If Clothes maketh the man, what about the Drag Queens? 18thMarch 2011

21/03/2011

This blog is about a couple of the interesting anchoring techniques shown by bare boat charters that we have witnessed recently. At first I was tempted to title the piece ”Sunsail Specials and Moorings Monkeys”, given the Chartering dominance of these two companies around these waters. However, the more we saw of these yachts, the more we came to realize that the yachts offered by these two companies are generally very well presented and maintained, and that the comments I am about to dish out should not be linked to Sunsail and Moorings alone! We were nearly wiped out by a dragging “Switch” cat in Bequia, so one learns to identify the livery of all the charter companies PDQ.

We had chartered a Sunsail yacht, a Beneteau 381 in the Seychelles around the turn of the century, and it was a dog…. Designed and prepared to maximize accommodation, at the cost of sailing capability. It was also nothing like as well maintained as the fleet we have observed in the Caribbean, which also have the added advantage of now ,once again, mostly from the Bruce Farr stable, after the Bay of Biscay tragedy, where the righting moment of a particular boat was questioned. A South African cruising friend we met here, bought an 8 year old 50ft ex Sunsail Bruce Farr designed Beneteau, and it was extremely clean, well equipped and maintained. Yes , the 75hp Yanmar had done 5000plus hours, and the windlass was past its best. It would still require a fair amount of time and money to convert it into a livaboard cruising yacht, but we felt he still got a lot of boat for his $140000. Similarly, we have had friends who have bought ex Moorings Leopards, and have also been able to get fine cats for reasonable value. There again, the engines have big hours, and re engining them needs to be factored into the equation before too long. Although having said that I prefer the solid look of the old 45/47ft Leopards against which, the newer 44ft versions appear to have higher topsides, seem narrower, and a tad more skittish at anchor.

Which brings me back to the chartering crews and skippers who are let loose on the poor innocent and unsuspecting cruising fraternity…….actually Not unsuspecting at all….. more like Suspicious, Wide awake, and generally Shit scared of Bare Boat Charters! The point being…. It’s the crews skills deficiency, and not the Charter Company’s boats, that is the problem!!

Mary and I were hard pressed not to burst out laughing at the succession of anchoring exercises that were on display in Anguilla last week. The biggest clue and common denominator about Bare Boat Charter boats, seems to be the need to hold committee meetings on the bow, when about to anchor. We watched a Sunsail boat pull up behind us in 4mts of water, let out 4mts of chain , and then proceed to back up for about 8omts, until they were in at least 6mts of water, without ever letting out any more chain! They did this about 4 times before concluding loudly that the holding was bad, and they should try elsewhere.

Another mystery we observed on this yacht, was to do with all the flags they flew from the spreader: Lima,Whisky,Bravo,Juliet,Mike,Sierra. We think it was just because they thought it looked pretty, but I wanted to inform all the boats in the anchorage that it was a well known signal for “Free drinks here at 5pm”, but Mary felt sorry for them, and said “No!”

The ups and downs of boat handling skills!

17.3.2011

During our time here in St Maarten, we have enjoyed the opportunity to see some of the world famous super yachts in the boating world , and as impressively , have been able to witness the boat handling skills of their crews and skippers. Sure, they all have massive bow thrusters, and many have twin screws and stern thrusters as well, but it is also good to see the precise use of one ,or both anchors, as they maneuver their way into very tight spots with minimal fuss.

Unlike Shearwaters , they do actually go astern, when asked to do so, which makes for a good starting point! I know of at least two 39ft Shearwaters whose owners have capitulated to this behavioural quirk, and fitted bow thrusters to minimize their marina embarrassments!

The” Marie Cha iv” was here for a while, having some work done on her “Park Lane “ boom, which in itself was wider and longer than “Sheer Tenacity”! At the moment, the “Mirabella V”’, which I think is still the world’s largest sloop, is also anchored/moored just inside the Simpson Bay Bridge. It dwarfs all the other little 145ft Peroni Navi’s, with its mast stretching up way above all the other mega yachts , all with their red anchor lights,( which must be something to do with warnings to aircraft! )

Mary and I were lucky enough to be invited for dinner on the new “Zephiro”, by Gerhardt Reuther, whose previous “Zephiro”, ( 76ftv Solaris), I had helped sail to Sardinia from Grenada in 2008,and, which wasn’t too shabby either! The new “Zephiro” is a Southern Winds 100 footer, and is a real work of art…….. sleek, elegant, understated, fast, and beautifully appointed and equipped. She was moored in a tight little berth in the Place de Plaisance Marina, and her bow thruster, powered by two gensets( 1 x35kva, 1 x 25kva) made this a piece of cake!

The closest we came to watching the Heinekin regatta, was to watch the traditional open boat yacht race between Road Bay to Dog Island and back. On these lightweight sloops , (24-30ft), there are no weighted keels. Ballast is only of the human kind, so each boat needs 2 or 3 bulky lads on the rail, or even on trapeze . They take the job seriously too, and knock back about a beer per mile in case they lose too much weight from overexertion! These crews zig- zag their craft through the anchored yachts, fighting for position all the way . There are no handicaps, and it was interesting to see that the race was actually won by the smallest craft in the fleet. Just better sailors! The boat names too were a bit special.. “Stay Up’, “No Big Ting”, “De Storm”, “Alma Gloria”, “ Magician”,”F S Tornado” were some we recall.

The flipside of all this skill is found in frightening abundance all around, as we are approaching the epicenter of bare boat chartering ! I have made mention of various anchoring techniques in a previous blog, but some amazing and innovative anchoring attempts demand a special mention entirely on their own, in the next blog!

SXM Heineken Week Escape!

16^th March 2011

As most yachties at HBYC and yachts clubs worldwide already know, “racing” skippers are a very different breed of people! Aggressive, Hypersensitive, Rude, Arrogant, and incredbly sensitive about whose “water” belongs to whom!

These attributes are honed and perfected during races, but are still very much in evidence in marinas and anchorages where the skills are still being practiced and tested in the days leading up to “Race Days”. When the racing machines approach the 80-100ft mark ,these attributes reach a state of near perfection, where “right of way” rules are easily morphed into “I’m Bigger than you” !

Heineken Week is also characterised by the onset of nightly orgies of parties, loud music, immense consumption of rum and beer etc. I have heard it described as a drinking week with a sailing theme, but the participents would probably be upset!

It starts off with the legendary Mount Gay Rum Party at the Soggy Dollar bar in Palapa Marina, which culminates in the Carribean renouned “wet T-Shirt” competition. We we invited to the party of course, and Mary suggested that I offer my services as a judge in this event, given my lifelong fascination in this field, combined with my well known observational skills. I gave the matter serious consideration, but then had to admit to myself and all concerned , that it was unlikely that I would still be awake for the event which was scheduled to start at only 3.00am, when everyone was as nissed as pewts! Besides, I heard on the grapevine, that the event had been highjacked by the Plastic Surgeons Mammary enhancement association of the World, as an advertising gimic! It would bebelow my dignity to lend my credibility to such a sham!! I had to offer my apologies!

And so,with our new watermaker installed, and ready to be tested, we decided to seek the peace , quiet, and clean water, of Anguilla, some 20nms distant. We chose the 9.00am Bridge opening, and were hauled and ready by 8.45am. We eventually escaped from the lagoon at about 10.00am in last place, in a 30knot rain squal and a hysterical bridge operator, having been pushed and bullied out of the way by the entire Heinekin fleet, who just knew that their “water” was more important than ours!

The weather prediction had been for a 10-15NE breeze, with clear skies,which is why we enjoyed 27-30knt SE rain squalls all the way to Anguilla. No sooner had we finished anchoring in the rain and gloom, than the skies cleared, the wind dropped, and to reveal the turquoise beauty of the Caribbean, and lovely golden beaches………a very long way from the madness of St Martin!

We learned later that our departure was a doddle compared to the chaos of the following morning, where one yacht did its best to demolish the bridge, and another got itself jammed diagonally in the channel!