SUMMER SAILING VACATION GUIDE

CRUISING
WORLDWIDE
DENMARK
MOROCCO
PHILIPPINES
EARLY CUBA

SOUTH PACIFIC
CYCLONES

BWS BOAT REVIEW

MOODY 54

1
MARCH 2018
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 { CONTENTS }

16 28
MARCH 2018

16 World Cruising 28 Cruising Life

Denmark Sailing to the Revolution
Part 1: Looking back at a family cruise that
From Liston on the Atlantic coast, they
cruise to Gibraltar, the south of Spain and took them straight into the Cuban revolution
the Balearic Islands by Mark Florman
by John Neal
34 Bluewater Adventure
Francois Gabart: Superman
The handsome, mild mannered Frenchman,
did the impossible when he knocked six days
off the solo round the world record
by Brian Hancock

38 Practical Passage
Cyclones in French Polynesia
When compared to other tropical cruising
paradises, French Polynesia is the least likey

24 to suffer hurricanes or cyclones

by Dr. John Freeland

24 Classic Passage 42 World Sailing Adventures

The Maiden Voyage 42 We Love Morocco
Part 1: Hong Kong to the Phillipines in the From Mallorca in Spain’s Balearic Islands, to
ongoing saga of the new Kraken 66 White Morocco and then the Canary Islands
Dragon’s maiden voyage from China to by John Neal and Amanda Swan Neal
Gibraltar 54 Summer Sailing Vacation Guide
by Dick Beaumont
New cruising grounds and new cruising skills

52 Blue Water Boats

Moody Deck Saloon 54
The new Bill Dixon design is a proper yacht
DEPARTMENTS that a couple could easily sail around the world
by George Day

6 Captain’s Log 66 Chandlery

8 Blue Water Dispatches 69 Brokerage Cover photo: Kraken 66 White Dragon
12 Biewenga Offshore 72 Classifieds in Madagascar
42 Charter Companies 74 Broad Reaching-Andy Cross Photo: Trystan Grace and Kraken Yachts

4 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018

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M
ost BWS readers are experienced sailors and many have
taken bareboat charters in the Caribbean and around the Volume 23, Number 2
states. But not all of us have had the chance to be the
actual skipper of a bareboat charter and there is a real Blue Water Sailing, LLC
747 Aquidneck Avenue, Suite 201
difference between sailing as crew and running the boat Middletown, Rhode Island 02842 - USA
as the skipper. phone: 401.847.7612 • fax: 401.845.8580
To begin with, the boat you have chartered is likely to be new to you and web: www.bwsailing.com
may be quite a lot newer and more modern than your own boat at home. SUBSCRIBER HOTLINE
In a monohull, it is likely that you will have an in-mast furling mainsail. 866-529-2921
If you haven’t sailed with one before, learning how it works and using it
safely requires a bit of study and some caution as you get used to handling
the outhaul and furling lines together to deploy and then reef and furl the
sail without jamming the system.
In a multihull, you will probably have a large, fully battened mainsail Editorial
with a boom that is quite high off the deck or above the flybridge. Get- Editor & Publisher George Day
ting the main halyard attached can require an acrobatic mast climb. These george@bwsailing.com
sails can be quite heavy and may have a double purchase on the halyard.
Editors-at-Large John Neal
Just raising it can be difficult without an electric winch or a way to lead Amanda Swan Neal
the halyard to the windlass. And, if you haven’t used an electric halyard Contributing Editors
winch, remember to watch the top of the sail as you hoist so you don’t rip Bill Biewenga,
the headboard out at the masthead. Patrick Childress, Rebecca Childress,
All charter boats have roller furling headsails and there are few of us who Pete Dubler, Heather Francis
have not sailed extensively with a roller furling genoa. But, as you are new
to the boat, the sails and the sheet leads, you will have to experiment with
Advertising Sales/Production
Art Director Sandy Parks
the position of the leads to make sure the headsail is setting properly and 401-847-7612 sandy@bwsailing.com
trimmed for optimum performance.
It’s the skipper’s job to make sure the full crew knows how to roll out, Ad Director Scott Akerman
hoist, reef and trim the sails so that everyone can take part in the sailing 207-939-5802 scott@bwsailing.com
process and so that sloppy sheet handling in a sudden squall doesn’t end up
with a damaged sail or a line overboard and wrapped around the propeller. Advertising Sales & Marketing Consultant
And, it’s the skipper’s job to know where and how to use all of the boat’s tomcat911@comcast.net Tom Casey
safety equipment including the radios, flares, flashlights, and fire extinguish-
ers. On the first day, it is prudent to run a quick man-overboard drill just to
get everyone aware of the danger of falling over the side and to appreciate
the maneuvers needed to make a safe recovery. Practicing a drill will help Circulation Customer Service
build your crew into a functioning team.
866-529-2921 (hours 8:30 am-7 pm EST)
Bareboats are usually well equipped but there are a few things we always
bring with us when we charter a boat. Here’s my list: a hand-held GPS, a Subscriptions:
Rates for one year): $29.95 in the
paper chart of the area we’ll be chartering, the local cruising guide, my own United States; $44.95 for Canadian subscriptions;
hand-held VHF, a couple of bright flashlights and at least one head lamp $64.95 (air) for all other foreign.
No foreign currency checks accepted.
with spare batteries, a roll of duct tape, a multifunction hand-tool, a good US$ only.
knife, my own mask, snorkel and fins, a simple fishing rig with a couple Blue Water Sailing is copyrighted 2018. All rights reserved.
Reprinting, photocopying or excerpting passages is
of lures and a good quality bottle- forbidden except by permission of the publisher.
opener with a corkscrew. Postmaster:
Being prepared is the essence of Send changes of address to: Blue Water Sailing,
P.O. Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000; Canadian Publications Mail
being a good skipper and getting ev- Agreement # 41760516. Return Undeliverable Canadian addresses to
P.O. Box 122, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6S8. Email Address -
eryone onboard up to speed on sail- custsvc_bluew@fulcoinc.com Ph: 866-529-2921
ing, safety and emergency procedures Blue Water Sailing USPS No. 014597
ISSN No. 1091-1979 is published monthly except in December,
is how a good skipper forms a good February and July by Day Communications, Inc. 747 Aquidneck Ave.,
crew that will not only enjoy being Middletown, RI. Periodicals Postage Paid at Newport RI 02840
and additional mailing offices.
in a fun charter destination but will
also have more fun sailing the boat.

photo by Bill Kund

6 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }
ANTIGUA
A sailor’s home away
from home in the Caribbean by George Day
L
ast fall, the Salty Dawg
Fall Rally, which usu-
ally ends at the Bitter
End Yacht Club in the
BVI, had to go to plan
B after Hurricanes Irma
and Maria devastated the Virgin
Islands. The obvious choice was
to end the rally in Antigua, which
had been only lightly hit by the
hurricanes and had all of its marine
services up and running.
There were over 70 boats in
last fall’s rally and about 50 of
them sailed straight to Antigua,
which added a day to the passage
as compared to making landfall
in the BVI. Rosie and I didn’t sail
down; instead, we made use of a
757 and then rented an Airbnb
overlooking Falmouth Harbour.
We did not have any sea stories to
tell from our trip. But that’s okay.
We were there as part of the
rally but only in a kind of unof-
8 BLUE WATER SAILING
ficial way. SDSA board member
Bob Osborne, sailed his Aerodyne
47 Pandora in the rally and was
instrumental in arranging for on
the ground support and events
when the fleet got there.
Antigua knows a thing or two
about hosting sailing events and
the rally arrived just at the start of
the winter season when there is
not a lot going on. So, marine ven-
dors, the Antigua Yacht Club, The
Inn at English Harbour and many
local businesses extended the fleet
a very warm welcome. There is no
question that Antigua has a
well-earned reputation for
being the sailing capital
of the Caribbean and the
island that sailors often call
their second home in the
Caribbean.
WHERE THE ACTION IS
For sailors there are Mill at Betty's Hope
three harbors that are both very
secure and well served by marinas,
anchorages and marine service
companies.
Jolly Harbour, on the island’s
west coast is part of a fully built-
out resort, condo-development
with a large marina. The Horizon
Yacht Charter fleet is based there.
Cruisers have access to good
nearby markets, restaurants and
ground transportation. If you are
leaving your boat for any length
of time, Jolly Harbour is a good
choice where it will be safe from
bad weather and also safe from
• March 2018
the possibility of theft. Plus, Cus-
toms and Immigration are right
next door, so coming and going is
fairly easy.
English Harbour at the south-
ern end of the island is where the
yachting business got its start in
Antigua after the second World
War. Commander Nicholson sailed
his 72-foot schooner Mollihawk
Shirley Heights
across the Atlantic from his home
in Ireland and launched the first tion. There are two hotels, the the place to do it. Marine service
sailing charter business in the Ca- Inn and the Copper & Lumber workers used to be very inex-
ribbean. The Nicholsons took up Store as well as a couple of good pensive but that is not the case
residence in English Harbour and restaurants. Sunsail Charters has anymore.
restored some of the old buildings their base here. Nearby you will English Harbour is the best
left behind by the vanished Brit- find a good grocery store, a North hurricane hole in Antigua since
ish Fleet. Sails loft, good canvas shops for its inner harbors are surrounded
English Harbour has a long repairs or new boat canvas, and a by mangroves that provide a very
and storied naval history and was couple of marine hardware stores. secure place to moor your boat
once home to Lord Nelson when Antiguans are famous for their when a big storm is forecast. Bar-
he was a young man. Today, the professional marine repairs and buda, Antigua’s sister island, was
whole Dockyard area is a national maintenance and if you want to leveled by Hurricane Maria last
monument and a tourist attrac- have your varnish renewed, this is summer and is only just beginning

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www.bwsailing.com 9
{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES }

beach bars or resorts. The most

to recover but Antigua was largely
spared.
Falmouth Harbour is a large
well protected bay just north of
English Harbour which has be-
come the winter home of many
large mega-yachts. Three large
marinas offer dock space at a price
and the open anchorage is very
secure. The Antigua Yacht Club is
open to the public and welcomes
cruisers and sailors with open
arms. This is a great place to meet
local sailors and to get involved
with the local racing scene. All
the marine service businesses that
serve English Harbour are also
right next to Falmouth Harbour.
CRUISING ANTIGUA
You can spend lots of time
exploring the bays and harbors
around Antigua and many of them
have beautiful beaches and good
popular are Falmouth and English
Harbour but once you have spent
time in these two it can be fun to
explore elsewhere.
All along the west side of the is-
land, inside Cades Reef along Goat
Head Channel, there are several at-
tractive anchorages where you will
find secure holding and relative
peace, except for the day tripping
cruise ship tourists who come and
go in high speed motorboats or
large catamarans. But these crowds
will be gone by late afternoon.
Five Island Harbour, just south
of the capital St. John’s is a good
place to anchor when you want to
make use of the shopping in the
town and Parham Harbour on the
northeast coast is a good place to
meet folks flying in to the airport
nearby.
The whole east coast of the

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10 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
 Devils Bridge
island is strewn with reefs and there are few channel
markers so you have to use eyeball navigation and
good light to stay in the channels. That said, there are
some good places to anchor that will not be overrun
by tourists and day trippers.
Our favorite anchorage, when there is not a big
easterly swell running, is behind Green Island on the
southeast corner of Antigua. The beach is beautiful
and the snorkeling and diving around the island
spectacular.

ANTIGUA ASHORE
There are a few touristy things to do ashore
that will be fun ways to stretch your legs and to get
to know more about the island. A visit to Betty’s
Hope, an old sugar cane mill, will give you a good
insight in to the history of Antigua and Barbuda. A
drive out to Devil’s Bridge on a day with big swells
running will give you a spectacular wave show. You
can climb the island’s tallest hill which was recently
renamed Mount Obama after our last president. It
used to be called Boggy Peak. The views are said to
be spectacular.
You don’t really go to the Caribbean for its fine
dining, but Antigua does have a few really good res-
taurants. You’ll them around Jolly Harbour and at
some of the resorts that are open to the public. Our
favorite is the Inn at English Harbour.
If you are in Antigua on Sunday, then the weekly
party at Shirley Heights overlooking English Har-
bour, is a fun way to end a weekend with a cold beer
or two and barbecue. The music is good, the food
delicious and the views as the sun sets beautiful. On
a clear evening, this is a prime spot to witness a green
flash as the sun sinks into the Caribbean.BWS

Falmouth Harbour

www.bwsailing.com 11
{ BILLBIEWENGA }

@Laurie Warner

,WVDFU\WKDWLVVRDODUPLQJWKDWLWVDJDLQVWWKHODZWRIDOVHO\VFUHDP
WKDWZRUGLQDPRYLHWKHDWHU,WVQROHVVDODUPLQJDWVHD%XWWKH
WLPHWRSUHSDUHIRUHPHUJHQFLHVLVORQJEHIRUHWKHGRFNOLQHVDUH
WRVVHGRII6DIHW\DWVHDEHJLQVQRZ

F
ire, of course is only one example of a
potential emergency offshore. I don’t con-
sider it any great claim to fame that I’ve
faced most of them already: heavy weather,
rigs over the side, structural failures, men
overboard, failed steering systems, water
gushing in through the bottom of the boat. The few
problems I haven’t faced, I don’t want to face. But
the fact remains that as long as I continue to click off
more sea miles, the possibility still exists that I might
have to confront a few more situations. Whether
we’re diehard racers or cruisers, whether we day sail
or prefer ocean crossings, safety and a knowledge of
how to handle emergencies is important for all of us to
know and understand. In fact, it may be more crucial
for those of us who cruise with a limited number of
crew. In an emergency, there will be fewer people to
help remedy the situation. It could be more critical
12
for us to know how best to deploy the right solution
for a given emergency.
A few years of experience and dealing with more
than a few problems has certainly helped me to
realize that I prefer problem avoidance to problem
solving. Even the best preparations, however, do not
eliminate the possibility of emergencies. People get
sick, weather forecasts go bust, leaks occur, wiring
short circuits and problems arise. It happens. Fortu-
nately for all of us there are people in this country
and around the world who are dedicated to helping
sailors better understand safety at sea and how to be
prepared for most of the common emergencies one
might run into “out there”. Now, during the North-
ern Hemisphere winter and spring, we have some of
the best opportunities available to sharpen our safety
at sea skills.
Perhaps one of the best ways in which we can
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
 { OFFSHORE }

improve those skills is by taking a US Sailing Safety

At Sea Seminar. (See: www.ussailing.org/education/
safety-at-sea/) Whether you’re a racer preparing for an
offshore race or a cruiser planning to take your family
down the coast, attending the lectures presented by
experienced, knowledgeable sailors will help you to
develop emergency plans and select and better un-
derstand the appropriate equipment. US Sailing offers
four types of courses, based upon the type of sailing
you’re planning to do and how you would prefer to
take those courses. For blue water sailors, there is the
Offshore Safety at Sea course, a one day lecture-type
series, and the two-day International Offshore Safety Learn best case scenarios for man overboard maneuvers
at Sea with Hands-on Training. at safety-at-sea classes
US Sailing’s one day Offshore Safety at Sea seminar
covers personal safety gear, man overboard proce- discuss how best to use it and what are its limitations.
dures, emergency communications and search and Time is spent with each person getting into a life raft
rescue as well as heavy weather, storm sails, crew so they thoroughly understand the best procedures
health, jury rigging, life rafts and other topics. tThe for getting into a raft, how various rafts work and
topics are presented by people who understand the are re-righted if necessary, and what the value of the
subject matter intimately, and they are there to help features are that they may have on their own life rafts.
spread their knowledge to other sailors. Attendees actually fire off flares so they understand
The two day course with hands-on training includes how to safely use those pieces of equipment if neces-
time in a pool, as you actually inflate your lifejacket to sary, and they hear from additional experts on topics
 such as life slings, rigging and deployment of storm sails. To find
out the location of US Sailing’s Safety at Sea Seminars, please see:
www.ussailing.org/education/safety-at-sea/find-a-seminar-near-you/
If you have the mistaken impression that jumping into the water
with an inflated personal flotation device, unequipped with leg /
crotch straps will be fine, you should try it in a pool – with super-
vision. The experience will be enlightening.
Of course, not everyone can get to a suitable location, so US
Sailing has made courses also available online. Those can be found
at: www.boaterexam.com/sailing/safetyatsea/
Additionally, numerous experts have contributed to US Sailing’s
Safety at Sea book, The 220-page book was written to help people
better understand how to deal with many of the common emer-
gencies encountered while at sea. You can find the book online at:
www.landfallnavigation.com/us-sailing. The book presents real life
situations by people who know what they’re talking about. Regard-
less of how experienced you might be, I’m sure you will find new
and interesting approaches to safety in this book. I have, and the
review is always helpful.
US Sailing isn’t the only organization offering insights into safety
issues encountered at sea. The Storm Trysail Club is, and has been,
a strong advocate and educator on how to effectively deal with
problems at sea. For years they have also offered hands-on training

14 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018

and junior safety programs. For a modest fee to help
cover costs, sailors can conveniently access videos
covering a variety of topics:
Practical Man Overboard Recovery (24 mins.)
Understanding Weather (23 mins.)
Understanding Offshore Weather (24 mins.)
Flares and Pyrotechnic Devices (6 mins.)
Storm Sails (12 mins.)

“
Shipboard Firefighting Strategies (4 mins.)
Fighting Shipboard Fires (7 mins.) Our customers have high
Personal Safety Equipment (27 mins.) expectations for their yachts,
Cold water survival & Life Rafts (3 min.) and Alexseal delivers on them.
Deploying a Life Raft (6 mins.)
(See: https://stormtrysailfoundation.org/21- We’ve been spraying Alexseal
safety/114-safety-at-sea-videos) since we went into business and
For sailors interested in how to steer a boat that it’s made us believers.”
has lost its rudder, I would suggest watching Mike
Keyworth’s video available for free at: www.youtube.
com/watch?v=ABSCT7y9vnI&feature=youtu.be JB Turner
Regardless of where you get your information, it is President and GM, Front Street Shipyard
worthwhile to put yourself in front of the knowledge
that will serve you and your crew well. Now is the
time of year during which you can prepare yourselves
for the summer ahead. Having a “pizza night” with
your crew, during which you watch some of the above
videos, you can add to your planning session while
potentially making a critical difference in your own
safety and that of your crew.
Several years ago, George David, owner of Rambler,
the 100’ record setting sailboat, privately arranged for
Dan O’Connor to oversee a safety at sea pool session
for his crew. Dan is the man who has overseen the
pools sessions for the US Sailing Safety at Sea Semi-
nar at the U.S. Naval Academy as well as numerous
other events, and he represents the type of quality of
speakers that are available at other safety at sea events.
Other boat owners have privately arranged to have
personalized weather seminars presented to their
crews or yacht clubs. The Cruising Club of America
makes materials available for groups to host their
own “Suddenly Alone” program – now called “Safety
for Cruising Couples”. (See: www.cruisingclub.org/
safety/suddenly)
Surround yourself with knowledgeable people, and
learn all you can so you can contribute solutions when
the inevitable problems arise. The talent that you help
to create will be there when you need talent the most. ALEXSEAL.COM
BWS
EU: +49 (40) 75 10 30 > USA: +1 (843) 654 7755
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

www.bwsailing.com 15
{ WORLDCRUISING }
:LWKDFKDQJLQJFDVWRIFUHZWKHVNLSSHURI
6N\ODUNVDLOVXSWKH1RUWK6HDIURP+ROODQG
WR6ZHGHQGRZQWKH%DOWLF6HDWR*HUPDQ\
DQGKRPHWKURXJKWKH.LHO&DQDO

CIRCUMNAVIGATING
Denmark in Six Weeks by George DuBose, photos by Skylark's crew

E
v e r y s u m m e r, m y
teenage sons have six-
week summer holi-
days allowing me and
my 1973 Pearson 36,
Skylark to visit more
distant European harbors from
her European base in Enkhuizen,
The Netherlands. We did the Malts
Cruise, several trips to the Channel
Islands, the 2015 America’s Cup
trials in Portsmouth, UK and the
summer of 2017, we sailed around
Denmark. All the way around.
For these longer trips, I begin
a call for crew the preceding fall.
Also, I place an ad on Crewfinder.
com detailing the tour I was plan-
16
ning and Virgilio F. contacted me
wanting more information. Virgilio
is from Portugal, speaks and reads
English very well and is building
sea miles. I informed him that he
could join the boat in The Neth-
erlands and remain onboard until
the Admiral (my wife) arrives.
The plan was to reach as far east
as Sassnitz on the island of Rügen
in Germany. Sassnitz was once a
major East German ferry port and
I thought it would be easy to reach
for my wife and one son by the
good German train system.
As winter turned to spring,
Dominic, an English sailor and old
friend signed on, followed by Paul,
an American friend and finally,
Rick, another American friend
from my college days. It was ar-
ranged that Richard, Jack, Virgilio
and myself would take Skylark
to Gothenburg and make a crew
change. Richard and Jack only had
one week and that got them to Go-
thenburg. Dominic and Paul would
arrive in Gothenburg and help me
get Skylark to Copenhagen.
Crossing the North Sea wasn’t
the highlight of the tour. It all
started well enough. Richard’s
baggage had been left in Frankfurt
and was to be delivered later to
Schiphol, Jack, his son, was flying
into Schiphol and would collect
BLUE WATER SAILING • October 2017
Richard’s bag. Rather than wait for
Jack at Skylark’s Dutch marina, we
decided to head for Vlieland, one
of the Dutch Friesen Islands eight
hours away where Jack met us by
high-speed ferry.
PASSAGE TO GOTHENBURG
The next morning, July 18th,
we left Vlieland at 0930 and
headed northeast to Skagen, DK.
Of course, the wind was coming
from the northeast but the weather
was sunny. Our first evening, the
sky was clear and there was no
land on the western horizon, so
there a chance of seeing a green
flash. Over evening cocktails, we
watched the sun slowly set and just
as it dipped below the horizon, we
saw not only a green flash, but the
green flash was followed a nano-
second later by a smaller blue flash.
I have seen green flashes at sunrise,
double green flashes at sunset, but
never a green/blue combo.
That night, the skies turned
grey and began to drizzle off and
on for the next two days. The
winds were from the northeast
and reached 25 knots in the gusts.
I had prepared chili con carne and
spaghetti sauce in advance to cut
down on cooking in a seaway and
it was good that I did. As it was, we
ate chili for three meals in a row.
The waves seemed to be com-
ing from two directions and, since
Skylark has a fin keel, she was be-
ing tossed around and wanted to
be steered by hand. The autopilot
wasn’t keeping up with the wave
action. Even though Skylark has
several good sea-berths with lee
cloths, we were having a very
bumpy ride and sleep was difficult.
By the time we reached Ska-
gen, the weather was still lousy. We
were into our third day crossing
the North Sea, so we decided not
to stop and continued on straight
www.bwsailing.com
to Gothenberg, Sweden.
I had just updated the Navion-
ics compact flash cards for the trip.
At €100 for each chart card, I had
my local boatyard do the updates
for me. But, when I changed the
chart card from the UK/Neth-
erlands to Skagen/Kattegat, the
chartplotter began to freeze leav-
ing one-to-two minute lags in the
ship’s position. Navigating through
a narrow, but well-marked channel
in the rocky islands southwest of
Gothenberg and having the chart-
plotter freeze wasn’t relaxing.
When we reached Gothenberg,
I sent emails to Navionics and to
Raymarine to ask if it was a chart
problem or a problem with the
chartplotter. Should I refresh the
system of the chartplotter? Ray-
marine said that wouldn’t help and
Navionics told me that the prob-
lem was my old chartplotter. Ap-
parently, Navionics chart updates
are designed for Raymarine’s newer
MFDs and that there is a problem
with using these updates on a nine-
year-old chartplotter.
I was instructed to put the
Feeding the crew from dog bowls when in
a seaway has been a long tradition aboard
Skylark. The bowls don't slip or tip
Navionics card into my laptop’s
card reader and delete the “data”
file and all files ending in .bp2. The
Skagerrak/Kattegat card worked
smoothly after that so I removed
these files from my other two
newly updated cards. Somebody
should have told me before.
Reaching Gothenberg 85 hours
after leaving Vlieland, we motored
up the harbor to the marina that
is closest to the center of the city,
right next to the Gothenberg Opera
House. Richard and Jack left on
Sunday, July 23rd and Dominic and
Paul arrived on Monday, July 24th.
DOWN THE KATTEGAT
We left for the Danish island,
Læsø, on Tuesday, July 25th, and
arrived late in the afternoon. The
day sail was only about 55 miles
and we arrived in Vestero Havn.
We called the harbormaster on
the VHF, who said he would meet
us in the harbor. We spotted the
young harbormaster in an inflat-
able and he signaled us to follow
him. As we entered the marina, I
didn’t see any spaces available. I
17

Docking is not for the faint of heart;
Skylark at the Darsser Ort dock
did notice that the boats packed
into the harbor were fixed to
buoys by single stern lines. The
young man stopped and pointed
at the moored boats and said, “Go
in there.”
“Go in where?”, I replied.
I didn’t see any spaces available.
Evidently, one just slowly pushes
one’s bow into the pack and the
new neighbors fend you off
with boathooks and roving
fenders. The final trick is to
catch the ring on the stern
mooring buoy and use the
tension on the stern line to
keep one’s bow off the dock.
Who says old dogs can’t learn
new tricks?
The fairway in Vestero’s
harbor was so narrow that
while maneuvering out of the
pack the following morning,
our prop caught one of the
lines from the stern buoys.
Of course, all the Danes and
Swedes were watching our
“haven kino” to see what we
were going to do. Paul didn’t
hesitate to dive under Skylark
and untangle the buoy line
from our prop while the rest of
us made sure that we didn’t play
bumper cars with the other boats
in the tiny harbor.
We left Læsø for Anholt, a small-
er Danish island with only one
harbor. We sailed past what was
described as the world’s largest
wind park. I thought I had
already seen that on the west
coast of Denmark, after we
sailed all night past a steady
line of distant blinking red
lights. Again, we were faced
with the stern line, catch the
ring on the buoy and squeeze
into the scrum.
Anholt is a treat and has
a long history as a strategic
military point in the Katte-
gat. There is a small selection
of restaurants and shops near
the harbor, but one can rent
a bicycle and pedal up the
long steep hill to the village.
The village consists of small
year-round houses, vacation
homes, a few more restau-
rants and that’s it. Eighty
percent of the island is what
they call Ørkenen, “the des-
ert”. Acres of unfarmed land the
east end of which is home to the
largest seal colony in Denmark.
COPENHAGEN
From Anholt, we headed to-
wards Copenhagen and since we
wouldn’t reach the capitol until
sometime in the evening, we de-
cided to anchor in a cove on the
north shore of the Isefjord, near
Nykøbing on the island of Zealand.
The cove was well-sheltered and
had good holding in mud.
The following morning, we head-
ed towards Copenhagen and had
to fight a strong northerly current
for several hours in the channel
between Hamlet’s castle and the
Swedish shore. As we approached
Copenhagen, we opted to find a
slip in Svanemollehavnen marina.
We were beginning to experi-
ence harbormaster phone num-
bers and VHF calls that weren’t
being answered. The rest of the
Danish marinas we visited in the
following days had automatic ma-
chines that when presented with
a credit card would print out a
proof-of-payment sticker to fix to
one’s bowrail and also a card for
electricity use and showers. One
could “load” the card with money
for showers for the whole crew
and actually get a refund for any
unused money to one’s credit card
when checking out.
When we learned just how far
Svanemollehavnen was from Co-
penhagen’s center, we thought
about trying to berth in the small
marina directly in the center of
town, but surveying that harbor
after we taxied into the center
of town, we decided it was too
crowded and too noisy.
The following morning, we left
Svanemollehavnen early and went
to Langelinie Havn, the marina
next to the famous Little Mermaid
statue. We learned that it was im-
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
portant when trying to get a slip in
a popular marina during the holi-
day season, to arrive very early and
wait for a departing boat to vacate
a slip. This strategy served us well
for the rest of the tour.
There was a Netto supermarket
a few blocks from Langelinie Havn
and I was happy that I brought
along a folding hand truck, as car-
rying 22-liter bottles of drinking
water back to the boat was made
much simpler. Although Skylark’s
freshwater tanks are clean and
treated seasonally with water
purifying chemicals, I prefer not
to trust unknown tap water from
the docks.
Having never visited Copenha-
gen and knowing what an interest-
ing and historic city it is, we did
the tourist thing...took a bus tour
around the city and then extended
our tour by taking an open tour
boat around the channels that
make up Copenhagen.
Copenhagen was and is a very
wealthy city, the kings and queens
having “his” and “hers” castles and
much of the older architecture is
unique. In Copenhagen, Dominic
and Paul left Skylark and my col-
lege pal, Rick, arrived. Virgilio was
into his third week on board and
proving to be a real asset. He was
showing me features of my chart-
plotter that I wasn’t aware of and I
was correcting some of his knots.
We headed south for the harbor
of Rødvig and again, found no har-
bormaster present. But the showers
were clean and there turned out
to be an excellent Thai restaurant
nearby.
The next port-of-call was Gedser,
in the most southern part of Den-
mark. Great showers, diesel paid
with a card, but the town, once
a thriving ferry port and fishing
harbor, seemed to be in decline
with the ferries relocated, the train
station closed and no convenient
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restaurant. We had so
much food on board
that it was a relief to
have to eat on board.
ON TO GERMANY
Virgilio left us at
Gedser. Rick and I
filled the diesel tanks
and left for Sassnitz,
originally a ferry port on the East
German island of Rügen, near the the harbor, we just tied alongside.
Polish border. I was to meet my As we began our cocktail hour,
wife and one of my sons in Sass- we saw plenty of cranes and herons
nitz, who were taking a train from along the marshy shore and, later,
Cologne where we live. we were surprised to see an eight-
I read in one of my English cruis- point buck appear on the shore.
ing guides to the Baltic Sea, that The following morning, we
there was an emergency harbor arose early, made a nice American
called Darsser Ort, in a German breakfast of pancakes, maple syrup
Nationalpark Vorpommersche, and bacon and left the harbor.
near the town of Vingst. I was Again, there were no buoys mark-
curious about this harbor and the ing the channel and this time we
cruising guide warned it is neces- ran aground. Hard. Not knowing
sary to check the channel depth, as where the channel was for sure and
it is often silted in and for Skylark’s knowing that Skylark’s keel doesn’t
six-foot draft, unapproachable. like to reverse when aground, we
Thanks to the AIS onboard, I tried to turn the boat around. The
saw that there was a boat in the depth sounder showed 14 feet, but
emergency harbor. The AIS further we weren’t moving. We were think-
informed me that the boat was a ing of inflating the dinghy and us-
German search and rescue vessel ing a leadline to find the channel,
named Theo Fischer. I radioed the then kedge off, when we saw the
vessel and asked how deep was daughter ship approaching.
the channel into the harbor. They They very kindly pulled us
replied, “Three meters.” around by the bow and off the edge
Noticing that there were no of the channel into deep water.
buoys marking the channel, we They explained that the channel
proceeded slowly and entering had only been dredged the previ
the harbor saw that
there was not only The ever-vigilant Theo Fischer, a
one boat,but two. Theo German SAR vessel with its daughter
ship pulled up on to its stern.
Fischer had a daugh-
ter boat on her stern.
Ms. Fischer was prob-
ably 25 meters long
and the daughter boat
was at least 10 meters.
We approached a low
wooden bridge and
since we were the only
recreational vessel in
{ WORLDCRUISING }
Some tourists ride the covered wagons to get a
guided tour of Hiddensee, others choose to rent
bicycles. E-bikes are a great invention
ous week, so the sides were very
steep, going from three meters to
half a meter in just a short distance.
The buoys were to be reinstalled
the following week.
Pointing us in the right direc-
tion, off we went. Favorable winds
drove us along the north coast of
Rügen, past the chalk cliffs, one of
which is the famous “Konigstuhl”
(King’s chair). Apparently, all the
chalk cliffs on Rugen have names.
We reached Sassnitz in the
early afternoon and entered the
large former ferry harbor. We
stopped at a new marina that
wasn’t there when we had visited
by land 15 years earlier. The Ger-
man government has plowed a lot
of money into the infrastructure
of East Germany. There were now
several major supermarkets in
town and artists had moved into
unused buildings and turned them
into studios.
When my wife arrived, there
was a music and art festival run-
ning. The ambience of Sassnitz
and its waterfront had undergone
a remarkable improvement. The
only problem I found in Sassnitz
was that the marina had no washer
or dryer and the whole town of
Sassnitz had no laundromat. So, it
was back to washing in a bucket
20
and drying on the lifelines.
From Sassnitz, my wife, son
and I headed for the island of Hid-
densee. The approach to the har-
bors on the west side of Hiddensee
is through some very narrow, but
well-marked channels. It was a bit
unnerving to be motoring in the
three meter deep narrow chan-
nel to the recommended harbor
at Klöster and seeing ducks and
swans standing just 10 meters
away.
Again, arriving around noon
meant we could get a slip in the
very popular small harbor there.
Hiddensee is an old tourist destina-
tion and there are no cars allowed
on the island. There are plenty of
bike rentals and using an e-bike
was a blessing for my old knees.
After Hiddensee, my fam-
ily and I headed to Warnemünde
near Rostock. My wife went to
pay for the slip, returning with
the complaint that the marina
had doubled the normal price. It
was the weekend of the HansaSail
Rostock, a two-day festival of tall
ships. The German navy’s sail
training ship Gorsch Fock, a three
master from Brazil and many old
gaffers from Denmark, Sweden
and The Netherlands were parad-
ing up and down the Warne river.
For two nights we were treated to
world-class firework shows 500
meters from our slip. Well worth
the extra 20 euros.
From Warnemünde, we headed
to the German island of Fehmarn
and got a slip in the marina at
Burgtiefe. There was a sandy beach
there with a waterpark. That meant
my son wanted to stay another
day to play on the waterslides and
trampolines. I, on the other hand,
occupied myself half a day battling
for the washing machines and
dryers to catch up on the laundry
chores.
THE KIEL CANAL
After Fehmarn, we went to Kiel
to be close to the entrance of the
Kiel Canal as I was planning to
head west through the canal after
my wife and son departed and my
two Dutch crewmen, Casper and
Krijn, arrived.
That day, the chartplotter be-
gan to lose the GPS status and
although we could see the chart
and embedded information, the
boat’s position wasn’t showing up.
My 30-year-old Magellan Pioneer
handheld had finally given up the
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
ghost. I googled reviews of the
best new handheld GPSs and the
Garmin 78 series seemed to have
the best reports. Then I googled
where in Kiel I would find one
and the only result I found was at
the German chain of chandleries
named A.W. Niemeyer.
The Garmin 78 out of the box
only came with a “world chart”
giving no buoyage or depth de-
tails. To get a Garmin chart of the
North Sea would take three days
so I was going to have to content
myself with using the Garmin to My Dutch crewmen at the helm of Skylark
during her one-day transit of the Kiel Canal.
get a fix and then placing that on
my paper chart. slackened and after four hours we and downstream. Very fascinat-
Since arriving in The Nether- reached the marina at Cuxhaven. ing, but at the same time nerve-
lands, I have learned how to nego- The following morning, we topped wracking.
tiate locks. I was a bit intimidated off the fuel and water tanks,
by the fact that large ocean-going headed back out into the Elbe HOMEWARD BOUND
freighters use the Kiel Canal and and headed down river towards We had departed at daylight
my options were either transiting the North Sea. The Elbe carves a in order to see and be seen by the
the 50 mile long canal from east deep channel through its delta and heavy river traffic, but that meant
to west in one day or stopping at one has to watch the chart and the we were again fighting the current
one of the midway marinas. It isn’t buoys carefully. There are drying flowing into the Elbe, but un-
permitted for recreational craft to sand banks on both sides of the like the day before, the wind had
be on the canal after sundown. channel. turned to the north and was blow-
My Dutch crew and I arrived On top of navigating carefully, ing the same direction the tide was
at the east entrance of the canal one has to watch for the dozens of flowing, which meant we faced a
at 0700 and had to wait about 45 ocean-going freighters, container headwind all the way to Helgoland
minutes for permission to enter ships and pilot boat heading up island, our next port-of-call.
the locks. We tied to a floating
platform and waited for the water The harbor at Helgoland is divided by moles
level to rise and the gate to open. and the yacht harbor often experiences
Then, it was pedal to the metal, over-crowding with yachts rafted together,
3000 rpms for the next nine hours sometimes 5-6 boats deep.
to the lock that takes you to the
Elbe River.
As we left the canal and en-
tered the river, my crew was on
the foredeck stowing the mooring
lines and suddenly we were in a
wind against tide situation with
one meter waves every two meters.
My crew got soaked immediately
before I could tell them to get off
the pitching bow and back in the
cockpit.
We battled the waves and
southerly currents for two hours
before the current in the Elbe
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{ WORLDCRUISING }
Skylark is a regular visitor to the small and always crowded
harbor on Vlieland, one of the Dutch Friesen islands. The
harbormasters know her from her frequent visits and always
find a space. Again, it’s always good to arrive in the morning
when boats are leaving.
The yacht harbor on Helgo-
land is not small, but it can often
be filled with yachts rafting five
deep from the docks. Such was the
case for us, but we were only the
third boat out on our raft, with the
other two boats initially trying to
discourage us from tying to them
by telling us that they were leaving
at 0500.
I know this trick. No one likes
drunken sailors stomping across
their foredeck or falling in their
cockpit at 0200. The good news
was that both the other boats were
going to be leaving at the same
time and we would be able to tie
directly to the dock, allowing us to
reach shore power.
We had a very nice meal at the
“Bunte Kuh” (colored cow) and
spent the next day sightseeing and
shopping for bargains. Hordes of
tourists arrived on passenger fer-
ries in the morning and departed
in the afternoon and several yachts
were having cases of booze deliv-
ered to the dockside for loading.
The morning of Thursday,
August 23rd, we left for Vlieland,
where we originally departed The
Netherlands. There are four ship-
ping lanes that follow the Dutch
22
and German coasts in an east/west
direction. Our chartplotter was
giving us fixes on a schedule of its
own so we had to keep a careful
watch.
As we sailed west, it took us
almost all day to pass another
wind park. It seems there is no
end to the development of these
wind parks in the seas around The
Netherlands, Germany and Den-
mark. Though rather unsightly,
they don’t really seem to be a risk
to navigation, although they might
be problematic in a fog and high
seas. Besides wind parks, the North
I spied what appeared to be a 300 meter freighter, as
we got closer I was amused to see what I had thought
was a freighter was in fact...an oil platform
Sea is also peppered with
oil and gas platforms.
Continuing to sail with
a south-east breeze, we
headed west outside the
northern most shipping
lane. The weather forecast
told us that the winds were
to change from the south-
east to the southwest some-
time in the early morning
of the next day. We wanted
to position ourselves north
of the Vlieland/Terschelling
channel so we would reach
it on a good point of sail.
We had dinner as the sun
set and began the night
watch schedule.
Around 0300, the wind died
and then began to pick up from
the southwest. We were sailing due
south towards Vlieland. At 0400,
Krijn and I were on watch and as
we approached the east-bound
lanes, I spied what appeared to be a
300 meter freighter. The nearer we
got to the ship, the more it became
apparent that the ship was moving
very slowly.
Our AIS was not showing any
ships at all or our ship’s position. I
kept my eyes on the large freigher.
I could see the well-lit bridge deck
on the stern and what appeared to
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
be white lights on the bow. As we
got closer, it looked as if the ship
was at anchor. I thought they might
be waiting to enter a German port
for loading and were anchored to
save fuel. Closer and closer we
approached and I began to debate
crossing in front of the massive
freighter or being more prudent and
going around her stern.
When I finally took out the
binoculars to have a closer look,
I was amused to see what I had
thought was a freighter was in The usual lock scrum. The Dutch have no qualms about
pushing each other around in the locks. If there is a race
fact...an oil platform. The bow going on, they forget all their manners entirely.
lights were a smaller ship, now
moving away to the east.
When we finally reached the voltmeter showed both banks 3GM30F’s freshwater pump was
entrance to the small harbor at were being charged at 18 volts! I wobbly. I think one of the water
Vlieland, it was around 0700 and quickly disconnected the cables pump’s bearings had gone south.
a call to the harbormaster was to the engine bank and turned the So, the chartplotter isn’t receiving
answered by a machine with the battery switch so the house bank satellite data, the freshwater pump
message that there were no va- wasn’t being charged. The engine is history and the Balmar alterna-
cancies. We anchored out of the had been making a strange sound tor is on the fritz. Luckily, this all
channel next to the entrance and related to the rpms. happened at the end of what was
took naps. Around 1000, I radioed So, the next day after tidy- otherwise, my best cruise to date.
BWS
and got one of the harbormasters ing up Skyark, I disconnected
on the VHF who ho replied that he the alternator belt and seawater George DuBose is an American liv-
would call us after 1100 and would pump belt to see what was mak- ing in Cologne, Germany. He sails
surely have a berth for us. ing an odd sound and quickly his boat Skylark, a 1973 Pearson 36
A day spent biking through the saw that the pulley on the Yanmar with family and friends.
dunes of Vlieland out to the Old
Post House for coffee and cakes
was a nice well-repeated habit of The massive lock doors at the east
Skylark’s crews and the next morn- entrance to the Kiel Canal slide across
ing we timed our departure with the lock rather than swing open and
the rising tide that would push us shut. There are floating platforms that
up the channel towards Harlingen, one secures one’s mooring lines too
and the platform rises and falls with
Netherlands on the mainland. the lock’s water level
When we reached the lock at
Kornwerderzand and the north-
east entrance to the IJsselmeer,
there was quite a scrum of boats
to get into the lock. We were cut
off by what I thought were very
rude Dutchmen who jumped the
que and then didn’t moor closely
enough to the boat in front of
them, leaving Skylark barely fitting
into the lock.
Once through, one of the
Dutch crew told me that the ship’s
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{ CLASSICPASSAGE }

The Maiden Voyage

3DUW2QH+RQJ.RQJWRWKH3KLOLSSLQHV
LQWKHRQJRLQJVDJDRIWKHQHZ.UDNHQ
:KLWH'UDJRQVPDLGHQYR\DJHIURP
&KLQDWR*LEUDOWDU by Dick Beaumont

fishing tackle, dive spectacular Victoria Harbour.

gear, hoses, pipes Our first leg was Hong Kong to
and every con- Subic in the Philippines. This is a
ceivable tool 576-mile passage and should take
we might need us three days. The weather GRIB
have now been files were showing perfect 17-to-
stowed away for 20 knot southeast winds for the
the first leg of first two days but this stretch of
the trip. And we the South China Sea is notorious
have provisioned for testing fresh crews with stron-
up with special ger winds than forecast. So, no
one was surprised when the wind

W
e be able to find easily on
were finally
ready to leave
Hong Kong
on the Krak-
en 66 flagship White Dragon’s
18,000-mile voyage to Gibraltar.
We were a couple of days later
than intended, but that’s how it
normally goes when getting ev-
erything done before departure
It’s been a frantic few days
as we filled all of White Dragon’s
storage spaces with food and
drink plus all the paraphernalia
one needs to be self-sufficient for
an extended period at sea. Spares,
filters, oils, sprays, glues, tapes,
24
items that we may not
our voyage. Steve and Jack kindly
brought a huge pack of 1000 PG
Tips tea bags out from the U.K.,
so a good cup of tea will be as-
sured for a good while!
We waved goodbye to the
Kraken Yachts team of Roger,
Sasha, Carrie, Raymond and
Filip on the fueling dock at Gold
Coast Yacht Club and headed out
towards the South China Sea and
the open ocean. White Dragon’s
crew of Clive, Steve, Jack, Mike
and I busied ourselves stowing
the fenders and mooring lines and
securing everything below decks
as we sailed through Hong Kong’s
built to 25 knots during the first
few hours then steadily increased
to 30-to-35 knots on the beam. We
reefed down for the first night but
still made 8 knots through 10-foot
seas. White Dragon, older sister of
the Kraken 50, was in her element
as she stretched her legs and rev-
eled in the conditions.
THE FIRST NIGHT
& LANDFALL SUBIC
The first night was uneventful
as the crewmembers found their
sea legs and we settled into our
watch system. With five crew
we run rolling watches. The first
crew had two hours on helm full
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
watch. Then as the next crew
comes on watch the first watch
crew becomes standby watch
for two hours in the cockpit.
As the second watch crew
is relieved at the helm the
first watch crew then goes
below off-watch. I think
this is an excellent system
because off-watch crew
rarely gets woken for sail
changes since there are
always two crew in the
cockpit at any time. Once
off-watch, each crew member
has six hours in his bunk if
needed.
We had prepared pre-cooked
meals before leaving Hong Kong
so no one needed to spend much gone down
time in the galley in the first few to six feet. Since
days. The wind stayed on the we only had 50 miles to go,
beam at 30 knots and we were I decided to keep sailing at top way safely in and dropped anchor
running at 8 to 9 knots. speed aiming so we could anchor in 60 feet on a sandy seabed at
As we sailed into the lee of for the night in a beautiful bay 2200 hours.
Luzon, The Philippines, the just outside Subic Bay. White We awoke early to weigh an-
dawn broke and the wind began Dragon performed beautifully, chor at 0700 hours for the short
to ease slowly. By midday we had exactly how any luxury sailing run round into Subic Bay and tied
18-to-25 knots slightly aft of the yacht should do. We used the in- up at Subic Bay Yacht Club at
beam and the wave height had valuable forward sonar to con our 1000 hours. White Dragon had ex

www.bwsailing.com 25
{ CLASSICPASSAGE }

ceeded our best expectations and

maintained just under 9 knots for
the duration of the trip. She had
coped beautifully with quite big
seas coming dead across the beam
and she maintained a very steady
motion the whole way. All in all,
it was an excellent passage for the
first leg of our big trip.
We stayed a few days in
Subic adding more provisions and
going out to dive on the wreck of
the SS New York. We normally
dive directly from White Dragon
but were not permitted to do so
on the wrecks in Subic without a
licensed dive guide.
SUBIC TO CORON
We left Subic at midday to sail
140 miles overnight to Coron.
Then, to liven things up a bit,
just as we were about to set the
sails at the mouth of Subic Bay,
the port side
trolling reel screamed
out. Jack duly landed a 25-pound
Spanish mackerel, which is one of
the tastiest game fish in the sea!
We picked up a 15 knot south-
erly wind and cracked on again
averaging 8 knots for the trip.
As we approached Coron, the
wind increased to 20-to-25 knots
and shifted to ESE. Coron is a
great area to cruise and dive be-
cause there’s always good shelter,
many safe anchorages and almost
y e a r- r o u n d
good winds to sail
by. Coron is an interesting small
town and diving tourism means
there are plenty of good bars and
restaurants. La Sirena is our fa-
vorite. It is located on the seafront
in the west town anchorage and
is an excellent place to eat great
Filipino food or kick back and
relax with a sundowner.
All the crew on White Dragon
are avid wreck divers. So, the
wrecks of the Japanese auxiliary
fleet in Coron Bay were high on
our target list. Thanks to great
visibility of 60-feet plus, they
didn’t disappoint. These wrecks
are not where they are shown
on the chart. But, luckily, I had
visited here 10 years before on
my previous boat Moonshadow
and had kept the GPS positions
for the best wrecks. So, all went
well. We dived on five of the
wrecks during our three-day stop
in Coron.
CORON TO PRINCESA
We needed to leave Coron a
day early. Despite being assured
by Customs and Immigration
at Subic that we could clear
out of the Philippines
at Coron, there is in
fact no customs
and mmigration
o f f i c e t h e re .
So, we had
to change
our plan.
Instead
of sailing
from Coron
to Kota
Kinabalu,
Borneo,
Malaysia,
we had to
divert down
the east coast
of Palawan to
clear out at Puer-
to Princesa. White
Dragon’s bimini gives
www.bwsailing.com
much needed shade under a tropi-
cal sun; another aspect of great
yacht design.
The passage was 270 miles.
Despite a forecast of very light
winds after the Coron area, we
had a great sail all the way, again
averaging 8 knots for the passage.
We stopped at a reef 40 miles
from Puerto Princesa to dive and
were treated to a fantastic aerial
display by a feeding thresher
shark. It jumped 10 feet clear of
the water before crashing back
into the sea, slapping its tail on
the surface to stun its prey. The
shark jumped several times only
50 feet from the yacht, but, un-
fortunately, we didn’t get to see
it underwater.
We continued on after the dive
and sailed right into Puerto Princ-
esa Bay, heading over to the quaint
and friendly Puerto Princesa Yacht
Club. The yachties there directed
us to customs and immigration and
we rode into town on one of the
thousands of motorized tricycles.
This is not the most comfortable
mode of transport, but it’s certainly
one of the most economical! Our
trike driver took us to town and
drove us around then back to
the yacht club. The three
hours cost 360 pesos
(just over $4) for two
people!
After clearing
customs, we
set sail from
Puerto Princ-
esa with a
great 16
knot breeze
on our beam,
heading for
Kota Kinaba-
lu. Malaysia,
here we come.
BWS
In Part Two of
this series, White
Dragon sails on to
Maylasia and Indo-
nesia.
27
{ CRUISINGLIFE }
Sailing to the
REVOLUTION
3DUW2QH/RRNLQJEDFNDWDIDPLO\FUXLVHWKDW
WRRNWKHPVWUDLJKWLQWRWKH&XEDQUHYROXWLRQ
F
lying fish and flying
spray were keeping my
dad from lighting the
cigarette he so fervently
desired.
“Nils Jr., can you
please pass me up a lit cigarette?”
he yelled down the main hatch of
our 1938, 33-foot Hereshoff ketch
Winds Way IV. We were attempting
a rough Gulf Stream crossing from
Key West, Florida to Varadero,
Cuba in the revolutionary summer
of 1958, and everyone was seasick
except Dad; but poor brother Nils
still had to light Dad’s cigs for him.
It turns out, we got to Havana
before Fidel did, although his
shadow would fall on us frequently
28
by Mark Florman
during our three months cruising
the North Coast of Cuba, “The
Pearl of the Antilles”, as a family
of five. Before there was Outward
Bound or other adventurous team
building activities common today,
we created our own adventure on
our little wooden sailboat that only
had four bunks.
We were our mother, Dorothy,
who was such a good sport, father
Nils, I was eight and a half, my
brother (and our first mate) Nils
Jr. was 15 and our baby sister,
Cynthia, who was almost two and
a half. We were not a very impos-
ing bunch and certainly not a
revolutionary force (as we would
later be suspected of in both Cuba
and Haiti!)
I guess we were well ahead of
our time as a family cruising on
a small sailboat, which in those
days, was a very rare occurrence;
but then my father Nils K. Flor-
man had always been somewhat
of an adventurous chap, usually
marching to the beat of his own
independent drum. When he was
a young man, he had sailed with
the famous Count Von Luckner,
the German “Sea Wolf”, who ran
a training ship on his Seadler be-
tween the Wars.
Dad had done some writing for
Yachting, The Rudder and other
boating magazines in 1957 and
1958, so while we were in Cuba
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
various political types came to talk second, more cautious thoughts.
to the “American Journalist”, usu- After all, hadn’t my Mom and passage of mostly shallow waters
ally at night. That and the novelty Dad’s friends all told them that and sandbars, we experienced our
of a young family cruising on a they were crazy to even consider first grounding near Bahia Santa
small wooden sailboat provided making such a dangerous jour- Clara. Wind’s Way drew less than
us with access and introductions ney (and with two and a half and four feet but we managed to find a
to a wide variety of the friendly, eight and a half year old children sandbar that offered less than that.
curious and very hospitable Cuban no less). But then we would have We were befriended by a passing
people we met along the way. Ev- missed all the incredible, life en- motor yacht that attempted, rather
erywhere we went, we were invited riching experiences that to this clumsily, to pull us off. After se-
into people’s homes to eat, shower, day have influenced our lives in curing our tow line to their stern
or socialize (which was of special so many positive and beneficial cleat from our stern cleat, they
interest to teen brother, Nils Jr.). ways. I doubt there is anyone who then took off at full speed until
A great deal of the conversation has cruised on a boat, especially a they came to the end of the slack
at that time was about the bud- sailboat, with a family or a group of in the tow line at which time they
ding revolution and the pros and other people who doesn’t feel that became quickly acquainted with
cons of Fulgencio Batista
versus Fidel Castro. Many
of the Cuban people we
met wanted to believe that
Castro would improve
their lot and that of the
country. We didn’t know
then how that was go-
ing to turn out, although
many people had their
suspicions.
We met a lot of help-
ful and interesting people
while we were in Varadero,
including a justice of the Dorothy and Cynthia on Winds Way IV
Cuban Supreme Court, who Newton’s Second Law of Motion;
was also a cruising boater. He gen- the experience contributed richly the stern cleat pulled out of their
erously spent hours dictating notes to their entire life experience. It “unstoppable force” and almost
from his cruising experiences certainly was an incredible bond- decapitated Nils Jr. on the stern
along the Cuban coast as the charts ing experience for us that created a of the (for now) “immoveable
we had were old and had not been wonderful closeness in our family object”. Nils and Dad had just
updated in many years. that exists to this day. enough time to jump forward
We had a very pleasant stay in Heading east from Varadero, we into the cockpit, but despite all
Varadero, consuming fresh fruit encountered the Jardines del Rey that brute force pulling, our boat
and ice cream sold on the beautiful archipelago, (as it now known,) budged not an inch.
beaches and riding on the gua guas a series of bays and barrier is- The tow lines were now per-
(the happy, funky, Cuban buses). lands, not unlike parts of Florida’s manently joined together with a
We made the obligatory trip to two coasts. It was here, cruising square knot that we were never
Havana’s Morro Castle and visited through this beautiful, completely able to undo, owing to the in-
the El Floridita bar of Hemingway unspoiled, tropical scenery that we credible force that had been ap-
fame. Soon, we continued our became immersed in the mysteri- plied. The motor yacht owner, a
journey down the Cuban coast. If ous and exotic essence of the is- brave and kind man, still wanted
we could have foreseen some of the land and her people as it was then. to help us, so after some brief
challenges and wild experiences Cruising inshore of these bar- consultation, he tried again and
that lay ahead, we might have had rier islands through an unmarked was able to pull us off stern first,
www.bwsailing.com 29
{ CRUISINGLIFE }
Mark and Nils, Jr. horsing around on Winds Way IV
from the sandbar.
Later, as we made our way down
the coast, we experienced another
grounding; the resolution of which
was remarkable. We were sitting
there on a sandbar unable to get
off with our Graymarine gasoline
engine alone, when along came a
Cuban sailor, a carbonero by trade
(a maker and vendor of charcoal),
who used his 30-foot, very simple
gaff rigged sailboat, with sails
made of flour sacks sewn together,
to make his living transporting the
charcoal that he sold. This incred-
ible seaman stopped to offer his
help.
We felt there wasn’t much that
he would be able to do with sail
power only on his little boat, but
having no other options, we were
30
certainly willing to try and we
watched in amazement as this man
skilfully dashed back and forth
raising and lowering his sail and
succeeding in helping us get off of
that sandbar.
My father tried to compensate
him with money but this proud
man refused. Dad then ran down
into the cabin and came back with
a half bottle of rum and couple
of Cuban cigars. This man, who
could have easily been mistaken
for the hero of The Old Man and
the Sea accepted the rum and cigars
saying, “These I will take for they
are good for the soul!”
Continuing down the coast we
began having problems with our
generator so we put into what
would be the largest port we
stopped in along the coast of Cuba,
Puerto Sagua La Grande. There we
were referred to three gentlemen
who were electricians and mechan-
ics. These three fellows were like
all the Cubans we met along the
way, very friendly and eager to help
us any way they could.
The problem with our genera-
tor required the commutator to be
rewound and these ingenious
mechanic friends hand wound the
commutator and got it to work.
They too, would not accept any
payment, but expressed a desire
to be transported along with a few
family members on our boat, to a
nearby island where they were go-
ing to pass a short holiday.
We had a very interesting en-
counter with them as my dad and
mom got into a political discussion
on the topic of the day which was
“Is Castro a communist or is he
not?” After this had been discussed
for a while one of the gentlemen
ended the conversation by saying
to us, “Senor, if Castro is a com-
munist then you are speaking to
three communists as well”.
Politics was decidedly the major
background theme during our time
in Cuba. It seemed that almost all
of the people we met were tired of
the Batista regime but many were
also apprehensive about Castro.
The Batista government saw us as
potentially being aides or allies of
the Castro uprising and so they
kept tabs on us throughout our
journey down the coast. We were
frequently flown over by military
aircraft, at one time overhearing a
lighthouse keeper asking a military
plane about the whereabouts of
the Lancha Americana on the AM
radio. (Our radio, in those days,
was one of the old double sideband
AM radios).
We were also shadowed at vari-
ous times by people keeping an eye
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
or spying on us. Humorously, one
time my mom and dad, growing
tired of being watched constantly,
suggested I invite the spy of the
moment out in our dinghy. It was
an eight-foot Optimist Pram that
my dad had purchased as a dinghy
in order for me to have something
to sail as well as being a tender.
The very relaxed and friendly Cu-
ban spy (we were on a first name
basis) accepted my offer and we
had a grand time rowing around
the harbor for a couple of hours
while mom and dad got a break.
After leaving Sagua La Grande
with our newly repaired genera-
tor, our next notable experience
on this voyage was sailing past a
group of two large barrier islands
marked on the chart as Cayo Ro-
mano. This passage was our only
overnight passage along the coast
and we must have been bucking a
lot of tide and head seas because
it seemed like we were abeam of
the Cayo Romano light the whole
night. It was a rough not fondly
remembered night passage.
At our next stop east of Cayo
Romano, we had been told about
an interesting place called Cayo
Lobos or Lobos Cay, which is
a small Bahamian island with a
lighthouse on the Bahamian side of
the Old Bahama Channel. It is only
13 miles north of Cayo Confites,
Cuba, so we ventured across the
channel to have a look.
One of the more interesting
places we visited on the cruise,
Lobos Cay marks the north side of
this narrow part of the Old Bahama
Channel. It was inhabited by two
Bahamian lighthouse keepers and
their families. The Cuban people
who had told us about this place
described them as Ingleses De Co-
lour or “Englishmen of Color”.)
These warm congenial people were
very happy to see us as they did not
www.bwsailing.com 31
{ CRUISINGLIFE }

get a lot of visitors to this remote

island. They shared their lives
with us and showed us the little
cemetery where a couple of fam-
ily members had been buried and
then, when, the island freighter
Inagua Trader showed up one night
to bring them their monthly sup-
plies, they shared with us their ice,
lettuce and fresh Holsum bread
from Miami.
Not having had fresh bread
like that in a while, we were glad
to store the leftovers and we had
a little midnight feast with our
benefactors in the cabin of our
little ship. The lighthouse keepers
had a little dog that had been given
to them by a Cuban fisherman
that they had named “Amigo”.
The following year when we were
resettled in Fort Lauderdale our
new dog was named “Migo” by
One of the lighthouse keepers at Lobos Cay helped Cynthia with her sister Cynthia who remembered
tangled fish line. The sailing wasn't alway rays of sunshine
the little dog on Lobos Cay.
Another great memory was cre-
ated at another island near Lobos
Cay that we visited that was a sea-
bird rookery. It was covered with
seabirds of all kinds that seemingly
had no fear of us humans and only
grudgingly moved out of the way
when we walked near them. (Nils
still remembers the little hum-
mingbird that sat in his hand and
let him pet it.)
From here we only stopped
briefly to rest overnight as we were
trying to get to the eastern end of
the island at Baracoa as soon as
we could. Our last stop in Cuba,
Baracoa, would turn out to be the
most eventful by far. We had not
noticed that the little yellow flag
on our man overboard pole had
come unfurled and was mistaken
by the port doctor as a yellow
quarantine flag.
So, the doctor came out to
clear us in and we became friends,
which was a very good thing as
Hurricane Ella was headed our

32 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018

way and would strike Cuba on
September 2, 1958. The harbor of
Baracoa is a five-mile-long, nearly
land locked harbor, which offers
great protection. While anchored
there, we were treated to flashes
and sounds of gunfire up in the
hills above the harbor which the
good doctor told us were the
Castro rebels fighting with Batista
forces. Yikes!
Meanwhile, with Hurricane Ella
heading our way the doctor invited
my mother, sister and I, to come
stay with his family in his house,
while Dad and Nils Jr. rode out the
storm attached to a ship’s mooring
in the harbor. We were anxious to
have the best weather information
possible about the approaching
storm, but our old double sideband
radio was not capable of reaching
Miami. Nils Jr., who was our radio
The harbor at Baracoa, Cuba. Here we dealt with Hurricane Ella. The author's father arranged for his wife, Mark
and Cynthia to go ashore to stay with the port captain and his wife while the two Nils' stayed aboard Winds Way
www.bwsailing.com
operator, was overheard trying to
raise Miami weather by the Alcoa
Warrior, a ship hauling bauxite to
somewhere in the U.S. Her radio
operator overheard Nils and volun-
teered to provide us with weather
bulletins the whole night.
By the time Ella got to Baracoa
she was only a Category 1 storm
but still able to pack a pretty good
punch. I remember, as we were
leaving the boat to go ashore be-
fore the storm, being barely able
to stand up and walk against the
force of the wind. We, the boat
and the town, survived just fine.
When we left Baracoa, it was with
fond memories of yet another
group of good friends that we
had made in Cuba. None of us
have ever forgotten the friendli-
ness and hospitality of the Cuban
people, who took us into their
hearts and their homes wherever
we went. BWS
In Part Two, next month, Wind’s
Way sails across the Windward
Passage to the island of Hispaniola,
where Mark and his family visited
Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
After this life-changing experience,
it was inevitable that Mark Florman
would become a yacht captain, and
then a yacht broker. After 31 years
owning Latitude 26° Yacht Sales,
Mark joined Waterfront Properties
and Waterfront Yacht Brokerage in
Jupiter, FL, as a dual threat water-
front realtor and yacht broker. He
dedicates this story with much love
and respect to his two unique and ad-
venturous parents, Nils and Dorothy
Florman, without whom none of this
would have happened.
33
{ BLUEWATERADVENTURE }

Francois Gabart:
Superman
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by Brian Hancock

34 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018

I
magine yourself on board a
massive 100-foot trimaran.
You are alone, sailing through
the Southern Ocean in an
attempt to break the single-
handed, non-stop circumnav-
igation record. It’s just before dawn
and the visibility is terrible. Your
boat speed is sitting nicely in the
low 30-knot range when suddenly
your radar picks up a mass directly
ahead of you. You are sailing well
below the northern limit for ice-
bergs and chances are what you are
looking at on your radar screen is
an iceberg. To make matters worse
you are closing fast. You need to
gybe in order to pass to windward
of the berg. You know that you
always have to pass to windward
because the growlers, or bergy bits
as they are sometimes called, break
from the main iceberg and drift off
to leeward. What do you do?
That is precisely what happened
to French sailor François Gabart
while he was on his record break-
ing lap of the planet. Gabart did
what he had been doing since set-
ting off from France a few weeks
earlier. With a cool head he rolled
his jib away and gybed his mas-
sive mainsail. He then pulled out
his video camera and shot a short
video of the iceberg as he passed
by safely to windward.
It was just another day in what
became an extraordinary set of
days strung together that allowed
Gabart to not only break, but shat-
ter the existing record. François
Gabart aboard his Ultime trimaran
MACIF knocked a full six days of
the previous record and set a new
record time for a solo, non-stop
circumnavigation of 42 days, 16
hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
François Gabart was racing
against a reference time set by his
www.bwsailing.com
fellow Frenchman Thomas Coville
who is one of the world’s best, if
not the best solo, offshore sailor. He
has seven circumnavigations under
his belt. He sailed a flawless cir-
cumnavigation to gain the record
and the wind gods dealt him some
pretty decent cards along the way.
When Coville finished, I was as
certain as anyone that his record
would stand for a long, long time.
It was a superhuman effort and
would require a superhuman effort
to match or break the record, but
Gabart felt that he was up to the
task. He had already won the gru-
eling Vendée Globe in his IMOCA
60 and had enjoyed some victories
aboard MACIF. In the summer of
2017 he and a small crew won a
transatlantic race from France to
New York City. They also won
the ArMen Race USHIP, a series of
races in Europe. Those events were
all part of the shakedown for his
new boat and having put MACIF
through its paces, Gabart felt that
it was time and he was ready to
take on Coville’s record.
After waiting for a favorable
weather window he took off from
northern France and was sling-
shotted out into the Atlantic Ocean
and down toward the equator. The
six days that it took him to cross
that imaginary line that separates
the North and South Atlantic was
fast, but not quite as fast as the
pace set by Coville who still holds
the record for the fastest single-
handed passage from France to
the equator.
Once across the equator Gab-
art took advantage of a very nice
weather window and turned on the
after-burners. The South Atlantic is
dominated by a large high-pressure
system and in order to get into the
deep south you have to skirt the
western edge of the high. Cut it
too close and you run out of wind.
Don’t cut it close enough and you
sail extra miles. Luckily for Gabart,
as he entered the South Atlantic
the high pressure moved closer to
Africa meaning that he was able to
cut the corner without any fear of
running out of breeze. He passed
the longitude of Cape Town a
full two days ahead of the refer-
ence time, but faced a very tricky
weather pattern ahead of him.
INTO THE SOUTHERN OCEAN
The Southern Ocean is known
for a series of cold fronts that
circumnavigate Antarctica. These
Ultim trimarans move at such high
speeds that, unlike most boats that
sail in those waters, they look for
the system ahead of them to hook
onto, rather than a system ap-
proaching from behind.
Unfortunately for François,
there was an unusual pocket of
high pressure directly in his path
and in order to get by it he was
going to have to dive south to
pass under the system. He sailed
out of the Roaring Forties into the
Furious Fifties and at one point it
looked like he was going to enter
the Screaming Sixties. He was in
dangerous iceberg territory and
the detour around the area of high
pressure cost him a full day of his
lead. When he passed south of
Cape Leeuwin on the southwest
coast of Australia he was still ahead
of the reference time, but the gap
had closed considerably.
Feeling the need to have some
“money in the bank” before turn-
ing north after Cape Horn, Fran-
çois pushed his boat as hard as
possible and managed to claw back
a day so that when he rounded the
famous cape at the tip of South
America, he again enjoyed a two-
day margin on the reference time.
In order to get that cushion,
Gabart had to push his boat, and
35
{ BLUEWATERADVENTURE }
himself, to the limits of possibil-
ity and endurance. At times his
boat speed was in the low 40-knot
range and often he was averaging
in the mid 30s. His daily runs
were consistently over 700 nauti-
cal miles, back to back, and he ate
up the miles rounding Cape Horn
in record time just 29 days after
leaving France.
NORTH TOWARD HOME
With the Horn astern, he turned
his bows toward the north and
toward the finish in France. In a
message to his shore team François
admitted to being a little fatigued.
“The fatigue is there,” he wrote.
“Accompanied by its faithful friend,
the pain, which pulls on the muscles,
paralyzes the sore hands ... You have
pain. All the time.”
While his performance in the
Southern Ocean was beyond im-
pressive, the way he ate up the
36
South Atlantic and spat it out
the back was unreal. By the time
MACIF arrived back at the equator,
Gabart was a full five days ahead of
the reference time and was show-
ing no signs of slowing down.
The problem was that ahead of
him the North Atlantic was a mine-
field. He would have to skirt the
Azores High and deal with a series
of cold winter gales rolling across
the Atlantic toward Europe, but
in his usual uncanny way he was
able to dodge and duck and keep
the boat moving fast. He waited
until he was around the latitude
of London before turning his bows
towards France and the finish. He
crossed the imaginary finish line
in the early hours of December 17
and sailed into the history books.
Gabart’s time for the 27,859-
mile voyage makes it the second
fastest circumnavigation ever.
The only team to have lapped the
planet faster than him was
the legendary Francis Joyon
who, along with a five-man
crew aboard the giant trima-
ran IDEC Sport, clocked a
time of 40 days 23 hours and
30 minutes.
SUPERHUMAN SAILING
It’s hard to find the words
to describe what an enor-
mous accomplishment it was
to shatter Coville’s record.
MACIF is massive and one
can only imagine what it
must take to manage the
boat, all alone. It is 100 feet
long with a beam of 69 feet.
The mast is a towering 115
feet, the mainsail is quite a bit
larger than a tennis court, in
fact the downwind sail area is
the same size and two-and-a-
half tennis courts.
All of this is managed from
a central pod mounted on the
main hull. All the lines are led
through an array of rope clutches
to a bank of winches operated by
two grinder pedestals. The entire
pod can be fully closed off from the
weather with the dual steering sta-
tions also located within the pod.
That does not mean that Gabart
is safe from the elements. Much of
the time he is sailing with Code 0
like sails that have to be hoisted
with a 2:1 halyard. Gabart has to
drag this huge sail up from down
below, hook up the halyard and
grind 230 feet of line until the
swivel reaches the top of the mast.
The anti-torque line is stretched
bar tight and then the power-
ful sail, once unfurled, has to be
sheeted in. All the while Gabart
needs to be trimming the mainsail
and dealing with a large traveler
that stretches in a semi-circle from
one hull, across the transom of the
main hull to the other hull. Just
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
winding the traveler up a foot or
two must be an exhausting un-
dertaking.
One of the luxuries, if you can
call it that, is that his routing in-
formation was done by an onshore
team led by quite possibly the best
weather guru on the planet. Jean-
Yves Bernot is widely considered
the master and it was his job to
study the global weather patterns
and guide François around and be-
tween conflicting weather systems.
As mentioned before these boats
are sailed different from most be-
cause they are able to sail at speeds
that are faster than the speed that
most weather systems move at. It’s
a bit like a game of chess studying
weather patterns that will occur
many days ahead and coming up
with a strategy to intersect with a
www.bwsailing.com
favorable wind pattern that will
slingshot the boat toward the next
system be it an area of high pres-
sure or low pressure.
While it’s not possible to avoid
gale force winds, Jean-Yves Bernot
tried as much as possible to keep
Gabart in a steady 10-15 knot
breeze. In those conditions the
boat can trundle along quite nicely
in the low 30-knot range especially
if the seas are not too disturbed.
At that pace you can eat up quite
a few miles and spit them into
your wake.
There really are no superlatives
in my already superlatives soaked
vocabulary that can describe just
what an accomplishment this is for
a sailor who must now be recog-
nized as one of the best in history.
For the six weeks he was out there,
Gabart needed to keep himself and
his boat together. We all know how
things chafe, how things go bump
in the night, and how the constant
pounding grinds at both man and
boat. He managed it all and he
even managed to make it look
effortless. When François Gabart
sailed back into his home harbor
of Port-la-Foret it looked like he
had just been out for a quick spin
around the Bay of Brittany rather
than a fast sprint around the world.
BWS
Circumnavigator, sailmaker and
raconteur, Brian Hancock follows
the hairy leading edge of offshore
sailing closely with a combination
of vast experience and consummate
wit. He lives and develops sails and
sail programs for all types of sailors
in Marblehead, MA.
37
{ PRACTICALPASSAGE }

CYCLONES IN FRENCH POLYNESIA

:KHQFRPSDUHGWRRWKHUWURSLFDO
the very marked impact of the
FUXLVLQJSDUDGLVHV)UHQFK El Nino cycle; and, in comparing
3RO\QHVLDLVWKHOHDVWOLNHO\WR cyclones (hurricanes) incidence to
other cruising grounds, the ocean
VXIIHUKXUULFDQHVRUF\FORQHV
by Dr. John Freeland
temperature data and geography
come into play.
The following review will focus

A
fter the devastat- many years considered to be rela- only on cyclonic storms with wind
ing 2017 hurri- tively safe from tropical cyclones, speeds above 64 knots. Also, as it is
cane season in the for instance the well respected the nomenclature in the Southern
Caribbean basin Bowditch’s American Practical Nav- Pacific basin, the term cyclone
and Gulf of Mex- igator placed it outside the cyclone will be used for ‘revolving tropical
ico with estimates area. These perceptions changed storms’ rather than hurricane or
of 63,000 boat destroyed or dam- abruptly during the 1982-83 El typhoon. When reviewing infor-
aged, many boaters are thinking Nino season when five cyclones mation regarding cyclones regional
about safety related to tropical passed through the Societies and differences in record keeping are
cyclones. French Polynesia was for Tuamotu Islands. important to understand. Scales
To obtain a for cyclones are different in the
reasonable un- Pacific than the more common
derstanding Saffir-Simpson scale used in the
of cyclones in Caribbean. For the purpose of this
French Poly- article, the wind velocities are con-
nesia, several verted to Saffir-Simpson scale and
factors are im- only storms of 64 knots and above
portant to re- are reviewed. Tropical depressions
view: the pat- can produce distressing and wor-
terns of these risome situations but should not
revolving tropi- pose the risks to life and vessels
cal storms; the that are associated with cyclones.
measurement
scales used in BASIC GEOGRAPHY
different areas; French Polynesia has five sepa-
38 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
rate island groups that collectively
take up an area almost the size of
Europe. The Marquesas have had
no reported cyclones with winds
above 64 knots and therefore are
safe from cyclones. The Gambiers,
which are in the south-eastern
corner of French Polynesia, are
generally safe from hurricane
force storms. The Austral Islands
are most at risk for cyclones due
to the pattern of cyclones in the
region, which is discussed later.
Finally, the Society and northern
Tuamotu Islands comprise the
majority of the cruising area for
sailing yachts in French Polynesia.
As will be discussed later, these
two archipelagos are at some risk
but generally only during the El
Nino cycle. The Societies are also
known by their French names, Iles
du Vent and Iles Sous Les Vent.
As a cruising ground French
Polynesia has distinctly fewer
cyclones than the rest of tropical
South Pacific. The question on
many people’s mind this year is:
“Is it safer than the Caribbean?”
The short answer is much safer but
examine some of the data yourself.
One of the main factors that in-
fluence tropical storms in French
Polynesia is the cooling effects of
the Humboldt Current. It is the
fluctuation of this cold current
traveling up the west coast of
South America which is primarily
responsible for the El Nino / La
Nina cycles. In fact, the tempera-
ture in the ocean near French Poly-
nesia is the basis for determining
the El Nino/La Nina index. Hence,
the El Nino condition involves
the waters in French Polynesia
becoming warmer (more red in
illustration A).
Warmer ocean temperatures
are conducive to the formation of
cyclones. It is therefore no surprise
that the generally cooler East-
www.bwsailing.com
ern South Pacific
a ro u n d F re n c h
Polynesia has far
few cyclones than,
say, the Caribbean.
Much of the data
in this article is
derived from re- illustration A
search by two French meteorolo-
gists, V. Laurent and P. Varney, and canes in the Caribbean will know
uses meteorological data collected that despite numerous hurricanes
between 1969 and 2010 for all passing near to Trinidad, the island
of French Polynesia. This article remains a safe zone. In applying
focuses primarily on the Societies this proximity factor to French
and the Tuamotus. Polynesia, the typical Category
1 cyclone must pass very near to
CYCLONE DATA an island to create more than gale
French Polynesia is affected by force winds.
two separate patterns of cyclones: The El Nino / La Nina climate
the south easterly moving storms condition is today based on ocean
and the “recurving” storms that temperature. Originally, it was
begin forming near the Marquesas based upon barometric pressures
and steer southwesterly before but more accurate water tempera-
recurving to steer southeasterly. ture measures have been the basis
Most cyclones in French Polyne- of the ENSO or El Nino Southern
sia arrive from the
west via the Cook
Islands, usually
passing south of the
Societies but more
regularly passing
over the Austral Is-
lands. This pattern
is seen in all three
climate conditions
( El Nino, Neutral
and La Nina.) The
recurving pattern Oscillation Index. This more ac-
is common primarily during the curate data came into usage in
El Nino cycle and generated the the 1960s. To best demonstrate
two strongest storms recorded for its impact on cyclones in French
French Polynesia. Polynesia, two authors from Me-
Satellite imagery of big Carib- teo France, Laurent and Varney,
bean hurricanes suggest that measured the passage of cyclones
cyclonic tropical storms create through areas 2.5 degrees by
an area of extreme danger, which 2.5 degrees or 150 nautical mile
reaches hundreds of miles from squares.
the eye. In fact, the hurricane force All cyclones from 1969 to 2010
winds generally do not extend were grouped into the three dif-
more than 50 miles from a storm’s ferent climate conditions. For our
center. Those familiar with hurri- purposes, only the areas surround
39
{ PRACTICALPASSAGE }
ing the Societies and northern Tua-
motus (as far south as Hao) have
been included. A further analysis
of the data shows there were 13
cyclones in the Societies and Tua-
motus over a period of 41 years but
only in seven of the 41 summer
seasons did cyclones pass within
300 nautical miles (five degrees)
of the Societies or the Northern
Tuamotus.
Only two cyclones occurred
outside of El Nino conditions,
which passed within five degrees
of the Societies or Northern Tua-
motus. These two passed over a
100 nautical miles from these is-
lands, resulting in below hurricane
strength conditions but they did
produce waves well above average.
In short, except in El Nino years,
the likelihood of hurricane force
winds in the Society, Tuamotus or
40
Gambier Islands is very low and in
the Marquesas non-existent.
THE BRUNT OF THE STORM
Television images of Category 5
hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico
such as Katrina or Harvey leave
the perception that all hurricanes
produce extreme tidal surges. Two
factors produce tidal surge: very
low barometric pressure and shelv-
ing shorelines.
Barometric pressure has a
relatively small effect compared to
shoreline geography. The Societies
and Tuamotus have no continental
shelf and fringing reefs generally
have precipitous cliff edge drop
offs. So, tidal surge is much less
of a consideration than might be
anticipated.
In considering French Polynesia
as a cruising ground one conclu-
sions is that during an El Nino
period a careful owner would
consider taking his or her vessel
to the Marquesas, hard standing
their vessel at one the five boat
yards in the Societies or Tuamotus
or consider hunkering down in
one of the four hurricane holes on
Tahiti, Raiatea, Taha or Bora-bora.
FORECASTING CYCLONES
From a metrological standpoint,
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
specific cyclones are dif-
ficult to predict. In the
Caribbean and continental
North America, forecast-
ers generally attempt to
predict how many named
storms will occur in a
given season. French Poly-
nesia is a different kettle
of fish since prediction
depends strongly on one
factor, the El Nino condi-
tion.
Millions of dollars for
research and supercom-
puter processing time are
spent predicting this cycle.
On the second Thursday
of each month, NOAA illustration B
publishes the predictions
for the next 12 months. Another or near the region from 1969 to But for me today it also represents
aspect of the El Nino climate 2010. In the North Atlantic basin the best trade winds-based tropi-
prediction puzzle is that the phe- during the same time frame there cal cruising grounds left, with its
nomenon can occur in any month were a total of 286 hurricanes, the (still) healthy coral, friendly, wel-
of the year. Cyclones, on the other majority of which passed through coming people, good infrastruc-
hand, have only been recorded the Antilles (see illustration B). ture, uncrowded anchorages, very
between October and April in the Safe areas in the region of French low crime rates, excellent health
area of interest to us (Societies and Polynesia include the Marquesas care facilities, stunning landscapes
Northern Tuamotus.) and the Gambiers; the Caribbean and vibrant culture.
Over a 66-year period, only one has Trinidad. In addition to all these advantag-
in four of these (southern hemi- With regards to storm intensity, es, the French Polynesian cruiser
sphere) summer months had an Caribbean storms are far bigger will be confronted not only with
El Nino condition. Another way on average; FP had only four many fewer tropical cyclones but
to look at the El Nino effect is to storms greater than Category 2 in can much more readily predict the
quantify the summer months with 40 years, which would not even possibility of a cyclone during the
El Nino conditions in at least one compare with just 2017 in the summer months than is possible in
month, which accounts for 20 Caribbean. Predictability and the any other tropical paradise. BWS
seasons in the past 66. To put this ability to plan ahead in French
information into a cruising plan, Polynesia is rather special in this Sailing has been a part of John Free-
approximately one in every four regard with its very strong linkage land's life for 59 years. Over the past
southern hemisphere summers it to El Nino. Monthly reports give 31 years, he has cruised extensively
might be wise to choose to hard strong prediction data well ahead and made a circumnavigation aboard
stand your boat or to sail to the of the cyclone-prone months. An- Mary Ann II, his beloved Westsail
Marquesas. We have found fees for other factor to consider is the sheer 32. Since 2010 John's wife, Julia and
hard standing comparable to those volume of boats in the Caribbean Murphy, their King Charles Spaniel,
in the Caribbean. which makes spectacles like the have cruised the Med, the Caribbean
boat bomb in Paraquita Bay in the and now the world's best tropical
CONCLUSION BVI’s or St Martins Lagoon much cruising grounds, French Polynesia.
So back to the question of French less likely in FP.
Polynesia compared to the Lesser For many sailors, like myself in Reference: Historique des Cy-
Antilles in the Caribbean. In the 1998, French Polynesia was just a clones de Polynèsie franchise de
Societies and Northern Tuamo- beautiful stopping off place on the 1831 á 2010. Laurent, Victoire &
tus, 13 cyclones were recorded in long path of a circumnavigation. Varney,Patrick. Meteo-France 2014

www.bwsailing.com 41
It’s not for everybody,
but that’s the beauty of it.
Don’t let life inhibit your adventure potential. Break free from uninspiring daily routines to
reconnect with the open-water, where the sweet sound of buzzing lines and the irresistible scent
of salty ocean breezes captivate your seafaring soul. With the helm in your hands and the world
at your feet, you’re free to play by your own rules and frolic between uncommon coordinates.
Come aboard, embrace the exotic, and let Sunsail whisk you away one nautical mile at a time.

Bareboat | Skippered | Flotillas | Sailing Schools

Call 800.437.7880 or visit sunsail.com
{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }

WE LOVE
MOROCCO
)URP0DOORUFDLQ6SDLQV%DOHDULF,VODQGV
WR0RURFFRDQGWKHQWKH&DQDU\,VODQGVWKH

A
s soon as our Leg 6
crew came aboard
our Halber-Rassy
4 6 M a h i n a Ti -
are, we departed
La Lonja Marina
Charter for lunch at anchor on
the waterfront in front to the
huge, 1250 AD Palma, Mallorca,
cathedral. It was a magical scene.
After lunch, we practiced Lifesling
Overboard Rescue as we sailed to
our evening anchorage, five miles
to the west. Although it was Friday
night, we found a secure place to
anchor at Las Illetas and the next
morning several of us went run-
ning along the waterfront.
After completing orientation, we
set sail for tiny Isla Tagomago, 60
miles away and off the east coast
of Ibiza where an evening snorkel-
ing and a colorful sunset dinner
rounded off a perfect day.
We completed the Marine
Weather I class the following
44
FUHZRI0DKLQD7LDUHKDGRQHDGYHQWXUHDIWHU
WKHQH[W by John Neal and Amanda Swan Neal
morning and then set off on the
165-mile passage to Cartagena,
Spain, which had been by far our
favorite stop between Gibraltar
and the Balearic Islands on our
last leg. Perhaps it’s the absence of
tourists and party goers, or maybe
it’s just the location and super
helpful marina staff but Amanda
and I really wanted to show our
new crew this beautiful city.
Even though rain threatened our
crew were each eager to explore the
city and after visiting the outdoor
Roman amphitheater they hiked
all over the old town center. In the
cool evening, Amanda and I again
enjoyed wandering through the
pedestrian-only marbled boule-
vards that were filled with families
and friends out socializing.
MOROCCO HERE WE COME
Morocco has held a fascination
for many years with us, fueled
by the pictures and stories from
previous expedition member Jack
Hoopes along with Vickie Vance
and Roland Olsson aboard Bella
Luna. Both recommended Port
Marina Smir, just 30 miles south
of Gibraltar. When planning our
2017 expedition two years ago,
getting to check out Morocco and
Spain’s Balearic Islands were two of
the reasons for leaving the South
Pacific.
On the 165-mile passage from
Cartagena to Morocco we encoun-
tered some of the most intense and
fast ship traffic we’ve ever seen.
Upon landfall, we spotted Marina
Smir’s breakwater several miles off
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
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{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }
The extensive Roman amphitheater in
Cartegena, below the iconic Icue on
Calle Carmen (the boy with the fish)
and, after calling them on the VHF
radio, we entered the channel.
After making a 90 degree turn just
inside the breakwater, we ended up
at the fuel dock where an attendant
motioned us to tie up.
We were surprised by how few
boats were in the large marina.
Checking in was painless: first the
marina office, then police/immi-
gration who have a tiny office open
24 hours per day within the marina
building. The police/immigration
officer knew I’d earlier emailed
the marina office about hiring a
minivan and driver to drive our
crew up the mountain to the city
of Chefchaouen and while I filled
out passport entry cards he rang a
friend of his whom I spoke with
on the phone.
By the time I’d completed clear-
ance, our guide, Rachid, showed
up, came aboard and learned ex-
actly what we wanted to see. After
we’d fueled two taxi vans with
46
Rachid to take hausted and then Akmed, the
us to Tétouan, camel, arrived. Mohamed, the
a l a r g e c i t y camel owner asked if any of our
with a vibrant crew wanted a camel ride, but we
medina, or an- were content with just bringing
c i e n t w a l l e d the camel onto the pier where we
inner city. For were moored.
four hours Ra- At 9am the following morning,
chid guided us Rachid picked us up in a nine-pas-
through the me- senger van in which we all just fit
dina, stopping and we headed up the mountains
to point out var- for Chefchaouen. But even before
ious sites with a special focus on we were out of the marina car park,
old doors. We viewed shops selling we came upon an assembly line of
a wide assortment of items, pur- goats being sacrificed, hung up,
chased fresh
fruit and nuts
at very rea-
sonable pric-
es and never
once did we
see any non-
locals or tour-
ists.
Rachid
took us into
a carpet shop
owned by
friends where
a f t e r f r e s h Falling under the spell of Moroccan carpets
mint tea and
a flamboyant display of many car- inflated, de-skinned, gutted and
pets Lisa and Tommy fell under parceled out – all in the marina
their spell and purchased two. car park!
Rachid told us that Tétouan and The roads were nearly empty as
Chefchaouen were places where we climbed up the Rif Mountains
Muslims, Jews and Catholics had to Chefchaouen. Upon arrival, Ra-
peacefully lived, worked and in- chid parked just inside the medina
termarried since 1494 when the and led us to the Casa Hassan guest
Spanish in Granada house. He had made reservations
had expelled both for us and introduced us to the
Muslims and Jews. owner. The guest house was newly
It was the last shop- renovated and comprised of four
ping day before Eid, towers with rooms surrounding
an important Muslim the open courtyard on the ground
holiday, and many floor. We saw only a couple other
people were purchas- guests and after getting checked
ing and leading home in, headed to Aladdin’s Restaurant,
sheep and goats to also owned by a friend of Rachid’s,
sacrifice the follow- for an excellent Moroccan lunch
ing morning. on the canopied roof-top terrace,
We arrived back with spectacular views in all direc-
aboard MT elated but tions.
overwhelmed and ex- Several of us were exhausted
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
 14 0,000 + GR A DUATE S SINCE 1964

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{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }
Rachid led us on a brisk walking tour of the wonderful narrow blue painted
streets of the medina; below shopping at La Botica de la Abuela Aladdin
and enjoyed siestas at the hotel,
but Amanda headed back to one
of the few shops open during the
holiday. She had previously spotted
some Moroccan jewelry and met
an interesting guy named Fatah
who is studying sociology. After
chatting for nearly an hour, Fatah
mentioned that he also offered to
guide walks into the mountains.
When Amanda returned to the
hotel I suggested we make arrange-
ments to meet him the following
morning.
For sunset, we all headed up
the mountain a short distance
to the Spanish Mosque, built in
1920 during the Spanish occupa-
48
tion, but never used and perched
on the mountainside overlooking
the town. Here dozens of locals
and tourists gathered nightly to
visit while watching the sunset.
Amanda spoke with an Australian
mother and daughter who had
been traveling around the country
for three weeks, organizing their
own travel and enjoying seeing
the Sahara and many different
parts of the country. Their travels
intrigued us.
That evening we had an excellent
dinner in Casa Hassan’s restaurant,
located across the street from the
guest house. The interior, like the
hotel. was eccentric and very artis-
tic; the kitchen had a glass wall and
looked surprisingly modern and
spotlessly clean and we were given
our own little alcove. The food,
service and prices were excellent.
We were all awoken by the 5 am
call to prayer and I enjoyed yoga
on a semi-private rooftop court-
yard before wandering around
the deserted streets. Breakfast was
included and we all ate together in
a lovely quiet and tranquil outdoor
courtyard.
Upon meeting up with Fatah
and his friend Assan, they took us
to the water source where artesian
springs pumped an impressive
amount of water, some of which
was piped for the town water
supply, Some was sold as bottled
water and some was funneled into
two roofed public clothes washing
buildings. For yet another amazing
panoramic vista, we hiked up the
back of the valley all the time ask-
ing questions about life in Morocco
and their university courses.
Our tour ended at Fatah’s moth-
er’s house where Amanda, Lisa
and Peixi were invited upstairs to
meet the women of Fatah’s family
and Islam, his three-month-old
nephew. Fatah was interrupter as
his sister-in law Hajar hennaed
Lisa and Amanda’s hand while his
mother served Moroccan mint tea,
lamb kebabs and layered cream
cake. The Fatah family is Berber
and Amanda, Lisa and Peixi really
enjoyed their quiet time with the
women and were surprised how
friendly, relaxed and outgoing
everyone was.
All too soon it was time to
meet Rachid and head down the
mountain to Marina Smir. As we
approached the marina, we noticed
multiple policemen and soldiers
on every corner. Rachid explained
that the king had just arrived
at his summer palace, adjacent
to the marina. There was a very
impressive giant black powerboat
anchored offshore and Rachid said
the king loved jet skis and fast cars!
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
Our guide Fatah's sister-in-law, Hajar hennaed Lisa and Amanda's hands while his
sister Jihan and his nephew Islam looked on; below, Queen's Quay Marina, Gibraltar
We thoroughly washed down Queen’s Quay Marina saying they was interesting, with no signs of
Mahina Tiare, did laundry in had room for us for one night only. graffiti or rubbish and the town
buckets and I cleared out with the Once we’d gotten MT secured was festooned with banners cel-
marina and immigration so we’d stern-to with the help of twin ebrating the 50th anniversary of
be able to set sail for Gibraltar mooring lines, we had lunch the referendum when Gibraltarians
at first light. Amanda and I look aboard and our keen crew took voted to remain British.
forward to returning to Morocco off, hiking the 1,300 feet up the Interestingly, customs, port
at a later time and spending more Mediterranean Steps to the top of and immigration clearance are
time ashore exploring. We were the rock and then down the moun- obtained electronically by the
impressed with how polite, kind tain, across the airport border marinas, making the inward and
and helpful everyone we met was (between flight landing and taking outbound clearance process quick
and the country’s rich history. off) and over to the Spanish side and easy. We left at first light Mon-
to check out Peixi’s favorite tapas day morning, dodging the intense
GIBRALTAR restaurants. Meanwhile we headed traffic, motorsailing into fresh
The 30-mile crossing to Gibral- to Morrison’s for our final shop of headwinds until we’d crossed the
tar was a fast beam reach with a amazing fresh fruit and vegetables. channel and were heading down
volume of high-speed ferry and After showers, most of our the Moroccan coast. By early after-
commercial traffic that had us crew returned to the Spanish side noon the winds clocked allowing
tracking and avoiding up to six (45-minute walk) for more tapas. us to unroll the genoa and head
vessels simultaneously. What a Amanda and I enjoyed a late night southwest on a fast reach. The ship
great learning experience! hike around town, checking out traffic was heavy and we sailed just
I’d earlier heard back that Ocean several new areas. The architecture inside the shipping lanes along
Village Marina, where we’d docked
several weeks earlier, had no slips
available, so the day before I’d
emailed Queen’s Quay Marina
asking if they had space for us.
Another option would have been
sailing a mile further north, on
the other side of the airport that
marks the boundary between Gi-
braltar and Spain to La Linea, the
new Spanish marina where Peixi
had sailed many times, working
toward her RYA Yachtmaster train-
ing and had several friends. As
our goal was mooring MT close
to the mountain, whose summit
our crew were keen to hike up to,
and to the amazingly well-stocked
Morrison’s supermarket, we were
pleased when, just as we entered
the harbor, we got an email from
www.bwsailing.com 49
{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }
the coast with the destination of
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, 600
miles away.
TO THE CANARY ISLANDS
We had brilliant downwind
sailing and only one night did the
winds peak at 30, gusting 34 knots
with rambunctious seas. Even
triple-reefed with only a sliver of
genoa sheeted flat for stability our
competitive crew hit low 10’s al-
ways trying to out-do the previous
watch. Matthias earned the surfing
record having hit an impressive
10.3 knots!
Highlights of the passage were
a full moon that illuminated the
towering seas, sunny warm skies
during the day and celebrating
Lisa and Tommy’s 31st wedding an-
niversary. Our near-surfing speeds
and brilliant wind conditions held
the entire way to the Arrecife, Lan-
50
John fueling up for the 600 mile passage
to the Canary Islands; below, Lisa and
Tommy celebrating 31 years of marriage
zarote, harbor entrance with Dan
calculating that we averaged more
than 165 miles per day for three
straight days.
We kept our speed up, hop-
ing to reach the harbor entrance
before dark, which we nearly
did. We could just make out the
newly-extended outer breakwater
and thanks to the updated C-Map
and Navionics electronic charts we
very carefully and slowly motored
down the well-marked fairway to
the three-year old Marina Lan-
zarote. The very efficient marina
office had a slip reserved and a mari-
nero waiting to take our lines. What
a surprise to be moored right in front
of a fancy marina shopping center
directly in front of Sunglass Hut! It
only took our crew minutes to find
a superb gelato shop owned and run
by a Spanish sailor who makes his
fruit-infused gelato on site!
Since we were two days ahead
of schedule, we had a birthday
celebration for Peixi,, who sadly
had to leave the next day for a
new job in Kazakhstan, at the
most amazing waterfront tapas
restaurant in nearby Arrecife
before setting sail west to Playa
Quemada, a semi-isolated fishing
village where the goats and sheep
vastly outnumbered the humans.
Amanda and I (mostly Amanda)
worked hard at scrubbing the
failed International Ultra antifoul-
ing paint off MT’s hull, readying to
haul out and repaint just after the
expedition ends.
Sunday we moved to Puerto
Calero where we topped up fuel,
filling all of our jerry jugs for the
first time in years for our Novem-
ber Atlantic crossing and were
delighted to discover moorage
was free since we had pre-paid
more than one month at Marina
Lanzarote, owned by the same
company.
Changing oil and transmission
oil was one of our several end-
of-leg classes, along with Cruis-
ing Medicine, Clearing Customs
Worldwide and Leaving Your Boat
in a Foreign Port.
After the Sextant Navigation
class, Amanda planned to test our
crew with a real-life overboard in-
cident on our sail back to Marina
Lanzarote, so “fell” off the swim
platform as she was showering,
giving Lisa an excellent training
opportunity.
Before we knew it, we were back
in the same slip, with crew check-
ing on hotel and flight reservations
and Amanda and I checking in
with the boatyard. We learned they
had been able to source Micron 77
antifouling paint locally so that
problem was solved. We had only a
few days to get MT hauled, painted
an put to bed before we flew home
to San Juan Island.
Up next, Leg 7 across the At-
lantic. BWS
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }
In Their Own Words....
Here’s our truly extraordinary Leg 6 crew

Dan, 64
I recently retired after 25 years in the software business (and
25 years before that as an architect) in Connecticut. My dad
taught me to sail at an early age and enjoyed sailing dinghies
until 2005 when we bought a 40-year old Pearson to sail on
Long Island Sound. More recently we bought a 1983 South-
ern Cross 35 and have spent most of the last eight years
upgrading all of her systems. This expedition has confirmed
my love of the cruising life.

Marty, 62
I’m a builder from Colorado and have been sailing off and on
for years, but didn’t start taking sailing seriously until three
years ago. I joined John & Amanda for Leg 3 and sailing on
Leg 6 I learned so much more.

Tommy, 59
I work in our family propane business in Nevada and Lisa
and I have dreamed of sailing for over 25 years. We are keen
water skiers have two ski boats, a Mastercraft and a Ski Nau-
tique plus a Hobie Cat and we love being on the water, but
ocean sailing is new to us. I’ll be retiring soon and doing this
expedition has opened doors for us to be able to safely fulfill
our dreams.

Lisa, 60
I am a yoga instructor in landlocked Elko, Nevada. Tommy
and I want to discover exotic places in our own boat. We
did this excursion to see if we are cracked up for blue water
sailing. My experience is very limited: basic sailing course on
Utah Lake (there really is such a place!), a BVI charter with
friends and sailing our Hobie 16. We will now be buying our
own boat to explore our wondrous world!

Peixi, 27
I’m an environmental engineer working in the energy indus-
try. Originally from Tianjin, China, I moved to Montana when
I was 16. Since graduation from university, I have been very
fortunate to have worked in Texas, British Columbia, offshore
Angola (where I was one of the only 10 females among 2000
people), and now Kazakhstan. My rotational work schedule
has been flexible enough to allow me to travel the world
on my time off. About two years ago, I started learning sail-
ing in Gibraltar as a novice and immediately fell in love with
the sailing lifestyle. I have since sailed 4000NM in Gibraltar
region, Mediterranean, UK, and Antarctica. Currently I am
preparing to obtain my RYA Offshore Yachtmaster with the
hope of purchasing my own blue water boat in the next 3-5
years to continue exploring the world. This goal has led me
to join Mahina Expeditions to learn more about practical sail-
ing, various aspects of owning and maintaining a boat, and
the true lifestyle of cruising around the world. John, Aman-
da, and Mahina Tiare III couldn’t have been a more perfect
combo to take me a step closer to realizing my goal.

Matthias, 47
I am a telecom manager for local governments in Silicon Val-
ley, CA. I enjoy sailing on San Francisco and Monterey Bays
and love introducing friends to the fun of sailing. I plan to buy
a catamaran in three years for living aboard and circumnavi-
gating. I’ve enjoyed the adventure of learning on an open
ocean passage in the company of like-minded new friends.

52 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018

Resources used on Leg 6, Palma de Mallorca boats are heading to the Canaries in prepara-
to Morocco and Lanzarote, Canary Islands: tion for their Atlantic crossing.

WWW.WINDY.COM General Anchoring Conditions: Morocco has

Cruising Guides: Imray Costas del Sol and
Blanca, Islas Baleares, North Africa, Atlantic
Islands (brilliant cruising guides, frequently
updated),
Imray charts: M11, M12, M3, C20, E18
Electronic Charts: C-Map running on Rose
Point Coastal Explorer
Navionics Silver running on both our lovely
new Raymarine MFDs (multi-function dis-
plays), one at the chart table, and for the
first time, one in the cockpit under the hard
dodger
some anchorages, but officials are very clear
in expecting all visiting yachts to clear in first
at a customs port of entry. The Canary Islands
are frequently subject to strong winds and rol-
ly anchorages. Marinas start filling up in mid to
late September with sailors prepping for their
Atlantic crossing. It is certainly worth emailing
ahead of time for a berth reservation, even if
your exact ETA is subject to the weather.

General Sailing Conditions: The passage from

Palma de Mallorca to Morocco is subject to
frequent changes in weather conditions. From
Gibraltar to Canaries NE winds are gener-
ally predominant in late summer when many

www.bwsailing.com 53
{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }
6800(56$,/,1*
9$&$7,21*8,'(
+RZWRSODQDVXPPHUVDLOLQJ
YDFDWLRQWKDWZLOOWDNH\RXWRQHZ
FUXLVLQJJURXQGVDQGKHOS\RXEXLOG
FUXLVLQJVNLOOVDORQJWKHZD\
B
efore we took off to sail
our own boat on an
extended cruise that
ended up being a cir-
cumnavigation, Rosie
wanted to build her
sailing and boat handling skills on
her own so she could confidently
handle the boat in an emergency.
She signed up for a week at the Off-
shore Sailing School in the BVI and
took the Learn to Cruise course.
By the end of the week, she could
manage all of the basic cruising
tasks from docking, anchoring,
sail trim, helming and much more.
Then she signed up for an
“expedition” course that took her
offshore with an expert skipper
and three other students on a five
day passage from Long Island to
Bermuda, across the Gulf Stream.
They ran into a full gale the first
night but got through it fine. When
they made landfall in St. George’s,
Rosie was a seasoned old salt and
ready to be a full sailing partner on
54
Enjoying a sail aboard a Catana
catamaran from Dream Yacht Charter
our own boat. The Chesapeake Bay is popular in
Whether you want to build spring and fall but can be too hot
skills or just get away for some fun and airless for summer cruising.
cruising, this summer is the per- Florida, also, is great in spring and
fect time to sign up for a charter, fall, and can be fine all summer
a sailing school or an expedition. but the humidity and frequent rain
Here’s how. squalls can be an issue.
In the Pacific Northwest you
CHARTER VACATIONS can charter either a sailboat or a
Summer is the season for char- powerboat and since the wind is
tering all around America and often light in summer and the cur-
offers a great opportunity for you rent between islands very strong, a
and your family to
discover cruising
grounds far from
your home waters.
Surveys of our read-
ers over the years
have shown that
the Pacific North-
west is the most
popular region to
charter in summer
in the continental
states followed by
New England and
the Great Lakes.
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
+++++
BVI’S

BEST
DEALS
ON KEELS
{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }
Idyllic Pacific Northwest
boat with a good motor is the key
to happy cruising. There is good
cruising all around Seattle and the
Beautiful Brooklin, ME
islands or you can point the bow
northward and head for the wild
region around Desolation Sound.
One of the many lighthouses
on the Great Lakes
56
You will see bears and eagles and
dine often on wild salmon.
The Great Lakes are too often
overlooked by sailors on the coasts
but the lakes have some of Ameri-
ca’s prettiest cruising areas and the
great pleasure of sailing in sweet,
fresh water. The favorite places to
charter will be the Apostle Islands
in Lake Superior, near Duluth,
Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay and Door
County in Lake Michigan and
the famously beautiful waters of
the North Channel in northern
Lake Huron. Great Lakes cruisers
swear that the North Channel is
America’s finest summer cruising
ground, rivaling the Pacific North-
west and the coast of Maine; if it is
not on your cruising bucket list, it
should be.
The Coast of Maine is famous
for it’s thousands of islands, har-
bors and rivers that combine to
offer a lifetime’s worth of sailing
and cruising opportunities. It
can be foggy in early summer so
the best times to explore Maine
under sail are in late July, August
and September. Old timers will
tell you that on foggy days you
should sail to the heads of the
bays for better visibility and on
days when the wind clears from
the north, you can venture to the
offshore islands like Matinicus and
Monhegan. Along the way you can
stop in charming towns like Booth
Bay, Rockland, Camden, Castine,
Blue Hill and Southwest Harbor
and learn to speak like a Maniac.
Ehyup.
Southern New England is the
East Coast’s summer yachting
capital and the heart of the region
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
 2018 Mahina Offshore
Cruising Seminar Series

Technical guru Nigel Calder joins John & Amanda Neal

to co-present 8 hours of detailed instruction with PowerPoint
illustration that follow the included 260-page Offshore Cruising
Companion course book.

Vancouver, BC Anacortes, WA Richmond, CA

March 24 April 7 April 21
at Granville Island Hotel, at Marine Tech Center, at Pacific Boat Show
sponsored by Bluewater sponsored by Cruisers
Cruising Assoc. College

This intensive, exciting and interactive seminar

features 18 topics including:
Choosing the Right Boat, Equipment Selection, Storm Avoidance and Survival,
Piracy & Security, Safety and Medical Concerns, Communications, Anchoring,
Sails and Rigging, Galley Essentials, Managing Your Escape and Cruising
Routes Worldwide.

Seven months a year John and Amanda conduct sail-training expeditions worldwide
aboard their Hallberg-Rassy 46, Mahina Tiare. This seminar incorporates the knowledge
gained from their combined 658,000 sea miles and 81 years’ experience.

For course outline & registration: www.mahina.com

{ WORLDSAILINGADVENTURES }
Sunsail charter boats enjoying the BVI
will be Newport, RI. That’s the
place to start and from there you
can head east to Martha’s Vineyard
and Nantucket or west to Long
Island Sound and famous destina-
tions like Block Island, Mystic,
Shelter Island and Oyster Bay. You
will sail in company of some of
the grandest and most beautiful
sailing yachts in the country, will
see everything from Optis to 12
Meters racing around the buoys,
and will catch sight of an osprey
or two circling above your an-
chorages. July and August are the
height of the season, but June and
September can be lovely and less
crowded, too.
The Chesapeake Bay in late
spring and early fall is one of the
East Coast’s most interesting places
to charter. Starting in Annapolis
you can head down the Bay to
St. Michael’s, Oxford and Tangier
Island or sail north to the Mago-
thy and Sassafras Rivers or even
Learning to sail with Blue Water Sailing School
58
photo by Patrick Bennett
downtown Baltimore for a night
on the town.
Florida is a sailing and charter-
ing destination all year around and
the two best destinations will be Ft.
Lauderdale on the east coast and St.
Petersburg on the west coast. You
have to keep an eye out for sum-
mer squalls and always have a plan
B when making coastal runs. Also,
Florida is America’s lightning capi-
tal, so keep a weather eye for storms.
The Bahamas offers great sum-
mer cruising and will be less hu-
mid and have steady trade winds
all summer long. You can either
cruise the Abacos out of Marsh
Harbor or explore the Exumas
from a charter base on New Provi-
dence Island (Nassau). Old time
Bahamas cruisers will tell you they
prefer the spring, summer and fall
seasons to the winter simply be-
cause the weather is more settled
and the crowds gone.
The Caribbean is open for char-
tering all summer long and you
will find great off-season rates to
keep the cost as low as possible.
This summer, the charter compa-
nies in the BVI, USVI, Puerto Rico
and St. Martin will be eager for
your business and will be offer-
ing great deals to keep their fleets
busy. The Caribbean in summer is
slightly more humid than winter
and it tends to rain more often.
But, it is still the Caribbean and
the hospitality can’t be beat.
SAILING SCHOOLS
Building sailing and cruising
skills while on summer vaca-
tion in some exotic destination
sounds like a perfect combination
of fun and travel for the whole
family. There are two branded
sailing school operations in North
America, schools associated with
U.S.Sailing (the sport’s national
governing body) and those af-
filiated with the American Sailing
Association (ASA).
Some of the larger and older
schools, such a Colgate’s Offshore
Sailing School or J/World, are U.S.
Sailing schools that follow the cur-
riculum created and maintained by
U.S Sailing. ASA has 350 schools
around the world and provides a
similar curriculum. The choice
between the two systems will often
come down to where you want to
sail and what you want to achieve.
It is interesting that ASA has
many international affiliates. There
are 37 ASA schools in China and
there is even one in Egypt. If you
have your heart set on sailing in
French Polynesia, you can charter
a bareboat or you can fly in and
attend a ASA affiliated school and
build sailing skills.
US Sailing has dozens of schools
all around the U.S. plus schools in
Bermuda, The Bahamas, the Ca-
ribbean and Mexico. So, however
you slice it, wherever you want to
travel, you will be able to find a
sailing school nearby. To find a sail-
ing school log on to www.ussailing.
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
org and www.asa.com.
EXPEDITIONS
For those who want to get some
real blue water sailing experience
and learn seamanship and cruis-
ing skills from sailors who have
hundreds of thousands of miles
under their keels expedition sail-
ing is the way to go. The most
well known offshore instructors are
John Neal and Amanda Swan Neal
who sail with their students aboard
their Hallber-Rassy 46 Mahina Tiare.
Every year for the last 35 years, they
have roamed the planet under sail
while offering in-depth instruction
on everything to do with offshore
sailing from weather forecasting to
engine maintenance to man-over-
board drills and much more.
John Kretchmer is a veteran off-
shore sailor who has sailed all over
the world and now run expeditions
in the North Atlantic, Caribbean
and the Med aboard his Kaufman
47 Quetzal. He usually has four to
six paying crew aboard and every-
one gets to manage the boat, stand
watches and learn the ropes as they
do. Kretchmer is a great guy, a fun
story teller and a good teacher of
all things to do with blue water
sailing. In 2018 he will sail from
the Caribbean to Florida and the
Bahamas, then to Annapolis before
making the crossing to the Azores.
For the rest of the summer he will
be cruising north to Scotland and
Ireland before finishing the season
in Spain. www.yayablues.com.
Andy and Mia Schell have
jumped into the expedition busi-
ness with both sea boots and run
six to 10 expeditions per year
aboard their Swan 48 Isbjorn. Andy
has vast offshore experience and
was closely aligned with the Ca-
ribbean 1500 for many years. He
also has one of the most popular
podcasts available anywhere and is
a frequent author. In 2018, Isbjorn
will be focused on sailing in the
Norwegian Arctic and will end
the season with a passage south
to Portugal where the boat will be
staged to begin the 2019 season.
www.59-north.com.
Paul Exner runs a smaller expe-
dition program aboard his 31-foot
cutter Solstice. He can accommo-
date three guests and has focused
his sailing in the Caribbean. In
2018, he is branching out and is
running expeditions from the BVI
to Panama, through the canal, up
the west coast and then to Hawaii.
If you are looking for small boat
experience and an intimate envi-
ronment, Paul has just what you
are looking for. www.moderngeo-
graphic.com. BWS

Offshore Sail-Training
Aboard Mahina Tiare III, a Hallberg-Rassy 46

With a combined experience of 665,000 miles and 81 years,

John and Amanda Neal’s unique curriculum offers you a
dynamic hands-on learning experience including seamanship,
navigation, storm avoidance and heavy weather tactics.

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

www.bwsailing.com 59
{ BLUEWATERBOATS }

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7KHQHZ%LOO'L[RQGHVLJQLVD
SURSHU\DFKWWKDWDFRXSOHFRXOG
HDVLO\VDLODURXQGWKHZRUOG
by George Day

I
t was a beautiful autumn
morning when I met up with
the new owners of the Moody
54 that had been in the just
finished Annapolis Sailboat
Show. The sky was bright
blue and the breeze was blowing
at 8 knots or so out of the west.
As we waited for Alan Baines, the
boat’s U.S. dealer, I had a good look
through the boat.
As most readers will know,
Moody was a premium English
brand that built sensible, ocean
sailing cruising boats for owners
who expected both traditional
style and quality. The brand was
bought by the Hanse Group several
years ago and went through a seri-
ous transformation. The Moodys
of today are seriously modern,
Euro-style cruising boats that press
the design envelope in both pure
naval architecture and interior
design.
The new Moody Deck Saloon 54
is a Bill Dixon design. Dixon has
spent most of his time in the
last decade or two designing
large, luxury, custom sailing
yachts so it is no coinci-
dence that when he once
again turned his hand to
a production cruiser,
the result would have
a lot of yacht style
and yacht innova-
tions. The 54 has
all of that and
more.

62 BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018


INNOVATION BELOW
A true deck-saloon cruiser,
the raised main saloon has the
large galley just inside the sliding
cockpit doors to starboard and
the U-shaped dinette to port. The
wrap-around windows offer a fine
view while seated in the dinette
or standing in the galley. Forward
of the galley on the starboard side
there is a nav station with great vis-
ibility forward so you can operate
the boat from inside under power.
Going forward and down four
steps, you find the master cabin
in the bow and two quarter cabins
tucked in under the raised saloon
floor. The master cabin has a cen-
www.bwsailing.com
terline double berth and plenty of
storage. There are two heads for-
ward and these are shared with the
two guest cabins. On the boat we
sailed, the port guest cabin had an
athwartships double berth while
the starboard cabin had a standard
fore and aft double.
Variations on this basic theme
show the galley down from the
saloon and in the space where the
starboard cabin was on our boat.
The area in the saloon where the
galley was is now open and can be
modified with another settee and
cabinets to provide a large social
area. Also, if you want to have twin
singles in the port guest cabin, that
is an option. The layout we sailed
was perfect for a couple who like
to have another couple or two join
them while cruising.
There is a fourth sleeping cabin
in the boat that is tucked under
the port side of the cockpit. This
has twin singles and its own head
and is accessible via a staircase that
is just inside the sliding cockpit
doors and across from the galley.
This would be an excellent crew
cabin as it is separate from the
forward sleeping cabins, close to
the galley, and has easy access in
and out without disturbing the
owners forward.
The huge engine room is under
the raised saloon floor and acces-
sible through a floor hatch. It is not
often you see such a huge engine
room in a 54 foot boat but the
Moody 54 is more of a yacht than
a boat and has many amenities of
a proper yacht…like a true engine
room. There is plenty of space for
the large Volvo, so you can work
on both sides of it easily. Plus,
there is room for a genset, air
conditioners, inverter, batteries, a
63
{ BLUEWATERBOATS }
watermaker and a large hot water
tank. Being right over the boat’s
center of gravity, this engine room
keeps as much weight as possible
in the middle of the boat.
The living spaces below decks
are all of good size and there is ex-
cellent headroom throughout. The
joinery is solid and finely finished.
You can see that the designers in
Dixon’s office and at Moody/Hanse
in Germany have thought through
every detail and innovated to get a
very pleasing result.
CREATIVITY ON DECK
The cockpit on most cruising
boats is where those on board
spend most of their time so the
more comfortable and secure you
can make it the better. Dixon and
64
ibility forward for
people under about
six-foot, two inches.
The boat is easy
for a single watch
stander to manage
with the autopilot
steering. All lines
lead aft and with
electric winches
and line stoppers,
you can trim, furl
and reef the work-
ing sails from one
spot. And because
Moody decided to go with a loung- the headsails are on electric
ing cockpit that is down a step furling systems, you can deploy
from the twin helms and all of the the self-tacking Solent jib when
lines, line stoppers and winches going upwind and then furl it
that you need to sail the boat. This and deploy the big genoa when
way those sailing are not tangling reaching or sailing downwind.
the loungers in genoa and mainsail Moving fore and aft along the
sheets. side decks is a completely new
The lounge has a U-shaped cock- experience. The boat has bulwarks
pit hardtop that provides shade and and get to be quite high as you get
protection from light rain. In its to the foredeck. All you do when
center there is a retractable shade leaving the cockpit is walk around
or soft top that can be folded away the back of the helms and you
in good weather and closed in bad. are on the side deck; no climbing
The tail ends of the hardtop extend over cockpit seat backs or ducking
aft to the helms on both sides and under a dodger or Bimini. Only
it would seem that rain would flow the new Jeanneau 440 and 490
directly on to the helmsman but we have anything like this. You feel
did not have a chance to test that. completely secure everywhere on
One of the downsides of the large deck since the top lifeline is a solid
hardtop is the restriction of vis- stainless steel hand rail that you
can grip for balance
or lean against.
The transom folds
down to make a
huge swim or board-
ing platform. The
open space beneath
the cockpit is large
enough to stow an
inflatable dinghy
when going to sea.
Again, the design-
ers at Dixon’s of-
fice and the Moody/
Hanse engineers
have come up with
very creative solu-
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018

tions and have delivered a cockpit
and deck layout that is tailormade
for safe, dry, comfortable family
cruising.
SAILING SIMPLIFIED
Alan arrived and we were soon
underway with the boat’s new
owner at the helm. The wind was
holding us onto the dock, but
with the bow and stern thrust-
ers engaged, we peeled away and
motored down Back Creek to the
Severn River mouth and the Chesa-
peake Bay. It was a perfect day
for sailing so we were all looking
forward to putting the 54 through
its paces.
In the middle of the channel
we headed into the wind and
rolled out the mainsail, trimmed
for close reaching and then fell
www.bwsailing.com
off and headed hold of the wind and soon we were
out into the bay. sailing at over 7.5 knots in roughly
The self-tack- 10 knots of true wind. The 54 has a
ing jib rolled long waterline and an easily driven
out easily and hull, so she was able to make the
soon we were most of what breeze we had.
sailing upwind To say the that the 54 is a plea-
with the engine sure to sail is an understatement.
off and making She has great balance and poise
six knots into the and will certainly carry her crew
eight to 10 knots of wind. Very in great comfort in a wide range of
pleasant. Once out into the open wind speeds and conditions. This
water we put the 54 through a is a boat that you could easily sail
series of tacks which involved around the world and I’d be quite
only turning the helm and sailing happy to give it a try. BWS
through the wind to the new tack
as the jib lead slides across the boat
on the foredeck traveler. Moody Deck Saloon 54
The 54 had a L-shaped bulb keel
and a fairly high aspect spade rud- LOA 56’1”
der. Hard on the wind, it sailed at LWL 51’0”
about 42 degrees to the true wind Beam 17’0”
and tacked in just over 80 degrees. Draft )std.) 8’5”
This is quite close winded for a Draft (shoal) 7’4”
big cruising boat but with the self- Displacement 53,550 lbs.
tacking jib it is possible to sheet to Ballast 16,300 lbs.
quite close angles. The feel on the Sail Area (w/jib) 1,578 sq. ft.
helm in this light breeze was very Sail Area (w/genoa) 1,739 sq. ft.
light and the boat turned smartly Mast height 83’0”
and carried good speed through Water 214 gals.
the tacks. Fuel 138 gals.
With the double-headed Solent Engine 150 hp.
rig, we were able to make the big
Moody Yachts/ Berthon USA
sail change right from the helm.
Newport, RI 02840
We rolled up the self-tacking So-
401-846-8404
lent and then fell off the breeze and
sale@berthonusa.com
rolled out the big genoa for some www.yachts.group/moody
power reaching. The big sail took
65
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www.bwsailing.com 67
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FEATURED BOATS OF
THE MONTH

2018 PASSPORT VISTA

545 CENTER COCKPIT
(Sistership shown in photo)

The winner of CRUISING WORLD’S 2012 Full Size Cruiser and

SAIL magazine’s 2012 Flagship Monohull. The Passport Vista 545
Center Cockpit, Hull #110 is currently under construction and
available for delivery in 2018. This thoroughly modern and stylish
yacht offers an abundance of room and comfort yet keeps a sleek,
low profile. The modern reverse transom and raised deck house will
appeal to those who prefer a contemporary look. Truly a modern
world-class cruising yacht with all of the quality and custom touches you have come to expect from a Passport.
The high tech composite hull and deck are designed for speed, comfort and the highest level of safety. The Vista series sail plan with its Solent
headsail design with self-tacking jib and mainsail furling system are unparalleled in ease of handling and efficiency. Smartly equipped with a bow
thruster, electric winches. reverse cycle heat and air conditioning, generator, refrigeration and freezer systems, autopilot, multi-function display
at helm and at navigation station, customized interior layout, faux leather upholstery, colored Corian counter tops, Skycreens, and custom interior
and exterior lighting.
Although modern in their specification, Passports are still hand built by old world craftsman skilled in the art of fine yacht building. From the
safety features of the custom fabricated stainless steel deck fittings to hand crafted raised panel and louvered doors, every detail large and small
is taken into consideration. Our interiors are not modular in construction but hand built, piece-by-piece, to create an interior that flows flawlessly
from stem to stern.
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www.passportyachts.com anytime. We are always happy to talk about our spectacular line of cruising yachts. Whether new or previously cared
for, there’s a Passport to suit you.

For more information on these and other previously owned yachts, please contact us:
ANNAPOLIS: Yacht Haven, 326 First Street, Ste. 404, Annapolis, MD 21403
410-263-0008
www.passportyachts.com
2009 PASSPORT CLASSIC 470 CENTER COCKPIT
The perfect balance between performance and comfort. Fully equipped with double walk through, two stateroom
two head layout. Ready for your next offshore adventure. If you think that a new yacht of the very highest quality
and one that can be enjoyed for a lifetime is in your future, please don’t hesitate to call us. Asking $535,000.

2012 PASSPORT 585 TWIN 2008 PASSPORT 470 CC 2004 PASSPORT 470 CC
Unsurpassed quality and construction. Call for details. Fully equipped for cruising. Excellent condition with Very well equipped with arch, wind gen and
Asking $1,245,000 unique double walk thru, 3 stateroom layout and solar panels. Refit in 2016.
shoal draft. Asking $524,000 Asking $369,000

1996 PASSPORT 470 CC 1989 PASSPORT 41 AC CLASSIC PASSPORT 40 AC

Georgeous joinery, dark blue hull, 3 staterooms and Dark blue hull with unique two stateroom two enclosed Beautiful example of the legendary Robert Perry
teak decks make her a real head turner. Well main- head arrangement. Well equipped. cruising yacht. Four available.
tained and constantly updated. Asking 350,000 Asking $189,000 Starting at $97,750.

2006 GOZZARD 41 AC GOZZARD 37 AC 1995 GOZZARD 36 AC

A solidly constructed, extended range blue water yacht True cutter rig with shoal draft designed for offshore Well cared for and constantly upgraded.
designed primarily for the liveaboard cruising lifestyle. cruising but is equally pleasing for coastal and Asking $179,000
Well equipped. Asking $335,000 bay sailing. Two to choose from $225,000

1987 PASSPORT 51 CC 1999 CATALINA 470 1986 BRISTOL 40 YAWL

Classic Stan Huntingford double ender design will take Catalina’s blue water cruiser. Owner’s have updated her One of the last Bristol 40’s produced the last yawl
you anywhere in the world with comfort and safety, turn- and maintained her to the highest standards. version delivered. A beauty to behold and will serve her
ing heads everywhere she goes. Asking $229,000 Asking $215,000 new owners elegantly. Asking $79,000

For more information on these and other previously owned yachts, please contact us:
ANNAPOLIS: Yacht Haven, 326 First Street, Ste. 404, Annapolis, MD 21403
410-263-0008
www.passportyachts.com
 sailing opportunities
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{ BROADREACHING }
WINTERING IN THE GREAT LAND
A
fresh blanket
of snow covers
Yahtzee when I ar-
rive to tackle an-
other day of boat
projects. Before
heading below to switch on heat-
ers and plug in power tools, I
spend a few minutes shoveling the
cockpit and decks, and pushing
snow off the solar panels on our
hard dodger.
Pretty soon the sun breaks
over the tops of the mountains to
the east and fills the marina with
light. I stand for a moment soaking
it in, watching it slowly illuminate
freshly covered peaks that tower
above town with a brilliant alpen-
glow. Savoring moments like these
is part of what makes wintering in
Alaska so special.
Gone are the tourists. Gone are
the cruise ship passengers. Gone
are the campers. Gone are the vis-
iting fishermen and boaters. Gone
are the seasonal workers. Gone is
the picture of Alaska that is care-
74
fully presented in glossy brochures
and advertisements to people in
the lower 48 and elsewhere. What’s
left is a truly unique place that I’m
glad we’re getting to experience.
But stopping here has also
helped me get the picture of what
it means to take a break from the
cruising life and the many rewards
it has to offer. Hitting the pause
button allows us to reset and refo-
cus. It provides a fresh perspective
on where we want to go from here
and how we’ll likely find ourselves
stopping like this in destinations
throughout the world.
The truth is that pausing along
the cruising journey means differ-
ent things for every cruiser. And it’s
different every time you stop. For
some, it entails pulling the boat
from the water, putting it on jack
stands and leaving it for hurricane
season. For others, it’s winterizing
and covering. Yet for others, it’s
leaving it tied in a slip with a web
of lines and hoping for the best.
While we’re enjoying the
by ANDYCROSS
fruits of winter in Alaska, cruis-
ing friends have buttoned up boats
in Vanuatu and Fiji. And while
those locales are vastly different in
their geography and weather than
here, the dance of putting away
the boat isn’t all that dissimilar.
Sails come down, get folded and
stowed. Provisions get removed,
eaten or donated to locals. Canvas
comes off and running rigging gets
tidied up.
And though the effort involved
with putting the boat away can be
time consuming and difficult, it’s
the anticipation of setting it all
back up again that keeps us going.
Yes, spring sailing is a welcomed
glimmer in our eyes — even if we
are snowboarding and skiing at
the moment. BWS
Andrew, along with wife Jill and sons
Porter and Magnus, are currently
residing in Alaska while working on
their Grand Soleil 39 Yahtzee. Follow
their adventures at threesheetsnw.com/
yahtzee.
BLUE WATER SAILING • March 2018
 Join the Salty Dawg Rally and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow blue water
sailors. Sail to and from the Caribbean, attend free safety and seamanship
seminars and demonstrations provided by veteran passagemakers and the
86&RDVW*XDUG$QGEHQHÀWIURPWKHPDQ\YDOXDEOHGLVFRXQWVWKDWDUH
available only to Salty Dawg Rally members.

Events in 2018
(Check the website for the exact dates: www.saltydawgsailing.org.)

May: Spring Salty Dawg Rally from the B.V.I to Hampton, Va. October: Visit the Salty Dawg booth at the Annapolis Sailboat Show
July: Salty Dawg Rally to Maine October: Safety and Seamanship Seminars in Hampton, Va.
October: Salty Dawg Great Lakes Rally to Hampton October: Annual Family Halloween Party and Raffle in Hampton, Va.
October: Safety and Seamanship Seminar in Annapolis, Md. November: Fall Salty Dawg Rally from Hampton, Va. to the B.V.I.

Go to saltydawgsailing.org for more information.

onsors
Our sp
Chris Parker Marine Weather Service • Blue Water Sailing magazine • Bitter End Yacht Club • Beneteau • Jeanneau • Outbound Yachts • Quantum Sails • Leverick Bay •
Bluewater Yachting Center • Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hampton • Falvey Insurance • West Marine • Enterprise Car Rental • Downunder Diving • Bamboushay Pottery •
Golden Hind Chandlery • Rite Way Food Market• Yacht Shots Photography • Bluewater Divers • Life Raft & Survival • Hampton Visitors Bureau
 SERIOUS SAILING EQUIPMENT
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