Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2019 i Cruising World

1. GILL RACE TEAM BAG 60l • $80 • GILLMARINE.COM Keep your gear dry when heading to or from the boat with the new Gill Race Team bag. Constructed of PVC tarpaulin, the bag features a roll-down closure for a watertight seal, four D-ring attachment points and a nonslip padded shoulder strap. The bag is available in two sizes: 30 liters and 60 liters. 2. MANTUS UNIVERSAL DECK KEY • $26 • MANTUSMARINE.COM This handy tool has recently been redesigned to be even more useful. In addition to opening a variety of deck plates, including ones with a star pattern, this deck key, made out of 316L stainless steel, can open shackles and bottles as well. 3. HARI MARI MEADOWS • $70 • HARIMARI.COM Consider these your “going out” flip…

WHAT’S the right size for a cruising boat? There are as many opinions as there are sailors. I’ve done plenty of cruising on boats from 25 to 50 feet, but I’d never considered a 10-foot sailing dinghy for anything more than a daysail. But when I found an autumn week that was free for sailing in San Francisco Bay, this was the boat I had on hand. I’ve always admired the wisdom of Lin and Larry Pardey’s advice to “go small, go simple and go now.” I wasn’t sure what it would entail to sail and live for a week aboard a small, open boat. But learning was part of the adventure. I prepared my gear, made sure the boat was shipshape, and off I went. At its heart, cruising…

For a venue to introduce the Beneteau 46.1, the latest model in the long-running Oceanis line, as well as a few other new sailboats to North America, the French builder chose Fort Adams, in Newport, Rhode Island, hosting two days of press and dealer sea trials just prior to the opening of the Newport International Boat Show last September. This was not your usual dog-and-pony presentation. Think instead Westminster Dog Show meets Kentucky Derby. And needless to say, the Pascal Conqdesigned 46-footer was dressed to the nines for her debut. While mainstream builders once used demo boats and long lists of factory-installed or aftermarket options to draw in customers, nowadays, new models arrive packed with extras in order to make a splash. In the case of the 46.1, the lengthy…

There comes a time in every sailor’s life when they are ready to purchase their first serious boat. A first boat should be able to teach you about boat ownership while you’re having fun, but won’t break the bank while doing it. Hopefully your first boat will hold its value until the time that you are ready to move up to a larger one. When I was ready to find my first boat, I kept an eye out for something above 24 feet but under 28 feet. In my opinion, that length gives you a boat that is not a weekender, but allows you to go cruising for a week or longer. My search did not take long after doing some research that supported what I already suspected. The Cape…

The world of crewed yacht charter lost one of its key industry pioneers in 2019. With family and loved ones at her side, Julie P. Nicholson died on Feb. 27 at her home in Blue Hill, Maine. She was 90. To say that no mold could define her life and career would be an understatement. Lifelong sailor, Smith College graduate and a certified Able-Bodied Seaman, she hailed from a wealthy, strict Yankee family and was endowed with the hands-on, practical nature of a mariner. She married into the Nicholson family and became deeply involved in the business of crewed sailboat charter, a newfangled concept in the mid-20th century that the Nicholsons are widely accredited with creating. While she started out as crew aboard the Nicholson fleet, she excelled at the…

Wooden-boat fans were relieved to find that the biennial Australian Wooden Boat Festival (australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au) took place as planned in Hobart, Tasmania, last February, despite the fires rampaging through large parts of the island. The bushfires were threatening to destroy a native timber, called Huon pine, used to build many of the historic local vessels found at the festival, and one of the several types of trees that are only found in Tasmania. The gleaming bulwarks and butterfly hatches all lovingly coated with layer upon layer of varnish showcase the natural beauty of this rare wood. Local vessels on display during the festival weekend included Rhona H, a 52-foot gaff-rigged topsail ketch built in Launceston in 1942 using Huon pine over celery-top pine frames; the 55-foot steam yacht Preana built of…

When my husband and I are cruising out of our Florida home port on Sasha, our Island Packet 40, we don’t go into marinas unless we have jobs to do — tasks that are easier to accomplish from a secure slip. § Whenever we are at a dock, we’re busy, so we try to make cooking easier (and take advantage of shore power). When we first went cruising, I impulsively packed my slow cooker, feeling a bit silly, but whenever we’re at a dock, it pays off! We’re not away from home, but when we’re at a slip, we’re too occupied with boat chores to cook. At the end of a busy day, we can relax over a dinner that prepared itself. This is one of our favorites. If you…

STOWING THE HATCH BOARDS IS A GOOD SIGN. AT HOME WHEN YOU HEAD OFF INTO THE WILDERNESS, YOU TYPICALLY LOCK UP YOUR HOUSE NICE AND TIGHT BEFORE SAYING ADIOS. ON THE BOAT WE TAKE THE HOUSE WITH US, SO INSTEAD OF LOCKING UP, WE THROW THINGS OPEN. ESPECIALLY WHEN OUR ADVENTURES INVOLVE SAILING THE ENCLOSURE-OPTIONAL, COMFORTABLE CLIMES OF MEXICO. AND SO I WAS SMILING AS I PULLED OUR VARNISHED TEAK WEATHERBOARDS AND TUCKED THEM AWAY DOWN BELOW. I PEERED UP AT THE COCKPIT THROUGH THE NOW WIDE-OPEN COMPANIONWAY. WHO NEEDS DOORS WHEN YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE DEEP OCEAN SWELLS, TALL STARRY NIGHTS OR BROAD EMPTY COASTS? It was January, and the Mazatlán marina where we had berthed to celebrate the holidays with our family was falling astern. After a month, my…

REFIT From the first time that I ever laid eyes on the Peterson 34 on the Honolulu Craigslist, I liked what I saw. She had sexy lines, a huge double-spreader rig, a tiller and a spacious, functional interior. Very clearly, the late-1970s racer/cruiser deserved a closer look. A quick trip over to SailboatData.com outlined some compelling basic details, namely the fact that the boat had a 50 percent ballast ratio and an underbody that belied her stellar upwind performance and all-around seaworthiness. A few more online searches revealed that the Peterson 34 was born from an impressive and storied pedigree. Essentially a production racer/cruiser version of a very successful mid-‘70s racing yacht named Ganbare, she was one of designer Doug Peterson’s breakthrough designs; a model that would stand the test…

SAFETY AT SEA By mid-October of 2018, on our trip south from New England, the winds showed disturbing signs of flexing muscles beyond the normal conditions one would expect to encounter for that time of the year. Reaching across Massachusetts Bay from Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Newport, Rhode Island, following a forecast of breezes gusting from 25 to 30 knots, we soon were running under our “winter rig” of triple-reefed main and a small staysail. With gusts of 35 knots, even with the shore only 12 miles to windward, we had seas fit for open ocean. There was a menacing bite in the gusts and the sound of hissing, crashing seas in the breaking wave crests. Some days later, blasting our way by Point Judith to Stonington, Connecticut, a northwester whistling…

SCRUB ISLAND WELCOMES DREAM Dream Yacht Charter has relocated its base in the British Virgin Islands from the east end of Tortola to Scrub Island. The move makes it possible for the company and its clients to gain access to the five-star facilities of Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina. Clients arriving via the airport at nearby Beef Island can take the Scrub Island ferry, a 10-minute ride to the charter base. Customers coming from St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, take the ferry to Road Town, Tortola, then a 45-minute taxi ride to the ferry. The move is part of an ongoing global expansion of Dream Yacht bareboat and crewed fleets. The company has opened bases near cruising grounds in the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Bali, Mexico, Spain, Italy,…

According to legend, during one of Zeus’ myriad extramarital affairs, he impregnated the Titaness Leto whose swelling from their affair caused the notice of Hera — Zeus’ wife and queen of the gods. Hera was so infuriated by her husband’s infidelity that she forbade Leto from giving birth on solid land. After being denied access at every shoreline she encountered, Leto became frantic in her search to find somewhere safe for childbearing, until at last Poseidon (at the request of Zeus) guided her ship to a floating piece of rock not yet rooted to the seabed, called Delos. There she managed to go ashore and through great effort and pain gave birth to twins, Artemis and Apollo — two of the most venerated gods from antiquity. With such a divine…

1 HOIST Hoist the sail with minimum halyard tension and then sheet the sail appropriately for the point of sail. Now tension the halyard just enough to remove any horizontal wrinkles emanating from the luff. You can leave a hint of wrinkles in light apparent wind velocity. In more wind, more tension is needed—and vice versa. 2 TUNE The lead position controls headsail leech tension and foot depth. Set the lead so that the sheet bisects the clew, thus applying equal tension to the leech and foot. To fine-tune the position, move the lead forward to add power (full foot, minimal twist) in light conditions and aft in bigger air to de-power (flat foot, more twist). When you’re reaching, the lead should follow the clew, moving outboard and somewhat forward…

Fish on!” Gayle shouted as she jumped up from her seat under the dodger and lunged for a tightly stretched fishing line. After I scrambled up the companionway from where I had been resting below on my off-watch, we quickly worked together to bring in a large yellowfin tuna that had grabbed the lure Gayle had trailed astern only a few minutes earlier. Looking over my shoulder as I stood on the pitching aft deck landing the fish, I peered forward and exclaimed, “Land ho!” In the early morning of our third day out of Pago Pago, American Samoa, two smudges appeared on the ever-lightening western horizon. Our Flying Dutchman 50, Small World II, was bearing down on the Niuas, the northernmost island group of the Kingdom of Tonga. Wishing…

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE If you’ve ever aligned your propeller shaft and engine, then you’ve handled the hardware that connects these two components together: the shaft coupling. While simple in form, couplings play a critical role in drivetrain reliability. If they are not properly installed, they can lead to vibration or worse — the separation of the shaft from the engine. There are three primary types of couplings: straight, split and tapered, with the first two being the most common for smaller sailboat auxiliaries. While straight-bore couplings are common, they lack the grip required for larger engines and props, which can place significant strain on the shaft-to-coupling interface. The challenge is getting the interference fit between shaft and coupling bore just right. If it’s too tight, driving the coupling onto the shaft…

Cruising, racing, daysailing, chartering: Every sailboat is built to meet a need. But in the course of inspecting and sailing some 20-odd vessels during and after the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, each fall, CW’s Boat of the Year judges sometimes have to rely on the builder to make that intent clear. Not so with the new Hylas 48. From its solid stainless-steel stem fitting and double anchor rollers to a versatile cutter rig, hip-high life lines and robust emergencysteering system, not one of the judges doubted that this was intended to be a long-legged, bluewater voyager. They were so certain, in fact, they named the Hylas 48 the Best Full-Size Cruiser Under 48 Feet. In being so recognized, the newest yacht from Taiwan’s Queen Long Marine joins a…