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!