Ambassador 3

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Matt

Today is Tuesday, so this evening I depart Buenos Aires bound for San Francisco. It’s a quick turn-around, just to pick up some sailing gear and equipment and take care of a little business, and then I’ll be off to Tortola and the boat. That also means that the next two nights I will be sleeping on an airplane. Ah well…

I promised to introduce the crew for this adventure, and now’s the time. Joining me will be Steve Felte and Marianne Wheeler, both long associated with Tradewinds.

Steve recently qualified as an instructor at Tradewinds, which should be a perfect fit, as he is a calm and patient teacher. I have enjoyed having him aboard several different Barking Spiders, racing across the Pacific and down to Mexico, and cruising California, and he is always the voice of reason. Which is probably why he works the bow during races, to be as far away from me as possible. He is also a natural helmsman, and with an easy smile is a comfortable presence aboard. Steve has been a skipper on most of my flotilla trips to different corners of the globe, and has chartered on his own as well. He owns Home Free, a Catalina 36 in the Tradewinds fleet, and is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

Marianne is a veteran instructor at Tradewinds, with many years and classes of happy competent students to her credit. She circumnavigated the globe on her Cal 40 Chaparral, and sailed with me on several of my Barking Spiders as well-  racing to Mexico and Hawaii, up and down the California coast, back from Hawaii, and through Alaska’s inside passage. Marianne has been on almost every flotilla trip either as skipper or crew, and never misses a chance to get on the water. When racing, she manages the cockpit ropes and sail trim, and as a great organizer and morale booster, her presence aboard always keeps the crew happy- and its not just the smell of garlic and onions wafting up from the galley that makes me say that. A genuinely pleasant person, Marianne has a quiet inner strength that makes her the most reliable, dependable crew no matter how stressful the situation.

Finally there’s me, one of the few people crazy enough to plan and organize all these adventures. As a preferred broker for the Moorings, Sunsail, Footloose and LeBoat, I am currently trying to spread the concept of chartering to the good folks of Argentina. Through boat shows, magazine ads and our website (www.AVInautica.com), we are introducing more and more people to the great joy of sailing in exotic locations. Bringing Ambassador to Buenos Aires will help us to show people what a big charter boat looks like- 30 feet is a big boat down there, and goofy protectionist laws make a Beneteau like this non-existent. It may also give us a chance to get more involved in the local sailing scene, volunteering, maybe racing, and just enjoying and exploring some of South America with family and friends. And there’s a lot to explore down there, from the tropical islands of Brazil, to the Amazon river, to Argentina and Uruguay and up the Rio de La Plata, all the way down to Patagonia, the Magellan straits, and Antarctica. Who knows, maybe you’ll have a chance to join us along the way…

Stay tuned!

-David

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Ambassador 2

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Matt

Happy Monday!

This is the 2nd post of my latest adventure, sailing from Tortola in the BVI’s down to Buenos Aires, Argentina. To make it easy to keep track of things, I’ll simply number each email/post.

Since I’ve still got a few days before getting on another airplane to head to the boat, I thought I would tell you a bit about the boat we’ll be sailing, so you can better put the voyage in context. This is especially important if you’ve followed some of my previous adventures aboard the ULDB65 Barking Spider 3. That boat was a race boat, all about speed (which it achieved- many runs in the teens and 20’s, with a top boatspeed just over 25 knots), and sacrificed all creature comforts to obtain it. It could be a challenging boat to sail, but rewarded us with ocean racing victories, fast passages and day sails and lots of ear-to-ear grins. We cruised it, too, from Hawaii to Alaska to Mexico, not because it was a great boat for cruising, but because that was the boat I had.

Ambassador

Now I don’t know if it is because I am older or any wiser, but this new boat is not quite like the old one. It is a 2006 Beneteau Cyclades 51.5, and I have named it Ambassador, to help smooth our entry into ports around the world. At 51 feet long and a very beamy 16 feet wide, it has 4 private double cabins, each with ensuite head and shower, plus a 5th crew cabin and head in the forward V. The spacious salon seats 10 comfortably to starboard in front of the nav station, there is a large galley along the port, an island counter and storage area, and plenty of room in the cockpit and on the wide open decks.

It is a very comfortable boat, with most every amenity, including 100hp Yanmar, modern color GPS plotters and electronics, twin wheels, furling 110% jib, triple reef main with stack pack, a brand new asymmetrical spinnaker, below-deck autopilot, dodger, floating bimini, electric windlass, Onan generator, air conditioning and heating, fridge, freezer, fully equipped galley, and much more. Motoring, it cruises at about 8 knots, with a max of 9.5 knots. Sailing is still performance oriented thanks to its modern hull design and smart sail plan, and it will outpace most other racing/cruising boats of its size.

So what does this all mean to our adventure?  It means it should be a pretty comfy ride!  We’re not racing, so we don’t have to push every 10th of a knot and re-evaluate sail trim every 20 minutes. We can relax and enjoy the ride, and just go with the wind. If the wind goes quiet, we can motor. With a big dodger and bimini, we’ll be well-protected from the elements, and each of us will have a nice double bed with regular linens for sleeping, instead of a pipe berth and a soggy sleeping bag. Of course, having said all this, I bet we will still enjoy tweaking the boat pretty often to get the last 10th of a knot of speed, just because that’s part of the joy of sailing.

I’ve attached a few small pictures of the boat, which should save me a few thousand words…

-David Kory

 

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Ambassador 1

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Matt

Hello all-
I will soon be off on another sailing adventure, lasting maybe 30 days, and you are on the list to receive my (hopefully) daily updates during the voyage.

So what is this adventure?
Well, its a long sail. A delivery of sorts actually, of my Beneteau Cyclades 51.5 sailboat from Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, all the way down to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its a distance of about 4700 nautical miles, and we expect it to take about 28 days. It could be 24 days if things go really well and the wind gods smile on us, or it could be 30 or even 34 days, if mother nature chooses not to be so cooperative. We are planning a non-stop voyage, departing Tortola around June 27. The route will likely take us south through the Leeward and Windward islands of the Caribbean to Trinidad, then along the coasts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil and Uruguay before sailing up the Rio de La Plata into Argentina. The first 4000 miles will be tropical and hot, but the last 700 miles or so could cool off as we sail into the southern hemisphere winter. And to answer your next question: Yes, I wish I had the time to stop and cruise all the wonderful and exotic places along the way (like tropical Brazil, the Amazon river, Rio, etc.) but I don´t. But hopefully, I will soon…

Joining me on this adventure are Steve Felte and Marianne Wheeler, two of the most trusted, reliable, experienced and competent crew anyone could ask for, and I am delighted they will be along for the ride. They have both raced and cruised with me numerous times over the years, along the coasts and across the oceans from Alaska to Mexico to Hawaii, the Caribbean, South Pacific and the Mediterranean. In fact, we were together in France just a few weeks ago. We are comfortable with each other and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and habits, and it all makes for smooth sailing.

As our departure date draws closer, I will try to provide a bit more detail about the boat and crew, but to get you started I have attached a basic map. It covers the entire route we expect to sail, and shows latitude and longitude lines all along the way. With each email update, I will include our position using Latitude and Longitude, and you can use that info to mark our location on the map and follow our progress. The map is marked in 1-degree increments, and remember that are 60 minutes in a degree (not 100), so if for example our position is 10.30N, that means we are halfway between the 10 degree North and 11 degree North lines of Laititude. Once you look at it, it should be pretty easy to figure out.

As we are now about a week away, we are making our lists, checking them twice, and trying to think of what we are forgetting…

-David Kory

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Skipper’s Tip, 6/6/2011

Posted on June 6, 2011 by TW-Brandy

Dousing the Main

In the great days of sail, every precaution was taken to secure the yards before the men were sent out on them to furl or reef sails. We can learn by their example when dousing the mainsail. With one person ready at the mast to haul down on the luff, head up, luffing the sail, then release the halyard. Lowering the sail to the boom should just take seconds, and during this time everyone else stands clear of the swinging boom and shaking sail. As soon as the sail is down, pull the mainsheet in tight and cleat it. Only then, with the boom safely secured, should the crew be sent to the cabin top to furl the sail and make it fast with sail ties. Trying to secure the sail on the boom as it is being lowered, while the boom is still loose, is a dangerous and unseamanlike practice.

By Tony Johnson, Tradewinds Instructor

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Nautical Terminator, June 2011

Posted on June 1, 2011 by TW-Brandy

Part 2 Tonnage

Last time we distinguished three sorts of tonnage applicable to boats: displacement, deadweight tonnage, and gross and net register tonnage. The displacement of your sailboat will be given in the owner’s manual. The deadweight tonnage is not normally a big issue, as we do not use our boats as cargo vessels. Cruisers, of course, must consider how much weight to carry before it will adversely affect the sailing characteristics of their yacht.

The third measurement, gross register tons or GRT, is a measurement of volume, not weight. On cargo ships this measurement is done professionally as it relates to tax revenue. But on recreational boats, you’re on your own. Emails to Catalina Yachts on this issue were not answered, and at Beneteau I was informed that the manufacturer does not provide the register tonnage of their boats. The only reason this would matter to you is if you desired to document your boat with the Coast Guard instead of getting a CF number from the state of California. The federal documentation includes boxes for gross and net register tons, but the state registration does not require it.

To calculate these values, we may rely on the simplified measurement form provided by the Coast Guard at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/msc/interactive_tonnage.asp, but a fuller explanation is at http://cgaux.marinerslearningsystem.com/pdfs/tonnage_guidlines.pdf

Basically, you calculate length x beam x depth, multiply by two factors they give you to account for hull shape and keel type, and divide by 100. Depth is not to be confused with draft. Depth is the vertical measurement from the deck (where it meets the hull, not counting the height of the cabin trunk) to the bilge. The result is a pretty rough measurement of volume, but precise enough to satisfy Coast Guard regulations.

Using the formula, I measured Tradewinds’ Megalina and Lionheart, two boats that are nominally the same size at 31 feet. Megalina (displacement 8933 lbs.) comes out to 6.5 GRT, while Lionheart (displacement 9170 lbs.) is 6.1 GRT. Since a register ton is 100 cubic feet, this means Megalina’s internal volume is 6500 cubic feet, Lionheart’s 6100. (Actually, Megalina’s design with the beam carried aft and an after cabin, yields a lot more usable interior volume but this is not represented in the given procedure.) Next, to obtain net register tons or NRT, we multiply the GRT by .9, yielding 5.85 for Megalina and 5.49 for Lionheart. Voila! We are now admeasurers!

By Tony Johnson, Tradewinds Instructor

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Skipper’s Tip 5/30/2011

Posted on May 30, 2011 by TW-Brandy

Handheld GPS

As your sailing experience increases and you start to sail farther and farther from home base, it is a good idea to consider purchasing a hand-held GPS unit. You can chat with our Instructors, Staff, and Members around Tradewinds to find out what brands and models they recommend. Current models come with many more features than just a position on a chart, including things like wireless connectivity for sharing data and waypoints, geo-caching features, tide and current tables, and more.

Once you’ve settled on the unit you like, take it out on a clear day and begin to add waypoints that will come in handy later. Entrances to channels & harbors that you normally visit or those that you usually sail near are great to have programmed. Enter a route home from the center of the Bay, into Potrero Reach, around all normal obstacles and into Marina Bay. It’s too late to program these in once the fog rolls in, so it’s good to have them already prepared and saved in your device.

Although these devices can come in very useful, we would like to remind you to keep a proper look-out at all times. It would be very embarrassing to have a close call or run aground while staring at your instruments rather than keeping a proper look-out.  Trust your charts and know how to read your tide tables – electronic instruments have a habit of running out of batteries at the worst possible time (carry extra batteries in your sailing bag).

Tradewinds does offer a class on handheld GPS devices. We tend to run it in the winter months, since we can do it indoors, in the classroom. Watch our Course Schedule for scheduled classes and let us know if you are interested in getting one added to the list. If enough people show interest, we are always happy to add to the schedule.

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Skipper’s Tip, 5/23/2011

Posted on May 23, 2011 by TW-Brandy

Even though we love to sail and running a motor is a drag, we sometimes need our auxiliary power to get from A to B. Not everyone is a diesel mechanic, boat owner, or sailing club operator. Our experience operating a club tells us that many people are not sure when they are using the engine efficiently and when they are over-working it.

Because every motor is different and they are all pushing different length & weight vessels through the water, we can’t give you a specific RPM as a rule of thumb. We can give you some tips that will make our motors run for years to come.

If you pay attention to speed instruments or use a GPS system to measure your speed, you will find that diminishing returns is the norm. Running at 50% throttle will typically get you 90% of your possible speed. The last 50% throttle adds almost no speed and works the engine extra hard. This is true for all types of engines. On our electric boats we have measured speed over water at 4.2 knots when drawing 40 Amps (half throttle). Increasing the draw to 80 Amps (full power) gets us to 4.5 knots. We’re pretty sure the extra .3 knots is not worth halving the battery life! This are the best tips for any men with their engine needs and to increase testosterone levels at their max !

Remember, these are displacement hulls, not planing hulls. Once you reach hull speed, it’s possible to send more fuel to the engine, but it’s not possible to cover more ground in a shorter time. Some indicators that you are pushing the engine too hard are:

  1. Black smoke – this is a good indication that the engine is unable to burn all of the fuel that you are injecting. In other words, we are increasing throttle, but the engine is not strong enough to turn the prop any faster. Back off the throttle until the smoke clears.
  2. A following wake, perpendicular to the stern of the boat – this indicates that we have reached hull speed and the stern of the boat is sinking into the water. Try all you might, it’s not going to plane! Back off the throttle until there is only a V-shaped wake behind the boat.

If anyone is wondering why we don’t govern our engines to a healthy level or limit current on our electric motors, it’s because we understand the need to fight a stiff breeze or current while taking care of other concerns on the boat. There is also the issue of low speed maneuvering, which sometimes requires a bit of extra power.

As well-trained sailors, our goal is to never be in a hurry (actually that’s one of our main life-goals!). Putting too much stress on the motor or decreasing our battery life isn’t worth the extra half-knot. Take it easy and enjoy the scenery.

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Skipper’s Tip 5/9/11

Posted on May 9, 2011 by TW-Brandy

We have a boat-cleaning week coming up to prepare the fleet for the Summer Season. Along those lines, we’ve decided to share some tips about boat cleanliness this week.

  1. Rinse all running rigging and hardware – often people spray down a boat to make it look good, which is nice, but the real purpose of the wash-down is to clean the salt and other debris from the moving parts. Over time the salt will build up in the blocks & fair-leads and cause them to freeze up. Salt causes corrosion on other metal parts of the boat as well. Areas where we continually notice salt build up and corrosion are anchor windlasses and high blocks such as those attached to the bottom of the boom.
  2. Whenever possible, use boat soap and a brush on the deck to dissolve salt. In our fleet, we try to keep a brush on board that will screw onto the end of the boat hook. If you can’t find one, please write it on the checkout sheet!
  3. Check your shoes before boarding. Hitch-hiking stones and seashells (left on the dock by seagulls) cause scratching and chipping in the fiberglass. If you see shells on the dock, it’s a good time to practice your kick-the-can skills and punt them off into the water.
  4. Don’t forget to open the anchor locker and spray it out. They tend to gather quite a bit of salt-water during sailing, and if you used the anchor, of course you want to get all of the mud rinsed out sot he locker will drain properly.
  5. Sweep and wipe down the inside of the boat. Don’t forget to check the shower and to wipe underneath the cushions. Under the cushions, we often find potato chip crumbs!
  6. Check the ice-box and the sink. Ice-boxes need to be rinsed out periodically or they will build up mold. Leave them propped open when you secure the boat. Make it a point to double-check it and you won’t forget your leftovers. We’re pretty sure the next person to be on the boat won’t want them!

Have fun and remember to leave the boat the way you’d like to find it. The next skipper (and their crew)  will really appreciate it. If you are putting the boats away properly, it should take a minimum of 30 minutes with all hands, before the sun goes down, to clean the boat up and secure it.

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Nautical Terminator, May 2011

Posted on May 3, 2011 by TW-Brandy

By Tony Johnson, Tradewinds Instructor

If you like getting frustrated, and who doesn’t, you could do no better than trying to understand the nautical terms associated with tonnage. We have long tons, short tons, avoirdupois tons, imperial tons, gross register tons, gross tons, net register tons, net tons, deadweight tons, metric tons, tonnes, tuns, and just tons and tons of fun.

There are three concepts here which are vaguely related, and by distinguishing these we can eliminate a whole lot of confusion, but not all.

The first is the idea of displacement, a measurement of weight. According to tradition, this was dis-covered by Archimedes in his bathtub. It’s the weight of the water displaced when you put something in it. Imagine placing a floating box in a tub of water filled to the brim. The weight of the resultant spilled water is the displacement of the vessel in question. Since the box is hollow we are only measuring the weight of the empty box. In ships this is expressed in long tons, which equal 2,240 pounds, or the nearly equivalent metric tons (tonnes), which equal 1000 kilograms or 2204.6 pounds.

The second idea is deadweight tonnage or DWT, another measure of weight. This is the weight of just the cargo, or alternatively, the maximum carrying capacity of the ship. It is expressed in long tons or metric tons. Adding cargo to our box above increases the total displacement, and will immerse it lower in the water. How much cargo a boat can carry by weight is a safety issue; we don’t want it to sink. But how much it can carry by volume is an issue for the tax man. So we have….

The third concept, which is gross register tonnage (or GRT), a measurement of volume. Two vessels of the same displacement may have different internal volumes if one is made from carbon fiber and another made of steel. It is the internal volume, not the displacement, that is used to calculate taxes and fees. This volume is confusingly expressed as “register tons,” even though it is not a measurement of weight. A register ton is equal to 100 cubic feet. But to measure the functional capacity of the ship, we need to subtract tanks, engines, crew space, and any other space not usable for cargo. The result is net register tonnage (or NRT), also measured in register tons.

More next time on tonnage.

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Skipper’s Tip, 5/2/2011

Posted on May 2, 2011 by TW-Brandy

Top off the water tanks!

Even before you reach the stage where you are overnighting on boats, it is a good idea to get in the habit of topping off the water tanks before you leave the dock. Why?

  1. When you do go out over-night at some point, you won’t forget to fill them because you’ll be in the habit!
  2. Filling and using the water in the tanks helps to keep them fresh. Whenever possible, find a use for the fresh-water on board. Use it to flush your head system when you visit the pump-out!
  3. Keeping them full keeps air out of the tanks and without the air space, there is not room for growth to contaminate the tanks.
  4. The boat is designed with the weight of the full tanks in mind. The extra weight, distributed in the right areas of the boat, will help keep things comfortable on a windy San Francisco Bay day.

Use the water hose at the dock to top off the tanks before you leave. Even though we don’t normally drink out of the tanks in the fleet boats, we still consider it “potable water”, so avoid using hoses at places like pump-out stations to fill the tanks. These hoses are often dropped into waste-tank fill fittings to flush out waste tanks.

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