Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2020 i Cruising Helmsman

THE fact that the Grand Pavois La Rochelle is late, taking place from Tuesday September 29 to Sunday October 4, is actually seen as an advantage by its management. Due to it being an outdoor event with 60,000 square metres of exhibition on land and 100,000 square metres on the water, had it have been an indoor event, the problem would have been totally different. As for its format, it remains over six days, from Tuesday to Sunday, with opening hours unchanged. It is intended to remain as it has always been but it may be a little different from previous editions with less entertainment for the general public. Given the impacted year forcing individual rethinking, there will be a focus on ecoresponsibility. Thinking about tomorrow is nowadays the responsibility…

DURING my investigations into when chain was first used for anchor rodes, I meandered down an interesting side track that might even be worth a short note in CH. My explorations took me to an old academic paper from 1963 by underwater archaeologist Honor Frost. In it she describes the following: in Lebanon in the 1950s, fishers searching for sponge beds needed to know what the seabed was made of in order to select the best type of anchor to deploy. “The Captain went through the immemorial performance of putting his ear to the bottom of the boat: if he heard a ‘swish-swish’ it meant we were over sand, while a ‘clickclick’ meant there was rock.” What was causing these sounds? My first thought was that it was the locals…

DON’T KEEP ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET Or all your tools in the same place, or your water in one tank. Or, as happened to us, all the spare toilet paper was stored under the V-berth. On a wet beat south from Thursday Island, the forward hatch leaked and the bed was soaked, as was the toot paper. 350 nautical miles north of Cairns, this was more than a nuisance. John Allen, from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, shared this tip he wrote for the club’s cruising newsletter: “we were getting ready to take our Catalina 470 Barrenjoey Light out. We had closed the door to our workshop cabin where we keep all our tools. The door’s handle is secured to the spindle by a small grub screw. You…

THERE is no perfect anchor, they are all a compromise. Equally, there is no perfect rode: they are also a series of compromises. The compromises we had made in developing its ground tackle will not suit every yacht, especially as our yacht is a 38’ catamaran. We have a simple philosophy: a rode should be sold as a matching package. None of this buying the chain here, the anchor there, the shackles somewhere else, then need to mark the rode itself spread out over the marina pontoon and not a single piece of certification for anything. The belief is you should be able to buy a rode matching the yacht and the windlass should be sized to match the yacht. Basically, professionals should do the matching, not you. They should…

AMERICA’S largest advocacy, services and safety group for recreational boaters, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), noted an April 22 decision by the US Federal Communications Commission to allow mobile satellite services operator Ligado Networks to build and operate a land-based industrial 5G wireless network will negatively impact the reliability of the nation’s global positioning system impacting boating safety. Ligado’s slice of licensed L-Band spectrum designated for space-based navigation and communications is located near lower frequency bands used by hundreds of millions of GPS units. BoatUS believes that as the Ligado network is rolled out, instances of signal interference will increase. This will give current GPS users no choice but to either purchase new GPS units or potentially suffer continued interference. The loss of a GPS signal at…

SOS IS AOK Dear Cruising Helmsman, Thank you most sincerely for all your help with the promotion of the request for used sails for ‘Sails ocean sails’ (SOS); the response in Australia and worldwide has been overwhelming: (CH March 2020 and www.mysailing.com.au). The trip to Tonga has been delayed for six to twelve months because of the virus. I wish I had a much bigger plane to transport all the sails offered and give them to the islanders! Navigation books, sailing gear, tackle etcetera, along with sails of all descriptions, have been offered. If this virus thing ever ends we will take as much as we can onto the departing plane. Could you please advise your wonderful readers that their generosity is greatly appreciated. I will keep you updated as…

MY maiden name is Eriksen, in Denmark a name as common as Miller or Smith. Leif Eriksen, son of Norse rogue Erik the Red, in around 1000AD sailed west from Greenland in his open boat and discovered America. Viking exploits are legendary and the Scandinavians are outstanding mariners. Not much is known of my Danish ancestors, but some are said to have had an adventurous streak. My family has resided near Hamburg in Germany for decades now, but we have celebrated our Danish roots whenever we could, mainly during our annual family sail to Denmark. A while back, my father, Einar, was close to sailing to Valhalla; so after a sad and sentimental visit to farewell him, our family of four chartered a boat in Denmark and tried to trace…

GOOGLE BUDS PROTECTION If you love listening to your tunes while on the tiller, Catalyst have introduced the first waterproof case for Google’s Pixel Buds. The Catalyst case for Google Pixel Buds offer an IP67 waterproof rating to one metre and drop proof protection to 1.2m. The cases can be disinfected using isopropyl alcohol, allowing users to maintain hygiene, keeping them free of germs and bacteria. This waterproof and drop-proof case means users can take their Google Pixel Buds anywhere without worry. Made from soft silicone to protect from scratches and scrapes, the case allows easy access to the charging port and comes with a detachable carabiner so it can be easily hooked on to where you need them. Available in stealth black from Amazon or the Catalyst website. RRP:…

BARBARA and I on board our Adams 40 Goanna are often swinging to anchor. If a severe summer thunder squall blows our way, we had better be up to speed with anchoring technique to survive the twenty minutes or so of mayhem without any damage to our yacht or to another vessel we might drag into. Thunderstorm, electrical storm, thunder squall, downdraft, line squall, rollcloud or supercell; all are names for intense weather phenomena. To a yachtsperson at anchor they all effectively mean the one thing: wind and, probably, lots of it! 50 to 60 knots is not uncommon, 80 knots is rarer and scarier; but 100 knots, though unthinkable, can happen. Over the years we have experienced thunderstorm squalls of these intensities. One time, at Salamander Bay Port Stephens,…

DOGS Who Sail began with the two cocker spaniels, Maxy and Mel aboard Tanya and Anthony Rabe’s 34 foot Duncanson, Crossroads. According to founder Tanya, there were two motivations behind the creation of Dogs Who Sail. Aside from saturating family and friends with photos of their dogs onboard, she was eager to meet other sailing dogs and so created a Facebook group called ‘Dogs who sail’. That community is now 1,800 strong and growing daily. Tanya wanted to ensure Maxy and Mel were safe and comfortable on the boat at all times, so she began developing her knowledge by reading blogs and books, watching You Tube clips and speaking with experts. Realising the number of owners met through the Dogs Who Sail community who were challenged by the same worries…

REGARDING the article in the papers today, I propose this suggestion: Cockatoo Island could be made into a living, working museum and maritime centre not unlike Mystic Seaport in Massachusetts, USA. The National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour is much too small to fully display its wealth of maritime artifices and it could more properly do so if it moved to CI. Likewise, Cockatoo could rehouse the Heritage Maritime Fleet: the James Craig tall ship and the other vessels it has brought back to working use, as well as the HMS Endeavour replica when in port plus the 1988 British Bicentenary gift vessel Young Endeavour. Also, a whole marine industry could be housed there on the north western slipway area, which are currently spread around the harbour and which could…

WHEN we purchased Chaotic Harmony we insured her with an Australian mob but it was only good for 250 nautical miles off the coast. Seems an odd distance and we could never quite figure it out as you are well and truly at sea by this stage. We had never insured any of our vessels prior, but some countries insisted on sighting a valid insurance document. We had placed all our non-maritime worldly belongings into storage or into the hands of family and friends. There was not much to take aboard except ourselves and enough clothes, spares, tools and provisions to go anywhere we wanted, excepting cold climates. But we had a vessel worth a fair amount of dollars, four lives and lots of gear; so the hunt for an…

THE Brest tall ships festival on the French Atlantic coast is held from the 12th to the 19th of July every four years. Spanning Bastille Day, it is the largest gathering of traditional ships in the world, the ancient port capable of accommodating up to 2000 vessels ranging from five-masted tall ships to the smallest of sailing fishing craft. I was looking for a sailing adventure, the 2016 regatta loomed and soon I was plane-bound from Australia. After a quick look around Paris, I found myself on the fast train to Brest, covering the 600 kilometres in about 4.5 hours, old stonespired villages in the landscaped countryside sliding rapidly past. A clean and modern city, Brest centre was rebuilt after heavy damage during WWII, but pockets of old buildings and…

A common theme amongst boat owners is that they all want the peace of mind in knowing their vessel is easily accessible, safe and covered by insurance. The demand for moorings will only continue to grow, already the waiting lists for many areas are extraordinary. For example, the longest waiting list that I am aware of in New South Wales, Australia is Winji, Jimmy Bay in southern Pittwater, where the waiting period is 27 years. Making this an excruciating waiting period, or a nice 27th birthday present. It is, therefore, important to be aware of your rights and obligations as a license holder so you can hold on to your mooring with minimal interference from the authorities. Generally speaking, all submerged land is classified as a type of crown land…