin Islands or San Diego.

All in all, our adventures south of Lisbon and into the Med have been fabulous, learning more every day!

We now truly appreciate the deserted beaches and tranquil anchorages of the South Pacific and Skype Amanda’s parent’s, Lesley and Robert Swan aboard their latest yacht Julie to catch up on their current cruising season in Fiji, where we’ll all cruise together next year. BWS

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{ WORLDCRUISING } Resources used on Leg 5, Lisbon, Portugal to Palma de Mallorca WWW.WINDY.COM http://xcweather.co.uk/ – 3 hourly coastal graph forecasts for the UK, Ireland and much of Europe.

Cruising Guides: Imray Atlantic Spain and Portugal, Costas del Sol and Blanca, Islas Baleares (brilliant cruising guides, frequently updated) Imray charts: C-49, 50, 19, 11, 13, M-3 Electronic Charts: C-Map running on Rose Point Coastal Explorer Navionics Silver running on both our lovely new Raymarine MFDs (multi-function displays), one at the chart table, and for the first time, one in the cockpit under the hard dodger General Sailing Conditions: coasts of Spain and Portugal and Balearics - On Portugal's and Spain’s Atlantic Coast N or NW winds prevail during summer months, dropping off after dark and frequently gusting to 25-35 during the afternoons. Finding a marina berth is easy, and average cost for Mahina Tiare (14 meters length) is €45. Sailing N, from Gibraltar is a much more difficult story, and frequently, knowledgeable skippers make time motorsailing north at night or whenever the winds are lighter.

Having said this, we had some excellent downwind and reaching conditions. There are numerous marinas and a few semi-protected anchorages between Gibraltar and the Balearics and the closer one gets

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to the Balearics, the higher the cost and the more difficult to find marina berths or available moorings.

Our highest price to date has been €54 for a mooring at Puerto de Andratx and €94.37 for a stern-to berth at Palma’s La Lonja Marina Charter. In all but one instance, Portimao, Portugal, customs clearance has been handled by the marina offices who photocopy all passports and documents, forwarding them to the appropriate offices. Without exception, the marina staff have been very professional and helpful.

Fuel is readily available at every marina at surprisingly reasonable rates. Water costs are GBPounds 1.75 PER LITER!!! At Ocean Village, Gibraltar and a flat fee of €8 at Cartagena and Andratx, otherwise, water has been included in moorage. Shore power has been included at all but two locations. We’ve not had any enquiries about how long MT has been in the VAT area of the EU, and Portimao is the only place where my length of stay in the Schengen area has been brought up. I’ve learned to document every time we leave and enter the Schengen area with passport or marina stamps, clearance papers and marina moorage bills.

General Anchoring Conditions: We soon learnt that most of the boats leave the rolly anchorages for their marina in the early evenings so it works well to be patient. Often, we’d drop anchor further down the coast for the bay or beach in a rolly spot and then reposition for the night at a more desirable spot once most of the other yachts departed.

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Meet the Leg 5 Crew Nils, 50: I’m an American/Norwegian petroleum engineer who has lived in a variety of locations worldwide.

Started sailing when I had a small sailboat while on assignment in Papua New Guinea. That led to some ocean passages and we joined this expedition to get a better understanding of ocean voyaging. We like it! Now we will need to start more detailed planning as we have a great foundation to expand upon.

Mindy, 62: Never in my life did I think I would be sailing at this age! Sailing entered our lives while we were living in PNG as Nils said “You have to do something while there”. Of course, a bit reluctant, but he persisted, and here we are! (Mindy also was involved in setting up some schools in PNG and was an ER nurse before that. Currently they live in Abu Dhabi.)

Staffan, 51: I’m a merchant marine captain having mainly worked on cruise ships before I became a marine pilot in Sweden. I’ve been working at CSMART which is Carnival Cruise Corporation’s simulator training center where I’m in charge of all training.

Being part of a Mahina expedition will help me understand which sailboat to purchase and refresh my sailing skills.

Eva, 49: I’m a Swede living in the Netherlands with my husband Staffan and our two teenage children.

We’ve previously lived and worked in Germany and India. I am an engineer, seamstress, clothing designer and I have a line of skin care products which I make. We’ve owned two sailboats, a 40’ steel Langedrag and a Rasmus 35.

John K, 62: I’m a retired airline captain from Scottsdale, Arizona who’s been on numerous sailing adventures including recently sailing to Newport to Bermuda and back to see the Kiwis win the America’s Cup. On this expedition I’ve learned, done and eaten many new things. The challenges and accomplishments have been very rewarding!

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{ CRUISINGLIFE }

Leaving Key West for Havana

Part 2...After a boisterous

by James McFarlane, Jr. delivery from Union. He is an avid outdoorsman with Pensacola to a stoic personality. Past adventures included running the New York Key West, the Marathon, helicopter skiing and in his youth, competitive swimming at author and two the Junior Olympic level.

Alex, also from Moscow, has an artistic background and holds an pals set off in his upper management position in a graphic arts firm. His brother-in-law, Catalina 31 with Mikhail Lavrovsky, a former principal an organized dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet, is a world renowned choreographer in the rally to Cuba performing arts. Alex is soft spoken

Rough Night to Havana

A

blast from the air horn at 3 pm announced the start of the rally to Cuba, 97 miles across the Straits of Florida. The event was organized by a Key West yacht charter company and sponsored by Fountaine Pajot among others. Yachts ranging in size from our small 31foot Catalina, Sea Horse, to 60-foot catamarans jockeyed for position in the narrow channel leading to the Atlantic Ocean. After weeks of preparation, Havana was now within reach!

I felt confident in the crew, both Vadim and Alex had been somewhat battle tested in the previous stages of our journey. (See part one in the November-December issue) Vadim, although born in Moscow, spent 11 years in Siberia as a construction engineer for a railroad and tunnel building company in the former Soviet 28

but becomes animated with a wide grin at the prospect of adventure. He has ridden his motorcycle throughout the U.S. and Mexico and he jumped at the chance to experience blue water sailing.

DARK ‘N STORMY NIGHT The ride for the next twenty five miles was bumpy but the three of us made good headway sailing at six

to seven knots as the fleet began to spread out. Eventually, a beautiful sunset marked the end of daylight and the beginning of a challenging night.

Approaching the Gulf Stream with its easterly flowing current, conditions worsened considerably. A strong wind from the east collided with the eastflowing current producing substantial swells. Later that night, most boats

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Sea Horse ready to depart

reported 8-to-10-foot wave heights with an occasional 12 footer and one reported a 15 footer. The wind indicator began rising from 16 to 20 knots as midnight approached.

Around 3 am, the wind reached 25 knots; the confused seas were pounding us from different directions under the influence of wave and current. It was difficult to be heard.

I approached Alex to take my turn at the helm.

“Let me continue on,” he shouted.

“I’m afraid we will lose control of the wheel in the transition!”

I went below and was promptly thrown from port to starboard by the force of a rogue wave. Sea Horse surfed as the bow lifted out of the water before slamming downward. I checked the previously broken ribs and everything seemed to be intact but I retreated topside to escape the cabin.

Alex reluctantly gave up the helm and I settled in for my two hour watch. It wasn’t long before another rogue wave crashed over the cockpit drenching me with a salt water shower.

The genoa and main were reefed hours earlier but I decided to reduce sail to a bare minimum, just enough to provide enough steerage to keep Sea Horse on course and prevent the mast from rocking side to side.

While pulling in on the reefing line, it became entangled with the working genoa sheet, transforming both into a giant egg beater that shredded the sun strip on the genoa and ripped into the isinglass window of the dodger.

Finally, after several minutes, we managed to wrestle the lines from the www.bwsailing.com

force of the wind and cleat them off.

Our anxiety level was high but we were not alone; running lights in the distance from six other boats followed us in lockstep as we struggled through the night.

Mercifully, dawn arrived with diminished winds and seas. In the distance, I could see the dim outline of Havana but many hours remained before we would arrive at Hemingway Marina, our port of entry. Later, at the Customs dock, a cadre of officials, a doctor, nurse, and two drug-sniffing dogs descended upon Sea Horse. After satisfying their entry requirements and fending off requests for “regalos”, we pulled down the yellow quarantine flag and hoisted the Cuban courtesy flag. This resulted in heated shouts of indignation, “La bandera Cubana está colgada al revés!” We had provoked an international incident by raising the Cuban flag upside down! Vadim and Alex quickly corrected our mistake and a pilot boat led the way to our assigned slip. After a 2- hour crossing

and some embarrassment, our visit to Cuba had begun.

EXPLORING CUBA The next stop was a welcoming party hosted by Commodore José Escrich of the Hemingway Yacht Club. This gave us the opportunity to mingle with crews from other yachts in the rally.

It seemed our experience on the sail down was not unique. One attractive lady wearing blue shorts was covered in bruises to her thigh and legs. She told me she was tossed about the cabin just as I had been earlier.

There were reports that one or two boats turned back to attempt the crossing the next day. There was at least one other report of a sail being shredded and multiple accounts of seasickness. I struck up a conversation with the captain of one yacht who held a Coast Guard Operator’s License. I asked him if any of his crew threw up.

He replied, “Yeah, me.” The evening concluded with some remarks by Commodore Escrich, announcing that Club Nautico International Hemingway de Cuba now had over 3,000 members including 1,000 Americans. “¿Quieres chicas?” We were approached several times as we became familiar with the layout of the Marina.

The author and his daughter experiencing Cuba 29

{ CRUISINGLIFE }

Hemingway Marina, Cuba

It came as no surprise that in Cuba, sex is readily available for a price.

We politely declined the invitations.

Hemingway Marina is situated nine miles to the west of Havana. It covers a sizable area and includes a small hotel, swimming pool, boat slips, fuel depot, small grocery store, night club, several restaurants and the yacht club.

The facilities appear to be well maintained and service is good, however, as in most of Cuba it is impossible to find toilet paper or toilet seats for that matter. In addition, there is no sewage pump out for boat holding tanks. Obviously, advance sanitation planning is a good idea for foreign visitors. There are some positive aspects of the marina; the salon leading to the toilet and shower room contains a full bar, TV and internet connections. Hemingway Marina is very secure as Cuba is serious about protecting its tourism industry.

The second day our crew set out for Old Havana and new experiences.

Old Havana, founded in 1519, is the original city center and was built in

the baroque and neoclassical style. A pleasant morning transpired touring several spacious plazas and drinking Crystal beer available for about one CUC. Cuba has two currencies, the peso for everyday use by the Cuban people and the Cuban Convertible Peso or CUC available for foreign currency exchange. The ratio of CUC to the U.S. dollar is one to one however there is usually an additional 10 to 13 percent surcharge.

That afternoon the discovery of La Moneda, a paladar located on the roof of a building open to the ocean and a fresh breeze, brought more good times. We enjoyed seafood, more Crystal beer and excellent Cuban music by Trio Los Astros, two talented male guitarists accompanied by an attractive female singer with an infectious smile. It is common to find music throughout Old Havana but not necessarily of this quality.

I was surprised to find no photos of Fidel or Raúl Castro, however, photos of Che Guevara were plentiful.

Ancient Fords, Chevrolets and Buicks from the Fifties lined the streets and Russian Ladas of more recent vintage were also present. There were no McDonalds or KFC type fast food joints, which was fine with me. After a full day, it was back to the yacht club for a night cap then on to our boat for some rest.

The next day the rally

held The Parade Of Boats, in which we sailed into Havana Harbor and was to be the centerpiece of the “people to people” requirement of our travel permits. Special government permission had been granted to enter this area which is normally closed to recreational boating, plus the event would be covered by the Cuban national press.

The morning brought some confusion as 60 yachts tried to assemble in formation outside the marina. But once underway our fleet sailed nine miles eastward and entered the harbor.

As we sailed the last few miles, we cruised alongside the Malecón, a broad esplanade, roadway and sea wall on the northern shore of the city. From a distance, we could hear a lone man with a trumpet playing the Star Spangled Banner; it was a powerful moment. On the way out, our parade passed the Castillo del Morro, a fort built in the fifteen hundreds by the Spanish. We returned to our slip late afternoon.

As the week progressed, we made a return trip to Old Havana and Plaza Vieja. Lunch was served in a small courtyard off the plaza while we chatted with some German tourists at a nearby table. Our waitress was extremely flirtatious when she heard we came on a yacht. “Take me with you” she implored.

We moved on to the plaza where the afternoon passed smoking cigars and listening to a short man with a big guitar entertain us with La Bamba and other Latin tunes. After each song he would remove the straw fedora from his head to accept tips. Impoverished street vendors approached from time to time offering a tiny bag of peanuts for a peso or two.

By mid-week, I started hearing rumors of a bad weather forecast to arrive close to our departure date. I questioned the organizer of the rally to see if he had any news. He informed me a “tiny” cold front was expected.

Given the unpredicted weather on the way down, I was concerned. I conversed with other captains and it was clear that a major weather system

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

was imminent. As we had planned a side trip to Las Terrezas for the next day, Wednesday, I resolved to leave Wednesday night as I had no wish for an encore of the passage down.

In the morning, we boarded a tour bus for Las Terrazas located 60 miles to the west. A designated Unesco Biosphere Reserve, this area is the site of the earliest coffee plantations in Cuba and in 1968 a reforestation project gave birth to a lush tropical forest populated intermittently with Royal Palms. Las Terrazas also features a botanical garden with over 700 species of orchids.

Our guide, Claudia, was an engaging lady of about 40 who dreamed of opening a small paladar if conditions in Cuba continued to improve. Like many Cubans, she had relatives in the States and was well aware of the economic disparity she lived under.

The tour was certainly worthwhile but I was anxious to return and depart for Key West. At 5 pm we were back.

I learned several boats left earlier that afternoon and, like us, more planned to exit that night and a large group was planning to leave at 6 am the next morning. Of the 60 yachts

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in the rally, almost all (including sponsors) cut short the visit. By 7:30 pm, we cleared customs and were on our way.

GOODBYE CUBA The Straits of Florida are a well-defined component of the Gulf Stream, 6,000 feet at its deepest point and reaching within a half mile of Havana. The course from Key West to Havana runs south and west against the flow of the stream and conversely the return passage is given a boost towards Key West so the trip back is usually faster than the trip down.

We left with fair winds and a clear sky. The lights of Havana were visible for miles as we looked back at the island. Our motor sailing speed at seven to eight knots, boosted by the stream, made for good progress. My shipmates and I continued through the evening with few difficulties.

At the midway point, far beyond any light pollution, I watched the night sky glide by with a majestic constellation of stars.

Dawn arrived and after a few

more hours of smooth sailing we docked at Stock Island Marina at 10:30 am, 15 hours after we set out from Havana. We beat the cold front by a day as it roared into Key West accompanied by high winds and small craft warnings. This front kept its grip on us for another week, day after day the forecast was for more of the same.

At any rate, we were back in the States with one final task to complete; we checked in at the U.S. Customs office at the Key West Airport and delivered our garbage for incineration.

Later, Alex, an experienced videographer, produced a short YouTube clip about the trip with the ending caption, “So, Captain Jimmy, where are we going next?�

I had no idea. I was going back to Atlanta to do absolutely nothing but play a little golf. BWS

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{ BLUEWATERADVENTURE }

Bahama Bound… or Bust

A hurried finish to a refit, a new Captain and mate, an owner who wanted his catamaran out of New England in late November and in the Bahamas for the holidays: what could possibly go wrong? by Bill Biewenga

M

ethodical and timely refits are the preferred way of getting things done on boats before they’re relaunched. Given enough time, manpower and advanced notice on tasks that should be completed, boat owners, yards, captains and crews would all prefer that the job list moves forward smoothly and in a timely manner. That’s not always the case, and it’s not always possible. More often than anyone would like, parts are delayed, jobs take longer than anticipated, weather disrupts work flow, rush jobs take priority or other situations arise that delay completion of some refits.

It’s reality, and eventually someone has to deal with it. Boats need to be where 32

they need to be, and winter closes in with its inevitable wicked weather.

Vandal, a Gunboat 55 catamaran is several years old. She has had problems in the past, including a failed mast step a couple of years ago.

One by one, however, those problems are being rooted out by Conrad, a strong, knowledgeable, positive and determined owner. The last time I delivered the boat it was to bring her from North Carolina to Newport with her failed mast step. The Captain at that time, Chris, had other obligations that required his attention, so I agreed to meet him and Vandal in North Carolina to complete the trip to Newport, RI. Chris also was a very capable advocate for Vandal and had been instrumental in helping to iron out a number of initial problems.

The original Gunboat company had gone through a chaotic period ending in bankruptcy several years ago. Prior to the bankruptcy a number of Gunboat 55's were started, a few of which were actually completed prior to the bankruptcy proceedings.

It had been an inauspicious start to the product line when Rainmaker was dismasted in a 70 knot February wind gust near the Gulf Steam and abandoned on her maiden voyage out of the North Carolina yard. Vandal was hull number two, but Conrad was intimately involved in the final year of her construction, helping to avoid some of the inevitable initial problems as well as gaining a huge insight into the workings of his new cat.

Gunboats have always been thoroughbreds of speed and elegance, and as such they need a little extra attention. Initially built in South Africa late in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, many of the Gunboat 62's and 48's that I helped to deliver to the Caribbean and North America had one problem or another.

Each had their own idiosyncrasies, and immediately after I completed the delivery, I would write a compreBLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

hensive list of problems or subjective thoughts on how improvements could be made to the boats. Those lists were then sent back to the builders in South Africa. Much to their credit, the problems were never repeated twice. The builders and designers considered those reviews at their “final grade” and took great pride in improving the next boat to come out of the yard.

Fast forward a number of years, and jump to the more recent Gunboat yard in Wanchese, North Carolina where the Gunboat 55 took shape.

Shortly after the abandonment of Rainmaker and the launch of Vandal, Gunboat underwent bankruptcy. Several of the 55's have been completed in nearby yards with a number of modifications, one of which included increasing the length to 57-feet and moving the engine amidships, similar to the earlier 62’s and 48’s. ViVi has been stretched to 57-feet while Thirst maintained the original length and added other modifications. The remaining hulls of the 55’s are quickly being snapped up and customized to owners’ specifications. Meanwhile, buying the Gunboat name and assets out of bankruptcy, the new Frenchowned Gunboat is coming out with new designs to be built in France.

That history has led to the situation and realization that virtually all of the Gunboat 55’s are unique custom boats. They each have their own unique identities and idiosyncrasies.

Mark, the new Captain and Dara, the new mate onboard Vandal had steep learning curves set in front of them when they arrived from the Caribbean on Friday evening, and they quickly dug into the work of learning the boat. The boats are complex and sailing them is not intuitive to people even with multihull backgrounds.

Mechanical, electrical, navigational and communications systems all needed to be learned. Rigging, reefing and halyard locking systems needed to be learned. And, of course the sail inventory needed to be learned – not only how to make the boat move, but www.bwsailing.com

also how best to slow it down when conditions exceed expectations.

GETTING UNDERWAY With limited time and at a time of year renowned for quickly deteriorating conditions, provisioning needed to be completed and food stores for weeks in the Bahamas needed to be purchased, organized and stowed. Meanwhile, the boat’s second refit was hastily being completed. I arrived the morning after Mark and Dara. With a favorable weather window for departure beginning in several days, there was obviously plenty to keep us and the boat builders busy for the next few days. Plenty!

Rigidly adhering to schedules is a known cause of sometimes fatal accidents. Go when you’re ready. Get there when it’s safe. Class reunions, office Christmas parties and anniversaries are not good reasons to risk life, limb and property. However, having said that, problem avoidance during deliveries is often the result of picking the right weather pattern on which to depart.

Moderate weather in New England for an extended time in late November is a rare commodity, but as luck would have it, the forecast seemed to favor our departure. But the boat would have to be ready and safe, even if it wasn’t quite perfect in every detail for every backup system. Some of those things could be corrected in Florida later in the winter when a new rig was intended to replace the current mast.

During the day, we broke down into working groups. The contractors had priority to finish their tasks.

Dara and Laurie, my partner, went about provisioning and getting the boat cleaned up. Mark and I chased after parts, hardware and spares, and when Conrad arrived, he and Mark went through the boat, checked on contractors and helped with the necessary decision-making regarding the yard’s tasks. Meanwhile, I kept an eye on the upcoming weather, transferred files with emergency procedures and 33

contacts and helped to maintain an urgency to leave on a slowly diminishing favorable weather window.

Within a few short days, we were ready to leave, heading towards the

Chesapeake Bay to keep all options open but hoping to cross the Gulf Stream east of Cape Hatteras on a southwest wind.

The departure on light northerlies was uneventful, but running low on

fuel, the needed stop in Little Creek, outside Norfolk, VA would eat into our time table and the remaining time of favorable weather to cross the Gulf Stream.

Getting across the Stream in southerlies or westerlies would be critical with a new Captain, crew and untried equipment. Once the wind built and went to the north, waves would rapidly become steep

and breaking. How the new short fixed keels would respond in the waves was still an unknown, and with daggerboards now a thing of the past on Vandal, we wouldn’t have the option of lifting up the leeward board to allow the boat to slide down the wave in heavy weather. We would have to cross the Gulf Stream by heading east, but with the potential of a strong northerly, breaking beam seas might force us onto a premature southerly heading, bucking

into the strong Gulf Stream current.

The strongest current in the Stream, of course, is along the western wall, and the strength diminishes as you head further east across the Stream.

We managed to cross most of the Stream prior to the wind going to the NW, and as the wind shifted to the right, we were able to head in a more southerly direction towards the Bahamas facing a minimal one knot of current on our starboard bow, rather than directly on our nose. Timing was everything, and we barely made it across the Stream just in time as winds picked up. Happily enough, we were well prepared with a third reef in place. As we bore off to a more southerly heading and cleared the remaining current, the ride smoothed out, and we were across that hurdle.

On deliveries, I firmly believe in a conservative sail plan. Light, fast catamarans are easily driven with a minimum of sail area. When only one person is standing watch at a time, a conservative sail plan allows other people enough time to get up and help if conditions require reducing sail area. Avoiding problems is far better than reacting to them or repairing the results of a problem gone wrong. Having plenty of people available and on site to adjust the sails helps to avoid problems. When conditions were light to moderate, we sailed with one reef in the main and the J-1, an 80% reaching jib.

Even as we moved south, we had to maintain a constant watch. Light, fast catamarans can get up and sprint if the wind shifts from a beam reach to a close reach or the wind speed gusts an additional 5 knots. Suddenly, you can add 3 to 5 knots to your boat speed. On Gunboats, going from 12 knots to 15 or 16 knots may not be a problem. But if the boat is already doing 16 knots, going to 21 or 22 knots can mean lifting a hull, reducing wetted surface by 50% and suddenly going out of control.

So, as a matter of standard operating

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

procedure, on deliveries, we try to maintain a typical speed of around 12 knots. If the person on watch is regularly exceeding that parameter, it’s probably time to slow the boat down so surprises don’t ruin the day.

At one point, while approaching a cloud line, we decided to change down from the J-1 to the solent with that sail’s foot reefed down to further reduce its size. When clouds stretch from horizon to horizon, I think of them like streams of flotsam along a tide line. In the water, when a current is going in one direction and an adjacent current is going in another direction, streams of flotsam create a line in the water. Clouds seem to line up in a similar way when wind currents flow in one direction on one

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side of the line of clouds and flow in another direction on the other side of the cloud line. It also seems that when that cloud line is very low and closer to the surface of the water, the wind strength seems to be stronger near and under the cloud line. The lower the cloud line, the stronger the wind speed. It may not always hold true, but it has often enough to help me avoid scrambling to reduce sail area under a line of clouds.

Later, with skies continuing to darken from cloud cover and night approaching, we decided to completely drop the main, run the main halyard to the outboard end of the boom, sheet on the boom to support the back of the mast, sail with the reefed solent, and run both engines. If squalls became

violent, we would easily be able to manage the boat without changing the sail plan in the dark. If conditions became lighter, we could still maintain a reasonable time of day to make our landfall in the Bahamas.

Every boat and delivery is different, whether they are aboard a multihull or a monohull. What makes them all possible and even enjoyable are the people involved. Even when singlehanding, a number of people have helped make it all possible. In “Vandal’s” case, the contractors and crew all made it possible. And given Mark’s and Conrad’s focus and efforts, the trip was a genuine joy to see how it was possible to pull so many tasks together in such short order to make it all happen – safely. BWS

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{ BWSINTERVIEW }

Owning a Boat in a Charter Fleet 36

BWS caught up with multihull experts Steven and Estelle Cockroft, who run the website www.catamaranguru.com, to discuss the pros and cons of owning a yacht in a charter fleet You are one of the leading brokers in the multihull world, what got you to this point in your careers?

Being successful catamaran broker-consultants is not just a business for us it’s the lifestyle we chose as liveaboard cruisers that has put us on the road to success. We have lived aboard for the past 25+ years and during that time we have been involved in building boats, chartering a fleet of boats, running a sailing school, consulting with manufacturers and we’ve sailed 60,000+ miles on our own boats, a monohull for the first 15 years and several catamarans after that.

We have literally tried and tested every aspect of the industry and can BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

therefore advise our clients on all the good, bad and ugly parts of yacht ownership. We have been involved in catamarans from very early on. We knew that multihulls would become the yacht of the future for many, so we set out to get to know everything we could about them.

We also specialize in helping our clients set up their boats in a business environment, a very popular program with many of our bigger boat buyers like Lagoon Seventy7 our Lagoon Seventy7 buyers. The yacht owner is able to generate substantial tax advantages, together with charter revenues, to offset the cost of ownership. We have also chartered our own boat as a business, so we are uniquely situated in the market to advise our clients on every aspect of yacht ownership. We initially started our website www. catamaranguru.com as purely an unbiased informational resource for catamaran buyers and sailors. Popularity of the site has grown exponentially in the last few years because there is such a big thirst for knowledge about catamarans and about how to offset the cost of yacht ownership.

We usually try to stay with the better-known production catamaran brands. They are known quantities, the boats hold up well in charter and are popular with the charter market in general.

However, we sold an Xquisite X5 last year into a private business program. They build phenomenal boats and have fantastic after sales service. The fly-bridge versions of these models are undoubtedly the most popular choice for boats in charter but the semi-flybridge like the Lagoon 450 Sportop or FP Saona 47 is often more popular with liveaboard cruisers. We have also found that the catamarans in the 40-45 foot range used to be very popular but with

Working with Dream Yacht Charter, you sell a lot of boats into Dream’s charter fleets. What have proven to be the most popular designs for this purpose?

Since we are able to sell most brands of catamarans into the DY charter fleet, we don’t have to push any specific brand on our clients. That really sets our clients at ease. Even though we advise them and give them all the pros and cons of their boat selections, we leave the choice up to our clients entirely.

Having said that, Lagoon is our number one selling brand, Fountaine Pajot is a very close second and the Bali range from Catana has gained popularity of late. We are also super excited about the new Dufour 48 catamaran that will debut sometime next year! www.bwsailing.com

Lagoon 40

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{ BWSINTERVIEW }

The company is also very flexible with the types and layouts of boats they allow in the fleet and the types of programs they offer. DY also has a very robust booking system, so the owners in their performance and business programs are usually confident that they will get the numbers projected for them in their business plans over a five year program.

For these types of programs, revenue projections are very important and DY is unbeatable in that respect. Our clients who choose to operate their own boats as the crew in partnership with DY, are getting phenomenal bookings and is a very popular option specifically for millennials.

Is there a downside to owning a boat in a charter fleet that you discuss with clients?

Bali 4.3technology, couples are able to sail bigger boats modern by themselves and the sizes for couples are now up to 50 feet or bigger.

What are the advantages of owning a boat in a charter fleet like Dream’s fleet?

Yes, there is the wear and tear and damage factor but the industry is now quite mature and many charterers are repeat clients. This results in higher competency levels of the charter guest in general and less damage occurs than it did 20 years ago. The charter guest also gets vetted as much as is possible and the charter companies generally keep a substantial security deposit in order to pay for damages.

The most important thing for the buyer to understand is that while there is wear and tear on the vessel, they will be able to offset a substantial portion of the cost of ownership. They are also buying into a lifestyle. Like any other “hobby”, that lifestyle costs money and the boat has to be operated in order to produce the revenues and for the program to work well.

What are the basics of a contract to have a boat in a Dream fleet?

Dream Yacht has a number of options to choose from

We choose most often to work with Dream Yacht because they, unlike most charter companies, are very flexible, which is great for our clients. Dream Yacht is now the largest charter company in the world with 900 boats in 44 locations around the world. If a boat owner wants the advantage of being able to sail on different makes and models of boats, in different locations in the world, this company offers it all.

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Fountaine Pajot

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

depending on your personal situation. These are the most popular programs: The Guaranteed Income program is by far the most popular and many companies offer a similar deal. The owner receives a guaranteed income with an annual payment of 9 percent of the delivered price of the boat.

The guarantee payment covers the mortgage payment for the owner. All other costs such as insurance, dockage, maintenance etc. are paid by DYC. This is a cash neutral proposition for the owner with the emphasis on owner exchange use globally (up to 12 weeks per year) and is a fairly hassle free option.

The Performance program is a revenue sharing program where the owner operates the boat as a small business and is actively involved in the operations. In this program, where there is shared risk, the return is a bit higher for the owner than the Guaranteed income program with zero risk. In this program the owner does not get reciprocal use but they are able to generate substantial tax advantages to offset the cost of ownership.

The Dream Easy program is the best option for people who do not want to finance the purchase.

In this program the owner makes a 35 percent down payment instead of the usual 20 to 25 percent and then for the next 66 months, there is no income or costs – DYC pays everything, including the mortgage. At the end of the term there is a 25 percent balloon payment and the boat is owned free and clear; there is reciprocal use for up to eight weeks and of course there is no mortgage interest for the 66 months, which helps reduce the overall cost of the vessel.

Since DYC do not operate a second tier option, one can find a company that does and there are quite a few really good ones, and put the boat into management for another five years.

Take the boat, shine it up and place it into private use and go cruising. BWS

At the end of the program, what are the owner’s options?

There are four options at the end of the program: Sell the yacht and re-enter the program with a new yacht. DYC works with the owners to figure out how to get the boat sold or “traded”, in order to clear the decks for the new yacht purchase.

Sell the boat and get out completely. Again DYC helps the owners sell the yacht through its brokerage division. If the yacht has been purchased into the Performance program and the owner has depreciated the vessel, then there will be recapture by the IRS, so this is always something to consider. www.bwsailing.com

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{ ELECTRONICS2018 }

A

Navigation Systems for Cruisers After a lightning strike, we had to replace all of our electronics – it was an eye opening task by George Day 40

couple of years ago we were struck by lightning just as we were leaving West End, the Bahamas on our way north to our home port in Newport, RI. The storm was a monster thunder and lightning show in the Gulf Stream that went on for six hours. We didn’t actually feel the strike and we didn’t lose our electronics all at once as you might expect from a direct hit.

But, over the next few days as we sailed north towards Hatteras, gremlins started to appear in the electronics. The autopilot developed a mind of its own and would suddenly shift 20 degrees to port. The chartplotter (MFD) would lose the GPS position and would need to be rebooted to reacquire it. Even the radar would shut itself off without warning and need to be rebooted to start it up again. Something was definitely wrong.

We had a great trip north despite the gremlins and were able to work around the issues with a little extra diligence. When we got home, we got the system checked by our pals at Cay Electronics and they couldn’t put their finger on the exact problem but they could see that things were amiss.

We contacted our insurance company who sent a surveyor to check out the system. The conclusion was that the lightning strike had fatally damaged the entire electronics package so our system was condemned and the insurance company agreed to replace with all new gear. That meant we had to start from scratch and design for ourselves, with the help of the experts at Cay, an entirely new and modern navigation system for the boat.

THE BASICS Our boat, a Jeanneau 45.2, has a big, useful chart table with ample room for mounting radios and screens and a large cockpit table where a chartplotter was mounted in a NavPod. With redundancy being the heart of good seamanship, we made the executive BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

The versatile B&G V20 VHF radio

decision at the outset to replace the chartplotter (MFD) on the cockpit table with a new one and to add a second MFD at the chart table. The unit down below has a touch screen while we chose not to use a touch screen in the cockpit because it is too susceptible to random touches that could create navigation problems.

The latest developments in MFDs have made these all purpose navigation tools easy to use and very sophisticated. On some models on the market, such as the B&G MFDs, you will find that a lot of functions specific to sailing have been included in the software so you can generate your best sailing angles, the right times to tack and how to interface your sailing data with current and tide information.

We use Navionics digital charts on the chartplotters so these had to be reloaded and then updated via a laptop and the online updates. Navionics has a crowd-sourcing online function that allows users to submit chart updates for review and possible posting.

Because of the ability to share data from instruments and sensors across the network we felt it was important to go with a single manufacturer so we would be confident that each unit would talk seamlessly with the whole network. In our case, we had Raymarine on the boat when lightning struck so the insurance company replaced it with the same brand and similar but newer models. The MFDs we installed were the 12-inch eSeries models that can display and control all instrument functions with the exception of the autopilot. The processors in these units are so fast these days that screens refresh almost instantaneously. We have used the B&G, Simrad and Furuno MFDs which have similar refresh rates and the full range of functions.

The GPS antenna had to be replaced so the entire old network was removed and new cables run to the radar pole that we had installed at the stern. This tower is where most of the antennas for the boat are mounted.

GPS, of course, is the key to the whole www.bwsailing.com

navigation system. It is hard to believe that GPS has only been around for 30 years since it plays such a big role in our everyday lives. The U.S. government which maintains the fleet of satellites offers worldwide coverage and when at least four satellite are in an antenna’s view will render an accurate position to within a guaranteed minimum of 25 feet and often much better than that. In fact, modern GPS receivers and satellites often team up to place you within three feet of your actual position.

From our point of view, the MFDs and GPS are the basic navigation system but to get the data you need to allow the software to do its job – in our case Lighthouse 1 – we needed to include a depth sounder, speedo-log and wind instruments and individual multifunction displays where the data can be viewed right at each of the twin helms. We chose the i50 displays with one each for speed, depth and other functions and one each for wind speed and true and apparent wind direction.

With boat speed, course, chart, wind speed and direction and GPS data flowing to the MFD, the software can calculate true wind speed, apparent wind speed, true and apparent wind angles, speed through the water, velocity made good, current or tide direction and speed and laylines for favored tacks.

With this navigation system you could sail safely anywhere in the world, although you might find that the digital charts for some remote

areas have not been updated with GPS based geo surveys. Once when anchored in the middle of the large harbor at Nuku Hiva, The Marquesas, French Polynesia, the GPS showed us positioned a mile inland on top of a 3,000 foot mountain.

THE FULL SYSTEM In addition to the navigational basics, our boat also had radar and an autopilot, so these had to be replaced after the lightning strike. The autopilot was still acting peculiar and would turn suddenly for no reason and the radar would shut down at the worst possible moments.

The autopilot replacement involved a new cockpit mounted control head (p70), a new computer and sensor and a new drive unit. The latest systems from Raymarine and their competitors are so sophisticated that they appear to be very simple. With multi-directional sensors and digital compass input, the new autopilots can calculate sea states, yaw rates, pitch rates and adjust the speed and force of the helm corrections accordingly. We often use the wind instrument interface to set the pilot to steer to the apparent wind – much as a mechanical windvane does – and the new autopilot, after installation and tuning, drove the boat like a veteran helmsman.

The new digital radars, like the 48-mile unit we installed, have a lot of cool features. They turn on and off more quickly than our old analog radar, have a much sharper image, easy 41

{ ELECTRONICS2018 }

Simrad AP48 Autopilot

to use gain and filter functions and are excellent at focusing on objects close to the boat, an area that often was a dead zone for earlier radars. Plus the scanner is smaller and lighter (only 21 pounds) than the radar it replaced.

There are a few ways to use radar on the MFD. You can show the digital chart in one screen with the radar image in a second screen next to it; this gives you the real world that the radar is actually seeing with the digital world in the chart next to it with both screens being clear and easy to read.

Or, you can overlay the radar images right on top of the digital chart so the real world and the digital world can be viewed together. If the digital chart is not completely accurate, the difference between the overlay and the chart can be alarming.

The last item we installed in the new navigation system was new to us and not covered by the insurance.

But, it is one of the most valuable new electronic tools to be developed in recently years and that is an auto-

matic identification system transceiver (AIS). The AIS operates on the VHF bandwidths so the signal it receives from other vessels and the signal that you broadcast from your boat are lineof-sight. Depending on the height of your antenna, the range can be from 10 to 40 miles.

The AIS we installed shows its contacts on the MFD screen as an overlay that can be switched off when not in use or tuned with a set of filters to show all vessels, only the vessels near you, only the vessels that pose a threat of collision and so forth. Standing night watches in busy shipping lanes can be a nerve-racking experience as you scan the horizon for ships and try to match what you see with images on your radar.

AIS gives you the data you need; scroll over the image on the MFD of a ship that is heading toward you and you will get the ship’s name, home port, speed, course, destination and the time to possible collision. With this information, you can call the ship

by name on the VHF radio with the high likelihood of getting a reply… because the ship sees you on their MFD and knows who you are and the likelihood of a collision.

An added attraction to the AIS technology lies in the development in the last few years of personal locator beacons that transmit an AIS signal. If a person falls overboard, the PLB sends a signal that gives the precise location of the victim to any AIS equipped vessel nearby, particularly your own. This data reduces rescue times significantly and has and will continue to save lives.

AIS transceiver technology is such a valuable safety tool, I would never go to sea again without it.

THE WISH LIST Our boat was amazingly well tricked out with the latest marine electronics when all was said and done. We had everything we needed and more. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pine a bit for the latest and greatest new thing.

What’s on the wish list?

First, a satphone with a built-in dome antenna so we can communicate easily and thus work from the boat.

But these are expensive and still not fast enough to really work online. So, the simpler solution would be the new IridiumGO that provides a good connection to the Iridium satellites and enables quick and efficient email through which you can access all sorts of information, data, weather forecasts and so forth.

Second, is a single sideband HF radio (SSB). While the technology is old fashioned it still works and

Zeus3 family of instruments

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BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Vulcan 12

provides a level of communications redundancy that adds to the overall safety picture aboard our boat. To this we would add a Pactor modem and one of the radio email programs such as Sailmail through which we can send and receive email and get good weather forecasts.

Lastly, we’d add a FLIR thermal imaging camera mounted up the mast, probably on a spreader, that can pan around in a circle and up and down remotely. These cameras show their thermal images on the MFD screen and give amazing clear images; they allow you to actually see in the dark and can be incredibly useful in a man overboard emergency or just when trying to find and pick up a mooring in total darkness.

I would never want to be struck by lightning again, and we know a few skippers who have been struck more than once, but going through the process of refitting our boat with an all new electronic navigation system was an eye-opener. BWS

Simrad NSS 12 evo3

Simrad NSO ev03 www.bwsailing.com

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{ SHOWSEASONSPECIAL }

2018 Miami Sailboat Show Preview

With dozens of new monohulls and multihulls and acres of tents filled with sailing gear and equipment, the Miami show is a great winter escape and an excellent place to buy a new boat.

February 15 – 19

F

or the last decade or more, the sailboat section of the big Miami boat show, called Strictly Sail Miami, has been held at Bayside at Miamarina near downtown Miami. The powerboat section of the show moved to Virginia Key, next to Key Biscayne, two years ago and has settled in there. This year, 2018, the sailboats will also move to Virginia Key and will have what show managers are calling the Sailing Pavilion.

The Miami show has become one of the largest multihull shows in the U.S. as well as hosting a good cross section of the monohulls on the market. For those looking into buying either a new monohull or multihull, the Miami show in February is the place to be.

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Here’s a preview, in alphabetical order of the monohulls that will be on display at the show.

Bavaria: The large German builder will have a good selection of boats at the show with examples from each

Bavaria 46

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Beneteau 62

of their product lines: Cruiser, C Yachts, Vision and the new Easy 9.7.

Bavarias are all designed by Farr and have shown good sailing performance.

But, the boats are most noted for the volume of the hulls and expansive accommodations.

Beneteau: The world’s largest recreational boat builder, Group Beneteau includes Beneteau, Jeanneau and Lagoon. The new Beneteau 51.1 was the featured Beneteau at the Annapolis sailboat show and turned many heads.

Check it out in Miami. Beneteau will have a wide selection of their models at the show so you can really spend some time seeing how they manage to fit so much quality and value in their boats.

Catalina: With the introduction of the new 425 18 months ago, Catalina launched a new design line and created a boat that competes very favorably with the high volume production boats from Europe. The 425 won boat of the year awards last year. The company continues to blend classic American detailing and quality with modern design concepts offering both excellent and enduring value.

Catalina 425

Dufour 360

Dufour: This French builder is one of the most popular brands in Europe and a brand that has been around since the Sixties. But in the US, Dufour is still a sleeper. Yet, the boats are fine sailing designs, the styling is very modern and the accomodations spacious, bright and comfortable. If you are looking at production boats, Dufour is worth a second look.

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{ SHOWSEASONSPECIAL } Elan GT5

Island Packet 440

Jeanneau SO 440

Elan: Elan, based in Slovenia, started as a ski and snow sports company after WW II. Then, they branched out into yacht building and have some very interesting boats on offer under the Elan, Impression and Grand Tourismo brands.

Their boats are cutting edge, modern performance cruisers with lots of design innovation from the mind of legendary design Rob Humphries. If you want the future of cruising, Elan can take you there.

Island Packet: The well known cruising boat builder from Florida was purchased last year by one of the IPY dealers who have come in and turned the company around. Knowing the boats as well as they do, the new owners have been able to modernize and upgrade the existing designs to make them more in step with current cruising needs. If you love IPY boats, you’ll be impressed by the new versions. If you don’t know the brand, check the boats out to see what blue water cruisers are all about.

Jeannneau: Sister company to Beneteau, Jeanneau has been building quality production sailboats for 60 years and many thousands of boats all over the world. At the fall Annapolis sailboat show, Jeanneau introduced the new Sun Odyssey 440 to rave reviews. It is one of the most innovative cruising boats to come along in many years. In Miami they will introduce the new Sun Odyssey 490 that carries the innovations in the 440 to new heights.

Jeanneau delivers a very pleasing combination of tradition and innovation that makes them one of the leaders in the sailing marketplace.

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BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Oyster 565 Oyster: Oyster Yachts are yachts in the true tradition of offshore sailing, with moderately heavy displacement, lots of teak, large after cabins and spacious raised saloons. Built in England, the company offers boats from 48 to 100 feet and each is built on a semi-custom basis. Not priced to be bargains, Oysters are for sailors who want a proper blue water cruising boat that is capable of taking her crew across oceans and around the world with grace and luxury.

Seward 32K

Seaward: The Seaward brand is now part of the new Island Packet company but the boats, orginally designed by Nick Hake are still salty little coastal cruisers with innovative swing keels and kick up rudders. For the Gulf Coast, Bahamas, The Chesapeake Bay or southern New England – all blessed with thin water – Seawards are perfect weekender or summer cruisers.

Here’s a preview, in alphabetical order, of the multihulls that should be at the show.

Antares 44i

Antares 44i: The Antares 44i is something of a cult cruising cat that has such an avid following that you often have to wait up to a year to have your own semi-custom boat built. The boats are built in Argentina by master boat builders and each 44i is its own work of art. Under new ownership in 2017, the boats are still unique and special blue water cruisers for a couple or family.

Aquila: MarineMax’s two cruising power cats are roomy, easy to handle cruising boats that are popular in both the charter fleets and as privately owned boats. The 443 is a great size for a couple and the 484 will make a fine floating home for a family who like to cruise together. If you are thinking of exploring the ICW, The Great Loop or the Great Lakes, these power cats have a lot to offer.

www.bwsailing.com

MarineMax 484

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{ SHOWSEASONSPECIAL } Balance 526

Bali 4.0

Balance: The Balance brand was created by multihull expert Phil Berman who owns The Multihull Company.

The boats were created to offer buyers a true “balance” between great sailing performance and luxurious accommodations. The 526 is built in South Africa by multihull experts in St. Francis Bay. The boat is fast, fun, comfortable and fitted with some really interesting innovations, like the articulating helm that allows you to steer either from the raised helm or from the cockpit floor where you are fully protected from the elements.

Bali: Dream Yacht Charter will be showing the Bali cats at the show.

Built by Catana and designed to be both great charter boats and private yachts, the Bali concept is to create a truly indoor-outdoor boat for those sailing in warmer regions. The huge open lounging areas on the fore and after decks are perfect for sunning.

The cabins in the hulls are bright, well ventilated and make you feel like you are being pampered in your home away from home.

Dragonfly 28

48

Dragonfly: These nifty, fast cruising trimarans from Denmark are great sailing machines that also offer accommodations for cruising and even voyaging. The 28 is a perfect coastal cruiser that will sail rings around almost every other boat out on the water. The 32-footer is an ocean boat that will take you anywhere, allow you to explore shallow harbors off limits to others and enjoy cruising close to nature. Dragonflys have amas that fold back against the hulls so you can fit the boats into a normal slip or trailer them behind the family SUV.

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

FP Lucia 40

Gemini Freestyle 37

HH 55

Fountaine Pajot: The French builder FP has grown into one of the largest and most popular line for cruising cats out there. The company will have a full line of their boats from 40 to 58 feet at the show so you will have a lot of choices to look at. You will note the fine finish of the woodwork on these boats and the interesting layouts. And, if you are interested in a power cat, the new MY 37 will appeal to you.

FPs used to be built primarily for the charter fleets but today the line is prized by many as fine, well built and well finished family cruisers.

Gemini: Built in America by the Catalina company, the Gemini Legacy 35 and Freestyle 37 are unique boats in the multihull market. The 35 is a small cruiser for a couple but capable of crossing oceans. This is a great boat for the Bahamas or cruising inland waterways. The 37 is more of a working boat that can be used as a day charter boat, a dive platform or as an evening cocktail cruiser.

HH Catamarans: HH is a company based in China that builds very high tech, luxury performance cruisers to Morrelli & Melvin designs – and these guys are the experts. They build both sailing and power cats and both varieties should be in Miami. For more indepth detail, see our six-page review of the HH55 on page 34 of Winter 2017 Multihulls Quarterly.

Knysna 500

www.bwsailing.com

Knysna: Kevin and Rika who build their lovely 500SE cruising cats in Knysna, South Africa, hope to be at the show but their boat was in the BVI when Irma struck so they could not commit at press time. The 500SE is a couple’s world cruiser that is robustly built for long haul sailing and living aboard and very nicely finished with a lot of solid wood panels, doors, drawers and cabinets – all with a very classic varnished finish. Because they only build a few boats a year you may have to wait a while to get yours, so don’t hesitate.

49

{ SHOWSEASONSPECIAL } Lagoon Seventy7

Leopard 50

Lagoon: The French builder of production cruising cats has continued to innovate and refresh the brand year after year. As part of Groupe Beneteau, Lagoon has the design and manufacturing resources to always be out in front – with a couple of competitors – of production cruising cat design. The boats are built both for the charter fleets and as private yachts and they do both jobs well. Last year Lagoon introduced their flagship, the Seventy7, which is a 77 foot cruising sailboat for very well heeled owners.

It is magnificent and has been selling very well. The new Seventy8 power cat will be introduced in 2018 and should be just as impressive.

Leopard: The South African builder Robertson and Caine builds the Leopard brand of production cruising cats exclusively for The Moorings, Sunsail and Leopard who have the worldmarketing rights. As one of the largest builders of cats in the world, you will see their boats everywhere there are charter fleets and great cruising grounds. For years, the boats were delivered to their charter bases on their own bottoms, so you know they are good, capable sea boats. They are also, very comfortable and commodious cruisers. The huge, flagship 58 will blow you away and the 45 will beckon you to drop everything and go cruising.

Majestic 530

50

Majestic 530: Like Knysna, the Majestic 530 is built in South Africa and on a semi-custom basis. The boats have some of the finest finishes you will find in the cruising cat fleet and some truly innovative uses of space. For a couple looking for comfort and plenty of cruising storage and accommodations, the 530 can hardly be matched.

Plus, it is a proven ocean going blue water cruiser that will take her owners just about anywhere they choose to go.

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Privilege series 6

Privilege: The French builder Privilege, known for its large luxurious cruising cats, was recently acquired by the German builder Hanse and is now supported financially and technically by a much bigger boat building conglomerate. This transition has enabled Privilege to continue their evolution as a leader in the luxury end of the market. The 5, 6 and 7 series are magnificent yachts and give you the feeling that you are on a super yacht instead of a simple cruising boat.

When you go aboard, check out the master staterooms, which are on the main deck level, and you’ll never want to sleep on another boat.

St .Francis 50

St. Francis: A venerable brand from South Africa, the St. Francis 50 is a boat specifically created for couples who want to cruise extensively in comfort and at a great average speed.

The boats have been refined every year and are both modern and have a traditional feel. Since they are built on a semi-custom basis you can work with the builder to get the exact cruising boat you want.

Xquisite: The new X5 from South African builder Xquisite truly lives up to its name. The boat is completely modern, built to the highest standard and still evokes the qualities, attention to detail and innovations that you expect from a proper yacht. Tomas and Sarah, who build the boat, will infect all who visit them at the show with their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm. They have cruised many miles and know what works in a modern cruising cat and what doesn’t.

www.bwsailing.com

Xquisite 5X

51

{ BLUEWATERBOATS }

Elan GT5

I

Built in Slovenia, this new 40-foot Rob Humphries design brings the real meaning of “Gran Tourismo” to the yachting world by George Day

t was a lovely, light air morning on the Chesapeake Bay the day after last fall’s Annapolis sailboat show when we got a chance to give the new Elan GT5 a test sail.

We’d had our eyes on the boat all through the boat show and had spent some time climbing around aboard inspecting the new Rob Humphries design. With its pronounced chines in the after sections, plumb bow, broad, folding transom, stylish cabintop and big rig, the GT5 looked unique, innovative and fast. In fact, it looked a lot like a Class 40 that has been tricked out with cruising accommodations.

We jumped aboard from a chase boat and soon had the big mainsail and 110 percent genoa set and drawing nicely. All of the lines on board lead aft through under-deck conduits to the two helms so sail handling takes place at the after end of the cockpit.

52

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

This leaves the forward half of the cockpit uncluttered and reserved for the recliners and idlers in the crew.

Sheets and lines are all managed by single winches port and starboard – these were electric on the boat we sailed – and two rows of line stoppers.

The GT5 is a moderately light design with a T-bulb keel and twin rudders.

In the eight knots of true breeze that morning, we were able to sail at close to 40 degrees to the wind and at six knots close hauled. The boat’s design pedigree traces its roots to offshore racing boats designed for short handed crews and the way it sailed proved that breeding does matter.

We eased sheets and reached out into the bay at speeds that approached the wind speed. Had we had a code 0 to fly from the short carbon bow sprit I am sure that could have got close to the wind speed. As it was, the boat was a pleasure to sail and noticeably fast.

The chines on many modern cruising boats are less a part of the performance picture and more to do with styling and adding interior space in the after cabins. In the Elan line of E boats, the chines are designed to work as proper chines; as the GT5 heeled over to about 12 degrees, the chine met the water and immediately added buoyancy and thus stability. www.bwsailing.com

This translates into increased sail power and better boat speed. Plus, by stopping the boat’s heel it allows you to sail more upright and thus more efficiently and more comfortably. With its long waterline and performance foils under the water, the GT5 is imbued with natural speed so even in cruising mode you will find that you will make very quick daily runs or fast offshore passages.

As we headed back to the harbor, we jibed our way downwind and pined a bit for a big downwind asymmetrical

spinnaker. It was a perfect day for a spinnaker and I am sure we would have seen some good speeds on a broad reach. In the end, we furled the sails and motored back to the marina.

The GT5 was fitted out with a retractable bow thruster, so maneuvering into the slip was child’s play.

The cockpit is huge and very comfortable. It is set up with two folding tables that can be opened up to seat up to eight for a meal. Or a couple can use just one side. The starboard table also can fold down to expand

53

{ BLUEWATERBOATS }

the settee’s width and with a cushion in place forms a wide sunning pad.

The stern folds down mechanically to create a 10-foot wide swimming platform that has the stainless steel swim ladder built in and easily accessible from the water. The helm seats are storage lockers but you have the option of transforming one into an outdoor fridge and the other into a

54

gas fired barbeque.

The cockpit has ample storage for a boat with two after cabins and you will find more storage under the cockpit sole that is accessible through the floor hatch or from the stern with the swim platform folded down. There are good hand holds and places to brace your feet while underway so even in bouncy weather you will be secure.

The boat we sailed had a modern racing-style dodger that gave the crew plenty of protection at the forward end of the cockpit.

LIVING ABOARD The concept behind creating a Gran Tourismo (grand touring) cruising yacht was to provide a thoroughly modern and luxurious performance cruiser, which is based on the GT cars that once were so popular in Europe – think of the Aston Martin DB5 that James Bond drove.

The GT5 certainly has the sailing qualities that you’d expect, but it also has an interior that makes for a very fine cruising home.

The boat has four interior options so you can mix and match heads and cabins to suit your needs. The boat we sailed had a three cabin layout and a single aft head.

The master cabin forward has a centerline double and

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

a lot of storage and hanging space.

The two quarter cabins have good headroom, plenty of storage and good ventilation with ports that open on three sides. The after port hole opens into the cockpit so you can get good cross ventilation; also, being able to talk to an off watch crew from the cockpit makes a lot of sense when sailing offshore at night.

The saloon has the galley forward and that stretches the full 12-foot, 10 inch beam. There is ample counter space and storage. The sink is quite far outboard to starboard so it may not drain all that well when heeled over on port tack. Still this is a remarkably large galley on a 40-foot boat. Under the port counter, a microwave oven is mounted on a mechanical lift so it can rise to the occasion or not as needed.

The L-shaped dinette to port has two stools that nest under the table when not in use. Altogether, you can sit six comfortably for a meal.

The chart table to starboard is large enough to lay out charts and guide books and has good areas for mounting radios, a satphone, a second chartplotter and other instruments. The electrical panel is modern and very complete so you can run all systems from one place and can monitor bat-

teries and tanks easily.

The boat we sailed had a bright, oak themed interior finish, a white overhead and a darkly stained cabin sole. The cushions were a warm brown color. The net effect was of a light and airy interior with large hatches and windows that also had a traditional yacht like feel. The two large hatches on the forward end of the raised cabin top provide light and plenty of ventilation.

BWS THOUGHTS For those of us who like the modern purposeful lines of this generation’s offshore shorthanded racing boats – Open 60s, Class 40s and so forth – the

new Elan GT5 will be a most interesting new design. The plumb bow, bow sprit and flat stern match up nicely and the slightly angled sheer line gives the boat a yachtie look. The hull carries its beam well aft where the chines provide additional stability and power.

The raised cabin is unusual but it gives the GT5 a unique appearance.

The interior is pleasant, commodious and very finely finished. This is a yacht that will make you proud as you settle down with friends for a sundowner or a meal. But it is the boat’s sailing qualities – like the driving qualities of a GT automobile – that will put a smile on your face and encourage you to sail more and sail better.

BWS

Elan GT5 LOA LOD LWL Bam Draft (std) Draft (opt) Displacement Ballast Water Water (opt) Fuel

43’4” 40’9” 38’0” 12’10” 8’0” 6’5” 19.070 lbs.

5,855 lbs.

58 gals.

129 gals, 39 gals.

www.elan-yachts.com

www.bwsailing.com

55

{ BLUEWATERBOATS }

Beneteau Oceanis 51.1 The new BerretRacoupeau design is a dream to sail—fast, handy, seaworthy and very comfortable

F

rom the first day that I saw the drawings and renderings of the new Beneteau Oceanis 51.1, I had been looking forward to taking this fairly radical new design out for a test sail. That opportunity presented itself at the Annapolis Sailboat Show 2017 and we were fortunate to have enough breeze to really put the boat through its paces.

56

by George Day

The new 51.1 has some distinctly new features for a Beneteau Oceanis. The hull is a modern pumpkin seed shape that is fairly full in the bow sections and then carries the quite broad beam all the way aft to the transom. The hull has a real chine above the waterline that runs the full length of the boat.

This shape increases volume inside the hull in a way that expands living spaces. Plus, it provides increased form stability that allows the boat to transfer sail power into forward speed more efficiently and it encourages the crew to sail the boat more level.

The square transom balances the plumb bow and together with the flat sheerline give the 51.1 a very modern and businesslike appearance. To soften the look of the slab sides a bevel has

been added at the gunnels along the full length of the deck.

The underwater profile is very flat and broad which should enable the boat to fly on a broad reach. Because of the great beam aft, the boat has twin high aspect rudders so that the leeward rudder is always biting the water and you never have to worry about a single rudder cavitating when sharply heeling causes the boat to broach.

The cabin top is low and sleek with large windows. It doesn’t cover much of the foredeck so you have loads of space for lounging while at anchor or for stowing a large dinghy while sailing offshore. There is a large locker forward that can be set up as a crew’s cabin with a single berth and it’s own head. This space could also be used for extra sails, fenders and sundry deck gear and lines. The anchor locker is big enough to stow a second

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

anchor and rode.

The 51.1 comes with a short composite bowsprit that doubles as a bow roller for the anchor and a secure place forward of the genoa to tack down a reacher, Code 0 or an asymmetrical spinnaker. A short fixed sprit like this will make downwind sailing faster, easier and more fun because you can leave your big sail furled when not in use and available as soon as the angle opens up enough for reaching.

UNDER SAIL We jumped aboard the 51.1 at Bert Jabin’s yard in Annapolis’ Back

www.bwsailing.com

Creek and then motored down the creek to the Chesapeake Bay. It was a gray morning with a nip of fall in the air and the probability of rain later. But at least there was breeze.

Under power the boat steered easily as the twin rudders did double duty.

The 80-hp. Yanmar had plenty of power so when we gunned it as we left the channel we were able to get the boat over 9 knots and again because of the twin rudders there was no prop wash affecting the helms.

Once out of the channel, we headed into the wind, rolled out the mainsail and genoa.

The sheeting arrangement has all lines and sheets run under the decks in conduits so that they emerge at the aft end of the cockpit coamings where they run through line stoppers. There is one large electric winch on both sides that are accessible to the helmsman or any crew. You have to swap out the mainsheet and the jib sheet every time you tack but this is simple with the line stoppers handy.

As we fell off the wind and sheeted for a close reach the 51.1 accelerated noticeably.

Underway, we were heeling until we could feel the chine steady the boat and at that

moment we also felt the boat’s speed increase. We had about 10 knots of breeze and once trimmed we were sailing at 60 degrees at 7.5 knots. The boat certainly felt slippery.

Out in open water we hardened up and put the boat through a series of tacks. It tacked nimbly and carried its way through the tacks well. Upwind, the 51.1 sailed inside 45 degrees tack to tack. Again, the twin rudders give the helm a positive feel, like driving a sports car.

After a few miles of sailing upwind, we fell off onto a broad reach and eased sheets. The 51.1 maintained her speed and was easy to handle. A fit couple will not have trouble handling this boat, even setting downwind sails from the bowsprit.

One of the boat’s best assets is the cockpit which is not overly huge for a boat with this much beam but well laid out for sailing and lounging at the same time. All sailing is done at the aft end of the cockpit which leaves 57

{ BLUEWATERBOATS }

the forward end open for those who aren’t handling lines. Plus, on either side of the companionway there are two bed-side lounges where you can stretch out under the protection of the dodger. The cockpit table folds out to seat six easily and eight in a pinch.

The after end of the cockpit table has a locker large enough for a life raft.

The 51.1 handles easily under power and around the docks and is a very 58

sweet sailing machine that likes to sail on the level and likes to go fast.

LIVING ABOARD Beneteau has been working with the Nauta Design group for several years and the look, styling and accommodations of the newer boats has been Euro-modern with a yachting twist. The 51.1 takes that and expands upon it.

The basic layout has three cabins

and either three or two heads. The forward cabin, the master suite, has a centerline double berth that you can walk around. The head compartment is to port and the separate enclosed shower is to starboard.

The two quarter cabins are large and have ample storage. Each can have its own head or the port head can be swapped out for storage compartments and thus the two cabins would share the starboard head.

These cabins have a lot of headroom and will be great for guests who come for a week or two of cruising with you.

The saloon has a U-shaped dinette to starboard that will seat four; with the table folded out, three more can

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

sit on a bench to port. The chart table is part of the port bench.

The galley to port has plenty of counter space and storage lockers.

A two-burner stove-oven comes standard and there is a single large stainless steel sink. The fridge is a side loader under the counter and the microwave oven lives in a compartment in the counter from which it can rise to counter level when needed.

The boat we sailed was finished with a light colored wood veneer and light gray fabrics. With the large windows in the hulls, the long windows in the cabinsides and the overheard hatches, tons of natural light fills the boat.

Beneteau has moved on from teak

www.bwsailing.com

and holly soles and dark varnished trim below decks. Everything is light, bright and airy.

The 51.1 has plenty of storage for all you will need for extended cruising and acceptable water and fuel capacity. If you were heading far afield a watermaker and a genset would be excellent additions.

The new Oceanis 51.1 is the first of the next generation of Oceanis designs and shows that the company, that has been building boats for over 100 years has not lost its creative and innovative spirit. The new boat will turn heads where ever it is sailed and will take her owners far and wide in comfort and style. BWS

Beneteau Oceanis 51.1 LOA LOD LWL Draft (deep) Draft (shoal) Ballast (D) Ballast (S) Sail area Water Fuel Engine Design Styling Base Price

52’4” 49’2” 47’8” 7’7” 6’1” 7,485 lbs.

7,943 lbs.

1,313 sq. ft.

116 gals.

55 gals.

80-hp. Yanmar Berret-Racou peau Nauta Design $404,000

www.beneteau.com

59

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BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

Lagoon 42 - February 2016 - Photo Credit: Nicolas Claris

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SAILMAKING EXCELLENCE

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DISPLAY Alexseal...................................15 843-654-7755 Amel....................................... IFC Beneteau Yachts......................... 3 410-990-0270 Celestaire.................................19 800-727-9785 Chris Parker Weather................. 9 863-248-2702 Gori Propellers........................... 8 Harken Equipment..................... 9 HH Catamarans........................11 Jeanneau Yachts........................ 5 Leopard Catamarans.................. 7 Mantus ....................................14 855-262-6887 • 469-878-4083 Ocens.......................................18 206-878-8270 • 410-263-0008 Oyster Marine..........................BC 401-46-7400 Salty Dawg Rallies............ Cover 3 Sea Frost.................................... 9 603-868-5720 Strictly Sail .............................IBC Watt & Sea................................13 800-422-5684 THE CHANDLERY Beta Marine.............................61 877-227-2473 • 252-249-2473

Bruntons..................................63 44 (0) 1255 420005 J Prop.......................................61 401-847-7960 Jack Martin Insurance..............63 443-433-5723 Paratech...................................61 800-594-0011 • 954-966-7329 PYI...........................................62 425-355-3669 Sailrite.....................................60 260-244-4647 Switlik......................................63 609-587-3300 Zarcor.......................................63 800-877-4797 • 972-380-8724 CHARTER Blue Water Sailing Sch........68,69 800-255-1840 • 954-763-8464 Dream Yacht Charter................66 855-208-7567 Mahina...............................64,70 360-378-6131 Moorings Charter.....................67 800-669-6529 TMM.........................................65 800-633-0155 BROKERAGE Moorings.................................61 800-850-4081

Blue Water Sailing Publisher’s Sate of Ownership and Circulation 1. Publication Title: Blue Water Sailing 15 (b,1). Paid subs: 37,425 / 37,890 2. Pub. #:014-597 15 (b, 3): Paid newsstand: 4,161 / 4,217 3. Filing date: October 1, 2017 15 (c) Total paid: 41,586 / 42,107 4. Frequency: Monthly (Except December, February, July) 15. (d, 1): Free subs: 2,700 / 2,850 5. # of issues: 9 15. (d. 4): Free distributed: 1,670 / 1,870 6. Sub price: $29.95 15. (e) Total free: 4,370 / 4,720 7. Address: 747 Aquidneck, Ave., Middletown, RI 02842 15. (f): total distribution: 45,956 / 46,827 8. Address: Same 15. (g) Copies not distributed: 4,256 / 4,223 9. Publisher: George Day (same); Editor: George Day (same) 15. (h): total press run: 50,212 / 51,050 10. Owner: Day Communications, Inc. (same) 15. (i): 91.6% / 92.1% 11. Bond holders: None 16. Paid digital copies 12. Tax status: No change 16. (a): Paid Copies: 2,495 / 2,515 13. Title: Blue Water Sailing 16. (b): Total paid circ: 44,081 / 44,622 14. Issue date: October 2017 16. (c): Total distribution: 48,454 / 49,342 15 (a): Press run: 50,212 / 51,050 16. (d): Total % paid: 89.6% / 89.2%

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

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www.selfsteer.com 73

{ BROADREACHING }

by ANDYCROSS

The YEAR of the REFIT Boat work means lists, projects and knowing it will all be worth it

S

witching my electric sander off, I watched dust settle around Yahtzee’s cabin. A steady, cold rain fell outside and I could see my breath in front of me as I surveyed the area I was working on. It looked good. This was improvement, I told myself.

Before leaving the boat that afternoon, I took stock around the interior at what I’d completed and what was left. In the moment, it seemed like I had a lot of projects started yet none finished. And while that was mostly the truth, I was making progress—and even completing small jobs meant headway forward in the infancy of our open-ended refit.

When driving away from the marina, I was once again glad we chose to move off the boat for the Alaskan winter in order to get the work started.

Actually, I don’t know how a family of four could liveaboard and do what we were doing and manage to stay sane in the process.

Of course, writing this from a cozy cabin nestled in the woods and mountains just miles from the marina, I can be happy about that decision. A fire crackles near me in the woodstove and the sunlight of fall seems to be really far south 74

already. At 60 degrees north, it is.

Next to my computer on the small pine table is a long list written with several different pens on several different days. The tough part about punching through the various items on it isn’t necessarily the projects themselves, it’s in how to prioritize them. And, in many instances, which to throw money at and which to tackle with my own hands.

The bottom line with stopping to work on and refit a cruising boat is that no two refits are ever alike. Ever.

And the money side of things might be the biggest difference for sailors undertaking a refit. Some folks have the money but not the time. Others have the time to be intimately involved with every project and each step of how they get finished. You can put me mostly in that latter category.

For us, work and life on Yahtzee always seems like a refit. We’re constantly finishing one project or another while we’re cruising, and now that we’re stopped to get more done, we can expand that list. So what’s on it?

As all boat owners are well aware, one project can lead into many and that is very much the case with us.

Taking out some old plumbing led to a cabinetry project and then to a stern shower and finally to the need

to replace all the old freshwater hoses throughout the boat.

Sprucing up interior brightwork has led to the removal of our aging diesel fireplace, the refinishing of the bulkhead behind it and the possibility of replacing the heater all together. Plus, the start of a new headliner throughout the boat.

On deck, in a quest to rid ourselves of a chronic leak and to re-run some wiring and add two antennas, a new stern arch is in the works over the cockpit. And with that will come a spring makeover of the cockpit that will include removing the teak on the combing, rebedding winches and cleats, and replacing clutches.

Throw in new cushions in the salon and eventually new sails, and Yahtzee will seem like a very different boat when all is said and done. Right now, though, it seems like I’ve got a mountain to climb.

Fortunately, I know that, in the end, when the bow is pointed back out to sea, all the time, work and money will have been well worth it. BWS Andrew, along with wife Jill and sons Porter and Magnus, are currently living in Alaska while working on their Grand Soleil 39 Yahtzee. Follow their adventures at threesheetsnw.com/yahtzee.

BLUE WATER SAILING • January/February 2018

January 10–14, 2018

McCormick Place, South Hall

The Windy City’s Biggest Sailing event!

With the Midwest’s best selection of sailboats, sailing gear, rigging and charter options, plus more than 200 sailing seminars, if you love sailing, this is your show.

Ticket and show details at

ChicagoBoatShow.com

February 15–19, 2018

Miami Marine Stadium Park & Basin, Virginia Key

The Ultimate Rendezvous NEW for 2018! Strictly Sail Miami is joining the Progressive Insurance Miami International Boat Show on Virginia Key in 2018.

Nearly 100 sailboats and catamarans on display.

Dedicated sail tent. Sailing seminars and on-water training.

Ticket and show details at

MiamiBoatShow.com

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