Blue Water Sailing, issue 1, 2024

BLUE WATER SAILING

10 Bluewater Adventure

Cape Horn Self Steering: A Memoir by Yves Gelinas

17 Tech Talk

Eagle Eye Navigation Off the Beaten Track by Tim Coles

24 Charter Notes

Owing a Boat in a Charter Fleet by Sarah Fielding

32 Living Aboard

9 Essential Upgrades to a Cruising Boat by Stephen Perry

34 Boat Review

Dufour 41 and Hallberg-Rassy 69

Front Cover: Check out the new HallbergRassy 69.

DEPARTMENTS

How Starlink Changes Everything

NOT LONG AGO, THE ONE PLACE ON THE PLANET that you could be assured of peace and quiet far from the madding crowd and the constant noise of media and modern communications was on your boat either at sea or in a remote and pleasant anchorage. No email, no phone, no frantic need to respond every minute of the day. Just you and your sailing companions in the lovely embrace of the natural world.

The INMARAT System offers a link to the modern world from our boats but it is expensive to buy and expensive to run. Most cruisers didn’t use it and relied instead on HF radio or texting devices like InReach. SatPhones and IridiumGo brought satellite comms within the reach of many and were considered, for a few years at least, to be great solutions for occasional emails, weather downloads and even voice comms. But, it was fairly low tech, somewhat unreliable and, thus, manageable.

Now, Elon Musk, the satanic wizard of all things disruptive, has given the world Starlink. For $600 you can buy an antenna that will talk to their constellation of satellites from just about anywhere on the planet that connect you to high-speed internet. For $150 a month you can have regional service, say North America and the Caribbean and Mexico. Or, for $200 a month you can have worldwide coverage and have the benefit (or curse) of high-speed internet anywhere.

So, even at sea, even running wing on wing in the trade winds, even rounding Cape Horn, you can always have the internet and always be linked to the madding crowd. A lot is gained, of course. But, as with all disrupting technological advances, something on a natural and human scale is lost, too. How can you contemplate the vastness and mystery of a starry night at sea when you’re busy doom scrolling Instagram reels on your phone?

issue 1, 2024

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Salty Dawgs Offer New Webinar Series for Cruisers

THE CRUISING LIFE APPEALS TO MOST of us because it engages us on so many levels from the simple pleasures of beautiful anchorages to the trials of heavy weather to the need to be selfsufficient to a degree most land-bound souls never realize. And, we never stop learning. To that end, this winter and spring, the Salty Dawg Sailing Association is running a series of webinars for cruisers that cover all sorts of topics from keeping your rig up to upgrading to lithium batteries to understanding how PredictWind works and much more. Of particular interest for those of us who sail long distances offshore is a new five-part medical training webinar series provided by a group of doctors from George Washington Medical Faculty Associates who have set up a special telemedicine service for mariners and sailors called GW Maritime Medical Access. The webinars will cover topics

that pertain directly to the kinds of injuries and medical emergencies sailors encounter, basic health issues in a population over 60, sea sickness and more. I honestly can’t think of time better spent in the months before taking your family and friends on a long offshore passage, such as the SDSA Caribbean and Homeward Bound Rallies. The seminars are free for Salty Dawg members or $12 each for non-members. It just makes sense to become a member or renew your membership so you can get these webinars for free and access the whole library of past webinars. Do it for yourself, for your family and for your crew.

Check out the webinar series here.

Check out the Salty Dawg website here.

Sign up to become a member here.

Moody Yachts to Launch new Decksaloon 48 in 2024

MOODY YACHTS, WHICH WAS FOUNDED IN 1827, was once a venerable British builder of fine blue water cruising boats. In the early aughts, the company fell on hard times and had to close down. In 2007, the Hanse Group purchased the brand and moved the company to their facilities in Greifswald, Germany, where they set out to reinvent the brand with a blend of British seafaring tradition and modern German design and engineering; the result has been a series of luxury, Bill Dixon-designed decksaloon sloops. The new DS 48 follows in the wake of the 54 and 41 and shares those design’s commitments to having the cockpit, which has a rigid hard top, the saloon and galley all on one level with a clear walkway down the middle. To achieve this, they have provided two folding cockpit tables and in the saloon two U-shaped dinettes that have full 360-degree views through the huge saloon windows. I have sailed both the 54 and the 41 and found them to be fast, nimble and weatherly, so I expect that this new Dixon design will sail just as well. The 48 has tons of useful details that will appeal to liveaboards, including the dinghy garage under the cockpit, the enclosed cockpit, with a retractable sunroof, and the large lounge area on the foredeck. There are only three Moody dealers in North America so the brand may not be on everyone’s automatic wish list, but if you are looking for a proper blue water cruiser that provides an extra degree of luxury, the new Decksaloon 48 deserves a closer look. Check it out here.

Manta 42 Project

Our rigging department installed a new Schaefer Gamma Boom on this Manta 42 that makes regular runs from the east coast of Florida to the Bahamas. We then built a new jib for the existing camber boom and new full batten mainsail for the rollerfurling boom. Our extensive experience with offshore catamarans and with furling booms provided our customer with a great integrated system.

Photo: Billy Black

Panama Canal Transits Reduced by 40 Percent

THE PANAMA CANAL, WHICH IS THE only way for cruising boats to get from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean or vice versa other than sailing around Cape Horn, has reduced the number of transits this winter by 40 percent. This has created a huge backlog in ship traffic and has created long delays for yachts.

The causes for the reduction of canal transits are many. The prime problem is the lack of seasonal rainfall that is needed to replace the water in Gatun Lake. The canals, which lift ships through a series of locks to the lake and then down through locks back to the ocean, require 50 million gallons of fresh water per transit. All of this fresh water has to be collected in the huge catchment around the lake and most of it falls during the rainy season from December through May. Last year, the seasonal rainfall fell by almost 50 percent and this year is no better.

But rainfall is not the only issue. The population of Panama has quadrupled in the last 50 years. Most of the drinking water used in Panama City, Colon and the surrounding towns comes from Gatun Lake so, as of 2023, fully 20 percent of the water collect in the lake is

diverted for human use. That’s equivalent of four daily canal transits.

Additionally, the new mega canal locks that were installed a decade ago, which can handle the huge container ships that are too long and wide for the old canal, doubled the amount of water being drawn from the lake and the catchment system. In fact, the whole fresh water and engineering plan that made the Panama Canal work and made it one of the engineering wonders of the world was not drawn up to accommodate the new mega canal.

The Panama Canal Authority is working on ways to enlarge the catchment area around Gatun Lake and to add nearby lakes to the water system. But this will take time and is fraught with engineering and political obstacles and will take many years to overcome.

The net result is that in 2024 canal transits are reduced by 40 percent and the wait times for ships and yachts are growing. Fully five percent of all sea trade and 40 percent of the container traffic from China to the US East Coast passes through Panama. The delays are going to add cost to a wide range of products. And, they will also make life difficult for the cruising community.

Cape Horn Self Steering: A Memoir

A lifetime of sailing fostered the creation of this elegant and efficient wind vane self-steering system for blue water sailors

by Yves Gelinas

IN MY EARLY TWENTIES, I BECAME hooked on cruising under sail; however, I never enjoyed being stuck at the helm for long periods and wondered if it could be possible to make a sailboat steer itself. In 1967, I purchased a 24foot fibreglass sloop and the following year, went into action: with the help of a friend who had learned welding at the School of Fine Arts, I built a gear from scraps of pipes found in the local blacksmith’s shop.

It was inspired by the solution Blondie Hasler used in 1960 in the first singlehanded trans-Atlantic race: a paddle at the stern driven by a vertical vane; when it pivots vertically, the water flow makes it tilt sideways, generating the energy to pull the rudder. I made my fist single-handed passage, 150 miles between Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In July 1973 I became skipper of an

Alberg 30 I named Jeandu-Sud, after a song by Gilles Vigneault, a poet as important in the French world as Bob Dylan in the English. It was steered with a wheel, so gear #2 was an auxiliary rudder driven by a horizontal vane. It steered me to the West Indies and in the following years, did three return trips between there and the East Coast, one trans-Atlantic passage to Brittany, then to Sweden.

Leaving Sweden in the fall of 1978, I was penniless and had no idea where I would land. A letter from a friend, Michel Chabiland, caught up with me in Germany, offering me a job in his boatyard in Brittany. I had met him the previous year and we quickly became fast friends. He ran a yard near St. Malo, on the Rance River where Jean-du-Sud spent the winter. In the spring, he generously placed at my disposal the resources of his yard to refit Jean-du-Sud before I sailed to Sweden. During a stopover in this beautiful anchorage of the Channel Islands, the Isles of Chausey, the last before reaching St. Malo and getting to work, a crazy dream I secretly had for some time suddenly appeared possible: I was offered the facility to prepare Jean-du-Sud for a single-handed voyage around the world through the Southern Ocean, non-stop.

I felt Jean-du-Sud needed something more consistent to put under its keel than simply carrying me as a sailing tourist. After five years, I had found the Alberg 30 a good sea boat, built very strongly and had learned to trust it. Yet, with its four ton displacement, it would be the smallest yacht ever to sail that route once called impossible.

With the facilities Michel’s yard offered, I could make my boat strong enough to resist the seas of the Southern Ocean. I knew I could count on his generosity and competence to help me solve the many technical problems I would meet. So, I moored Jean-du-Sud in Plouërsur-Rance near St. Malo and learned a new trade. For the first time in my life, I was working with my hands and I remember writing this note: “I have been earning my living for twenty years, but I learned how to work at forty!”

Whoever sailed that route had selfsteering problems. Having already built two, I was confident I could design something totally dependable and more elegant than what the market offered. Actually, this had never left my mind; I had started experimenting in 1975, during a summer spent on Martha’s Vineyard Island, MA. Over a period of five years, I estimate that I have put in the equivalent of one year full-time. If my solution is better, it may not be because I am more gifted, but because I worked at it longer.

I had found the Hasler solution used in #1, that steered through the rudder of the boat, more efficient; it also created much less drag than the auxiliary rudder of #2. But instead of vertical, the servo-pendulum of gear #3 would be driven by the vane invented by French

engineer Marcel Gianoli for Eric Tabarly in the 1968 OSTAR: an angle of about fifteen degrees from horizontal provides a greater movement than a vertical vane, yet still proportional to the course deviation.

Gear #3 would be an integral part of the boat, not just an addition bolted to its stern. Regardless of the strength of the wind or the state of the sea, I should not have to worry about its resistance or performance. It would be discreet and would not deface my Alberg 30, a work of art in itself. Throughout the design period, I had this constant preoccupation: simplify and eliminate useless metal. Advantages: less weight, simpler operation and cheaper fabrication.

To install to wheel steering, you have to punch a hole through the cockpit sole. To integrate gear #3 to the boat, I did not hesitate to drill a hole through the transom for a horizontal tube. Inside, another tube transmits the tilt of the servo-pendulum at its aft end, to a control arm at its forward end, inside the lazarette. I can’t imagine a simpler or more robust installation. Lines coming from the control arm pull the tiller; if steering is

wheel, they are led through blocks bolted to the quadrant in the lazarette, then to jamming cleats in the cockpit for instant connect, disconnect or trim.

But I kept stumbling on this problem: how to transform the vertical movement of a connecting rod coming from the vane, to the rotary movement of a paddle that cancel out as it tilts laterally, so that the correction remains proportional to the course variation and avoids yaw. Existing systems use gears, heavy and expensive to manufacture, or plastic rods and joints, lighter but more fragile.

After a great number of experiments, trials, errors, tests and finally, in desperation, a call to my Magick-Byrd, eureka! A ¼” stainless steel rod bent in this way: first, two 90° elbows at its aft end form a crank that transforms the vertical movement of the rod to rotary, then in a horizontal “Z” passing through a slot in the stock of the servopendulum blade.

Gear #3 offers a double integration:

part of it is hidden inside the lazarette and it is connected internally to the boat’s steering system; it also integrates both steering modes, wind and electric: when the wind is absent or unstable, the vane is replaced with a small tiller pilot inside the lazarette, connected to the forward end of the rod through the coaxial control rod. The paddle still provides the power to move the rudder so the smallest autopilot can steer any size boat with only a few milliamps of power.

The yard in Brittany built small aluminium dinghies for sailing schools and I was able to build a prototype out of aluminium tubes. After a few tests and corrections, gear #3 worked to my satisfaction. But aluminium would not be strong enough to survive in the Roaring Forties, so I had it reproduced in stainless steel in a nearby shop.

After three years of preparation - two working on the boat and the self-steering gear, one to raise the money to purchase new sails, provisioning and all the equipment required for a 9 month voyage - I was able to leave Saint-Malo September 1, 1980. In my previous career, I had been an actor and worked in film, so I took along 16 mm cameras and a tape recorder to document my voyage (broadcast quality video did not yet exist).

The months before my departure had been so intense that I never found time to test the stainless steel version of the prototype. How relieved was I when I

saw that as soon as there was enough wind to carry sail, #3 steered as if Jeandu-Sud had been on rails, even under spinnaker!

My intention had been to sail non-stop, but I was capsized and dismasted in the Southern Pacific. I knew I could never afford a new mast and did not send it to the bottom, as is usually done in such predicament; I hoisted the two sections on deck and reached the Chatham Islands, 600 miles east of New Zealand; under jury rig, #3 was still steering! The time needed to repair the mast would

have me arrive at Cape Horn during the austral winter, so I pulled Jean-du-Sud ashore and flew back to Montreal to edit the film I had shot during this first leg for broadcast on the French network of Radio-Canada and Antenne 2 in France.

I was back at the Chatham Islands October 23, 1982. After two months to splice the mast and refit, I left in the first days of the austral summer. I crossed the Pacific, rounded Cape Horn, sailed up the Atlantic. May 9, 1983 having covered 28,000 miles, Jean-du-Sud sailed into Gaspé bay wing on wing without a pole to hold the genoa to windward, a feat deemed impossible to any selfsteering gear! In 282 days, I never had to steer by hand. This conclusive test proved it was worthy of being offered to fellow sailors

Before I left, electric autopilots had not yet been invented and the only way to make a boat steer itself had been with a mechanical gear. My plan had been to obtain a patent and sell it so I could keep sailing. But I took two years instead of one to complete the voyage and meanwhile, electric autopilots appeared. Huge disappointment: the nautical equipment makers I contacted told me that there was no longer any market for self-steering gears. I had to find

another way to earn a living.

The films I shot were awarded Gold twice at the La Rochelle Sailing Film Festival: part one in 1983, part two in 1985. I spliced them into a 100 min film, With Jeandu-Sud Around the World. I toured with the film and wrote a book, Jean-du-Sud et l’Oizo-Magick.

A few years later, an article in a sailing magazine claimed that autopilots were not dependable, needed a lot of power and after all, there was still a need for self-steering gears. If I wanted gear #3 to keep me sailing, I would have to exploit it myself and in 1989, I created CapeHorn Marine Products to manufacture and market it. To refer to the test I had put it through, I called it Cape Horn.

My professional training had been in the theatre arts and I knew nothing about manufacturing. At first, I subcontracted the metal and plastic parts and I assembled the gears myself with the tools I had on my boat. I spied at the workshops to learn what tools were needed and how they were used. Any income was reinvested first in tooling, then in marketing. The owner of a machine shop wanted to close and go sailing; I traded a lathe against a CapeHorn gear. I purchased a welding machine and hired a part-time welder. In 1993, French magazine Voiles et Voiliers published an article on self-steering and for the first time, CapeHorn was part of the group. The following year, it was Cruising World in USA and Yachting Monthly

in UK. Sales increased. I needed help and wondered whether I should hire a welder or a machinist. My nephew Éric was unemployed and said he wanted to work with his hands; I hired him. Through a government program, he learned how to use a lathe and weld.

Gear #3 had been designed for my AL30, a small boat with a transom; I designed a model for larger boats, other models for boats with outboard rudder, scoop stern or boomkin, often combining features of different models to accommodate a given boat. My object is not to take a gear from a shelf and bolt it to a transom - one size fits all - but to offer the most elegant way to make a boat steer itself. Each CapeHorn gear is custom-built for a perfect fit on the boat it steers. To ensure adequate power, yet limit drag, the wetted area of the paddle is proportional to the rudder area of the boat. It does not need spare parts; it is guaranteed for one circumnavigation or 28 000 miles against any damage caused by wind or sea.

Recently, Eric chose to resign. I was sorry to lose this excellent craftsman who produced the CapeHorn gears for the past 30 years. His work had always been impeccable, and he did not hesitate to improve quality and finish, even though this meant more work. He also kept the home fires burning when I was sailing in the summer.

One of the first CapeHorn users, Guy Lavoie, replaces him. Guy has circumnavigated with his wife and two preteen daughters between 1999 and 2004 aboard Balthazar, a 33’ steel sloop. In 2012, he sailed through the North West passage and in the following seasons, cruised the coasts of Alaska and British Columbia. This recent fall, he sailed Balthazar from Vancouver to the Sea of Cortez.

During his voyages, Guy shot films he presented to various audiences, but covid put an end to this. He was happy to

find a new livelihood. He has built his boat himself and I know he will maintain the quality required to ensure the flawless operation of CapeHorn gears.

I never considered CapeHorn a business but rather a service offered to fellow sailors. Looking back, I see that gear #3 has kept its promises: it steered me around the world, then provided both Eric and myself with a comfortable enough living while allowing me to sail away every summer. I am now 85 years old and I gradually delegate the management of CapeHorn to Guy. However, for as long as I can, I will continue to offer fellow sailors my experience in the art of making a boat steer itself.

Age has also forced me to part with Jean-du-Sud, after 50 years sailing together. I entrusted it to a person who promised to take it back to sea. I am gradually detaching myself from my two passions, CapeHorn and Jean-duSud.

More than 2,000 boats are steered by CapeHorn. My film has become a classic. In December 2016, the website ybw.com listed the ten best boatthemed films released in the 1980s, most of them 35 mm theatrical films. With Jean-du-Sud Around the World was among them with this comment: “Many consider this the greatest sailing film of all time. A must see for all sailors”1. It can be downloaded through The Sailing Channel.2, Vimeo3 or Sailflix.4 A DVD can be ordered through the CapeHorn website.

The book was published in Québec, then in France. Both editions sold out. It has been translated in English: Jean-duSud and the Magick-Byrd. I still have copies. A .pdf version can be downloaded for free.5 Also a podcast read by myself.6

After 60 years, I look back: this voyage, the film, the book, also the gear that steered my boat were my contributions in the art of blue water sailing.

Endnotes

1 https://www.ybw.com/features/top-ten/boat-themed-films-1980s-43093

2 https://thesailingchannel.tv/product/jean-du-sud ;

3 https://vimeo.com/ondemand/jeandusud

4 https://www.sailflix.com/products/with-jean-du-sud-around-the-world

5 www.capehorn.com

6 https://open.spotify.com/episode/6h2GenKPmfiTzcCXtl7YA5 or https://sailingstories. libsyn.com/jean-du-sud-the-magick-byrd-1

Eagle-Eye Navigation Off the Beaten Track

How to use satellite images and charting apps to create detailed charts of poorly surveyed cruising grounds

by Tim Coles

OF ALL THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADvancements of the 21st century, from carbon fibre to dyneema and foils, I’d argue the most useful to the cruising sailor will never be found on your boat but instead about 11500km away. Satellites orbiting our globe have meticulously photographed every inch of our Blue Planet, and the rise of powerful handheld devices means that these images, overlaid with accurate GPS positioning, are available to the average cruiser at the swipe of a screen. This

provides the most powerful navigational aid since the invention of the lighthouse - with somewhat less squinting.

In our travels of remote areas in Indonesia, we have come to rely on satellite imagery as our primary tool for finding not only safe anchorages and passages but waves, dive sites, hiking trails, fishing hotspots and villages too - things often left unmarked on both traditional and digital charts. I’ll cover the reasons we’ve turned away from traditional

methods, the hardware, software and techniques to use this tool safely and a few tips on interpreting images.

While sailing in Australia, we found it easy and safe to use traditional navigational methods - every rock and reef was located and marked, navigational aids were abundant and maintained, cruising guides were detailed and charts were regularly updated. We had no problems with navigation, although I built ratlines to allow us a higher vantage point for some particularly shallow areas as nothing beats the eyeball!

This all changed in Indonesia - aside from major harbour entrances, most charts (even digital) are based on rough surveys, some completed with lead line in the 1800’s . Soundings are few, some entire islands are off position by up to a mile and one relies on useredits to software like Navionics for dangers & anchorages. Throw in a fringing reef for every island, unlit buoys and fish attracting devices and you’re left with a navigational nightmare, which leads some people to stick to popular areas and follow “safe” routes between.

Scott Reef images: Navionics on the left, RS image above

This means missing out on many beautiful and, in reality, safe anchorages as they are thought of as “uncharted” and thus too risky. But what if you could know, to the meter, the position of all of these dangers without any secondary interpretation in between? This is the power of satellite imagery, and it has seen us through some situations in which we would have been (literally) lost without it.

Satellite images have been around for a long time and blazed into the public eye with the release of Google Earth in the early 2000’s. Numerous programs have sought to capitalise on this incredible resource, but options for cruisers have always been somewhat limited - clunky to use, expensive, data-heavy, requiring laptops and extensive workarounds to download licensed images. When I initially looked into it, I was confounded by the world of KAP files, mb tiles, track files and most frustratingly, decent software to run it on. The options I found were available only on a computer (not conducive to cockpit environments), hard to use and very buggy. Enter our indomitable cruising friend Ryan, who solved all my problems with a very 2023 statement - “There’s an app for that!”

SOFTWARE

For years, the big name in satellite navigation was Ovitalmap. Those who have it swear by it, but if you’re late to the party you’re lost. Ovitalmap is run by a Beijing-based company and was

recently forced off the market, leaving some sailors confounded. I know some cruisers still using Ovital who refuse to update their device for fear of losing their program! For us latecomers though, it’s fiendishly tricky to acquire, set up and use - in my case, it never worked.

We turned to one of the numerous applications offering the same capabilities, in our case called All-In-One Offline Maps, which I highly recommend! Other options include SAS Planet, Zulu Waterways, iSailor and even Navionics itself, which offers a satellite hybrid map but is completely useless as it only shows imagery above land. Of the many apps out there, I would

Hurricane Hole by drone, right and Navionics below

only be comfortable using one with the following features as a minimum:

*The ability to download, save and view images of the sea at various scales.

*The ability to plot your position accurately on the aforesaid image, hopefully with some info regarding potential errors or number of satellites providing location data.

*The ability to drop waypoints, measure distances and provide a COG bearing.

Nice-to-have features would include:

*Easy control over image contrast/ curves so otherwise hard to distinguish features can be emphasised.

*Multiple sources of R.S. data - not only do some offer images from helpful satellite programs like NOAA, Sentinel, Landsat, Hyperion & GLS (handy for when there’s a cloud right over your bay on one data set) but I’d love to see completely different data pulled in too, maybe in an “Advanced Mode”. The satellites currently orbiting earth capture all sorts of data across multiple spectrums it’d be interesting to see if there’s an application for that data here!

*Tracking functions, anchor alarms, distance/speed/time calculators – standard plotter functions.

*A base map.

*Dating of the imagery - if you’re try-

Bungus Harbour RS image above, Navionics image, right

ing to figure out sandbar position from a 5-year-old shot, you’re likely to come up rather short.

*User edits!

HARDWARE

Now that we’ve harnessed the eyes of a trillion space eagles, and have found an awesome program to translate “space eagle” in to “not bumping into things”, the next question is what to run as your day-to-day viewer. This may be cause for surprise, but it has to be said -- we have essentially replaced our $1000 Raymarine plotter with a $100 Lenovo tablet and a free app that performs, in these environments, far far better. Any tablet (or phone) with reasonable GPS is capable of running these apps, and there exist GPS-capable USBs to give almost any laptop spatial accuracy homing pigeons can only dream of.

The concerns then become ruggedness, price, screen size, battery life and native OS. I bought the Lenovo because my app of choice is only available on Android OS at the moment and our other devices were Apple. I went with the cheapest, bottom of the range device I could find as I was pretty sure I’d be using the plotter or my phone and dropping the tablet over the side in minutes disappointed with its performance whether I spent a lot or not.

It turns out these were all stupid assumptions, and this tiny, unassuming little tablet has saved both our boat and potentially our lives, all with no cover, heaps of salty spray and general neglect for its whole life. I have yet to add an SD card as the built-in 32GB storage has proved enough to save all the images I need, but I may buy one to save all my downloaded images.

You never know when you might want to tuck into that little hurricane hole again! This device is dedicated to the singular task of running this app and I’d imagine the performance would suffer if loaded up with other apps, hence I keep it completely focused on its space eagle translation. Waterproof tablets seem to be a good idea, as do properly waterproof covers, but both come with a price tag and potentially a knock in performance.

TECHNIQUE

Point where you want to go, check there’s nothing shallow or sharp in the

way and go. Easy, right? If only. Although there’s not a lot to it, I always run through a few basic steps if I know I’m going to be navigating mainly using the app to make sure I’m prepared if anything goes awry. A basic sequence for a transit from one anchorage to another, both poorly charted, when one has reception but expects to lose it along the way, might go like this:

*Download an overview image showing both anchorages and plot the intended route (in your head is ok, on the screen is better)

*“Fly” over the route and drill down on any areas that might hold trouble such as reefs, patches of white water, anywhere obscured by clouds, anywhere you feel might hold a surprise.

*Check those spots at a greater resolution, pick out and MARK shallow areas, outlying rocks or other dangers.

*Have a look on your traditional charts and electronic charts and do the same thing. Do your markers line up? If not, play it safe and assume there is danger at both places.

*Depending on how you like to navigate, consolidate your markers on either a chart or the satellite image.

*Scout for backup anchorages, hideaways, etc.

*Download high quality images for every anchorage, backup anchorage or point of danger.

*Check that you’ve actually done this by putting your device on flight mode and pretend you’re navigating past the scariest thing. Is it a 4-pixel splodge or a workable image? If splodge, go back and repeat the last step until you get it right.

*Have another “fly over” of all your potential routes, compare against the traditional charts and make sure that you’ve not missed anything. It’s far easier to pick up the tell-tale lightening of water marking a reef edge or shoal patch when you’re relaxed, at night for good contrast & brightness and have time to check it against other sources. When its blindingly bright and you’re being squeezed between rocky pinnacles as an unexpected current or squall throws you off course, you’re not going to pick up any subtleties on a grubby tablet screen.

*Rest easy knowing that you are prepared to navigate with more information than the previous 200 generations of navigators had to hand.

When choosing your primary tool, I normally decide based on the amount of information to transfer. For longer passages or offshore work, a satellite image is unlikely to be better than traditional charts but for near shore work and tight squeezes I choose satellite every time! Often I will get the coordinates of markers I’ve dropped, lights, dangers or boundaries as defined by the chart and input them to my satellite image, or vice versa.

REDUNDANCY

Before I get keelhauled by a gang of paper chart-wielding, pipe-smoking old salts keen to bash me with a sextant, I will say that relying on one app, on one device, is asking for trouble. We try to have as many backups as possible at all times and using the above technique of translating satellite info to traditional charts ensures that even if the satellite program fails you are not left clueless. We have the plotter, a navigation program on a phone, and the tablet dedi-

cated to satellite imagery running at all times. As we generally move through areas fairly quickly it is not possible for us to keep paper charts at a helpful scale but if we had the money or storage space I’d love to, even just to keep the old navigation skills up!

There’s no doubt in my mind that this navigation tool has saved our bacon (and keel) on numerous occasions, as well as helping us discover some real hidden gems in tricky waters. If one sticks to well-known routes and accurately charted areas you could go a lifetime without needing R.S. imagery but if you harbor any doubts as to the accuracy of your chart, this is the only way I really trust to confirm my suspicions.

As with any skill, the more you practice the better you get and before long you’ll be estimating water depth based on blue hue, shocking your mates with sneaky shortcuts and sitting pretty in anchorages widely considered impossible to access. This doesn’t mean you should take any crazy risks, and always understand the limitations of the tool, but for us it has opened up a world of opportunities and made us safer at sea - all for the cost of a low-tech tablet!

Australian cruiser, Tim Coles, has explored Southeast Asia extensively and visited many coves and anchorages most cruisers would avoid because of poor charts.

OWNING A BOAT IN A CHARTER FLEET

What are the pros and cons of owning a boat in a bareboat charter fleet?

by Sarah Fielding

THERE IS NOTHING QUITE LIKE walking down a dock in some exotic location with your sea bag on your shoulder and climbing aboard your own boat with the name you gave it and the hailing port of your hometown on the stern. This is your boat and you are its master. You look around and the boat is clean, everything is working, there are clean linens on the bed and the fuel and water tanks have been topped off. All you have to do is shop for groceries and away you go.

That’s what it is like when you own a boat in a well-managed charter fleet. But how does the whole process really work and is it for everyone?

THE DEAL

Each charter company has its own way of structuring the deal for those who want to own boats in their fleet. In general, the owner will be expected to buy the boat and in most instances the owner will put down a deposit of 20 percent or more and then finance the rest through their own lending institution or through one affiliated with the charter company.

The charter company will offer either a guaranteed income on the boat or a percentage of the charter revenue. Factored into the revenue plan will be the costs of maintaining and operating

the boat, which will be deducted from the charter revenue. In exchange, the owner will get to use the boat either for a set number of weeks in most cases or, in other plans, for as many weeks as they like, which in turn drives down charter revenue. The terms of the deal run from three to five years and in some instances are renewable.

MAKING MONEY

In most cases, owning a boat in a charter fleet is not about making money on the boat. The guaranteed income or percentage of charter fees is usually about a breakeven proposition if the boat has been financed. If you pay cash for the boat, then the cash flow will be positive and you can expect a pre-tax income of around 5 percent.

TAX IMPLICATIONS

The sales teams at the charter compa-

nies are not financial advisors or certified accountants and therefore most if not all will decline to give their customers tax advice. But, there may be tax implications to owning a boat in a charter fleet that will depend entirely on the buyer’s financial situation, where the buyer lives and the local tax laws. There may be ways to offshore the ownership of the boat but in today’s economic and tax climate that is something that needs to be discussed with professionals who are both ethical and well versed in tax law.

USE OF THE BOAT

The larger companies tend to restrict the number of weeks an owner may use their boat and the availability of the boat during the high seasons. This can mean that you may have to take your sailing vacations on the company’s schedule instead of your own. But

since you get many weeks in your contract, this is often not a problem. In fact, owners often don’t use all of their weeks every year.

In some of the smaller companies, the number of weeks you can use the boat is not restricted. In these deals, the company acts as a yacht management company that offers your boat for charter. You are responsible for all of the fixed costs of running the boat and you can either just pay these or set up the charter schedule to cover the costs. It’s your choice. Most owners in this situation opt to offer the boat for charter most of the time and then lay out two or three longer vacations per year to spend aboard.

LOCATIONS

If the company you choose to work with has only one base, then that is where you will start and end each of your sailing vacations. If your boat is in the BVI, for example, your sailing grounds will be restricted to the islands you can reach day sailing, which will be the BVI, the USVI and the Spanish Virgins.

Some companies will allow you to do one-way charters and will arrange for the boat to be delivered back to the main base. This is a good option for boats based in Antigua since you have Nevis, St.Kitts and Saba a day sail away and St. Barths and St.Martin are a day sail from there as well. A cruise through these islands over a week or 10-day period can make for a really fun vacation.

Another one-way cruise that is very popular in the Caribbean is from St. Vincent to Grenada through the Grenadines. With islands like Bequia, Mustique, Union and Carriacou and the amazing diving and snorkeling of the region, the Grenadines rank as one of the planet’s best cruising grounds. And both St. Vincent and Grenada are two of the loveliest and most interesting of all the Caribbean islands.

The larger companies offer an option that makes their deals particularly attractive. If you own a boat in a fleet in one location, you may use an equivalent boat in the company’s other locations around the world. So, if you buy a 44-foot cat in the BVI, you have the ability to use a 44 foot cat in Tahiti, or Greece or Southeast Asia. There are many owners of charter boats who have circumnavigated the planet by charter-

ing boats in all of the world’s best cruising grounds and skipped sailing across oceans to get there. 747s do that job just fine.

For many owners, this ability to explore the world is the compelling reason to own a boat in a large charter fleet.

GETTING REAL

The benefits of owning a boat in the charter fleet really come down to four basic criteria: 1. You have to be a dedicated sailor who is eager to spend most if not all of your vacation time sailing (if you are still working); 2. You have to have the cash on hand to put down a 20 percent deposit and qualify for a boat loan (if you aren’t paying cash); 3. You have to love to travel and explore new places, peoples and cultures, even if you don’t leave the Caribbean; and 4. You need to have the time to make use of your free weeks since owning a boat in

charter really doesn’t make sense of you can’t use it or a sistership.

If you own a 44-foot cat in charter, a week on your boat has a value of roughly $12,000 so if you use it for six weeks a year for the five-year duration of the contract, you will have derived $360,000 in value from your initial purchase. At the end of the contract, you can either just take ownership of the boat, sell it and pay off the boat loan (if you have one) or arrange for the boat to go into another charter program. If you do decide to sell the boat, you will likely be able to pay off the remaining balance on the boat loan and recoup most of your down payment.

Owning a boat in a charter fleet is not for everyone but there are aspects to the proposition that are very appealing—particularly if you love sailing, traveling, cruising and boat ownership.

Nine Essential Upgrades to an Offshore Cruising Boat

WHEN YOU ARE GETTING A BOAT READY for sailing offshore and passagemaking, there are a host of upgrades to any boat that need to be checked off the to do list. If you are starting fresh with a new boat or modifying and improving a used boat, you need to think about the health and safety of the crew, the condition of the boat and its gear, and you need to have in mind the kind of cruising you will be doing and the cruising grounds you will be visiting. Here are nine upgrades that most experienced sailors will consider at the top of their lists.

CANVAS

Most modern cruising boats do not

Planning & Preparation are the keys to happy, safe cruising in a well fitted out cruising boat

by Stephen Perry

come with an inside helm where you can stand watch out of the weather. Instead, most cruisers need to add canvas to the cockpit to provide relief from wind, rain, spray and, most importantly, the sun. Sunbrella is generally considered the best fabric for cockpit canvas. The first item here is a dodger that covers the companionway and the forward end of the cockpit. A good dodger will have a sturdy frame that will stand up to a boarding wave. It should have large isinglass windows and stainless-steel hand holds on the after end and both sides so you have a place to grip as you

leave the cockpit. A zippered window in the middle front of the dodger will allow breeze to cool the cockpit on warm days and it should be large.

A Bimini over the helm(s) and aft end of the cockpit will give you lots of shelter and will be useful in both hot sun and light rain. You’ll be surprised how effective a good Bimini can be keeping you dry in a drizzle. The frame needs to be built of heavy stainless tubing that is well anchored to the boat. The top of a Bimini is a great place to add large solar panels, but doing so will make the Bimini a permanent installation.

The insert that zips in between the Bimini and the dodger will keep the cockpit well shaded in tropical conditions and will keep most of the rain out of the companionway. The insert is usually taken out when not needed so you can see the mainsail and the sky. Side panels are common on boats that cruise in cooler climes and these are most often large sections of clear isinglass or plastic that can be rolled up and stowed away.

ANCHOR SYSTEM

A cruising boat that is going to be anchoring most of the time and exploring far and wide depends on its anchors as the most basic insurance. The rule of thumb for cruising anchors is to carry at least three primary anchors, two of the hooking type and one of the fluke type. The fluke type is for soft sand and mud bottoms that you are likely to find up deep harbors or rivers where you may be seeking shelter from a storm. This type of anchor is usually extra-large

and used as a storm anchor; Forteress is the most popular brand. The hooking types are all-purpose anchors. Modern hooking anchors, like the Mantus, Rocna, Manson and Spade, are superior to the old plow and less likely to foul than a Bruce. Size the hooking anchors at one and a half pounds for every foot of waterline. If you carry a stern anchor, often a fluke type that stows easily in a cockpit locker or in brackets on the stern rail is the best choice.

An all-chain rode makes life worry free and it is easy to handle if you have a proper windlass. Three hundred feet is a common length. BBB chain is popular and high test is better and costs more. You should have two spare rodes with at least 20 feet of chain and 200 feet of nylon rope.

The anchor windlass does all of the work in your anchor system and needs

to be powerful, reliable and easy to maintain. Vertical axis windlasses have all of the gearing and motor below deck while horizontal axis windlasses are all above deck. Do not skimp or buy a bargain windlass; your boat and your life will one day depend on it.

SAILS

Most cruisers use high quality Dacron sails from a reputable sailmaker and go with a mainsail (and mizzen), a moderate, high cut genoa, a staysail if possible or a smaller bulletproof jib, and a downwind sail with an ATN snuffer. If you want to upgrade your main and genoa to better performing sails that will keep their shapes longer than Dacron, then laminated string-reinforced sails with UV protecting taffeta layers are well worth the investment.

If your sails are getting tired and you are planning to make

some miles offshore, then it is definitely time to replace them. Make sure your sailmaker knows your planned cruising routes and how long you will be away. If you stress quality and durability, you should be able to get 25,000 miles from your sails as long as you protect them from UV rays as much as possible.

Instead of buying a storm tri-sail, most skippers today are having their mainsails built with three reefs instead of the standard two. And, instead of buying a storm jib, many skippers are going with ATN’s Gale Sail or a smaller bulletproof jib on the roller furling.

For downwind sails, most folks are using asymmetrical reachers that don’t require a pole. That’s fine but you should rig a spinnaker pole with a toping lift anyway to use when you want to poleout the genoa to run wing-on-wing. So, if you already have a pole, then a symmetrical, traditional spinnaker makes a lot of sense and the new Parasailor is proving very popular.

PROPELLER

The difference in boat speed between a fixed three bladed prop and a feathering or folding prop is pretty dramatic

and can be up to a knot through the water. So, if you are sailing from Hampton, VA to Antigua with the Salty Dawg rally – 1500 miles – you can knock off 24 miles a day or 250 miles on the while trip. That’s a full day and a half.

The choice is between feathering and folding props. The venerable MaxProp is a feathering type; when no power is applied to the shaft, the blades fold flat and reduce drag. Folding props, like the Gori, fold aft when not working and create a very low profile and thus much reduced drag. Both types work well and are very reliable in the long term. Pitch can be an issue with feathering props but there are two props, MaxProp and the innovative J Prop, that can be adjusted with the boat in the water.

SAFETY

This is a huge topic and requires a lot of thought and planning. Yet, the basics are simple: carry a quality, inspected life raft, a well-equipped ditch kit, an EPIRB, PLBs that are AIS compatible for the crew and make sure you have a way to call for assistance with twoway communication via Starlink, a Sat-

phone, IridiumGo!Exec or via SSB or Ham radio.

Set the boat up so crew can be clipped in when they come on deck and whenever they are on deck. Quality inflatable life vests, tethers with clips that won’t self-open, such as Wichard hooks, and robust jack lines are essential. But you will need a man-overboard system that will allow you to find and bring aboard a person who may be injured from the water. The LifeSling is the most commonly used MOB retrievable device.

Take a US Sailing Safety at Sea course and spend time with veteran offshore sailors to get a handle on best practices and best gear when you set out to make your boat safe for all the crew.

ELECTRONICS

The world of marine electronics is evolving quickly and innovations and improvements appear in the market every year. So, if you are on a three-year path of preparation for an ultimate cruise, save the electronics for last so you can start with the latest and greatest. But, don’t select items that have been on the market for less than six month to avoid getting something that still has a few bugs in it.

It all starts with GPS, radar

and the autopilot, the essentials. But today, modern marine electronics are built around a multi-function display that used to be called a chartplotter. The MFD is then linked to the GPS, radar, AIS, the speedo-log, autopilot and the sailing instruments as the brains of the operation where everything can be seen and operated. It is prudent to select a brand of electronics, one that is well known and supported worldwide, and stick with them for all items in the system. Mixing and matching brands is a recipe for problems down the road.

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is the best innovation to come along in many years and will help you avoid collisions with ships and other vessels. Do not leave it off your list. The autopilot will do most of the steering, so make sure you have the system spec’d out properly and that the drive arm is plenty strong enough to handle your boat. Bring spare parts for the autopilot; you may need them.

ENERGY

There are two things to think about when planning out the energy system for your boat, how to get as much low cost and reliable energy into your battery as possible and how try to keep your energy footprint from getting out of control.

Build a battery bank that will be the

boat’s energy backbone. For a standard 45-foot cruising boat, a 400 amp hour capacity bank is about minimum, which translates into four Group 31 batteries which are light enough for a normal person to lift and carry. Such a bank can also be charged efficiently by a smallcase 100 amp alternator. But, if you go with a huge bank – 800 amp hours with four 4D batteries – you will have much more capacity and longer periods between charges. Plus, you will have to switch up to a large case 180-amp alternator.

On this backbone, and with the correct alternator, you can add both solar and wind generating systems. Each has its advantage and together they cover the widest range of weather and wind conditions. If you can have both aboard, go for it. If you have to choose one over the other, then solar has proven to be the best value for money and the more reliable energy source. Water generators work well on passage and can generate a lot of capacity.

If your boat is big enough, it will be tempting to add a genset which erases most energy capacity problems while adding a whole new level of complexity to the boat. If you add a genset, you don’t have to make the upgrades already mentioned. But you do have another engine that requires fuel and gives off exhaust to maintain. It’s a trade-off.

To reduce your energy needs, switch out incandescent lights with LEDs from the masthead tricolor right down to the cockpit courtesy lights. Your electric bill will drop by 75%. And to get the same 110 volt capability a genset provides, you can add a high output inverter that will run hair dryers, toasters and coffee makers.

REFRIGERATION

Your boat will have a refrigerator aboard but you will have to assess if it works well enough for your longterm living aboard needs. In most cases the answer will be, marginally. Insulation and the system’s efficiency are key elements. Adding insulation all around the box will help. Adding a second compressor can help. And installing a dedicated freezer that you rarely open can help.

It is worth consulting an expert who can fairly appraise your boat, your fridge and the spaces available around it. In the end, you want to be able to keep some supplies frozen and most fridge contents cool

while running the compressors as little as possible. And, just about every cruiser knows this is a high bar to jump over.

WATERMAKER

Watermakers are not new inventions and are not new to the cruising fleet, but the modern systems are so much more efficient and smaller than they were that it is really sensible now to install a well-designed and easy to maintain system.

The key to a successful installation is the ability to get at the filters and pump easily for routine maintenance. The more careful you are with the water you put through the pump and filter, the longer both will perform to their best. And, the more conscientious you are about routine maintenance and seasonal pickling, the better the system will perform. Watermakers can really improve life aboard and make the cruising experience more like home.

The Versatile, Voluminous Dufour 41

The latest generation of family cruisers from Dufour offers great sailing properties combined with huge living spaces below

WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW Dufour 37 last year, the French boat builder signaled that they were reinventing their take on family cruising boats with an emphasis first on huge volume and second, on making the de-

sign as versatile as possible.

The new Dufour 41, designed by Felci Yacht Design, continues that theme. It has the same modern angular look with a plumb bow, a short sprit and a

squared-off stern that folds down to make a swim-platform. The hull’s side are quite high, which means the cabin can have a sleek profile while still providing for six-foot, four-inch headroom in the cabins.

Note the chine that runs almost all the way from bow to stern. The allows the builder to minimize wetted surface below the chine while maximizing interior

volume above it. And, note the fullness of the bow sections. The hull is almost that of a scow. That allows Dufour to offer a full walk-around double berth in a 41 footer. Voluminous is the word.

The sloop rig is simple and has plenty of sail area. You can have either a slab reefing main or an in-mast system that can be unfurled and furled from the cockpit. There is no mainsheet traveler; instead, the sheet is attached to a fixed Dynema bridle. To power up and power down the mainsail, the rigid vang will control twist and leech tension.

The standard 41 has an overlapping genoa with sheet tracks mounted on the cabin top to give you very narrow sheeting angles for upwind performance. But, a self-tacking headsail is an option that many cruisers will find appealing. A Code 0 or asymmetrical spinnaker can be flown from the bnowsprit for downwind sailing.

With 14 feet of beam to work with, the designers have created a huge cockpit with twin wheels, each with its own instrument pod. The benches are long enough for most people to lie on comfortably. Between them is a large dropleaf table that will seat six for meals and eight for sundowners.

The transom folds down to make a wide swim platform and dinghy landing dock. Inside the transom you’ll find a locker for the life raft and other gear. Like most Dufours of late, a fixed grill sits in the transom with a fiberglass lid that lifts and creates a windbreak so you can barbecue meals at anchor even when the breeze is up.

LIVING ABAORD

With all of this beam, the high topsides and the full sections forward, Felci has

provided what looks like the most voluminous 40-footer on the market. Thus, Dufour is offering three different interiors built around the same saloon.

The saloon has the in-line galley to starboard and a U-shaped dinette to port with a bench down the middle. There are large fixed ports on both sides of the hull, long ports in the cabin sides and three open hatches in the cabin top. So, the interior is full of natural light and has plenty of ventilation.

The three-cabin, three head version has a large walk-around berth in the forward cabin and large quarter berths; each cabin has its own head. The three-cabin, two head version swaps out the port aft head for a utility and storage room that liveaboards will find useful.

And there is a fourcabin, two head layout that has the same quarter cabins and aft heads as the three-cabin, three head design but the forward cabin and head have been replaced by two smaller double cabins with a sound-proof bulkhead between them. With the dinette converting into a double in the saloon, Dufour notes that you can actually sleep 10 people in a pinch.

The fit and finish of modern Dufours offers bright airy living spaces with light colored woods for the joinery and light colored fabrics to highlight the wide main bulkhead at the forward end of the saloon. The 41 will make a fine family cruiser and is big enough for serious long distance sailing.

Specification: LOA 41’, LWL 36’, Beam 14’, Draft 6’, Ballast 5,732 lbs., Water 66 gals, Fuel 66 gals, Sail Area 892 sq. ft.

Read more here.

Discover the New Hallberg-Rassy 69 Flagship

THE FAMOUS SWEDISH BUILDER

Hallberg- Rassy has long been known for delivering yachts of exceptional quality and seakeeping capabilities. The new HR 69 that was launched at the end of 2023 is the yard’s new flagship and takes all of the German Frers distinct HR design style and stretches it into a modern, graceful and powerful looking blue water cruiser.

The 69 is a family cruising boat and has

been set up with all of the modern sail handling gear for true push-button sailing and docking. With in-mast mainsail furling and a high aspect 110-percent roller furling jib, the sail plan will be efficient and very easy to handle in a wide range of sailing conditions. A roller furling Code 0 on the bowsprit will add horsepower in light conditions or when broad reaching. All sails can be handled from the cockpit.

The new design has a very broad transom which provides a lot of stability and power off the wind and has ample interior volume for a dinghy garage in front of the fold-down swim platform. Due to the design’s beam, Frers has gone with twin spade rudders instead of a single rudder; these will give the helm a very sprots-car-like feel and will definitely help with tracking when running downwind in a seaway. But, they are unprotected by the keel and somewhat vulnerable to damage from flotsam. That said, virtually all new design over 40 feet these days have twin rudders.

The cockpit is huge with twin wheels and a large center-line table with folding leaves. A HR style hardtop is an option that many owners will go for since it provides dry and protected shelter for the on-watch crew and for those wanting to dine al fresco in less than perfect weather. Also, the roof provides a good spot for mounting solar panels.

The interior is vast and all on one level so you don’t have to negotiate steps when you move into the sleeping cabins fore and aft. There are three sleeping cabins in the forward third of the boat with a VIP guest cabin in the fore peak, a smaller double cabin just aft to starboard and a pullman cabin with upper and lower berth across from it. These cabins share two full heads, each with a full shower.

The master cabin aft occupies the full width of the hull and has a full-size double berth on the centerline. There is a vanity to starboard, a bench settee

to port and ample hanging and storage lockers. The after head is large and has a separate shower stall. An after cabin like this offers the owners a lot of privacy and will be quietest cabin on the boat.

The saloon is open and has the galley next to the companionway, which enhances ventilation and allows food to be passed to the cockpit easily. The dinette to starboard will seat eight, while across from it are two built-in easy chairs with a table between them. The full and traditional chart table will command central for all navigation and communications.

One design feature that experienced boat owners will covet is the walk-in engine room. The main engine has access on both sides, while the genset, watermaker, AC units and other systems are also easy to service and maintain.

Hallberg Rassy has always built handsome, beautifully crafted ocean sailing yachts. In the new 69, they have stepped over a threshold into mega yacht territory. For discerning sailing families, this may well be the ultimate family cruising boat.

Check out the website here.

JOIN THE CELEBRATION

For 50 years, Sunsail has set the standard for sailing vacations in the world’s greatest yachting destinations. With a global team of passionate, experienced sailors, we are proud to share this one-of-a-kind vacation experience with the world - from newbies to old salts, and everyone in between. Join us as we celebrate our golden anniversary, and help us usher in the next 50 years of exploration, adventure, thrilling sailing and unlimited fun. It wouldn’t be the same without you!

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