ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Tayna Araujo is moving into broking with Boatshed.com in Trinidad

Boatshed.com has extended its franchises in Trinidad, Portugal and Spain, giving it a presence in more than 80 locations in 18 countries.

The company now supports more than 120 franchisees and brokers across Europe, Asia, North America, South America and the Caribbean, who collectively sell more than 1,000 second-hand sail and motor boats a year.

Founder Neil Chapman says his goal is to have Boatshed represented in every port around the world and his business model, to combine local knowledge and expertise with ‘the best technology available’, is helping him achieve this.

Read more from Neil Chapman in our new column starting on page 30.

Sailing Scallywag’s tips for avoiding mishaps when sailing..

 Always prepare your passage plan, check and re-check, don’t take short cuts.

 When preparing your boat make sure you do it as a team, make sure everyone understands the consequences if something is left to chance.

 Never skimp on the safety briefings, if a crew member looks unsure, double check they understood, allow the crew time to ask questions before departure.

 Speaking up and making sure instructions are understood is vital. If doing a countdown into a pontoon and you have a crew on the bow, make sure they know to speak loud enough in the countdown and equally whoever you have on the helm conveys their movements.

 Sea sickness - don’t be a martyr, if you think you may be seasick, take a tablet before starting out. Equally, if you become seasick whilst sailing take a tablet.

 If you feel the weather will blow up, prepare two reefs rather than one; this saves you risking it when out there on the ocean.

 Duties on a boat - make sure everyone on the vessel understands and acknowledges it is a joint e ort, whether cooking, cleaning heads or sailing. Quite often those who don’t muck in end up being those who have a bad experience as the other crew choose not to relate to them.

 Do not cut corners round cardinals and marker buoys, it is just not worth it.

 Whatever your boat draws, give yourself extra on top of that and a 'safe space' just in case.

 Always be extra vigilant on the final stages of a passage. Just when crew think they are nearly ashore, concentration drops and that is when things can go wrong.

 Safety drills, man overboard, fire, flood, checking lifejackets fit and that your equipment is up-to-date and in date – you can never do enough of all these things!

From own boat tuition and skippered charter to worldwide yacht delivery and more, find out how Sailing Scallywag can help you: www.sailingscallywag.co.uk

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Hello All at Sea,

We have a Beneteau Oceanis 37 moored at MDL Torquay. Although my wife enjoys sailing I would like to get more days in over the year. Any ideas where I could advertise for a buddy or couple to sail with me and my wife?

Kind Regards

James

David Henshall: You have a lovely boat there based in one of the best locations in the UK, so I am hopeful that you should be able to find the right sort of people to not just share but to grow your passion for getting afloat. Probably the first step in this would be to have a clear idea as to what sort of sailing you have in mind. Are you looking to just day sail out in the bay, or do you have plans to take short cruises to the many wonderful destinations that are within easy reach of Torbay. Or, are you planning more far reaching, eastwards to the Solent or that classic trip southwards to the delights of Brittany.

Having that idea clear in your mind will help you to ensure that when you are dealing with ‘new’ people to join you on your boat that the expectations are clearly understood from the outset. Once you have this buttoned down, then the search can begin! There are apps that are available to help here, some commercially based, but it might be worth starting out with your home Marina O ce to see if they will let you post an advert somewhere.

My preferred solution, though, would be to take membership at one of the many yacht clubs in the area with the Royal Torbay Yacht Club very high on the list. This gives you access to a wide pool of like-minded souls who you cannot just tap in to, but meet in convivial surroundings beforehand.

We wish you luck in your search and when you have found the right people to share your passion, let us know!