Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Sailing Today

SITTING ON STAGE in the far corner of the ExCel centre during one of the recent Boat Show Brunches, host Alec Wilkinson asked me whether transatlantic cruisers were well-enough prepared for the challenge of crossing an ocean. He was referring to the story of a German family rescued by a cargo ship when their boat began taking on water a few days into the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers [Ebb and flow, ST238]. The question made me reflect for a moment, as I had just been made aware of another rescue which had unfolded on the other side of the Atlantic, when a British boat lost its rudder. This second story is reported in detail on pp10-12 of this issue, and involves my own brother’s boat, which sailed 80nm upwind to…

Marcus jacket Look sharp in Parajumpers extreme weather gear This glamorous brand of outdoor wear recently caught our eye, for the elaborate backstory behind it. Founder Massimo Rossetti got the idea after a chance encounter in an ill-famed bar in Anchorage, Alaska with a serving member of the 210th Rescue Squadron, aka the Parajumpers. The Marcus jacket is parka length and its shell is highly waterproof and breathable. Its rich down filling hugs you tightly to keep you roasting warm, and there are fleece-lined handwarmer pockets. Other features include an adjustable down-filled hood, button-down cargo pockets, inner mesh pouches and a pocket designed for a GPS or epirb. You could conceivably use this with sailing salopettes for warmth in the far north, but it’s more likely to be seen onshore.…

Being part of the EU, Croatia is presently visa-free for British sailors to visit by land or air. If arriving in your own boat, entry requirements are strictly enforced. You must commence formalities as soon as you arrive in Croatian waters, whether day or night, and pay a sojourn tax and a cruising tax. WHEN TO GO Croatia starts to warm up in May and remains sailable until October, much like the UK. Average temperatures reach 28° in July. Winds are generally light until the Mistral kicks in, but beware of the northwesterly Bora which sometimes appears during the summer. Expect strong gusts off the higher land. GETTTING THERE Fly to Split, Zadar or Dubrovnik on the coast from about £50 each way with Easyjet – easyjet.com CHARTER WITH:  Sunsail…

‘OUR ONLY DECENT SHOWER IS AT THE STERN, WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO WAVE TO YOUR AUDIENCE AT ANCHOR’ Unlike many other boats, we don’t have a watermaker on board so the fresh water that we carry is a precious, finite amount stored in tanks. We have two separate heads, each with an extendable hose-type tap at the sink, but they’re not wet-rooms so you can’t actually shower off inside. Friends in the fleet have much better bathroom setups but our only dedicated decent shower is at the sugar-scoop stern, which allows you to wave to your audience of neighbours at anchor while going about your ablutions. It sounds bizarre when mentioned to folks on land but you get used to these idiosyncrasies of cruising. Our sailing route has been mostly…

TIDEMILL YACHT HARBOUR, WOODBRIDGE, RIVER DEBEN Near the centre of the pretty Suffolk town of Woodbridge – cafes, restaurants, shops pubs, cinema, swimming pool all close by. BUTLEY RIVER, RIVER ORE Attractive, peaceful and completely unspoilt, sheltered anchorage – a welcome respite after negotiating the hurly burly of the Ore entrance. IPSWICH HAVEN MARINA, WET DOCK, RIVER ORWELL Access via a lock to a marina in the heart of the bustling town of Ipswich, cinemas, shops, restaurants, mainline railway station all within easy reach. TOLLESBURY MARINA, RIVER BLACKWATER An Essex marina with a family feel – club, restaurant, tennis courts and swimming pool on site – cafes, pubs, a few shops in the village. YOKESFLEET CREEK, RIVER ROACH Away from it all Essex anchorage – wide expanse of water at…

ŠIBENIK OLD TOWN With typical terracotta roofs and marble streets, the town centre is an inspiring visit and is a bus or taxi ride away RIVER KRKA In fact a sunken ria, the Krka is navigable as far upstream as Skradin, 10nm away. Two bridges limit air draught to 30m, but depths are at least 7m COMMERCIAL WHARVES Šibenik’s protected position has long made it an important port D-RESORT ŠIBENIK High-end accommodation is available on the same peninsula as the marina, along with bars and several good restaurants SUPERYACHTS Large berths can take boats up to 140m (459ft) LOA, making this Croatia’s only superyacht marina SERVICES With a busy shipyard next door, there is easy access to mechanics, electricians, fabricators and shipwrights Tucked into the protection of the Krka River,…

+385 22 460 800 mandalina@d-marin.com d-marin.com Tourist information sibenik-tourism.hr VHF Ch 17 (Harbourmaster: Ch10 or Ch16) Weather Ch 24, 67, 73 Wi-Fi Free Fuel 0700-2200 (June - Sept) 0800-2100 (Apr-May) 0800-2000 (Oct) 0800-1800 (Nov-Mar) Water taxi You shouldn’t pay more than 50 Kuna (c£5) Facilities WC, showers, black water pump out, car hire, mini market, laundry and gas Eating Alfa and Art restaurants (open during the summer) Yacht services Travel lift, storage ashore, repairs, chandlers on site Sailing charters Crobos Yachting - crobos.com NCP & Mare – ncp-charter.com Plus nine others Hotel D-Resort Šibenik dresortsibenik.com VISITOR BERTHING CHARGES Up to 9.99m Per day €43 180days €2,789 Per year €4,350 10-10.99m Per day €50 180days €3,270 Per year €5,100 11-11.99m Per day €57 180days €3,718 Per year €5,800 13-13.99m Per…

“Park it like you stole it,” was always my girlfriend’s motto when it came to Med mooring. We both worked as charter skippers in the Mediterranean and in this line of work, you sometimes have to go bow- or stern-to several times in a day. Any mystique or fear you had of this manoeuvre is therefore rapidly dispelled. Nevertheless, new challenges present themselves – such as executing perfect Med moors in tricky locations, only to discover the guest you briefed to drop the anchor has neglected to do so or stopped dropping once the anchor touched the water. I found the most challenging place for med mooring was definitely Croatia in high season. Competition for spaces in the Dalmatian Islands was often so fierce that drastic measures were required. A…

You can see several places to go on the quay, but how do you choose which one? It can depend on your preferences. If you like the thump of sub-woofers, then you may decide to go outside the young person’s bar. Old codgers like me may take a quick squiz at the more traditional restaurants, choose one that is not playing O Sole Mio or Zorba’s Dance on a loop, and tuck in there. That said, if there is one thing that makes sailing in the Med special it is tying up in front of a restaurant, wandering ashore and ordering dinner as you look out over your pride and joy berthed not far from your table. I have sailed in all sorts of places around the world and there…

Gael Force ISO 150N This is an affordable lifejacket ideal for coastal or inshore use. It’s a lightweight jacket with a self righting bladder which turns you face up in the water, oral inflation tube, emergency whistle, fluorescent tape, and reflective hemming. This lifejacket comes with a three-year warranty and includes a free crotch strap. • gaelforcemarine.co.uk • £40 Spinlock Deckvest 5D This top-of-the-range lifejacket has been developed for maximum comfort. It features Pylon Light, a high intensity, water activated flashing LED, and the award-winning Lume-on, which illuminates the bladder for visibility. It has double crotch straps, a sprayhood and a quick-access emergency safety line cutter. • spinlock.co.uk • £190 Seago 3Dynamic This well-equipped jacket is notable for its rapid buckle which makes putting on and taking off the lifejacket…

I have kept my Swan 105 Ti Coyo here for several seasons and it has proved to be an ideal spot. Mandalina Marina offers a safe, central location on the Dalmatian coast. As soon as you are out of the marina you are in beautiful cruising waters. Combine this with a well-run, full-service modern marina, with all the amenities of Š ibenik close by, and it’s an ideal spot to base out of in the Adriatic. We have the choice of both Split or Zadar airports, both less than an hour away.…

A question that frequently pops up on the sailing forums is, “Can I navigate using my phone, tablet or laptop, or should I spend much more on a dedicated navigation instrument such as one of the latest MFDs?” Well, the answer is really down to personal preference, although most meticulous navigators would more likely put safety foremost and choose the latter. At home and at work people have become used to operating touchscreen devices, so it might seem natural to do the same with your navigation instruments. Touchscreen operation certainly speeds things up when you are changing the configuration or setting up waypoints and routes on a chart plotter/MFD, but only when you’re at rest. Where they’re not so good is when you’re trying to make changes while being thrown…

Gill OC Racer watch Machined from marine-grade stainless, this watch from Gill is seriously solid. It’s waterproof to 50m depth and has a K1 scratch-resistant glass lens. Features include a countdown timer, dot matrix display with invertible contrast, backlight, international dual time, audible alarm and sleep mode. Handy for cruisers as well as racers. • £175 • gillmarine.com Wichard Proline life line Picking up a highly commended rating at this year’s DAME Awards, Wichard’s reworking of a safety staple has introduced a range of new features. The elasticated webbing stretches to 2m (6ft 6in), and has a sewn-in loop at each end allowing you to keep the ProSnap hooks when you need to replace the webbing. The hooks themselves lock for safety, but can easily be released with one hand.…

‘I’M AMAZED BY HOW LITTLE NON›SAILING PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ABOUT WHAT WE DO’ Questions, questions. I’ve spent quite a lot of time in recent months chatting in public about sailing trips and questions are always asked, lots of questions. It’s the best part of the talk because it shows that people are interested in what you’ve said and haven’t come in just to get out of the rain. It also gives you great insights. I’m amazed by how little non-sailing people understand about what we do – and why should they? I’m also intrigued by the sailors who clearly crave a big adventure, but from the way they phrase their questions it’s obvious they’re wondering if they’re up to it. I always reply: “If I can, then anybody can”, which I…

The first edition of the yachtsman’s guide to East Coast Rivers was written by Jan’s father Jack Coote and published by Yachting Monthly in 1956. It covered the navigable rivers and creeks between the River Medway in Kent and the River Ore in Suffolk. Since then the book has been regularly updated and has been described as “the East Coast yachtsman’s bible”. After Jack died in 1993 Jan took over the helm. Published nowadays in full colour and extended to cover the rivers between Lowestoft and Ramsgate, the book has never been out of print.…

D-Marin Mandalina is one of the jewels in the crown of Croatia’s marina network. It has always offered excellent shelter but an extensive and thorough refurbishment has meant that it is now acknowledged as one of the best-equipped marinas in the Adriatic, with 429 fully-serviced berths able to accommodate vessels up to 140m in length. Its deep-water moorings attract plenty of superyachts and top-end customers and the Yacht Harbour Association and Croatia’s Ministry of Tourism in Croatia have awarded Mandalina numerous Gold Anchors. The marina was further enhanced in 2015 with the opening of the strikingly modern D-Resort Š ibenik, a five-star luxury hotel which provides comfortable accommodation for those who want a break from life aboard, and the food is excellent. Being a thoroughly modern marina there are also…

It will happen, so you need to be prepared for it and a bit Buddhist about accepting that in crowded harbours, fouled anchors are a fact of life. It will usually be that your anchor is fouling (snagging) the chain of another yacht. Unless you intend to go diving to untangle the mess, the only thing to do is to haul both lots up. If your cable is all chain, use the anchor winch to get it up. If the anchor winch is not powerful enough, you can help it out by attaching a length of line with a running hitch onto the chain and leading it to a mast winch or, if that is not beefy enough, to a cockpit winch. Once you have brought the offending chain, line…

Marine memorabilia Did you ever wonder which civilisation first took to the water in a small craft, who worked out how to measure distance across the oceans or plot a course, or even why lemons became so valuable to sailors across the globe? Barry Pickthall delves into the sailing archives, looking at some of the objects that helped to mould sailing from an essential mode of transport, through its military life and into the cruising and racing sporting arena we know today. Pickthall has cherry-picked his favourite objects, from lifesaving signal flares to the more frivolous Popeye comic strip. He also dispels a few myths, such as the phrase ‘a square meal’ relating to the shape of a sailor’s plate and earrings being worn to identify a sailor’s body if…

Sun Odyssey 32 Legende, Aoife LOA: 31ft 6in (9.6m) Beam: 11ft 0in (3.4m) Draught: 1.5m (4ft 11in) Owners: Don and Melanie Smith With a bad weather outlook, we turned south from Craobh Marina and found Crinan still sun-soaked and as appealing as any tropical idyll. It was time to work our way home to Conwy but with VIC32 puffing her way down the Crinan Canal, we had to await her passing, so we stayed overnight by the Crinan basin, enjoying the sunshine. Later in the evening, as the thin, smoky wisps from VIC32’s dying boiler fires rose straight upwards, we used the excellent, new shower facilities. First away in the morning, there was not a breath of wind nor ripple on the water. We glided along, enjoying the perfect,…