Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Cruising Helmsman

IN July of 2017 luxury catamaran Best Revenge 5 was destroyed by fire while on its pontoon in Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA. Built for charter in the Caribbean, the luxurious yacht was designed by Alliaura Privilege to accommodate four couples. Two crew members on board at the time discovered the fire in the aft port side of the vessel but were unable to contain it. The skipper was woken by the smell of smoke. He identified the location of the fire and alerted the only other crew member asleep on board. Both exited the burning boat. The crew member alerted the owner of an adjacent boat, who called the fire brigade, and then returned to attempt to extinguish the fire with on-board fire extinguishers and then a garden hose. These were…

THE number of sailors visiting South East Asia is ever increasing, and while many choose to stay in Indonesia, Malaysia or Thailand, for others there comes a time when the decision to return to Australia is made. The question then asked is: “Which way should we go?” When it was time for us to return to Australia, I looked at our options and read of the choices that others had made, the pros and cons of their decisions. I considered the seasons, current flows, ease of entry and exiting, particularly in Indonesia and of course, the endless paperwork for transiting through that country. I discovered that there were three known general routes for a return to Australia. However, I will focus primarily on a fourth route back to Oz as…

BEFORE the Tasmanian winter set in Kathy Perkins and Jeff Stander set sail from Hobart to Sydney on their Kelly-Peterson 44 Beatrix with Lynton Blessington and I on board as crew. I knew Beatrix to be a comfortable and fastidiously set up boat that sailed extremely well. I also knew that Jeff and Kathy always paid close attention to the weather, having extensive experience with both blue water and coastal sailing. It seemed like a straightforward trip. We slipped out of Hobart before dawn on April 21 to negotiate the Denison canal and the Marion Bay channel before making our way up the east coast of Tasmania in northwesterlies of around 20 knots. A southwesterly change was expected to arrive on the 23rd and the plan was to head to…

FOR centuries the Malacca Straits has been one of the most important trading routes in the world. At 478 nautical miles, it is the main shipping channel between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Over the centuries Indian, Arab, Portuguese, Chinese, British, and Dutch vessels have all sailed in these waters. The vessel types have changed and today it is various types of giant ships from just about every nation that pass through these straits daily. Whether they are picking up electronic goods, tin, rubber, palm oil, natural gas, crude oil or just passing through, one third of the world's shipping moves through the straits yearly. Sumatran sloops and large timber coastal traders still sail the straits trading with Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and beyond. These are large wooden sailing or motor…

SET SAIL WITH SUNSAIL Sunsail has been offering yacht charters to many beautiful locations around the world, for over forty years. Those with the right qualifications can charter their own yacht, those without can opt for a skipper and crew. All you need to do is select from one of Sunsail’s idyllic sailing destinations: the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, South-East Asia, South Pacific or Australia. There are several delightful Caribbean islands to choose from. You can island hop between St. Lucia and Grenada, dive to an underwater garden in Tortola, explore ancient Mayan ruins in Belize or relax on Antigua’s pristine beaches. The Mediterranean is where culture and cuisine combine to create a memorable sailing experience. Explore Croatia, Greece, Italy and Spain with a variety of Sunsail itineraries. With delicious local…

IF you consult learned sources to find out the difference between ‘weather’ and ‘climate’ you will be informed that ‘weather’ is what is happening now, stuff like cloudiness, precipitation and wind, within minutes or days of the present. ‘Climate’ is weather averaged, usually monthly, over the last 30 years and trends expressed in decades or centuries. This is not very helpful. Sailing is a slow way of getting anywhere and for those lucky enough to live the cruising dream what is required is something in between ‘weather’ and climate’. The cruising yachtie might be choosing between a season on the east coast of Australia including perhaps islands as far east as Fiji, or exploring The Kimberley coast in Western Australia. When Robyn and I spent seven years sailing around the…

“BELIEVE me, I was screaming my head off” Brent says. As with many experiences, the story is very funny in hindsight and with a beer in hand. After we are done laughing, the topic is not off the table, on the contrary. Brent explains that near Sulawesi he caught a line in one of the props of his catamaran Impi. In the middle of the night, no wind and lots of fishing boats all around. No other options than to go over the side with a knife and a torch. No crocs in that part of Indonesia, but lots of sea snakes. They were drawn to the light and found Brent struggling under water. Snakes around his arms, legs and into his wetsuit. At lightning speed the net was cut…

FIRIES GO ABOVE AND BEYOND Yaffa Sailing Media was happy to work with Above & Beyond Boating’s Neil Driscoll to ask boat owners in Sydney and Pittwater to donate their boats and take any of those brave fire fighters and their families out for a day this month. The response was so amazing, the Middle Harbour Yacht Club, the Royal Motor Yacht Club and the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club were enlisted to be the collection points. We will have a full report in next month’s issue. FROM RACER TO COASTAL CRUISER Are you considering turning your racing yacht into a cruiser? Petrea McCarthy describes the conversion of two Lidgard One Tonners and asks whether it will work for you. If you’re hands-on, have a limited budget and your focus is…

SHOESTRING SAILOR – DIY DINGHY LOADER Getting a dinghy onto the car roof alone can be challenging. You can buy excellent ready-made boat loaders for just under $2000; maybe even pick one up under a thousand second hand. It’s a lot of money for occasional use, especially if your dinghy is not worth as much as the loader. I wanted to load my 3m sailing dinghy on to my car without spending a fortune or damaging my back. Other sailors and YouTube offered three possible methods. I discounted the first suggestion immediately. Standing the dinghy on its stern and loading from the back was never going to happen with a cedar transom. Even without that issue, I had reservations about control with this method. The next idea was a frame…

PHANG Nga Bay, on Thailand’s west coast, has been a popular cruising destination for many years, and for several good reasons. The scenery is stunning, the anchorages numerous and of easy depth for anchoring, the weather is usually benign and predictable, the Thai food is wonderful and the people friendly. Sadly, the downside of all this is that it can be very crowded and this certainly affects the relaxing “get away from it all” ambience that we all want. From November to April, during the north-east monsoon period, this beautiful bay is packed with cruising yachts, luxury power boats, racing yachts, speeding transfer boats and large ferries, as well as the ubiquitous local fishing boats. Phuket, and more recently Krabi airports are very busy with international flights bringing tourists from…