Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2016 i Yachting Monthly

Life used to be so simple, didn’t it! It wasn’t all roses though. Back in the days before the general comforts of electronics, I had a few bad trips in the North Sea. My old gaff cutter had nothing hooked up to the batteries apart from running lights, an echosounder and a VHF radio. Navigation offshore was by sextant, but if it stayed cloudy we were down to dead reckoning alone, which is how things were one time on passage from Stavanger bound for the Dover Strait. The passage was a flyer with a strong northwest wind that just went on rising, and the only refinements for our EP were bearings grabbed from passing oil rigs. We were taking a bit of a pasting and I had just kissed goodbye…

In the 1960s Adlard Coles wrote a book called Heavy Weather Sailing. It became a worldwide best seller due to Adlard’s masterly skill in writing up his own and others’ accounts of storms in small vessels. He presented the information in a logical manner against a background of weather recorded from official sources and wave formation derived from scientific data. No one had assembled such a fund of information before, nor had succeeded in quantifying it. Adlard was one of the first to tabulate yacht tactics in tempestuous weather and discuss their merits. He gave a qualified recommendation to heaving to, cautiously recommended lying a’hull, guardedly encouraged running with warps, was undecided on sea anchors and quite keen on running at speed. As these options are not dissimilar to those…

EMAIL yachtingmonthly@timeinc.com POST Any Questions, Yachting Monthly, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Please send us your questions in less than 200 words WIN CHILGROVE GIN The question of the month wins a bottle of Chilgrove Gin (UK residents only). This super-premium gin, handcrafted by keen sailors in the Sussex Downs, blends the finest botanicals with a neutral grape spirit. www.chilgrovespirits.com QUESTION OF THE MONTH Does health insurance cover yacht sailing? Q My husband Robert and I have been sailing for 30-odd years and we have never taken out health insurance, but now that we’re getting older, we feel that it would be a good thing to have, especially when we’re cruising abroad. The trouble is, most health insurance policies seem to exclude cover for sailing. Do you…

The River Orwell is approached through Harwich Harbour, a port with strong connections to Arthur Ransome’s We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea. It was here that the Walker children’s adventure began when Goblin’s engine cut out while motoring up to Ipswich. They had run out of petrol, but Jim had a plan: ‘Keep her heading like that, on Harwich Church spire. She’ll carry her way till she’s out of the channel. We’ll anchor on the Shelf…’ Their view from Goblin, of the Harwich skyline with the church spire and high and low lighthouses, hasn’t changed much. Most of the buoys remain the same, although there is now a seasonal buoy to the north of the Shelf shoal. ‘I’ll be back in half a jiffy. Nothing can possibly happen…’ Jim…

1910 130 sailors with 30 boats found the Clyde Cruising Club. The first journal ‘to help the cruiser to a greater knowledge in the cruising ground’ is published in 1911 1923 Under the editorship of Murray Blair, the Sailing Directions are reduced to a size that can be stowed in an oilskin pocket 1937 The Sailing Directions are expanded to include the west coast from the Mull of Galloway to the Isle of Man and north-east Ireland to Loch Eriboll, the west coasts of the Outer Isles, St Kilda and the Monach Isles 1949 Editor Ralph Mowat adds forty easy-to-read sketch charts of the west coast and Clyde. He said Admiralty charts, as well as being unwieldy in a small boat, gave a mass of unnecessary information: the sketch charts…

The first Scottish island Hamish Haswell-Smith visited was Gigha, where he enjoyed a family holiday in the early 1970s. ‘We shared the ferry with sheep,’ he said, smiling at the memory. Once ashore his then nine-year-old son, Iain, was rooted to the spot when a wild bird landed on his shoulder. ‘It was marvellous, completely unspoilt,’ added Hamish, sitting in the studio of his detached home on the outskirts of Edinburgh, as his wife Jean brought coffee. He learnt to sail not on the Clyde, which windds through Glasgow, the city of his birth, but on sailing dinghies in Uganda where he worked as a young architect. ‘The presence of crocodiles taught me quickly how to balance the boat,’ he said. He’d got the sailing bug and upon his return…

It’s no longer enough for a plotter just to show your position on an electronic chart, nowadays the ‘multifunction display’ (MFD) can display and control your yacht’s systems; from radar and AIS overlay on a chart to the ability to switch on navigation lights and control the stereo. With the right boxes of electronics attached your MFD is a force to be reckoned with. But do we need all these features? All the MFDs on test can be used with any existing NMEA-0183 or NMEA-2000 (N2K) network and should work with your existing instruments, regardless of who made them, as long as they have the relevant NMEA outputs. We tested the 12-inch models, but all the features can also be found in the smaller-screened siblings in the same series. ‘Does…

Drinkable water from your tanks Water from a yacht’s tanks usually tastes strange. Enter WaterBean, a pair of small water filters in a plastic frame, that fits into any empty drinks bottle, to remove the chlorine and plastic taste from the water by filtering through replaceable coconut carbon filters. Insert WaterBean in a plastic bottle, fill with water and then swirl the water around the bottle. Each pair of filters will last for around 70 litres or two months (every few weeks remove and dry the filters). Prices start at $9.95 (£6.80), a pack of four replacement filters is $4.95 (£3.40). All prices include delivery. Price $9.95 (approx. £6.80) Contact WaterBean Tel +819 0377 78012 Web thewaterbean.com Small, quiet generator inverter Whether it’s to charge a flat battery, recharge a…

If you have a news story to share, contact News Editor Theo Stocker EMAIL theo.stocker@timeinc.com TEL 01252 555164 Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/yachtingmonthly Like us on Facebook facebook.com/yachtingmonthlymag A British sailor is being prosecuted by criminal courts in Greece, five years after he damaged his charter boat on a sailing holiday. Gideon Meade was sailing with his brother and two friends in June 2011. On his charter, he had hit a rock with the yacht’s keel but had paid his damage excess fee and believed the matter to be settled. He was surprised to receive a court summons in May 2016 from the Court of Misdemeanours in Athens, via the UK Home Office, on a count of ‘negligence causing damage’. Mr Meade had been sailing a Harmony 47 in the…

‘I hung upside down like a fruit bat, dribbling in concentration’ A tiny screw nestling in a part of my engine has defeated all my passage plans. By now I should be bowling northwards with the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song etcetera, etcetera. Instead of which, I have taken a crash course, via Halfords, in engineering. As the owner of a sailing boat I’m feeling pretty fraudulent having spent a week negotiating with that tiny screw and her sisters. I’ve bought socket sets, ring spanners and mole grips to no avail. That’s the damnable thing about having an auxiliary: it’s often said that an engine that doesn’t work is worse than no engine at all; you can’t rely on it but you do, because it’s there. If it weren’t……

As skipper, you should think hard about safety when jackstays, harnesses and tethers are required. Are there enough cockpit strongpoints? Are they in the right place? If you were knocked down, is your tether too long to keep you in the cockpit? Would a short static tether serve that purpose better? Think hard too about any situation that requires you or your crew to leave the cockpit in rough weather. Can you clip onto the jackstay while still in the cockpit? Are there handholds to help you out of the cockpit, and move forward, safely? Would grip strips help your crew work securely at the mast? What tools do you need, so that you can make sure the trip forward isn’t complicated by a trip back to pick up a…

An anchor’s holding capacity depends upon its design, and the seabed in which it is expected to set. Even a brilliantly conceived anchor that does well in comparative tests and earns certification for high holding capacity may perform indifferently on some bottoms. Or it might give false reassurance, apparently secure but liable to release its hold suddenly, if wind and tide cause the boat to sheer around. If we want to assess the nature of the seabed in an intended anchorage, we can begin by looking at the chart, where in some locations the bed material will be indicated by letters: M (mud), S (sand), R (rock), etc. However, there may be no information for our preferred spot, close inshore where we expect to find the best shelter. Also, in…

As I strolled along the Parade at Cowes, through the roar of an easterly wind amongst the fluttering flags, I had a calling. It was surreal because I thought I was alone on the sea front. I swung around to see a man dressed in black wearing a fedora. He had called my name and was walking fast towards me. It was a relief to notice his white dog collar bright against his jet black shirt. This shadowy figure was Andrew Poppe, the new vicar of Holy Trinity Church, and the man I’d come to meet. As we passed the Royal London Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron came into sight, he launched into an articulate flow of words and well-timed pauses, all delivered in a pulpit-perfect tone. He…

There’s always a good read hidden on a sailor’s shelves. Tell us your favourite. EMAIL theo.stocker@timeinc.com Andreas and I struggled on and finally were nearly ready to sail on Saturday 24 November, three weeks after our arrival at the Falklands. We gave away our two sets of reindeer antlers, because Andreas said they had brought us bad luck. To complete our final onboard preparations, we sailed around to Kidney Island so that we could work at peace without any visitors to interrupt us. So close to Stanley, it could have been in a different world, and it was a real joy to be among birds again. While at Navy Point I had been too preoccupied to even notice the few birds around, although Andreas had kept them under observation, and…

EMAIL yachtingmonthly@timeinc.com POST The Editor, Yachting Monthly, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Please send us your letters in less than 200 words Most letters are edited for brevity. You can read more correspondence, online, at www.yachtingmonthly.com/letters WIN A bottle of RUM The letter of the month wins a bottle of Pusser’s Rum, produced to Admiralty specification and served daily to every sailor in the Royal Navy for more than 300 years (UK residents only) www.pussers.com LETTER OF THE MONTH Don’t trash the marine environment Thank you Jess Lloyd-Mostyn for your article on the curse of plastic at sea. Too many people still discharge waste overboard. Us older sailors can remember what was acceptable 50 years ago and what the sea, estuaries and rivers looked like. With…

Chris Beeson is an Offshore Yachtmaster with over 35,000 miles logged on dozens of yachts, both cruising and racing I was sailing aboard Freelance, a Swan 43, in the 1989 Fastnet Race. We were heading north-west across the Irish Sea at night with a reef in the mainsail and the No2 jib when the wind picked up and the skipper called a sail change. Three of us went onto the foredeck, clipped on to the weather jackstay, hoisted the No3 and clawed down the No2. My feet were braced against the leeward toerail and I had an armful of sail when a wave swept the foredeck. When it cleared I found myself half overboard. There was still slack in my tether. The only thing that stopped me from being swept…

Tom Cunliffe has sailed tens of thousands of miles all over the world and has been a Yachtmaster Examiner since 1978 ‘OK, what do I do with it now?’ This scene is very calm and seamanlike. No frantic ropethrowing or shouting. As he passes the line to the gent on the dock, the crew on the bow of the boat says, quietly and clearly, ‘Would you lead it around that cleat then let me have it back please.’ Perfect. The guy handing the rope ashore isn’t assuming that his helper can read his mind, because he can’t. He knows that if he gives someone a rope and doesn’t say anything, as like as not the other chap will pull it. In a case like this, with everything under sweet control,…

‘The leech snagged on the spreader tip and the sail ripped’ I am sure you know about the domino effect: one thing leads to another, and another, and another. The day had started well, with brilliant sunshine, moderate wind and sparkling sea. A reach downriver on the spring ebb, then a close fetch along the coast to their favourite anchorage, followed by a leisurely lunch and the prospect of a fast broad reach home. But just after they had weighed anchor the dominos started to tumble. Towering black clouds moved in from seaward. The wind dropped to nothing, it started to pour with rain and the wind returned very strong and dead on the nose. They immediately pulled down two slabs in the main and had started to put rolls…

The passage across the North Sea from the Shetland Islands to the Norwegian coast is slightly less than 200 miles. In early October 2015 I motored Harrier out of Symbister harbour, threaded my way through the rocks and islets south of Whalsay, and set sail for a two-day passage due east to Bergen. On the first day a southwest breeze had carried me to the halfway point, then a calm extended into the middle of the second night. Unexpectedly, the wind swung into the east and quickly rose to force 7. Harrier is too small and light to be able to work against such a wind. I hove to, deployed my sea anchor and settled down to wait for the weather to sort itself out. In these conditions I like…

‘That’s caught many a yacht,’ says Edward Mason as I heave up the last few feet of mainsail halyard. I turn to see him pointing at some glistening fronds of kelp just breaking the surface as we sail down Loch Craignish on Scotland’s west coast. The innocent-looking tar-brown weed is anchored to a submerged rock to the west of the entrance to Ardfern, a popular yachting centre where Princess Anne moors her Rustler 44. Her keel won’t have hit it, because like many other sailors she and her husband Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence will have had the Clyde Cruising Club’s Sailing Directions open on the page that marks this reef. Whether departing or returning to Ardfern in bad visibility or at night, the book is reassuring. And Edward, a 76-year-old…

Pontos 40 Trimmer 4-speed winch Jonty Pearce solves the problem of an arthritic shoulder and a large genoa by upgrading his primary winches Winching in the 130% genoa on our Southerly 105 was beginning to hurt – I had long suspected that I should have opted for the next size up when I replaced the original Lewmar 30s with a pair of Lewmar 40ST winches. Increasing shoulder arthritis meant that the strongest crewmember (me) was beginning to struggle getting in the final foot of genoa sheet after tacking. It was time to look for a solution. I am not a great fan of electric winches, however advancing years force many of us to fit them in order to lengthen our sailing careers. The manual alternative Until now there has been…

What’s she like to sail? Like all long fin-keeled heavy displacement cruisers the Nicholson 35 is designed to take almost any adverse weather and sea conditions in her stride. Her overhanging, deep-vee bow section means she parts the waves resolutely, with little drama or spray, exuding only a gentle rocking motion as she goes. The very conservative sail plan of the early models versus her generous ballast ratio means she’s a very stiff yacht that only really starts to heel in a Force 5 and can keep full sail up until well over 20 knots of wind is blowing over her decks. Her big genoa can make headsail sheeting hard work, but this is mitigated her leisurely tacking speed compared to a shorter fin keeled yacht. She makes good passage…

WIN The confession of the month wins a floating Standard Horizon handheld VHF radio worth £140 PLUS an original Bill Caldwell cartoon POST Confessions, Yachting Monthly, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU EMAIL yachtingmonthly@timeinc.com Please send us your confessions in less than 200 words Passed and stuck CONFESSION OF THE MONTH By Richard Peters I had just bought my first boat, a 1970s yellow-hulled Cobra 750, and had recently sat my RYA Day Skipper exam. My new mainsail had arrived and I stayed on board overnight at Burnham with a fellow ‘Day Skipper in waiting’. We set off at first light to play with my new sail. It turned out to be a beautiful day with a nice onshore breeze. We hoisted the new mainsail and set about…