Knowing we were headed into the world of mooring stern to we debated about adding a purpose built “passeral” to Wind Horse. It seemed like a waste to spend several thousand dollars and have to store the resulting purchase for a few marina visits. At Sue Grant’s suggestion we decided to wait and see what was really necessary. What follows is a selection of high end fashion statements, and more down to earth solutions. At the end we will show you our solution.

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We’ve been hearing for years that Palma was a special place, and frankly, with our experience to date in the Balaerics we had our doubts. But one look at the amazing collection of moored yachts as we entered the harbor and we knew it was true.

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We’ve fouled the anchor on everything from lost hurricane chains, to engine blocks, to coral heads. But this is the first time we’ve hooked a sewer line (unmarked). Since the camera was hand we thought a few shots of the clearing process might be of interest.

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We are starting to understand the appeal of zero speed stabilizers and gyro stabilization systems for yachts which are boomless. The anchorages which we have visited so far are not what you would characterize as calm. Of course if you have booms and flopper stoppers they are fine.

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It is the real world mistakes we have made which form much of the basis for how we do things. For example, the constant worry about 22 hull penetrations in our uninsured fiberglass 50 footer 32 years ago led to a compulsive drive to eliminate these in our own designs. It has been a dozen years since we have kissed anything hard below surface. No more. Today we did a really good job of it.

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The photo above and below are the PR versions of where we are at present.

And they are accurate before 1200 and after 2000 hours. The rest of the time, the people and boat watching, not to mention lessons in naval architecture are wonderful.

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We’ve been reading the Paul Theroux’s book on his travels in the Med. “The Pillars of Hercules”. At one point he rails against travel writers who sugar coat reality. Not wanting to fall into that camp we herewith rededicate ourselves to calling it as we see it. Let’s start with exotic Formentara where we have just dropped the anchor.

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As we are planning a fall crossing of the Atlantic we’ve been watching the hurricane season develop with interest. According to the long range weather gurus at Colorado State University, the conditions for a very active season are strengthening. These include:

• Warmer than normal sea surface temperature.
• Weaker Atlantic trade winds reducing wind shear.
• Strengthening La Nina in the Pacific

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There are all sorts of hints that it is time to leave. The fridge is so full it will hold nothing more, the immediate neighbor is playing with his tiller sans pantalones, and there is a west wind blowing when we are headed east.

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Gibraltar is one of those names which rings bells for the cruiser. It is a destination that everyone, sooner or later, would like to visit. So it was with us, and we left the charms of Rota allowing plenty of time to sample this fabled destination. There have been a series of surprises, starting with the traffic in the Straights of Gibraltar.

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Rota is the type of cruising locale about which you have to be wary. The town is charming, the marina conveniently located, and the inhabitants friendly. You could easily become trapped by the ambiance and stick around for way too long.

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Most photographers who are hardware junkies eventually acquire a small “walk around” camera, something compact to carry when you don’t want the bulk or  obtrusiveness of the “real” camera. The problem is that when the big opportunities present themselves the compacts are too slow, don’t have the lower light ability, or other deficits and you miss the shot and vow to always carry the good stuff.

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This past week we have been asked three times (by e-mail and in the marina) about the switch from sail to power, and what we thought about it now. Before answering the question some context is in order.

Prior to Wind Horse we had only twice set foot on a stinkpot, both experiences being very short. We loathed power boats, a feeling built up from years of negative interaction. Our sailing yachts, both racing cats in the olden days, and cruising designs more recently, were fast, nimble, and a joy to sail. Beowulf, the 78 foot ketch above and in subsequent photos, was the ultimate high performance cruiser, and crossing oceans aboard her was mostly a pleasure. We enjoyed sailing her agressively as a couple and the challenge of making quick, seamanlike passages, without undo risk, with just two of us aboard, was a big attraction.

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The beaches in Spain and Portugal are very accessible to the general public and get a good workout. We try to get in a walk first thing, before it gets too warm, and this morning after lengthy negotiations it was decided to walk along the beach.

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In the photo above we are looking over the life raft. If we needed to launch it in a hurry it would take the two of us lifting it over the lifelines (it weights 125 pounds/60 kg). Which is why the middle and bottom life line are lashed in place.

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What do you do all day when you are cruising? It is a question we hear a lot. As we are in Rota, Spain, and have temporarily reached a point of full on “relaxation” mode, we thought some insight into what this entails might be of interest.

To begin with Rota is new to us. So we need to get our bearings.

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Our recent foray up the Guadiana River was done without benefit of charts. Depths varied from ten to fifty feet (three to fifteen meters) and there was substantial current during parts of the tidal cycle. The current and depth present both navigation and anchoring challenges.

Lets take the nav issues first.

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Our basic rule is to avoid tight harbors and marinas if the breeze is up, unless we know the layout from previous experience. However, our first entry into the marina in Rota, Spain, broke this rule.

As you can see from the image above, this is a very tight harbor (the yellow line with red dots on the ends is 100 feet/30m long). If it is calm, there is plenty of room to rotate Wind Horse’s 83 feet/25m. But not in a gale.

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Cruising rule number one: it is often the unheralded destinations that are special. Corollary to cruising rule number one: if you don’t try you will never know.

The Guadiana River, which separates Portugal from Spain, wasn’t even on our radar. Nobody with whom we spoke had visited, and other destinations in the area were more highly touted by the cruising guides. But as our Portuguese Vodaphone Internet system was working, and we needed to stay in touch with New Zealand, it seemed a good bet until we had the Spanish system up and running.

It only took a few hours at anchor, looking at the scenery and wildlife, to know the Guadiana was going to be one of our favorite places.

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The latest issue of Yachting (USA) has an article by Steve and Linda on their voyage last summer to Svalbard and 80 degrees north.

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For us to sit in one place for two weeks, especially anchorages as busy as those around Faro and Culatra Island, takes a special draw. Here it is the bird life of the Parque National de Ria Formosa.

There are miles of shoreline and wetlands, with thousands of birds to watch.

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It  is a relatively quiet Sunday here in Culatra. The locals and cruisers are mainly at the beach, and we are catching up, trying to forget the pain associated when family leaves after a visit. We’re baking, polishing stainless, doing a little design work, and finally putting together a high res slide show of the area.

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Cape Saint Vincent marks the eastward turn in the coast  of Portugal. It also signifies warmer weather, long white beaches, and tourism (just check the advertisements in the travel section of your Sunday newspaper). Given our predilection for cool and quiet we were not sure if this left turn was right for us.

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It is getting warmer and our awnings are becoming more important. With the boat head to wind at anchor, and five knots or more of wind, inside temperature during the day is around 82F/28C. Without the awnings things are significantly warmer! Ideally you detail the deck with awnings in mind during the design phase. Our goals are as follows:

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Here is an unusual but significant reason to use an oversized anchor. We’ve been anchoring in tidal estuaries with lots of reversing current. When we picked up the hook to move yesterday it came up with the chain wrapped three times around the stock. That means under load the pull on the anchor was not as designed, reducing the holding power. But this anchor is so much larger than suggested that it still has plenty of muscle.

Clearing a foul like this is not difficult. Here are the steps we used:

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Cruising in this part of the world means you will often be rafting or docking stern to both with neighbors on both sides. This requires lots of fenders. Read the rest »

[slidepress gallery=’sesimbra-sunday’]

Yesterday we realized by this time last year we’d been to Svalbard, touched 80 degrees north, and were on our way back to Tromso, Norway. So we determined to set out on an adventure to see if our anchor still worked after a week of marina living, while checking out a quaint Portuguese fishing village we’d heard about at the same time.

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A few odds and ends to share. We call this the Raven seat. During sea trials  on the FPB 64, Avatar, a legacy from the Owner’s previous yacht was put to good use. When we found something similar in the local Jumbo supermarket we determined to test it on Wind Horse. It worked so well we now have two, and at ten Euros each we can dispose of these when they get nasty looking.

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We have had zero problems with our Frigoboat sealed compressors, three of which are in use with our two freezers and one fridge. But after five years the fridge had lost a touch of refrigerant and was running more than normal. We carry 134A and a charging system for this eventuality, but in the process of adding refrigerant we allowed air into the system. The result was a frozen evaporator system requiring a vacuum pump. This was at 1400 on a Friday afternoon in Spain. What do you think of the odds?

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We had  heard all sorts of comments about  Portugal and its inhabitants. They were said to be morose, unapproachable, difficult with which to interact. This is definitely not the situation. From the moment you first meet the Marina Cascais crew, and are given a welcome bottle of Portuguese wine, to the last cab driver, we have found the locals to be friendly, eager to help and after a period of introduction, as interested in us as we are in them.

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We were walking back from the train station to the marina (this area has wonderful public transport) and noticed MoonBeam lV off in the distance leaving the harbor. By the time we were back aboard she was well offshore, but a 400mm lens and a shooting position on the radar platform brought her into detail.

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Now here is a treat for you. You are looking at the beautifully restored 1915 gaff cutter MoonBeam lV. She is a Wliiam Fife design of roughly 100 feet (30m). In this photo she is heading to the fuel dock. Last night,when she came in,  it was blowing 30 knots down the very narrow marina channel and the crew had to make a right angle turn to get into the slip nearby. You have to be both good and oblivious to the results of mistakes when handling such a lovely large old timer in windy and crowded conditions.

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We’ve just had a lovely run down the coast from Vigo, Spain to Cascais, Portugal. Twenty one and a half hours for 240 NM at reduced revs, with some great surfing thrown in. But the most important aspect of the trip was  reminder of why we design as we do. The photos which follow were taken on an average day with the “Portuguese Trades” blowing, courtesy of the Azores high. The wind is in the 25 knot range, not that strong, yet combine its waves with swells from a force eight gale nine hundred miles away and it is enough to generate waves which essentially bury a very large trawler from our view standing on the deck of Wind Horse.

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One of the great pleasures in cruising is observing wildlife, both exotic as in polar bears and whales, and common, like the various types of gulls. Seagulls are amazing flying machines and very adept soaring pilots. Not the most aesthetic of birds at rest, they are exquisite in flight, reminiscent of the high performance gliders we have flown.

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Part of the cruising experience is occasionally renting a car, getting off the boat, and visiting the countryside. If you are in Galacia at the top of the list is a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella, one of the three most visited sites in Christendom. For us, this was more about the journey through some of the interior, and people watching, than visiting a shrine, although the latter has its allure as well. We are hesitant to write this up as pure travelblogs are boring to us, but this one is hard to resist.

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We are always interested in the local commercial boats. Design wise, there are often lessons to be learned. The Galacian Rias have an ongoing commercial fishery, with small craft and large. The punt design above seems to be common for local fishing.

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Astute readers of this blog will no doubt have noted by now the absence of the rust stain on Wind Horse’s aft starboard quarter. The rust stain was a continuing nuisance, courtesy of a not so “stainless” steel smokestack on  our Kabola diesel heater (now replaced in non-staining aluminum). The rust stain removal took a half an hour.

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The Ria de Vigo is a study in contrasts, and a reminder to us of what makes cruising in the more developed world interesting. Take the lead photo, of Baiona, Spain (that’s the Galacian spelling, the Spanish spell it Bayonna). The enormous fort in the background dates to the 11th century. The red tiled roof to the right is the Montereal Club de Yates, a three time challenger for the America’s cup, contained within the fort complex.

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For those of you who are really hard core we offer a slide show of the open 60 rigging and hull shape details. These are the ultimate sailing machines, designed to be raced around the world single-handed. When viewing these slides keep in mind that you can control the progress of them  with the +/- buttons (or let the show play automatically) and view full screen images by clicking on the box in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

Click here for the Open 60 details.

We’re in the land of Med mooring (stern to) and most yachts have some form of stern gang plank system. Many are elaborate, others more like a plank of wood. This is the first time we have seen a gangplank also used as a dinghy launching system.

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Several interesting details to comment on with this aluminum French yacht.

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Between Open 60 racing and various Spanish festivals, we have been seeing some interesting craft the past few weeks. We love the modern designs of course, but the functionality of the traditionals also has a certain appeal – and perhaps a lesson or two.

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Here is an idea we have never understood, placing tubing over the bottom end of rigging.The concept is to eliminate chafe and provide a surface which facilitates the movement of sails and sheets when tacking. However there are several problems with this approach.

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Here is a historic detail on a 30 year old home built ketch just back from a cruise to the US. She is still owned and sailed by her designers/builders, a vigorous couple. There are advantages and disadvantages to side by side twin stays.

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We are always  on the watch for cockpit awning ideas. Here are a couple of good ones. The cockpit awning system above has several things going for it:

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You are looking at a three year old tube of silicone which is still soft and uncured. The secret? A seal of cling wrap (also known as Saran Wrap). Simply tear off a small piece, place it over the threaded tube end, and screw the cap back down. The seal this makes prevents moisture from getting to, and hardening, the silicone.

Permatex “RTV” gasket silicone is a must for the engine spares. It is often used in place of paper gaskets, and works well at high temperatures.

Having talked with our offspring and father (who is at Catalina this weekend going strong at 94), had pancakes for breakfast, and t hen enjoyed a relaxed morning, what could be possibly added? Perhaps a bit of open 60 racing off the stern would be nice. These are astonishing boats. Hugely powerful with canting keels, light – less than 10 tons – with rigs limited to 105 feet (31 meters) – and designed to be sailed by a single hander.

Can you imagine working this machinery in the bay, let alone the Southern Ocean? By coincidence we turned up in Sanxenso, Spain the night before they were due to  leave for the next stop in an around Spain race (this one crewed). So, before returning to the drawing board, we took a detour and followed the Open 60s as they reached back and forth and then set kites for their run south.

The photos in the side show in the link below were taken mostly in less than eight knots of wind. Wind Horse was cruising at 11.5 at and barely able to keep up.

Click here for our Father’s day present.

We’ve been exploring the Rias (river estuaries) of Galicia. They are an interesting mix of frenetic development, and traditional Galacian architecture. There are marinas everywhere, but we have been able to find pleasant places to lie on our own hook. The food is wonderful, and we have enjoyed our limited dialog with the locals (our spanish is in need of some fine tuning).

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We offer the photo above as proof that you don’t need the latest and greatest to enjoy cruising. This is a 30 year old Compass 48 owned by a Dutch couple we recently met. They are surfing along in a fresh northerly, having a wonderful sail. But what happens when the wind goes forward and the two of them need to douse the chute?

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Cruising in the old world means lots of interesting boat watching, the best of which is usually provided by the charter fleets. Two of these yachts joined us and tried to anchor on a bottom that had a nice growth of kelp, which you can see on their anchor. The two boats spent an hour trying to get a good bite, then retired to a nearby marina. The answer to their dilemma is easy. More scope. If you normally set the hook with a scope of five to one, use six or seven if the anchor gives indication of not digging in. Then, once you have backed down on the hook under power and confirm it is well dug in, winch back the extra chain.

We’ve been making do connecting our water hose with a leaky collection of fittings for the past five years. So when we purchased 100 feet (30m) of light weight and soft hose last week we decided it was time to upgrade the hose fitting inventory. In this part of the world quick disconnect is the way to go. The nine Euro/twelve Dollar collection you see above allows us to join 15 and 19mm hoses together, connect sections of hose with quick disconnect fittings, or thread two onto two sizes of hose bibs. This is neater, simpler, and cleaner than the old fashioned fittings with hose clamps we have been using.

It is so easy to take your work with you when cruising these days. Good communications – right now we have a Vodaphone 3G connection – make it very efficient. If you are computer dependent as we are, having an office afloat is simple. We run our Windows based engineering programs on the Mac we use for photos and video editing. But is this a cruising combination good idea?

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For the last 2000 years the coast between A Coruna and Cabo Finisterre has had a bad reputation. Frequent fog, a lee shore, off lying rocks, and gradient onshore winds accelerated with a thermal sea breeze, have claimed thousands of lives. Really we are not kidding about this. But on the other hand, if you like to surfing, are headed towards the equator, and the  Portuguese trade winds are blowing, this is the place. It is also a good location to practice wave photography, and ponder why the camera always makes the waves look smaller.

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A bit of false advertising with this sunny day in Marina Coruna – just one of these in the week we have been here. Otherwise, rain and wind, which is OK as we have been catching up on various business related paperwork and doing a little designing, all made easier with a stable wifi connection. We have also had a chance to meet a bunch of cruisers, some returning from the States, a few going to the West Indies, most headed south to the Med.

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The yacht basin at Marina Coruna is a little bouncy with northerly quadrant winds. We and everyone else are surging against our dock lines. There are comfort issues with jerking and noise which we have solved with a combination of dock line materials.

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When we first started cruising we were urged by those in the know to get a powered windlass. We resisted for a short period, but quickly became believers in electric as opposed to hand power.

There are multiple reasons for this:

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Here is a rare treat, a 99 year old English pilot cutter, now lovingly restored as a yacht. We noticed Cornubia when we were walking the docks in Plymouth. Over the years we have seen many designs that claimed to be based on the pilot cutter concept but most had concessions to the world of yachting. So when we found out this was the real deal we looked a lot closer.

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We have now seen these wind generators at work on three cruising yachts and can attest to their amazingly quiet operation. We discussed the output with one user and he indicated that this unit from eclectic-energy.com performs in accordance with its output curve. However, it does not have overspeed protection and must be tied off or feathered in high winds.

Biscay and the United Kingdom are in our wake and new territories await discovery. As you will know by now, this short passage blessed us with light airs in a locale not known for its kindness to mariners. For an otherwise boring passage (which is what we like) there were still a few interesting things to note.

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1730 local time and we’ve got fourteen hours to go. The barometer us still at 1020mb, breeze is seven knots from the north, and if we were aboard Beowulf we’d be debating whether to carry the two spinnakers, or be conservative and stay with the code zero headsails. We’ve slowed down to 9.5/10 knots (depending on current) so as not to arrive too early on Sunday morning. The forecasts, both computer generated GRIB files and the UK Met Service faxes, show the high dominating for another 24 hours. However, this morning we had hooked cirrus clouds from the southwest and now there is a southwest swell, occasionally running four meters / 13 feet. The cirrus are a depression leading indicator and the swells a wind velocity warning. If we were just leaving the UK with these signs we would keep the heavy sails ready (regardless of that the forecasts said).
The lack of wildlife has been a surprise. A land bird has stopped by for a rest, three sea birds have cruised over for a look, and a small pod of dolphin played in our bow wave. On the other hand, there does seem to be some debris in the water and last night there was a loud thump around 0200 (we put engines into neutral on all thumps, just in case). We are debating today’s highlight; being buzzed by what we assume is a border patrol jet, chomping chocolate chip cookies, or changing one of our Separ fuel filters.
SailMail, using the station in Belgium, continues to work great – data transfer speeds are faster than Iridium. Nice to see the Icom SSB getting a work out.
6/5/2010 4:38 PM (UTC) position 45

The 140 foot Frers designed ketch, Rebecca, lying here in Falmouth, has to be one of the prettiest mega-yachts afloat. She has a unique look combining “traditional” deck houses with a modern bow and old time stern. Normally, alamalgams like this do not turn out. But she is stunning, and the low freeboard helps to pull it together.

The last time we saw this yacht was in Bermuda, in 2002. We ran into Paul, the skipper, clearing customs, and as we were both headed to Newport, Rhode Island, and informal race was arranged between Beowulf and Rebecca. Paul asked how much time allowance we wanted.

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Wind Horse and crew are having a lovely passage. The barometer remains high, 1020 mb, indicating the glassy calm on hand at present is likely to continue. We have turned the traffic separation corner off Ouessant, France, and are now aimed directly at La Coruna in the northwest corner of Spain. Both GRIB files and weather faxes indicate conditions should remain pleasant for the next 48 hours, then it might get ugly, which is one of the reasons we are believers in making quick crossings.
The little John Deere diesels are turning 1700RPM and Wind Horse,at full load, is doing 10.5 to 10.7 knots through the water. Fuel burn, measured with the graduated sight gauge on the day tank, indicates about 5.5 USG/hour is being consumed, including the fuel burned for hydraulic and electrical power. The new props continue to look like the right choice.
The new galley appliances are working fine, and it does not appear the crew will go hungry (or lose weight on a passage) any time soon. Ship traffic is minimal, we’ve seen maybe 30 ships in eight hours – we’d see that many in half an hour in the English Channel! Need we add that it feels really good to be at sea again.
This message is being sent via SSB radio using SailMail.
6/4/2010 7:32 PM (UTC) position 48

It is Friday morning in the UK and the weather over Biscay is looking good for the next 48 hours. The fax segment above is for 000GMT tonight, and shows a high building in Biscay. The Met office is forecasting low pressure to develop Sunday/Monday with strong southwesterly flow. Easy answer, go now.

But there are complications.

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Although the Brits have had frightful weather the past few summers they have been kind enough, for the most part, to spare us the unpleasantness. Now they must know our time here is drawing to a close and want to send us off with a good impression – the weather has been simply lovely.

Good clouds and sunshine lead to nice photos, and the past two days have been excellent. So we are going to test another slide show on you, this one with captions where required. Read the rest »

The Bay of Biscay, that infamous indentation in the coasts of France and Spain, lies in our immediate future. Although this will be our first time across, we’ve been hearing tales about Biscay events for as long as we can remember. It features in many of the tales our Surviving the Storm and other heavy weather books, and we have immense respect for this small body of water.

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With the power of our new slide show server we are going to test something new.  A simple slide show of what catches our attention, in this case at anchor for three days in the backwaters of Poole Harbor. No distracting commentary. Read the rest »

We’re in Plymouth, UK, walking the docks to check out where they want us to move Wind Horse in the morning, and we came across some details we could not let pass. Consider the following photos and comments in the following context. You are peacefully anchored in a tranquil cove – you pick the location. The sun has just set, there is nary a ripple on the water. Three hours later a swell starts to roll in. You wake up, wonder about the fuss, wind is still calm though, so back to sleep. Two hours more and it is blowing – pick a number fro 35 to 70 knots – straight in from the sea. You are now on a lee shore. The shore happens to be – another choice – steep too tropical reef, rock bound coast, soft mud (feeling lucky with that one). Do you have enough power to get out? Can you get the anchor up? Is there room to slip the anchor and beat to weather to the open sea?

And between you and destruction – a few items we will now discuss in more detail.

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This duct taped vent on the foredeck of a new 80 footer caught our eye, and got us to thinking about the subject of keeping water out of the interior when vents are used. The design principles are quite simple, if somewhat costly to execute.

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We’ve been testing a few of our AC items with the Kill A Watt meter and have some interesting findings to report. The data which follows is on the 115VAC side of our power system.

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One of the things we like best about cruising is the surprises. They come in all forms, often unexpected. New friends that will be cherished for years, wonderful sunsets out of gloomy skies, whales joining us for dinner in an isolated anchorage. To this list we now add a secret garden.

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Now here’s a yacht to get y our heart beating a little harder. She is a steel yawl, 45 feet on deck, with a very traditional gaff rig.

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We’ve just paid our bill at Berthons in the UK, said our goodbyes, and are awaiting a delivery of charts and groceries after which we will head south. The lead photo speaks volumes about this business and its owners’ concept of dealing with their clients. These are without a doubt the nicest boatyard bathroom facilities within this galaxy. But wait, it gets better.

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Here is an extremely handy tool. a combination amp/volt/hz, and Watt meter.

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We really liked the lines of this pilot house schooner, including the junk rig.

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