WORLD —
Attitude Is Everything When Mishaps Occur It's a familiar joke among voyaging sailors that the definition of cruising is "doing maintenance in exotic places." Depending on your luck, bareboat charter trips can sometimes involve equipment challenges too. But how they impact your sailing vacation often depends on your attitude. Modern charter yachts have complicated systems that get lots of wear and tear, week in and week out. So even boats from highly rated companies with conscientious maintenance staffs suffer occasional breakdowns — as does every cruising yacht and, undoubtedly, the boat you sail in your home waters. We've done lots of charter trips in different places, using boats from a variety of companies, and on quite a few of them there was some sort of minor gear failure to deal with along the way. But we've always tried to roll with the punches because we weren't about to let a minor mishap spoil a much-anticipated sailing getaway. With possible breakdowns in mind, we think it's wise to build a fudge factor into your proposed itinerary in case you have issues to deal with or simply want to chill out for an extra day at one anchorage or another.
Over the years, the problems that we or our friends have had on rented boats have usually been similar issues to those you may have experienced on your own boat: a clogged head, a disintegrating impeller, torn sails, a frozen windlass, a shorted-out windlass controller, and a disconnected tranny linkage. During your pre-charter briefing at the charter base you'll probably be advised that if you have gear failures you should simply call the charter base and let the technicians deal with it. That's fine if you're sailing in a relatively small venue like the British Virgin Islands. But if you sail in more remote locations such as a far corner of the Sea of Cortez — and you're mechanically minded — you may want to do a little investigating on your own. We're not suggesting that you disassemble an engine or an air conditioning unit, but if you can unclog a drain, sewage line or pump, you might be able to keep your crew from grumbling, earn an extra ration of grog, and keep your trip on schedule. Besides that, you'll gain the personal satisfaction of knowing that you self-sufficient-
JULIE TURPIN
One time Wayne volunteered to climb into the engine compartment and see why our transmission wouldn't shift. He fixed it and was a hero.
Then there was the time a hatch dog failed and our bunk got soaked with gallons of green water. No worries. We dealt with it.
LATITUDE / ANDY
ly dealt with the problem, just as you'd need to do if you were out cruising. Sometimes it's not your own charter boat that has issues, but your neighbor's in an anchorage. Lending them a hand with minor repairs can be a great way to earn a few cocktails, or perhaps even strike up a lasting friendship. On most bareboats you'll be lucky if a screwdriver and a pair of pliers are Page 114 •
Latitude 38
• July, 2014
LATITUDE / ANDY
With reports this month on the Dealing with Inevitable Bareboat Gear Failures and A Troublesome Caribbean Charter with a Happy Ending.
supplied in the emergency kit, along with must-have elements like flares and bung plugs. Again, most charter companies do not encourage charterers to mess around with complicated gear. But if you're a handy guy or gal, we suggest you bring along a few basic ditty bag items such as a few lengths of Spectra line for lashing, a rigging knife, a Leatherman or similar, some sail repair tape, and yes, at least a few feet of duct tape. Hopefully, you'll never need any of it, but if you do you'll be really glad you brought it — and if these items help you solve a potentially debilitating boat problem, your boatmates will think you're a friggin' genius! Here's a case in point: One time when we were sailing on a long-haul island-hopping cruise with a flotilla of catamarans, the mainsheet block assembly broke loose from the traveler car on our buddy's boat. Luckily, he'd thrown a length of Spectra cordage into his seabag. Within minutes he'd lashed the car assembly back together and was able to use his mainsail for the rest of