Latitudes 40 Summer 2015

Latitudes

18

World ARC

Voyages of a lifetime

25 Circumnavigating

28 Discovering Colombia

49 Memories of Portugal

Summer 2015 ISSUE 40 ÂŁ3.50

“ The Owner Care has been exemplary.

In fact, throughout the specification, build and after-sales process, it has been a pleasure to work with Discovery Yachts.”

Discovery 55 Brizo Participant in the World ARC 2014

Discover peace of mind with exceptional backup and support Discovery Yachts are creators of the world’s most inspired blue-water cruising yachts. Carefully designed and meticulously built, our yachts deliver effortless short-handed sailing in comfort and safety.

Discovery owners benefit from the dedicated help, advice and technical support of our highly experienced Owner Care team who are on hand to keep your yacht sailing wherever you are in the world.

Find out more at www.discoveryyachts.com Email info@discoveryyachts.com Call +44 (0)23 8086 5555

Proudly supporting Discovery owners

www.claris.fr - Photos Nicolas Claris

Lagoon supports the Arc Rally Only a few offshore sailing events in the world offer the spirit that we like to refer to as the Lagoon attitude: A great ambiance and an unforgettable experience, with the benefits of a first class organization in terms of preparation and safety. Lagoon is proud to be a partner of the Arc Rally!

www.cata-lagoon.com

worldcruising.com LATITUDES

List of Advertisers 24 Admiral Marine Insurance 30 Ayuntamiento Las Palmas 20 Berthon International 42 Bomarine 8 CNB 3 Discovery Yachts 42 Echomax 54 Elvstrøm 50 Fischer Panda 40 Gill UK 14 GN Espace 42 Hamble School of Yachting 44 Hydrovane 17 IGY Rodney Bay Marina 52 Imray 9 Jeanneau 4 Lagoon 16 Mactra Marine Equipment 48 MailASail 52 Marlec 36 Mobmat 6 Nanny Cay 55 Ocean Crew Link 38 Ocean Safety 2 Patronato Turismo de Gran Canaria 45 Peters and May 54 PYD 6 Raymarine 31 Rolnautic 56 Saint Lucia Tourism 14 Santa Marta Marina 36 Traveleads 14 Watt&sea 55 YachtCom & SailCom 38 YB Tracking

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Contents 7

Viewpoint Foreword by Andrew Bishop, MD of World Cruising Club

10

Rally News World Cruising Rallies Converge on Marina de Lagos in Portugal

28

12

Club News News and events from World Cruising Club and our Corporate Members

18

World ARC 15 Setting off on the voyage of a lifetime

22

World ARC Top-Tips Skippers share their views on the rally

32

25

World ARC 14 Back to Where We Began

28

Santa Marta Discovering Colombia

32

ARC Who does the ARC?

46

iPad Apps The Advance of Electronic Navigation

49

Memories of Portugal Twenty years of rallies

49 53

Books & Gear The latest books for bluewater sailors

55

noonsite.com News updates from the cruising sailor’s information site

5

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worldcruising.com LATITUDES

Viewpoint Editor Jeremy Wyatt

Deputy Editor Sarah Collins

Contributors Andrew Bishop Joel Chadwick Paul Frew Trish Jenkins Andy Schell Paul Tetlow Ed Wildgoose

Photography Credits Johny Buraca Suzana Buraca James Mitchell Clare Pengelly Paul Tetlow Ed Wildgoose Isabelle Tramblay Simon Prueckl Christian Alt Thomas Goeke And to all other yacht crews who submitted photographs and blogs.

Cover Image Exploring San Blas with World ARC Photo: Paul Tetlow

Design Aaron Rudd www.aaronrudd.co.uk

Publisher World Cruising Club 120 High Street, Cowes PO31 7AX, UK Tel: Email:

+44 (0)1983 296060 mail@worldcruising.com

Websites: worldcruising.com

noonsite.com oceancrewlink.com

In April seventeen yachts sailed into Rodney Bay Saint Lucia to complete their circumnavigation with World ARC; it was a special moment for all the participants, especially those who as a result qualified as circumnavigators. Clare Russon-Hagon completed her third circumnavigation with World Cruising Club, having sailed on the first round the world rally Europa’92, then EXPO’94 and the fourth World ARC. Congratulations to Clare!

New for this year was the fact that as one World ARC was finishing another was getting under way, with the fifth rally starting from Saint Lucia as the previous one sailed from Cape Town across the South Atlantic to Brazil, to Grenada to cruise the Caribbean, and finally, after sixteen months and some 25,000 miles, into Rodney Bay. Listening to feedback from our participants is incredibly important, and how we learn to improve the rallies that we organise for those that follow on future editions. Having listened to the recent circumnavigators two things came across loud and clear the first being about preparation of their yachts; preparation is key to the success of any passage, never more so than a circumnavigation; thoughtful and thorough preparation of spares carried saves time and frustration. In the words of one skipper “If you are thinking you should replace it before you leave, then do it”.

“

Wishing you all a great sailing this season!”

Andrew Bishop, Managing Director

Places you visit will not always be what you expected, with some worse, some better; don’t let what you hear put you off one way or the other – visit them to make up your own mind! Having said that, for the route of World ARC we have made some changes based on recent experiences; the fleet now departs French Polynesia from Raiatea, instead of Bora Bora, and the stopover in Indonesia is now Lombok, instead of Bali. Our first visit to Santa Marta Colombia, on the Caribbean coast of South American, went extremely well and will now be a regular port on the route.

We were all saddened to hear of the devastation caused in Vanuatu by Cyclone Pam; our appeal fund raised close to $45,000 and is helping marine tourism businesses to recover and prepare for the season. There is a long road to recovery ahead, made slightly easier by the generosity of those who contributed. Seeing the wider sailing community come together to help has been truly heart-warming, and their support much appreciated by all the communities they have been able to help. Our thanks to you all.

This year is the 30th edition of the ARC, and over the years there have been so many stories; we plan to commemorate this milestone with a history of the ARC, which will be published in early 2016. Those of you have taken part in previous years will be remembered, and those sailing this year will enjoy participating in this the 30th edition, as it’s going to be a very special event.

Andrew Bishop

Managing Director, World Cruising Club

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Photo Nicolas Claris

UniqUe…

At CNB, every one of our clients is unique. Just like our boats. Our expertise, development tools and passion bear witness to this. Ranging from “semi-custom” to “one-off” yachts, our teams have been there for over 25 years to ensure that their construction, delivery and adventures across the seven seas are all smooth-sailing.

www.cnb.fr

LATITUDES

Summer 2015 ARC Portugal start from Plymouth

Rally News

World Cruising Rallies Converge on Marina de Lagos in Portugal

World Cruising Rallies Converge on Marina de Lagos in Portugal

front passed through. The delay meant conditions for the start on Wednesday 3 June were a stark contrast and blue sky and winds of 10-15 knots from the north-west, created perfect conditions for the route out towards Ushant.

Following a three-day weather delay, crews of yachts taking part in our annual ARC Portugal rally waved good bye to Mayflower Marina in Plymouth, UK for the first leg of their sail south to the Algarve coast of Portugal.

2015 marks the 21st edition of ARC Portugal (formerly Rally Portugal) and combines a cruise in company with an exploration of northern Spain and Atlantic Portugal en route. While the itinerary has changed slightly over the years as new marinas have developed, the ethos of a social cruise with exploring ashore and afloat has remained strong. The 2015 route featured stopovers in Bayona, Povoa de Varzim, Porto, Figueira da Foz, Peniche, Oeiras and Sines, before reaching Marina de Lagos at the gateway of the Mediterranean - an ideal finishing point for a summer of cruising. Read Andrew Bishop’s reflections on the ports of ARC Portugal and the rally’s history on page 49.

High winds and big swells that had moved through Biscay saw the start postponed from the planned departure on Sunday 31 June and crews welcomed the extra time in port as the

ARC Portugal was one of two World Cruising Club rallies to arrive at Marina de Lagos in June, as yachts taking part in ARC Europe completed their west to east transatlantic crossing at the marina

just a few days ahead of the coastal cruising fleet.

ARC Europe departed from Nanny Cay in the British Virgin Islands on 9 May and following a stop in Bermuda, the 30 boat fleet have sailed to four of the nine islands in the Azores archipelago: Faial, Terceira, São Miguel and Santa Maria, with the opportunity to visit Pico by ferry as well. Each island is very different to the next and crews enjoy the time to explore these islands for two weeks rather than use them as solely a re-fuelling stop part way across the Atlantic.

Hosting both rally fleets, a total of almost 40 boats sailing with World Cruising Club rallies will visit Marina de Lagos. which is celebrating its 21st year of operation in 2015. Renowned as one of the premier marinas on the Portuguese Coast, situated close to the Algarve and with modern, secure berthing and boatyard facilities, the marina has warmly welcomed World Cruising Club rally participants for two decades. Whilst the fleets of ARC Europe and ARC Portugal are differ in their place of origin, fleet size and duration, both will receive a wonderfully warm Portuguese welcome at Marina de Lagos and share wonderful sailing and social experiences en route.

Baltic 4 Nations New rally for summer 2015 WCC will deliver two rallies in the Baltic Sea this summer; the 2nd edition of ARC Baltic, with 19 entries, is a six week cruise including stopovers in St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Tallinn, and Stockholm along with time cruising idyllic archipelagos. We have also taken on the running of the Baltic 4 Nations Rally offering those with less time an opportunity to experience some of the Western Baltic’s key highlights during the 370 mile, two week cruise. The route is ideal for those unable to join the longer ARC Baltic rally due to time commitments and provides a wonderful two week adventure featuring Hanseatic cities, quiet fishing harbours, bustling cities, and beautiful beaches.

The flotilla-style cruise takes place from 25 July - 8 August 2015 and starts and finishes in Copenhagen. To find out more, request an information pack by email to mail@worldcruising.com

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worldcruising.com

RALLY NEWS

World ARC The start of 2015 saw a new chapter beginning for World ARC with two fleets of intrepid circumnavigators sailing concurrently with the now annual editions of the rally.

In April, World ARC 2014-15 came to an end in Saint Lucia, whilst cruising milestones have been falling quickly for the World ARC 2015-16 fleet who have already visited over a dozen countries six months in to their circumnavigation. Read about the crews’ experiences of both rallies starting on pages 18 and 25.

Meanwhile the adventure is just beginning for those planning their future circumnavigations with World Cruising Club. Entries are open for two forthcoming editions - World ARC 2016 and World ARC 2017, including the option to explore South America via the Cold Water Route. Yachts can join in Saint Lucia (January) or in Australia (September), and sail a half rally or make the whole circumnavigation.

Boats can also take a year out to explore Australasia and join the next edition to complete their circumnavigation.

Planning a round-the-world adventure takes time and using the experience gained over five editions of World ARC, we aim to help and support participants to set sail safely and well prepared. Many future ralliers attended our seminars this spring in Guildford, UK and Annapolis, USA, some taking their first steps in preparing for life afloat whilst others will be casting off their lines in just 6 months’ time.

Join one of our forums, seminars or rendezvous to start planning your own bluewater sailing adventure. See the schedule of our upcoming events on page 15

ARC and ARC+ entries update This spring has seen a rush of sign-ups for ARC 2015 with both route options now close to capacity for this November. It will be an extra special year for the ARC as we celebrate the 30th edition and we will be welcoming a number of sailors who crossed the Atlantic with the first rally back in 1986. The upper entry limit for ARC+ Cape Verdes has been increased following two successful editions, and up to 75 boats can elect to depart Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 8 November bound for Marina Mindelo, São Vicente then onto Saint Lucia. Those sailing the traditional direct route depart Las Palmas two weeks later on 22 November 2015.

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LATITUDES

Summer 2015

Club News Welcome to Elvstrøm We are pleased to welcome Elvstrøm Sails as our newest Corporate Member, joining a wide-ranging group of companies that support our participants and rallies.

In a typical year over 1.5 million ocean miles will be sailed by boats in World Cruising Club’s Atlantic and world circumnavigations, so having the right sails is vital for successful ocean voyages. Elvstrøm Sails, one of the largest sail lofts, was established in 1954 by Paul Elvstrøm, four times Olympic medallist. With a pedigree in high performance, Elvstrøm’s expertise is focused on producing the best sail for blue water cruising and offshore sailing.

Jeremy White, manager of Elvstrøm Sails UK says “We are delighted to be partnering with World Cruising Club. WCC specialises in helping cruising sailors to realise their dream of making a long offshore passage, providing the support, advice and the experience of the ARC and their other rallies. We look forwards to helping WCC members as part of this support process. Like WCC, at Elvstrøm Sails we are committed to helping you pursue your cruising dreams.

Our highly qualified team strives to give you the best advice specifically for your sailing, and will deliver sails that are tailormade, that are easy to handle and that are long lasting. Quality workmanship, performance and durability are key to our ethos – so you can rest assured that we will take care of the details whilst you enjoy every moment of your voyage.”

For more information about Elvstrøm and to find your nearest dealer visit: www.Elvstromsails.co.uk

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Admiral Help Make Your Adventure Safer Admiral are pleased to have been sponsors of World Cruising Club for over 25 years, and are proud to have been insuring ARC and World ARC rally participants since the company’s inception in 1992.

As well as enjoying the Admiral sponsored ARC ‘happy hour’ in Las Palmas, or the World ARC drinks party at Niue, Admiral’s rally clients, plus their crew and families, have benefitted from the company’s proactive approach to safety.

One of the most popular benefits of Admiral’s specialist ARC and World ARC RALLYeXtra policies is the complimentary aloft rig inspection, by Jerry the Rigger in Las Palmas for ARC and ARC +, and by Christopher Kessell in St. Lucia and Cape Town for World ARC clients.

These precautionary checks have identified many potential problems well in advance of departure, preventing possible dismasting at worst. Admiral’s RALLYeXtra packages also provide cover for YB Trackers.

As enthusiastic sailors with direct involvement in rallies, Admiral are well placed to help you with planning what is going to be an adventure of a lifetime, whether it is providing suggestions for safe havens, service and repair facilities, or hurricane layup guidance.

Tel. +44 (0) 1722 416606 or visit www.admiralyacht.com.

worldcruising.com

CLUB NEWS

Discovery Yachts New Models Launched Tempted to set off on the adventure of a lifetime?

Come and talk to bluewater experts Discovery Yachts whether you are planning to island hop, cruise the Med, or head off across the world’s oceans.

Discovery Yachts was founded in the 1990’s with a mission to create the world’s most perfect bluewater cruising yachts. They are designed to take two people around the world in safety and comfort, paying particularly attention to ease of handling at sea and in the marina. Nearly 20 years on, Discovery now have an highly experienced team of in-house naval architects, designers and expert

The Berthon Collection Berthon International is an international brokerage house with offices in the UK, South of France and the USA. Specialising in the sale of blue water cruising yachts, the Berthon Winter collection is a publication that showcases a variety of the yachts available for sale via Berthon worldwide.

Ranging from a Custom Dubois 92 set up for high latitude sailing, to yachts representing both the Clipper and Challenge adventure sailing fleets, as well as Oysters from 56’ to 82’, Discovery, Hallberg Rassy, Contest and many other quality marques.

At any one time Berthon has around 90 Word Cruising event veterans available for sale.

Follow this link for your copy of the Winter Collection – www.berthon.co.uk/yachtsales-brokerage/berthon-winter-collection/ For further information about the yachts featured contact brokers@berthon.co.uk

craftsmen based in their own shipyard, creating exceptional yachts with high levels of customisation specific to each owner’s needs and requirements. Everyone at Discovery shares in the dream that is bluewater sailing, and are proud to deliver an exceptional customer care service to owners wherever they are.

Two new models have been launched for 2015. The Discovery 55 Mk.II is an evolution of the original 55 that is still widely accepted as the “go-to” bluewater cruising yacht. The new Discovery 58, launched in January at Boot Dusseldorf, offers the option of single or twin wheel steering and 3 or 4 cabin layout. See them at the Open Yards event in Sweden 21 to 23 August and the Southampton Boat Show 11 to 20 September.

Owning a Discovery is the ultimate experience of a lifetime. Get started today with a tour of the Discovery Yachts shipyard in Southampton by calling +44 (0)23 8086 5555 or visit www.discoveryyachts.com

Mactra Marine – Watermakers top tips Watermakers: Not just a luxury?

Having a water maker on board a yacht was once the preserve of Ocean Racers and those fortunate enough to have both the space to install and the energy required to run one.

Better on board energy management and an improvement in design of desalination systems have seen more & more sailors that are planning ocean passages are fitting water makers.

It is now becoming increasingly common to find water makers on boats of modest size, whether you are planning a Transatlantic trip or a world voyage. Other cruising grounds like the Mediterranean can also be challenging, as it can be difficult to find fresh water, as can our home cruising grounds like West coast of Scotland. What a water maker gives is greater independence to the skipper & crew. Gone is the need to call in at a marina every time the water tanks need filling up.

Mactra’s Top Tips •

Choose a manufacturer or supplier that has a good reputation and will give you the backup you will need should you require it.

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Before buying, seek advice as to what machine will suit your needs. A reputable supplier will give you honest advice.

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Make sure the installation is well thought out and that it works at sea as well as at anchor.

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Change consumables and carry out the simple routine maintenance as per manufacturer’s guidelines.

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Water makers like to be used. It’s better to run it for an hour day, rather than 7 hours once a week.

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Remember having a water maker on board, allows you to use water the way you want to, without having to depend on the hose at the end of the jetty.

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worldcruising.com

RALLY NEWS

World Cruising Club Programme 2015 - 2016 2015

25 July

World ARC Open Day, Mackay, Australia Aspiring round the world sailors are invited to come and “meet the crews” at our World ARC open day, whilst the 2015 fleet is in Mackay, Queensland.

1 August

World ARC Presentation Sydney, Australia Presentation breakfast with focus on ARC and World ARC. Hosted by the WCC team and previous rally skippers at Australian National Maritime Museum

21-23 August

Open Yard Weekend, Orust, Sweden Meet the World Cruising Club team in Orust, Sweden as part of HallbergRassy’s Open Yard Weekend.

11-20 September

Southampton Boat Show Meet the World Cruising Club team on our stand at the Southampton Boat Show. Available every day to chat about all areas of ocean sailing and our worldwide events. Stand J074

12 September

Ocean Sailing Forum, Southampton, UK An introduction to ocean sailing held just outside the Southampton Boat Show.

8-12 October

US Sailboat Show, Annapolis, MD Meet the World Cruising Club team at the America’s largest sailboat show.

10 October

Ocean Sailing Forum, Annapolis, USA An introduction to ocean sailing held at the US Sailboat Show, Annapolis, MD.

31 October

Ocean Sailing Forum, Hamburg, Germany An introduction to ocean sailing from an experienced cruising panel held at Hanseboot, the Hamburg International Boat Show.

2016

9 January

World Cruising Club Forums, Seminars and Rendezvous Bluewater Weekend - Designed to make visitors think about all aspects of living the bluewater dream, the Bluewater Weekend is a chance to view a wide range of offshore cruising boats to suit all budgets, and meet experts in refits, sails, rigging and boat equipment, all whist mixing and chatting with experienced offshore cruisers in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Ocean Sailing Forum, London, UK An introduction to ocean sailing held at the London Boat Show

23-31 January

Boot Düsseldorf 2016 Meet the World Cruising Club team at the international boat show at Düsseldorf, Germany.

11-13 March

Ocean Cruising Seminar, Guildford, UK In depth seminar covering boat, crew and equipment preparation of ocean cruising.

19-20 March

Ocean Sailing Seminar, Annapolis, USA In depth seminar covering boat, crew and equipment preparation of Caribbean 1500

May 2016

ARC Langtur Camp Dronningen - Oslo Boat and crew preparation seminar in English and Norwegian. Held in association with the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club.

June 2016

Bluewater Weekend A unique weekend rendezvous at Berthon’s Lymington UK base for sailors who are aiming at going offshore cruising and want to know what to look for when choosing a bluewater cruising boat.

Forums - Held alongside leading Boat Shows, the panel discussion format allows for plenty of conversation on a wide range of topics from our assembled experts. Whilst the make-up of the panels vary between events, the objective is the same – to bring together a wide variety of experience in ocean sailing, and to pass on knowledge to the audience. All our panellist have many thousands of offshore sailing miles between them, and experience on a wide selection of sailing boats, as captains, couples and crews.

Seminars - The Ocean Sailing Seminars are residential weekends designed to combine classroom lectures with group discussions and one-on-one interaction with speakers and fellow students. An all-inclusive programme of seminar presentations, speaker materials, hotel accommodation, meals, and social time together combine to provide a costeffective, enjoyable in-depth learning experience.

Forums, seminars and rendezvous are also the ideal melting pot to meet those who have “been there and done that’’ as well as those who are in the same preparation stages and happy to compare notes. The social element of gathering together for a few hours or full weekend often proves to be one of the most valuable part and we aim to structure sessions to stimulate conversations between experienced cruisers and those just starting out on their adventure.

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Nestled on the north side of the stunning island of St. Lucia is Rodney Bay Marina, a premiere yachting destination and home to the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. Considered one of the Caribbean’s leading centers for yachting and sport fishing. Excellent accommodations for yachts up to 285 feet and home to a 4.5 acre full-service boatyard – all in a well-protected hurricane-safe haven.

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253 berths / 32 megayacht slips up to 14ft draft and 285ft LOA

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Duty free high-speed fueling

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Complimentary Wi-Fi or sign-up to our 15MB internet service

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Onsite Customs and Immigration Clearance

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Boatyard services: haul-outs, fiberglass and gel-coat repairs, outboard repairs, rigging, sail repairs; deck, topside and bottom painting; carpentry and much more

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Marina Village with waterfront dinning, bars, banking, pool,supermarket, spa, taxi service, liquor and food provisioning, flower arrangements, showers & laundry services, ships’chandlery, tour desk, car rental, in-house customs broker and concierge services

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Vessel Caretaking Packages available for absentee owners

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CCTV surveillance, ISPS compliant docks and 24-hr security

Book your berth today!

T: 758.572.7200 • rbm@igymarinas.com • www.igy-rodneybay.com FOLLOW US ON: www.facebook.com/rodneybaymarina

LATITUDES

Summer 2015

Setting off on the voyage of a lifetime World ARC 2015 sets sail

Whilst the boats of the World ARC 2014 fleet were setting out from South Africa in January on the last stages their circumnavigation, crews of the 2015 fleet were gathering in Saint Lucia preparing to set off on their voyage of a lifetime.

“ Baby Kai from Makena presents his passport to immigration

By April this new fleet of ‘World-ARCers’ had made it safely into the Pacific via the Panama Canal. It has been interesting to catch up with a few of the crews to ask about their preparations and their expectations of the voyage around the world, and whether after three months sailing, how these expectations have been realised.

“As well as all the boat preparations it was all the other stuff which took time; house clearing, moth-balling, renting, selling.” explained John and Stella Dyer of Exocet Strike. They had been preparing their boat gradually over the preceding three years but, as John reminded us “there is so much on the domestic side which all needs to come together at the last stages”.

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Pentagram sets sail to Hiva Oa

3 months into the rally, and we couldn’t be happier with our choice to take part. We are just going with the flow of a wellorganized group and really, really enjoying our small ‘village’ of new friends.”

Sarah Barthelet, s/y Makena

worldcruising.com LATITUDES “It has been a great stopover here and Colombia has pulled the stops out for the World ARC visit. There was a magnificent dinner last night along with the prizegiving. Prior to that there was a beach barbecue in the adjacent national park and an organised tour of Santa Marta focusing on the heritage of Simon Bolivar” said Marian and Peter of Exody.

Heading on from Colombia crews spent some time in the idyllic San Blas islands before assembling at Shelter Bay Marina to prepare for the transit of the Panama Canal. All the Canal preparations and the transits went well, owing to the excellent support the rally receives from the Panama Canal Authority.

The Panama Canal is awe inspiring, and such an amazing experience for the skippers to have taken their own boats through this engineering marvel.

Rafting together in the Panama Canal locks

Paul and Caroline Frew from Juno started their circumnavigation in the Mediterranean and were always busy with their final preparation for ARC and World ARC. “Despite my best efforts, there were still a thousand things to do before we left Palma de Mallorca. But when I consult my list, I reassure myself that the important items will be completed and the rest aren’t essential to crossing oceans” wrote Paul in his boat blog.

Marian and Peter from Exody agreed with other crews that it was their home life that was more difficult to prepare than the boat.

“The logistics and finances of renting out our home, moving out of it, providing a security network for our two daughters, were in some ways more challenging than the two years we had spent preparing the boat. Our boat prep included many projects tackled in the peaceful environment of the Spanish Rias, once we had left home base behind!”.

Two yachts, Ayama and Makena, completed ARC+ in the preceding months and only subscribed to World ARC four weeks before the start. They had a busier time in Saint Lucia than most of the fleet. “The world tour starts tomorrow!!! I just cannot believe that we are going to leave Saint Lucia tomorrow, and return in April 2016 after a circumnavigation!!!” wrote Sarah and Luc – the Makena crew - in their blog.

Although Sarah and Luc did not have much time to think about the route of World ARC, they did have one focus for their voyage as Sarah explained

“A friend of ours has a wedding on Moorea in April. Since signing on we've been excited to know we are going to be there on time and with the boat. We are so looking forward to all those Pacific Islands”.

John and Stella Dyer were also excited: “looking forward to visiting all those remote islands and areas which most people will never get a chance to visit; we feel very privileged”, as well as “the sheer challenge ahead of us of sailing around the world” explained John. And some of the conditions on route did offer some challenging sailing, particularly on the first two legs across the Caribbean Sea and the first few days west from Panama. Eric on Luna Quest reported “As soon as we were outside the bay of Santa Marta, we were well and truly hit by 35 knots of winds and mountainous seas, energised by the long fetch from across the Atlantic” These Caribbean tradewind seas always offer a fast and furious ride at the start of the rally – not ideal timing as crews are still finding their ocean-legs after a few weeks cruising the Caribbean over Christmas. It was a bumpy ride, but the rewards of the first port of call are well were worth it.

This time around, the World ARC route included a new stop at Marina Santa Marta, on Colombia’s unspoilt Caribbean coast. In addition to breaking the passage across the demanding Caribbean Sea, the stopover, one of three on mainland South America, provided a chance to explore the region’s Spanish colonial heritage and natural beauty.

Eager to impress, Marina Santa Marta made the circumnavigators very welcome.

“When the gates of the Miraflores Lock opened, the way forward led us to the Pacific. The start is when we passed beneath the Bridge of the America, which we marked with blasts on the ships horn and applause”.

Luis and Manuela of Allegro.

With each mile and each stopover, crews have gaining new experiences of people, cultures and landscapes. The Panama Canal transit was an obvious highlight the first three months, due to its iconic status amongst mariners. However, the ecological highlight has to be the Galapagos Islands, famed around the world for their wildlife.

In each port the rally itinerary includes a tour; a chance to see some of the locality and perhaps to encourage further exploration. The tour to Kicker Rock in Galapagos was well received with crews managing to view and get close to a huge variety of marine life. Stella from Exocet Strike snorkelled for the first time and Kai from Makena (who is just a year old) was bundled-up in his baby life jacket and sat in his inflatable infant ring, floating a-top of hammerhead sharks, truly a first-in-a-lifetime experience for all ages!

Jens, Dagmar and Ana of GarliX were impressed with the Galapagos Islands – “what we have seen here is so unique; we will miss this unusual “zoo”.

Never before have we been so close to so many animals and birds”.

Visiting this special place however, does come with a few conditions. Before arriving in the islands all the crews had to impeccably clean their boat’s hulls so they were free of potentially harmful species and, inside the boat, other measures had to be taken to minimise the yacht’s potential risk to the environment.

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UK OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

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Lymington United Kingdom Phone 0044 01590 679 222 Email brokers@berthon.co.uk

Join us for our latest news Golfe-Juan France Phone 0033 493 636 680 Email brokers@berthonfrance.fr

@BerthonGroup

Rhode Island USA Phone 001 401 846 8404 Email sales@berthonusa.com

Berthon are offering the Bestevaer 50’ SCHOUMAN for sale. Captivating Gerard Dykstra design of tin by the Dutch Masters at KM in 1998. Imaginative drop keel arrangement with twin rudders gives her yachtsmen the flexibility to explore the atoll at voyages’ end. Perfect for short handing, cocooned under cover each winter. She asks a modest g425,000 and the head turning is included in the price.

BERTHON ARE PROUD SUPPORTERS OF THE ARC

worldcruising.com LATITUDES Boats meeting each other under the Centenario bridge to raft again to enter Pedro Miguel locks

The Galapagos National Park Authority still have to improve their communication to visiting yachtsmen in what they are trying to do, but for this visit at least, the fleet met the criteria (whatever they were) and were given permission to stay in the rich and interesting Marine Reserve.

“The Galapagos – it was great to put a 'face' to the iconic name and place, and to be counselled as to where and how best to spend our time in such a controlled and regulated environment. Kicker Rock, the Lava Tunnels and the Highland caldera walk were all excellent tours and very memorable. The seamless entry process has to be mentioned too – but it was bemusing to have 10 or 11 folk in our cockpit to fill in their forms - but all turned out well in the end!”

Peter and Marian of Exody.

Sarah of Makena wrote “3 months into the rally, and we couldn't be happier with our choice to take part. We are just going with the flow of a well-organized group and really, really enjoying our small ‘village’ of new friends. We've been able to help each other, not just on boat related stuff but on making the most of time in various places,

sharing advice on what tours to do and doing many of the tours with other boats. We've even had sleepovers [for the kids]! The friendliness of the other crews exceeds expectations and the rally control team have often gone beyond the call of duty with their invaluable foreign language skills and perseverance on our behalf”.

“We are having fun and life couldn’t be better” World Cruising Club would again like to thank all the people and organisations who help to make the event so successful. From the continued help of our long term partners, such as those in Saint Lucia and Galapagos to the newer supporters in Santa Marta and parts of our Panama programme, we thank you all for your time, advice and support. And we look forward to seeing you again next year!

bought many more consumables - oil and fuel filters, oil, shackles, sacrificial anodes, ropes, SodaStream cartridges! etc” In reading others' blogs about round the world trips, a simple photo has always stood out in my mind - it was taken by Seth on Honeymoon of his wife looking serenely at the profile of Hiva-Oa in the Iles Marquises as they arrive after their longest ever crossing. They said it was one of their all time favorite pics and presumably that is because it marks such an achievement. We just cannot believe that we'll be in a position to take our own South Pacific "land ahoy" photo very soon also.

Raft of Aquilon III, Wayward Wind and Pentagram into Pedro Miguel lock

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and already many of the crew have identified what they might have done differently with their preparations.

Sarah on Makena writes “The further you move away from the US or Europe, they worse the ship chandlers seem to get. We have lots of regrets about not buying parts while in Europe which we knew we would need in the future. Given that we have plenty of storage space, we should have

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LATITUDES

Summer 2015

World ARC Top-Tips Skippers share their views on the rally

Russ and Laurie Owen

back home. “For me socialising was only an added benefit, the key reason was safety sailing as a fleet and the staff taking away the administrative load. This way, it allowed me to continue running my business at home whilst fulfilling my dream of passing under the Bridge of the Americas (Panama) and visiting the Galapagos and Marquesas.” Similarly Cathy concluded that sailing with the support of World ARC “was a real plus having the rally staff assist with the clearances in and out of countries. It saved a lot of time and made things much smoother.”

What was your favourite passage and destination?

With the experience gained from sailing the World’s Oceans, we asked some of the skippers to draw on their experience for recommendations and top-tips for those embarking on a circumnavigation with World ARC. The Skippers • Charlie and Cathy Simon are from the US state of Maryland and sailed their Taswell 58 Celebrate, often as double handers, for their circumnavigation with World ARC. • Hubert Hirschfeld from Berlin, Germany is the owner and skipper of the X-612 Chika-lu, and has sailed all his life owning many different yachts. Chika-lu is the largest monohull in the fleet.

• Michael Haufe is the owner of Polaris, a Hanse 47 H. Sailing with World ARC, Michael still found time to run his business back home in Germany.

• Americans Russ and Laurie Owen own the Semi-Custom Catamaran, Nexus. Built in South Africa, the yacht returned to its home port in St. Francis Bay during the fleet’s free cruising period in South Africa.

What was your experience of World ARC After sailing the World for the last fifteen months, Russ describes his experience saying “It’s been fantastic. The adventure is more than you could prepare yourself for. The fun you have, the people you meet and the places you go are even more rich and rewarding than you could expect.”

Your favourite passage may not always be the one that gives you ideal conditions. Hubert and his crew agreed that “Although harder and despite multiple sail rips, the Indian Ocean provided constant wind and was the most rewarding sailing.” And once again “The Pacific. French Polynesia and the Tuamotus were special; Saint Helena was unique, partly due to its remoteness.”

Asked the same question, Hubert breaks it down to three main points as to why it was a good experience for him and his crew.

“1) It’s the shortest way of making a circumnavigation if you’re time restricted. 2) You meet lots of nice people. 3) You have great support especially regarding clearance procedures which can spoil your time if done yourself.”

In your view, what is the main advantage of sailing with World ARC? Asking the question to Michael, the benefit of World ARC clearly gave time to continue a life

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In conducting these interviews, it was evident that the fleet enjoyed the diversity of the Pacific Islands. Whilst reminiscing Cathy confidently agreed with husband Charlie that “Our favourites were definitely in the Pacific. The small island of Tanna and of course Fiji we would love to go back and fully explore.” Making such an impact, Laurie stated that “We’re thinking about a half rally again, however this time spend more time in the South Pacific exploring the multitude of islands.”

Klaus, Jan, Michael Haufe, Christian

worldcruising.com LATITUDES Wolfram, Hubert Hirschfeld & Peter

Charlie and Cathy Simon

How have you crewed your boat and why?

Crewing your boat the right way for you, is both extremely important and individual to each boat.

Cathy and Charlie who often sail double-handed decided that for them doing six hour watches each worked well. “We’ve learnt that you can always force yourself to stay awake, but it’s the off time which is important. Setting an alarm every 15minutes helps if we’re tired.” For Hubert, company on board is important as he explained: “Well, to play cards you need three! But the more crew you have, the better the company and comfort onboard.” The rally also opens opportunities to introduce others to sailing and some of the wonderful destinations that World ARC visits. Michael on Polaris was clear on this point: “One of my goals was to bring friends and family on board. I don’t always get the chance at home so this was the perfect opportunity. I like having a team on board.”

What skills have you learnt during World ARC? Sailing over 26,000 nautical miles is undoubtedly going enhance your skill set. When asked the question, skippers struggled to pinpoint specific areas however a trend was evident. Russ and Laurie simply quoted that “Patience, and your sailing abilities just sharpen constantly.” In agreement Charlie says “Lots of things used to seem difficult however now they are second nature. If you want to set the gennaker, you set the gennaker.” With their desire to sail their boat fast, often arriving in port ahead of the fleet on many occasions, it wasn’t a surprise to hear from the crew of Chika-lu that “sail repair” was a skill that had developed on board!

How would you advise those preparing for a circumnavigation?

Russ and Laurie “over prepared” their catamaran prior to the start of World ARC. In doing so they summarise with “Time in port for us was more important than money. If you value your time in port, don’t scrimp on getting the boat ready to go. Bring spares for everything that might break.

Prepare yourself and boat on how you want to spend your time.”. When asked, Michael was very clear stating that mentally preparing will allow more enjoyment en-route. “Before departing, understand that It’s a mistake if you want to make comparisons of every stop. You cannot compare.”

What equipment would you recommend?

With the huge array of equipment and brands on the market, what is the best for a circumnavigating the world? With their experience, skippers gave a brief insight into the key equipment which can make a circumnavigation more comfortable.

For Michael on Polaris “We never expected the amount and need for SSB during the circumnavigation. A great backup! It’s very important however to install prior to other equipment to ensure a good grounding. I would also thoroughly recommend a hydro generator and watermaker.”

For Charlie and Cathy two key features, a large water maker and fuel tanks, gave them piece of mind during the remote destinations visited. “We never had to worry about running out of fuel or water during the entire circumnavigation. We would recommend both.”

Following a long discussion amongst the crew of Chika-lu, the following equipment was concluded as being the most important to them during the last 15 months.

1) A very good autopilot is necessary – we have a Raymarine model 2) Correct installation of SSB and AIS with time to test the equipment - the ARC from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia, could be a good playground for this.

3) Our hydro generator (Watt & Sea) has been brilliant.

4) A small Spinnaker with a heavier cloth is better than a large spinnaker with lighter cloth. You need to be able to use it in wind strengths of 20-25 knots.

What are your onward sailing plans after World ARC? Chika-lu will continue her sailing adventure and Hubert would like to explore the Mediterranean.

“My plan is to take the boat to the Med. in 2016.

I’m always curious of the next stop and looking forward to continuing the adventure.” Michael has decided that they will take time cruising the Caribbean before sailing Polaris back to Germany taking time to see friends and family giving the boat a rest. For Russ and Laurie, the Pacific Islands were truly a highlight of the rally. “We’re thinking about a half rally again, however this time spend more time in the South Pacific exploring the multitude of islands.” Charlie and Cathy would like to continue the fleet aspect of sailing for the time being. Along with three other boats in the fleet, Celebrate will sail with ARC USA alongside the start of ARC Europe in May. “We’re joining ARC USA to return to Portsmouth VA before the hurricane season. From our experience of World ARC it will be a fun way to make the trip home.”

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worldcruising.com LATITUDES Circumnavigators celebrate with a splash in Saint Lucia

Back to Where We Began

World ARC sailors voyage back to Saint Lucia via the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans to become circumnavigators The start of World ARC 2014/15 in Saint Lucia, in January 2014 is now a fading memory for the World ARC sailors; 15 months later, crews have arrived back to the Caribbean, having completed their circumnavigation of the globe.

Following their crossing of the Pacific, the fleet have sailed on across the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans adding daily distances towards their total of 26,000 nautical miles sailed for their round World voyage. The second half of the rally made landfall in some of the most remote and beautiful destinations found in the world’s oceans. Share the journey as we reflect of some of the experiences.

First step into the Indian Ocean saw the fleet arrive in Bali in September last year. The experience was summed up by the crew of Free and BrEasy as

“a complicated destination with lovely people doing their best to maintain traditional values despite the heavy bombardment of tourism.

We shall remember the waterfalls, volcanoes, rice paddies and temples but most of all, the smiling faces and warm hearts of a people who were genuinely interested in visitors and particularly welcoming to that strangest of breed of visitor, the circumnavigator “ Some of the best downwind sailing followed the fleet from Bali, taking them further west for a visit to the remote Christmas Island, famous for the march of the red crabs or crab migration.

“These crabs, some weighing up to 4 kilos march by the millions from the land to the sea to spawn once a year”, - crew of American Spirit II.

From the lush green of Christmas Island, crews next had the contrast of the remote atoll which makes up the Australian owned Cocos Keeling Islands. A mixture of culture, palms and isolation for a week sees the fleet talk about their time exploring here still to this date. “Soon the Cocos Islands will be one more jewel in the crown of our circumnavigation memory” The 2400 nautical mile sail to Mauritius gave the first experience of full Indian Ocean tradewinds

“Several days of 30 knot winds coming and going have given us some 10 knot plus speeds! What a great ride!”

– Charlie, Cathy & Peter on Celebrate.

The high winds and occasional erratic waves did however cause damage when American Spirit II broke their forestay mid-ocean. The true spirit of the fleet shone through with messages of support, and boats diverting to standby in case of emergency.

“On behalf of myself, Joel Heyne and Jeremy Nance I want to thank you for your incredible support in standing by to assist and escort us in our moment of greatest need and peril all the way to Mauritius” – Brian Fox, American Spirit II

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LATITUDES Arrival after any long passage is a great achievement. Sailing with World ARC means there is someone to welcome you whatever time you arrive ready to take your lines and generally waiting with a welcome beverage to clench your thirst.

Summer 2015 Réunion is a destination not to be missed

“We arrived at around 8 am into the busy port of Port Louis, Mauritius. There at the Marina to take our lines were the wonderful Paul and Joel from World ARC who gave us the customary warm handshake followed, impressively, by three tots of rum and a tray of fresh fruit.”

– Free and BrEasy Only a 24 hour sail from Mauritius is the jagged volcanic island of Réunion. Not as well-known as its Indian Ocean neighbour, Réunion is a destination not to be missed.

“Between the abysses, wild canyons, waterfalls, volcanoes, rain forest and peaks the helicopter ride shows the fascinating world of Réunion! It was not to be missed!”

– Celebrate With the challenge of the Agulhas current and its accelerated winds and confused seas, sailing South of Madagascar to Richard’s Bay South Africa was always going to be the most testing and exhilarating passage of the rally.

“A boisterous sailing night with good winds of 20-25kts and 4-5m waves gave us a rough ride, but good progress” – Nexus.

Maybe most testing for the crew on Free and BrEasy who suffered damage during the crossing.

“Everything looked fine until Roger noticed a crack in the boom. We had broken the boom!”

– Free and BrEasy

As testing as the Indian Ocean was at times, the fleet had now crossed two oceans and the reward of South Africa was well worth the trial.

“The animals appeared to have been lined up waiting for us! Within a few hours we had watched and shot (with cameras!) black rhino, white rhino, buffalo, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, impala, waterbuck and warthogs! But the best were the elephants.”

– World ARC crew.

Taking time to enjoy themselves and making the most of a free cruising period, many crews flying home to friends and loved ones for the Christmas period and others staying to fully explore and take in the sights of South Africa during this time.

“New Year’s Eve, Cape Town. Welcome drinks at Celebrate, hearty appetizers at Polaris and the main course at Adela.

Fabulous fireworks at midnight...so much fun was had by all!”

Celebrate – Charlie & Cathy.

Animal encounters in South Africa

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After many crews not seeing each other in almost a month, the reunion in Cape Town was heartfelt before setting out to sail their last ocean together.

worldcruising.com LATITUDES “Coming back to the marina was yet another demonstration of the ‘family’ nature of the World ARC fleet. The short walk to the showers took hours as we ran through the gauntlet of boat crews all beaming big smiles and rushing over to shake hands and wish us Happy New Year” - Free and BrEasy Sailing to the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena after a year of circumnavigating, the sea life experienced en-route never ceased to amaze those lucky enough to see it -

“The 7:00pm net is hosted by Tim from Ghost. During the net I find out that Polaris saw some whales today, Ghost caught a 30 pound Abalone fish, and Saphir had to alter course to avoid a collision with a blue or fin whale sleeping on the surface, missing it by only a boat length or 40 feet.”

“

On arrival to Saint Helena we were escorted on our approach by two of the largest dolphins we have ever seen, 15 feet long with spots, Brian and Lucy got to find and swim with a whale shark, and people here are warm and generous. Saint Helena is a very special place.”

– Folie a Deux

The whole World ARC fleet completed a 2 hour Parade of Sail from Marigot Bay to Rodney Bay, in line, 100 metres apart and dressed up with all signal flags flying.

To mark the finish we blew the fog horn and yelled until we were hoarse. Out came a red flare and we posed for photographs to mark the end. We were now officially Circumnavigators!”

Thank you to all marinas, tourist authorities an organisations that have made the second half of World ARC rally possible. We would also like to thank the skippers and crew who took time to share their thoughts and experience with us for this article.

To the World ARC 2014/15 fleet, we hope you enjoyed your experience with World ARC and wish you the best in your future sailing adventures and hope to see you again on another rally with World Cruising Club.

Safe sailing – this is Rally Control – the World ARC 2014 Team – Out.

– Brian Fox, American Spirit II A 72 hour stopover in Saint Helena was a chance to rest and experience life on this isolated island, only accessible by boat.

First to cross their final ocean were the crew on Chika-lu arriving into Salvador, Brazil.

“The crossing was a mixture of light winds and high squalls. We have some sail repairs, but apart from that the boat performed well and we’re looking forward to exploring Brazil”.

Purposely arriving for Salvador’s biggest spectacle, the carnival, the fleet discovered a vibrant city. Over 1.5 million people took to the streets creating the biggest welcome party that crews could have asked for.

“Carnival in Salvador de Bahia is absolutely incredible! This truly is the world’s largest party” - Nexus After the delights of Carnival, it was time for some gentle cruising north through Brazil, and one final offshore passage along the south American coast, to make Caribbean landfall in Grenada. The last few weeks of the rally saw boats reassemble in Marigot Bay, Saint Lucia ready for a joyous and symbolic “crossing the line” back into Rodney Bay, to become circumnavigators.

“We have crossed the finishing line!

Free & Breasy has returned to St Lucia after a 15 month, 26000 mile tropical circumnavigation!

American Spirit II - swimming with whale sharks off Saint Helena

27

LATITUDES

Summer 2015

World ARC Pioneers Santa Marta hosts circumnavigators’ visit to Colombia

Early settlers

‘Juno, this is the coast guard, come in please’. We are stowing the spinnaker pole on the foredeck as I hear the VHF crackle.

‘Juno, this is the Colombian navy, come in please’ the voice slightly more insistent this time, clearly not used to being ignored. To my relief the shoot bolt on the end of the big spinnaker pole springs shut, securing the pole on the mast and I reach for the hand-held VHF attached to my belt.

‘Coastguard, this is Juno,’ I reply, slightly out of breath. ‘Juno, this is the Colombian coast guard, welcome to Santa Marta, we will escort you to the port’.

Wherever the World ARC fleet make landfall during their circumnavigation local people provide a warm reception, but for the first time this year, Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast of Colombia hosted the fleet for a new stopover for the World ARC 2015 route. The reception laid on for arriving crews was a spectacle beyond all expectations and from the moment lines reached the dock until they were cast off some five days later, the friendly people, dramatic landscapes and idyllic beaches of Santa Marta created an impression not soon to be forgotten by visiting crews.

“We follow our escort into the marina where the docks are lined with people cheering and waving.

After a brief moment of panic when the bow thruster fails, we reverse up to the dock with volunteers all around to catch our lines. A bottle of champagne

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Santa Marta is a beautiful historic city located along the existing route between Saint Lucia and Panama where the recently completed IGY Santa Marta Marina has provided a world class facility for the benefit of cruising sailors. Leaving Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia on 10 January, British yacht Juno completed the 800 NM passage in just over 4 days – a breezy first stage of downwind sailing, wave surfing and top speeds reported by many of the fleet. The spectacle of Juno’s arrival was followed by warm welcomes for the sixteen boat fleet over the following days, and crews set off to explore.

Juno - Oyster 575

is thrust into my hand and the cork flies out with a satisfying pop. The owner of the marina, Manuel Julian Davila, shakes our hand and we pose for photographs with local artists on stilts tottering precariously behind us, unused to the perils of a pontoon lurching underfoot as the crowd moves along the dock. Feeling like celebrities, we are ushered into the air-conditioned marina office, where we are welcomed by dignitaries from the tourist board. The World ARC coming to Colombia for the first time is clearly a big event and World Cruising Club have done a great job to publicise and promote the occasion.

What an amazing welcome…”

Located in the Province of Magdalena on the northern coast of Colombia on the Caribbean Sea, Santa Marta was founded in 1525 and is the oldest surviving city on the South American Continent and an important colonial city of Colombia. Known for its dramatic landscapes with white sandy beaches backed by the high Sierra Nevada Mountain range, the city itself is full of colonial Spanish architecture, traditional restaurants, street food and lively bars.

Simon Bolivar, who played a successful role in the struggle for independence of Venezuela, Colombia (including Panama at the time), Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia from the Spanish Empire is a celebrated figure in the history of Santa Marta. Bolivar is considered to have helped lay the foundations for democracy in much of Latin American and is regarded as a hero, visionary, revolutionary and liberator.

worldcruising.com LATITUDES Bolivar moved to Santa Marta to recover from poor health and the house where Bolivar briefly lived the last days of his life is now a historic site and art museum set amid large and beautiful gardens.

Santa Marta Charity Donation

Exploring Ashore Much of what Santa Marta has to offer including tours of the city, a coffee plantation visit and two tours within the popular Tayrona National Park were available for World ARC crews to join during the stopover. Tayrona, which lies east of Santa Marta is where the Colombian jungle meets the Caribbean Sea, is renowned for some of the most beautiful beaches in Colombia and important archaeological sites, and was certainly a popular visit for crews.

Bahia Concha is a pretty beach of white sand and deep blue waters in a circular bay set amid a landscape of a tropical dry forest where cacti grow close to the water’s edge making for a very dramatic landscape and idyllic spot to spend an afternoon looking out over the bay. The location was not wasted on World ARC crews who within moments of arriving were swimming in the clear waters of the Caribbean Sea and relaxing under the shady trees with glasses of rum and bottles of ice cold beer in hand. Lunch, arranged by Marina Santa Marta was a traditional Colombian barbecue with a selection of grilled meats, salads and ice tea served while local musicians played Colombian music. Vice Minister for Tourism in Colombia, Sandra Howard, visited crews warmly welcoming them to Colombia.

The region has so much to offer the visiting cruiser, so much so that several boats berthed in the marina had extended their stays to enjoy the area, made easier by recently regulations allowing visiting yachts to stay for up to two years without excessive penalties providing the simple bureaucratic procedures are followed correctly. However when time is short what better way to get a quick overview by helicopter! Due to some mechanical problems it was not possible to offer many trips this visit but one of the lucky ones explains:

As a treat we take a helicopter ride to see the surrounding countryside. As we ascend it feels as if we are zooming out on a huge lens as the panorama opens up beneath us.

It is a stunning landscape from the rugged serrated hills along the coast covered in scrub and cactus, across the flat plain and rooftops of Santa Marta up into the rainforest in the hills, culminating in the snow covered peaks on the summit. We hover over the lost city of Teyuna, built in the eighth century by the Tayrona Indians, before descending down to the coast again and sweeping low along dramatic white beaches, strewn with huge boulders and almost deserted.

Leaving their mark As part of the philanthropic activities of World Cruising Club a visit was arranged to a local Fundehumac community school, where all the children received gifts for the start of the new school term. The basic building constructed of simple blocks, its’ undecorated walls adorned with colourful artwork by the pupils, was packed with them, their teachers and many parents. This education system is self-perpetuating with qualified students returning to play their part in giving back to the next generation.

The work is admirable, and the atmosphere extremely moving; the visit was well received and an activity that will be repeated on future visit.

A Fond Farewell After what was too short a visit the time came to move on. Marina Santa Marta had extended the red carpet treatment for the arrival of World ARC, and could not have done any more to make the fleet feel more welcome. Literally nothing was too much trouble. The welcome, the social programme and sadly the farewell – with a delegation of VIP visitors on the breakwater, the British Ambassador afloat on a large sports fishing boat, a harbour tug with its water fire wall, and a helicopter hovering overhead the fleet took the start in perfect conditions for their leg to the San Blas Islands.

A sad but wonderful send-off from Santa Marta, her charming and friendly people and all the amazing hospitality we were given.

– Ayama Everyone involved in the visit of World ARC to Santa Marta deserves great credit, and our heartfelt thanks. In particular the persistence of Marina Santa Marta in encouraging World Cruising Club to include this stopover on the route of World ARC. Welcome from the city of Santa Marta

It was with a heavy heart that the fleet left Santa Marta, the welcome in Colombia has been quite unbelievable; they put on an excellent display of customer service.

– John, Exocet Strike

- Juno

29

LAS PALMAS

DE GRAN CANARIA DEPARTURE CITY OF THE 30TH EDITION OF THE ATLANTIC RALLY FOR CRUISERS

NOVEMBER 2015

2015

LPAvisit.com

LATITUDES

Summer 2015

Who sails the ARC?

s/y Anika crew

The ARC is hard to define, since it means many things to so many different people, and each individual sailing in the rally has his or her own personal adventure. Yet a question we are often asked at World Cruising Club is “Who does the ARC?”.

Round the world aspirations Mervyn Gutteridge on El Mundo (GBR), a 2006 Oyster 56, is a great fan of the ARC and was taking part for the second time: “I think the ARC provides a great safety net and also offers a lot of good information and assistance. The social side is also very important. We took part three years ago on a different boat and bought El Mundo in June,” explained Mervyn, El Mundo’s co-owner with his wife Amanda.

“We are planning to spend a year in the Caribbean, or at least the winter months and we may join the World ARC in January 2016. We are not sure yet, but that would be a nice thing to aspire to. We are being a little more selective about which seminars we go to and are trying to fit them in with all the preparation for the boat. The main thing that we are getting so much value from is the trades that are here and supporting us; we’ve have had various representatives on board helping us to tune the boat.

“We are looking forward to the rum punch on arrival and love Saint Lucia. We’ve been there on several occasions and are really looking to going back again.”

Typical ARC Boat El Mundo is in many ways is a typical ARC boat, even if larger than the fleet average of 46ft.

Mervyn and Amanda had a clear ambition and bought the boat to sail their dream. Often, we will see boats back in the ARC a few years later with a different owner.

32

s/y El Mundo crew

It is common for owners to downsize from an ocean-going yacht to something more suited to coastal sailing once the big voyages are over, often selling their pride and joy onto other aspiring ARC sailors. World Cruising Club’s Bluewater Weekend – now a regular fixture on the calendar in June, came about in part from the desire to mix boats and aspiring ARC sailors in a friendly weekend focused on knowledge sharing.

Photo: James Mitchell

So, to answer that impossible question we took a snapshot of people and aspirations, boats and experience, amongst the crews in Las Palmas to try and put into words what it is to be an ARC sailor.

Photo: James Mitchell

People just like these

A floating United Nations The ARC truly is an international rally. The sailors taking part come from 40 different countries, straddling the globe from Australia, New Zealand and Thailand via Europe to Colombia, Brazil, the US and Canada. In 2014 British crews were the largest group at just over 25% of the total, with other large groups from Italy, Sweden, Norway, the United States, Finland and France each representing between 7% and 4% of the crew list.

Increasing international participation has resulted in changes to the ARC “Yellow Shirts”, the happy band of helpers from World Cruising Club who organise and deliver the rally. In 2014, the team included people from 7 different countries and able to speak 10 different languages, including Russian, much to the delight of the 7 Russian boat crews in the ARC.

A lifelong memory With many other Norwegian boats in the ARC, Per Erik & Kristin Berg from Drummond, near Oslo where in good company with their year-old Jeanneau 54, The Pearl (NOR). The couple sailed to Las Palmas double handed, but were joined by five other sailing friends for what was to be their first Atlantic crossing; a fairly common decision for many aspiring double-handed cruisers.

Per Erik spoke about his voyage in Las Palmas: “We have been planning this trip for 18 months, so we are really looking forward to getting out on the ocean now. This will be a really special occasion for us as during the planning, my wife found out she had cancer. After successful treatment, we decided to continue with our plans to take part in the ARC and so this adventure is even more important for us. I hope it will be a comfortable crossing for everyone, but I think it is something we will remember forever. After Christmas, we will cruise again, just the two of us for the winter, before heading home in spring next year.”

First ARC for three sailing friends Cumbrian sailor, David Caldow, and ARC first-timer, sailed his much loved Hallberg Rassy 39, Anika (GBR): “I have wondered for many years if I was capable of crossing an ocean,” said David, whose previous cruising included trips to the Irish Sea; from Anglesey up to the West coast of Scotland where he keeps his boat in Largs, and to the Hebrides, Southern Ireland, Scillies and Brittany.

worldcruising.com LATITUDES The Hayes family, s/y Morning Haze

route, they sailed to Morocco after cruising Portugal and Spain. “Morocco was a great experience and we ended up living in the Sahara for four days with Nomads and on camel hikes,“ said David.

“I’ve had the urge for very many years to sail across the Atlantic and I said to myself if I don’t do it now, I might never do it.” David was joined for the ARC by his long-time sailing pal, Simon Ferguson from New Zealand and Irishman, Richard Harshaw, a veteran of three transatlantic crossing.

Twin Hull Converts Regular ocean venturers, Rick & Julie Palm have owned a variety of boats and covered many thousands of ocean miles in the last 30 years.

Not long after the couple got together, Rick proposed an “adventure of a lifetime” with a round the world voyage. They achieved this with World Cruising Club’s first round the world rally – Europa’92, in 1991/92 on their Tayana 52 Sojourner. Since then the couple have been regular Caribbean cruisers, migrating to Altair, a Saga 48 and sailing for many years with the Caribbean 1500 rally as lead boat and co-organisers.

Now, with their latest boat, Archer, an Outremer 51, Rick and Julie have converted to sailing on two hulls. So what prompted the switch for these “dyed in the wool” monohull sailors? “Here we are looking back at age 65, determined to stay on the water for as long as we can” explained Julie. “So, with that mission in mind, have looked at motorcruisers. But we think cats can offer some of the same benefits and retain the essential elements of sailing. It’s easier to get on and off a cat than a monohull from a dinghy; the rig is somewhat simpler; there are no steep companionway steps to navigate in tough seas; there are more ways to stay out of the sun and the elements. And, of course, there is no heeling!” Another added attraction for Rick and Julie was the space and cruising comfort, which they hope will entice their two grandsons, ages 11 and 7, to come and join them on the water with their parents.

Going full circle Not all ARC boats were starting out on their Atlantic adventure. For some, like the Hayes family from Quebec, Canada and Ken Smail from North Carolina, USA, the ARC crossing made up the final stages of an Atlantic circuit Morning Haze is a family boat and the ARC was the third World Cruising Club rally that they have sailed on in the past 18 months. They started their Atlantic circuit in October 2013, leaving from Lake Champlain, just across the border from Canada in the USA and went to Chesapeake Bay to prepare the boat for the Caribbean 1500, their first rally.

Cruising sabbatical David, a Quebec University professor who is on a sabbatical and Isabelle, a college teacher, have sailed on this great adventure with their two daughters, Rebecca (14) and Demi (10). David is carrying out a research project, gathering data on potential sailing injuries for cruising sailors as there is no data on this for the cruising population. It is something that he is interested in, so he presented the idea as a project in order to obtain his sabbatical from work.

Their second World Cruising Club rally was with ARC Europe. Crossing the Atlantic for the first time, they set out from Tortola, BVI to Marina de Lagos, Portugal via Bermuda and the Azores.

These mid-Atlantic islands were the highlight of that rally for the family, but always willing to try something different and not follow the tourist

In August, the family flew back home and left Morning Haze in the Canaries to go back to teaching duties at the University for three months. After participating in three WCC rallies, they are full of praise for the organisation and would encourage other cruising sailors thinking of taking part, to join: “First of all, it’s easier to make connections and friendships as everyone in the rally has the same dream and the same project that they’ve worked on for many years to achieve it.

There are people of all ages in the fleet; retired, younger families, older crews, but because everyone has the same dream at one point, they make a connection.”

A Girl in Every Port Ken Smail from North Carolina, USA was sailing Sojourner, a Shannon 37, with two friends who have sailed together for over 20 years, mostly in Lake Michigan, but also in Saint Lucia and other places. They were also joined by one crew member from Bristol, UK whom Ken hooked up with via World Cruising Club’s Ocean Crewlink crew finder website.

Whilst Ken’s wife, Cathy, who is also co-owner Sojourner, was not on board for the Atlantic crossings, she was at all the ports of call to cheer them on. “Someone said to me that I have a girl at every port, but it’s the same girl!” commented Ken. Once in Saint Lucia, his crew headed home as planned, and Cathy rejoined the boat for some double-handed cruising south to Grenada, where they plan to lay-up the boat for the hurricane season, before heading back in November.

“This is a very long way to get the boat from North Carolina to the Caribbean! We left with ARC Europe in May 2014 and we landed in Lagos mid-June. I won’t be settled back home for almost a year or so. It has been absolutely wonderful experience and I think west bound is going to be much more comfortable than east bound. All my sailing fantasies have been like the glossy magazines; sailing in T-shirts and shorts to wonderful anchorages and all that sort of thing, so I am really looking forward to it.”

33

LATITUDES

Summer 2015

Photo: James Mitchell

“Even though the wind is forecast to drop, the local sea state and wind acceleration zone off the south of Gran Canaria, both mean it is prudent to wait until tomorrow before departing. The majority of ARC boats are family cruisers, who will have a much nicer start to their Atlantic crossing by delaying until Monday. Even the experienced crews on some of the race boats are pleased to be leaving tomorrow.”

explained Andrew.

ARC Weatherman Chris Tibbs, described the local weather in more detail.

“At present we have an unstable air stream over the island, which is creating intense squalls. However, the next 24 hours will see a reduction in wind strength and in the number and intensity of squalls.”

ARC 2014 sets sail a day later than planned

ARC 2014 Start Delayed The ARC is a cruising rally – the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers – and as such, the safety of the boats and crews, whether on the largest luxury cruiser, or the smallest ocean-going minnow, is of foremost importance.

Strong winds blowing through the harbour of Las Palmas were the reason for the delay.

Whilst the front that had brought 4 days of heavy rain squalls to Gran Canaria was passing through, locally strong winds made it unsafe to manoeuvre boats within in the harbour, and would have given a very uncomfortable first night at sea.

“The safety of the boats and crews is our number one priority” said Andrew Bishop, ARC Event Director after announcing the postponement.

34

What a difference a day makes! Crews were greeted on the morning with a fine NE breeze and the prospect of a swift start to their passage across the Atlantic. Cruisers, racers, and multihulls; sleek ocean racing machines, alongside comfortable family cruisers; boats of many shapes and sizes all headed out from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as the 29th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) finally got under way. In total, 176 boats and 1020 people, including 27 children aged under 16, set off on the route directly to Saint Lucia in the 2014 edition of the world's most popular transocean rally.

Mexican wave from the Charisma crew

Photo: James Mitchell

Whilst plans have been made, and arrangements put in place for departure, as organisers, the World Cruising Club team always have to consider what is the most seamanlike course of action when giving a start. So it was no surprise that the decision was made to postpone the departure of the ARC 2014 fleet. Only the third time in 29 starts that the fleet has been held back by weather considerations.

So, plans made were unmade, people and boats rescheduled, and thanks to the superb cooperation of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, who found another window in a busy schedule of shipping movements, the start was rearranged.

worldcruising.com LATITUDES Photo: JKatherine Jones

The Three Stages of an ARC Crossing Andy Schell

For most ARC sailors, their Atlantic adventure can be broken down into three phases. The first begins before the yacht heads to sea, with the anticipation of departure distorting one’s sense of time and bringing last minute projects into hectic focus.

Start Day is a blur of memories; flags, dockside bands, cheering crowds, and boats everywhere.

However, once clear of the line the rhythm of the sea takes you and the euphoria of departure subsides. As Gran Canaria recedes, the wind and waves pick up and nerves and excitement – and maybe one too many celebratory pre-departure drinks the night before – combine to give even the most experienced sailors at least a little bit of seasickness.

“It’s more like sea-annoyance to me,” said one ARC sailor. “I don’t get sick, just tired and bothered by the motion of the boat not letting me stay on my feet!”

Some call it the boat dance, which often is performed while pulling on clothes; one step left, one step forwards, and then fall into someone’s lap! The world is now in constant motion, ceaselessly rolling and you barely remember a time without movement.

Phase two begins after 3-5 days at sea; the point at which the seasickness goes away, sleep patterns are established, allowing you to remain alert in the middle of a night watch and sleep while the sun’s up, and when you transition truly from life ashore into life at sea. Computers and television are forgotten, alcohol is left behind and there are fewer boat dances now that you have found your sea legs! What’s left is just you and the sea and the sky and the boat. It’s the philosophical part of the passage.

Phase three, starts about 2-3 days before landfall.

You start to count down the miles and the hours until that first meal ashore and first cold beer, that first hot shower, that first wobbly step ashore.

This phase is usually the most nostalgic and sometimes even melancholy. Without realizing it you’ve left that philosophical phase of the voyage and discover that the trip is almost over.

On a clear day, the sailors will see Saint Lucia from up to thirty miles offshore. Sailing at six knots, that’s a good five hours. The loom of the lights ashore will be visible for even longer at night. It’s then you realize, though might not quite admit so as not to jinx yourself, that you’ve made it.

Over those last hours the island will rise from the sea and details will begin to resolve.

Photo: David Witham

Taking a noon sight on board Vagaris

‘Sometimes it feels like it could go on forever,’ say many seasoned ocean sailors. ‘That’s what we go to sea for.’ Days merge seamlessly one into another. You will have quiet moments of reflection, perhaps at sunset, or wonder at a shooting star during a peaceful night watch.

Other times will seem intense – a squall hits; wind shear and a hasty sail change occur; raised voices over the wind; rain in your face and a feeling of truly living. Then life calms again and the rhythm of the sea settles back. There will be meals and conversations and no doubt a few dreams shared.

Above all, the world shrinks to your horizon, and your boat and crew are your world. The daily burst of news via the radio and email seem like transmissions from Mars, so far away are the rest of humanity.

Catching a rainbow on board Purrr-fect

The VHF will come to life again with local traffic and perhaps an ARC boat or two already in the marina.

And you’ll round Pigeon Island; the sea will flatten and the finish line boat will hail you on the radio, a gentle voice calling toward land.

Then come the magic words

“Congratulations, you have just crossed the finishing line! Welcome to Saint Lucia!”

The ARC finish line boat is always crewed by previous ARC participants – around 4 or 5 boats help out on a rota – and their enthusiasm and delight in your finish is always part of the fun. After all, last year they were crossing the line in their ARC. And so, after the finish, the arrival. You will take the sails down all the way for the first time in three weeks; hunt for fenders and mooring lines securely stowed back in Las Palmas; and motor into Rodney Bay Marina. The ARC yellow shirts will guide you to your dock, and then the fun starts all over again. Hugs and kisses all around; fellow ARCers to wave and cheer; and then the long anticipated, ice-cold rum punch from the Saint Lucia Welcome Crew on the dockside.

And you’ll have crossed the Atlantic; you have “done the ARC”!

“

Days merge seamlessly one into another.

You will have quiet moments of reflection, perhaps at a sunrise or sunset, or wonder at a shooting star during a peaceful night watch.”

35

worldcruising.com LATITUDES

Two Route choices offer a different perspective on the ARC Since 2013, the ARC has offered a choice of routes: the traditional rhumb line route from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia, and the ARC + Cape Verdes route that includes a stopover in Mindelo and a chance to sample an exotic mix of African and Portuguese cultures.

Santo Antão

interesting that this time the cruise reached maximum capacity before the longer established direct ARC. The two routes offer variations on the same theme of promoting more sociable and safer sailing, and both appeal to a broad range of cruisers. “This year, I’ve sailed with my father on ARC+” said Daniel Frintrop from the German family boat LaVida. “Next year I want to return with my own boat, but Dad and I are still debating: I want to return to do the ARC, but my father wants to do the ARC+ again!”.

Marina Mindelo

As a smaller and perhaps more intimate group, the ARC+ offers a different perspective on the Atlantic crossing. For 2014, the fleet of 50 yachts and over 200 crew enjoyed the same great activity programme before and after their ARC crossing, but also an interesting and varied stopover on São Vicente, one of the less visited of the Cape Verde archipelago’s ten main islands.

The ARC+ cruisers set off two weeks before the main group, heading south on a five to six day passage to Cape Verde. For some double-handers it is the appeal of shorter ocean stages that makes the route attractive, although the total time at sea is longer than the direct route. For others it is the chance to “bag another island” on their cruising itinerary. A safe berth in Mindelo Marina for a few days offers a chance to explore

ashore and discover the delights of the varied volcanic landscapes and cultural mix on the two islands visited.

Crews were full of praise for ARC+ route, now an integral part of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.

“ARC+ has been a fabulous adventure. We have enjoyed every minute. The group has developed really well and I feel I know almost all the other crews. The stop in Mindelo really helped us to get to know one another and I found the islands of São Vicente and Santo Antão to be really special,” said Marian Borde from the Starlight 39 Exody.

“We will go on to circumnavigate with World ARC and the visit to Cabo Verde is exactly what we were always looking for”.

2014 is the second year that World Cruising Club has delivered the ARC+ route and it was

After their Cape Verdean pit-stop, the boats set out for Saint Lucia arriving as the first and fastest of the direct ARC boats are beginning to make landfall. This crossover certainly makes the programme buzz from day one, with plenty of boats and crews on the docks to enjoy it. Then, after their own prize-giving evening, which marks the official close of the ARC+, there is still one last party, as the majority of the ARC+ fleet then set sail again, heading a few miles south to the Capella Marina at Marigot Bay, one of Saint Lucia’s most delightful cruising locations. Here there is one final opportunity to socialise before crews start to disperse to explore the Caribbean or further afield.

s/y Muline, Half-way party

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worldcruising.com LATITUDES

Going, going, gone…

the ARC Course Record broken for second year in a row

ARC Weatherman Chris Tibbs described the weather for Leopard’s record breaking crossing after their arrival: “The low pressure system that caused the delayed start to ARC 2014, has meant that the wind on the passage has been more northerly than usual, enabling Leopard to sail a more direct course and not go south of the rhumb line in search of trade winds, at least until the latter part of the crossing. As they closed the finish in Saint Lucia, they have had to get south of a trough of low pressure to stay in the trade winds, which saw them dipping in close Barbados, adding extra miles to their trip.”

It was certainly an interesting year for weather; after a breezy preparation period in Las Palmas that saw the start delayed by 22 hours due to strong winds locally, the ARC fleet then enjoyed text-book tradewind sailing for the first week at sea. Consistent winds saw two of the three fleet leaders make landfall within the previous ARC record time. Andy Budgen’s crew on Volvo 70 Monster Project missed out on the record due to Leopard by Finland’s triumph; a disappointment for them after trading gybes with Leopard most of the way across.

Leopard by Finland, off to a flying start

Photo: James Mitchell

‘We had great downwind sailing all the way, moving at 30+ knots of boat speed, surfing down waves, and here we are 8 days down the line. To take 2 days off the record; we are very, very happy; it is a great team. One of those dream crossings.”

Leopard by Finland finishes ARC 2014 in 08 days 14 hours 39 minutes and 51 seconds.

Unprecedented in the 29 year history of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, the ARC Course record was broken for a second consecutive year following ideal wind conditions. Leopard

by Finland crossed the ARC finish line in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia on 3 December, at 01:09:51 UTC (02/12 21:09:51 Local time) smashing the ARC course record by two days 6 hours 45 minutes and 19 seconds Sailing across the Atlantic from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia in a total of 8 days 14 hours, 39 minutes and 51 seconds, the 10 Finnish adventurers alongside Leopard’s regular ‘pro’ crew headed by skipper Chris Sherlock, celebrated successfully completing the Finnish-led transatlantic record attempt that has been over a year in the planning.

The project to grab the ARC record for Finland, was the brain-child of Samuli Liesti and his friends who are passionate about bringing Finnish sailing to a wider audience and increasing the profile of the sport. Mike Slade’s 30m super-maxi was chartered for the attempt and rechristened Leopard by Finland. Liesti then recruited a crew

combining some of Finland’s sailing superstars, such as Whitbread veteran and two-time Finnish International Sailor of the Year Kenneth Thelen, with Atlantic novices who had not experienced crossing an ocean before. “The idea came about to do a transatlantic because for so many people, including us, it is a dream come true. It has been awesome and great pleasure to be part of such a great team,” beamed Project Manager, Samuli Leisti as he climbed ashore in Rodney Bay.

“Stepping on board in Las Palmas was one of those remarkable moments.

Leopard is 100 foot supermaxi with canting keel and a boat that holds so many records … it is just amazing.

Before we started [the whole project], we said we wanted to first do a transatlantic crossing and second break the ARC Course record. Now we have achieved these dreams.”

said Chris Sherlock, skipper of Leopard. “This was my 29th Atlantic crossing and I have been coming to Saint Lucia for 22 years…. Saint Lucia is my second Caribbean home and we love it here.”

With the previous ARC Course Record, set by Caro a Knierim 65 in ARC 2013 tumbling in less than a year, the Leopard crew are determined to keep their name at the top for a long time to come,

‘We will be back next year and try and take some time off that again!” added Sherlock.

Leopard by Finland crew celebrate their record

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worldcruising.com LATITUDES

Sampling the Atlantic

How ARC Sailors Became Adventure Scientists

“

Some of the 600 samples collected

Crews on board more than 100 boats sailing with the ARC took part in a huge scientific research project collecting over 600 ocean water samples from a 602,000-square-nautical mile area in the Atlantic Ocean to aid research into the ocean dispersal of microplastics. The operation to turn sailors in to scientists was run in co-operation with the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation (ASC) group, which acts as a bridge between the worlds of science and adventure travel.

As the ARC fleet was sailing across the Atlantic and the boats were uniquely placed to gather a large quantity of water samples from a broad swathe of the ocean in a controlled manner. Each of the crews collected 6 different water samples at various points of their voyage, labelled and logged them ready for analysis ashore later. A detailed collection protocol and training were given to the crews before departure in Las Palmas, to ensure that the ARC ocean samples are not contaminated by other sources. “It’s huge for science, for really getting a picture of this part of the Atlantic,” said ASC partner scientist Abby Barrows at the start of the project.

Once the boats arrived in Saint Lucia, the samples were collected and sent onto the laboratory in the USA for analysis; the whole process was a triumph of logistics.”

“I’m really excited … that there is potential for sampling all over the world because of the connections they’ve made with these ARC sailors.”

Abby said.

Speaking in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, before the start of ARC 2014, Jeremy Wyatt from World Cruising Club spoke about the importance of the project. “Transocean sailing gives us a window in to the life of the oceans that few on land get to share, and so we were not surprised at the response to the appeal for volunteer samplers from within the ARC fleet. World Cruising Club is delighted to facilitate and support this project, which strikes such a cord with all sailors.”

Once the boats arrived in Saint Lucia, the samples were collected and sent onto the laboratory in the USA for analysis; the whole process was a triumph of logistics.

“This will give us the fuller picture of how plastic concentrations may or may not fluctuate closer to land and in the middle of the ocean.”

After arriving in Saint Lucia, the ARC boats then gradually dispersed throughout the Caribbean and beyond. With so many boats visiting so many places, ASC are aiming to work long term with the sailors to continue their sampling efforts as they sail onwards.

Working with Greening the Caribbean to recycle waste from the ARC in St. Lucia

Supporting environmental projects through local action Water sampling was not the only environmental initiative within the ARC. For the last five years, we have worked with non-profit forestry organisations in both Gran Canaria and Saint Lucia to develop a carbon offset project, planting trees where they are most needed, to help offset the carbon emissions created during the ARC crossing.

Since 2010, over 1,200 native trees have been planted by ARC volunteers on a deforested site in the mountains above Las Palmas, helping to recreate one of the most threatened eco-systems on Gran Canaria.

The ARC Forest will eventually cover a hectare of land (10,000m2), improving bio-diversity, reducing soil erosion and mitigating flooding.

Managing the project is the Canaries based organisation Foresta, ensuring that the small trees planted by ARC crews will grow to become a true sustainable forest, linking areas of historic indigenous woodland to make a “green cordon” around the mountain tops and restoring the native cloud forest eco-system.

In 2012 the ARC Forest project in Saint Lucia began, aiming to restore an area affected by hurricane flooding in the recent past. All the trees planted at the site are mix of species native to Saint Lucia and crop trees producing spices that will benefit the local community.

ARC participants can donate to the reforesting projects with a suggested value per litre of diesel fuel carried aboard. Advice is given to each crew for the best way to calculate their carbon emissions generated by a tank of diesel and offset this against the number of trees planted. The funds raised go exclusively towards planting more trees in the ARC Forest. So far the scheme has raised over $2,000 for the on-going development of the ARC Forest.

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worldcruising.com LATITUDES Moods of the Sea - Isabelle Tremblay, s/y Morning Haze. Overall Winner

Photo Competition Over 300 photos were submitted by crews for the ARC 2014 Photo Competition and the entries this year certainly captured all aspects of ocean sailing.

Life on board - Nic Simper, s/y Profile

From sunrises to squalls, fishing triumphs to one-pot wonders and spinnakers to sundowners, the WCC judging panel have been re-living last year's rally and selected winners in the following categories: Life on Board, Moods of the Sea, Other Boats and Sighting Land.

The voting was then opened to fans and followers of the ARC Facebook Page to vote for the best overall image from ARC 2014. This years’ winner was chosen as Isabelle Tremblay’s from Morning Haze entry for ‘Moods of the Sea’.

Other Boats - Simon Prueckl/Christian Alt, s/y Babsea

Sighting Land Thomas Goeke, s/y Bahati

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LATITUDES

Summer 2015

iPad's Onboard

The Advance of Electronic Navigation

In most areas of life we have seen a steady advancement in electronic labour saving (and entertainment) devices.

However, the pace of progress of onboard electronics has been understandably lagging. Recently this has turned about for yachtsmen and this seems to be due to the coming together of several compelling factors: • cheaper/improved electronic mapping • lower power and increasingly rugged devices (especially tablets and phones, but also small laptops) • vastly improved software usability and integration • tendency to “network” onboard instruments in open ways (NMEA/2000) • trend towards carrying more electrical capacity It can be argued which is cause or effect, but the net effect is a sudden proliferation of quality marine navigation aids in the various App stores.

We are going to look below at a few examples and how they can enhance your life onboard.

NOTE: you should try multiple apps before settling on a final option, and a more comprehensive list of options to evaluate can be found here: http://www.mailasail.com/Support/NMEA-Apps

What can we do?

• AIS targets and direction (click a target to get more info) • Vessel Instrument data, eg speed, wind, depth, VMG • GRIB weather forecast data • Waypoints, routes and tracks Firstly let's look at an all encompassing “Chart Plotter” type application: iNavX. INavX is an iPad/iPhone app and the little brother of “MacENC”, a very comprehensive navigation package for Max OSX. It plots a variety of chart types, including: Navionics, NOAA (free) and various Raster chart formats. In addition to the usual swishy touch navigation that comes from using a tablet, you can also overlay:

46

Overall it's an incredibly neat bit of software, albeit that there are other apps which can display individual data items more slickly (especially weather data).

As an example of a very neat instrument a-like app, check out both “NMEARemote” and “Mid Wifi”. Both of these emulate existing instrument pods, and differ mainly in their customisation options and instrument layouts NMEARemote is particularly clever in that it

can “autodetect” and autoconfigure itself for certain NMEA repeaters (such as the Red-Box) and also allows very customisable screens. So you can have one layout for keeping an eye on weather data while at anchor, and another for racing with just tactical instruments.

worldcruising.com LATITUDES

How to get the NMEA Data onto your iPad

output 0183 from a connector, interface via a Serial to USB adaptor.

More comprehensive navigation is usually done via a laptop, for example using MaxSea or similar. Wireless NMEA data can be hooked up to the laptop using a “virtual serial port”, which effectively reads the navigation data off the network and pretends to push it back onto the computer via some software that makes it look like a plain “serial port” to the computer. This gives excellent compatibility with most Windows navigation applications.

AIS → Some AIS units output a complete

Chartplotter vs iPad

Most of the apps mentioned here will consume and plot NMEA 0183 data. In theory this is an older NMEA standard, but in practice it's extremely generic and easy to parse.

NMEA2000 Network → Add

This NMEA 0183 data can be fed into an NMEA to Wifi repeater, such as the Red-Box from MailASail. The Red-Box will automatically detect the data type, (multiplex multiple streams together) and from there it can be consumed by multiple tablets, phones and laptops (all at the same time).

Chartplotter → Most chartplotters will

There are several main ways to extract the NMEA 0183 data from the onboard instruments:

How to get the NMEA data onto your Windows Laptop

an Actisense NGW-1-USB – this converts NMEA2000 directly onto a USB connection. This is the simplest and lowest power option.

instrument feed, however, nearly all output just the AIS data over an NMEA 0183 output.

Interface via a Serial to USB adaptor.

It seems a regular debate to have one or other.

This seems unfair though, the daylight readable screen for a plotter costs more than an entire iPad, and the plotter is usually substantially waterproof (and rugged) without add-on cases.

However, the iPad is portable, has a wider variety of applications and more frequent updates.

Therefore it seems more appropriate to see them as complementary tools.

Links MailASail – http://www.mailasail.com

How to keep your iPad dry...

Red Box - http://www.mailasail.com/ Communication/Red-Box Life Edge - http://www.lifedge.co.uk/ INavX - http://www.inavx.com/

Reviews in Motorboat Magazine (Oct 2014), rated most of the main waterproofing options from a plastic bag (!) to the market leaders Life Edge and Life Proof. At the Southampton Boatshow this year, Scanstrut left both an iPad and iPhone for the entire week in their stand “fishtank”, so it's reasonable to claim that these cases are in fact substantially waterproof!

NMEARemote - http://www.zapfware.de/en/ products/nmearemote/

A potential “edge” in favour of the Life Edge is that they also make a matching adjustable instrument mount, which makes it simple to clip your device in place for viewing. Whilst not a make or break feature for most, at the Southampton Boatshow it was a common lament from users who had gone down the Life Proof route that they wished such a mounting system were available.

Connecting up NMEA devices - http://www. mailasail.com/Support/Red-Box-NMEA-AIS-GPSConnections

More NMEA apps - http://www.mailasail.com/ Support/NMEA-Apps

RED BOX 47

worldcruising.com LATITUDES Rounding Cape St.Vincent at the SE corner of Portugal.

Andrew with the rally flag in Oeiras

Reflections on Cruising in Portugal

Andrew Bishop shares his memories of exploring the Atlantic coast of Portugal My first experience of sailing in Portugal was in 1989, when having made landfall in Vigo in northern Spain, we headed to Viana do Castelo to participate in the “Taça Cutty Sark”, the first race to be held along the coast of Portugal to Vilamoura in the south.

Limited to fifty yachts, of which forty eight were Portuguese, with ourselves and a Dutch yacht being the only foreigners. It was a great introduction to sailing the Portuguese coast and served as the basis for our inaugural Rally Portugal, run for the first time in 1995.

The most powerful memories from that experience were of the overwhelming generosity of our hosts and fellow participants; after a day’s sailing we would all go ashore to an informal sailing supper, mostly consisting of freshly grilled

sardines, bread, salad and red wine; learning to eat sardines in the traditional way, from a piece of bread, which is enjoyed last having soaked up all the succulent juices from the fish.

After every start the course had a windward leg before heading south in the Portuguese trades.

Sailing in a Freedom cat rigged schooner we were consistently last round the windward mark, although we performed much better downwind, and so weren’t always last to finish!

Each day we headed off on the next leg, and it was this pattern that taught me that, the Portuguese trades don’t pick up to a decent sailing breeze until late morning around eleven o’clock. Some days we even had a postponement to wait for the breeze to fill in.

But my overwhelming memory of the trip was of the places, and whilst each visit was brief it was long enough to form a desire to return, and to share what Portugal has to offer with fellow cruisers, which I have now been doing for 21 years!

Of the ports we visited very few had marinas; mostly we lay against harbour walls, vacated by the local fishing fleet, and often rafted; in others on mooring posts, having to dinghy ashore. The final stopover at Vilamoura was the first marina of the route, and it was very new back then.

“

No visit to Portugal would be complete without visiting Porto, and of course the port wine cellars.”

Since 1989 marinas have slowly developed along the coast providing plenty of opportunities for alongside berths as cruisers explore the coast of Portugal. For Rally Portugal this has enabled us to continually look at where the rally visits, as on the first rallies we were still using harbour walls in some ports of call.

As the first Portuguese harbour I visited Viana do Castelo was a favourite of mine and initially used for the rally; the small basin with marina pontoons found room for the fleet, but as local boat ownership grew this became increasingly difficult, and despite a new visitor’s pontoon on the river, eventually impossible. Planned development of a former commercial fishing basin was slow in happening and so the rally had no choice but to move to the next southern port of Povoa de Varzim in 2002, where a new marina had been installed.

No visit to Portugal would be complete without visiting Porto, and of course the port wine cellars.

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worldcruising.com LATITUDES However the River Douro had a treacherous entrance and no on river facilities for visiting yachts. For this reason we chose the neighbouring port of Leixões, the commercial port to the north of Porto. Tucked in the corner is a small marina, together with a total of four sailing clubs, including Yacht Club de Porto. The marina manager worked hard to ensure we had space for the fleet each year, and thanks to him and the hospitality of the Yacht Club de Porto, our visits there were always very special.

A large fire close to the marina destroyed some of the clubs, and damaged the main visitors’ pontoon; very sadly the marina manager passed away unexpectedly, and as a result we relocated, deciding instead to stay and extra day at Povoa de Varzim and travel the short distance to visit Porto by land.

To realise the potential of the River Douro during the subsequent years a new outer breakwater has been formed across the entrance, making it far safer at all states of the tide. This has been followed by the development of a marina in Gaia on the southern bank of the river, just a short distance inside the river mouth, which opened in 2012, and included on the route of the rally since 2013.

Heading south the next port is Figueira da Foz, and one of only two ports used on every year of the rally so far! Another river entrance noted for dangerous swell in certain wind conditions the outer breakwater wall was recently extended and makes for a safer entrance in most weather conditions. The large yacht basin has been expanded over the years, and whilst now almost full of local yachts, still provides berths in the most recently installed pontoon area, conveniently close to the city centre. In 1989 this was the only port where we had a rest day on the race south along the coast, taking the opportunity to head inland to the old capital and historic university city of Coimbra, a trip we now arrange each year for our participants.

Peniche is a busy fishing port, where the processing plants give the town a unique odour in certain wind directions! The nearby walled city of Obidos is the draw for many, easily accessible by public bus. A small marina nestles inside the inner breakwater, and has been the home of the rally since it opened in 1997, enabling us to break the long leg from Figueira da Foz to Lisbon. The long visitors’ pontoon requires rally yachts to be rafted, and so there have been occasions the port has been bypassed due to bad weather.

As the capital city one might have expected Lisbon to be the best provided for in terms for facilities for yachts however this was not the case in the early nineties with no marinas on the River Tagus. There were plenty of commercial basins in Lisbon which were used to moor yachts, the best know close the Torre de Belem, but pontoon berths were only just starting to be introduced.

My own visit was to the fishing dock in Cascais, where we moored up alongside the harbour walls.

Relaxing in Sines

For the first years of the rally we had four homes for our visit to Lisbon, initially up the River Tagus close to the city centre in Doça Santo Amaro and Doça Alcantara. In 1998 we were able to use the purpose built Expo’98 marina beyond the Lisbon bridges, but the strong currents surging through the marina, and the river passage, made it a tough place to get into. With the opening of Cascais Marina in 2000 we found a new home, until their hosting of a world dinghy championship in 2007 had us looking once again! Luckily for us the recently opened city marina at Oeiras agreed to host the rally; perfectly located half way between Lisbon city centre and the historic cities of Cascais, Sintra and Estoril, Oeiras makes an ideal base for the rally, situated close to the entrance of the River Tagus. They are already celebrating their tenth year of operation this year, a milestone to mark, and we wish them all the best.

“

But my overwhelming memory of the trip was of the places, and whilst each visit was brief it was long enough to plant the seeds of desire to return.”

Sines provides an excellent stop en route from Lisbon to Lagos, and over time the marina has developed from being a single pontoon with ashore facilities in temporary cabins to a 230 berth marina with an excellent marina services building.

One thing that has not changed however is the challenging berthing in the strong afternoon winds!

For the final leg of the rally we head to Marina de Lagos, and the very reason the rally exists in the first place! Opened in 1995, the marina owners were keen to establish a race from the UK to the marina to promote the new facility, similar to the Brent Walker race from Brighton to Puerto Sherry a few years earlier. Being a recently converted cruising sailor, and having experienced the fun

and excitement of sailing along the Portuguese coast, a rally stopping along the way seemed a much better idea. After some initial negotiation the sponsors agreed and Rally Portugal was born. And the marina was up and running, and over the years the shore side development has been completed, creating what is now an excellent facility, close to the lovely town of Lagos. Next door is an excellent boat yard, renowned for excellent work, and Faro airport is not too far away for crew changes, or if leaving the boat at the marina for any length of time.

Over the last twenty five years the nautical industry has developed in Portugal, boat ownership has increased, the country has opened up to nautical tourism, and marinas have developed.

It’s been an exciting journey, and one Rally Portugal, now ARC Portugal, has been part of as the route has developed to take account of developing marina facilities. At the heart of the rally is the excitement of discovering a country which remains truly hospitable and welcoming; join us to sail the coast of Portugal and you won’t be disappointed.

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The app provides a fully functioning chart navigation package using award winning quality raster charts.

For the catalogue of Imray books and charts visit our web site www.imray.com

worldcruising.com LATITUDES

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Books & Gear 1: GILL Performance Boots The new breathable boot collection from Gill is the most technical breathable waterproof footwear that they have ever produced.

Notably the classic tall Performance boot, designed with offshore sailing in mind, not only gives comfortable breathable protection and waterproof qualities that you would expect but also comes with a grab handle system to make them easy to get on in a hurry. For agility and grip on the round-thecans racing circuit, the Performance race boot is lightweight and east to wear and could be thought of as a completely waterproof sailing trainer. Both models offer a uniquely designed sole, ensuring good grip on deck and water dispersal channels to prevent aquaplaning.

Performance Boot: Sizes: 39-47, £210 Race Boot: Sizes: 39-47, £175

4: MailaSail Red Box Mailasail.com’s Red Box has been named by Iridium as the preferred replacement for the discontinued Iridium AxcessPoint. More than a replacement, the Red Box provides significantly greater benefits to marine users than the Iridium AxcessPoint. In particular, Red-Box doesn’t require special “Apps” in order to send emails, but uses the built in email on your laptop or phone. It can be used easily with both Windows and Mac OS, and also iPhones, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry and more, enabling users to send email from any of these devices via Iridium, without any extra software.

Red-Box supports a much wider range of devices, including nearly every satellite phone, mobile phones and Wi-Fi booster solutions, and also offers various customer specific solutions, such as NMEA instrument repeater - all on one Wi-Fi network. Visit mailasail.com

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2: Gill Bifocal floating sunglasses

3: SunWare Solar textile frame TX panels

Never take your reading classes out on the boat again with this great new option of Gill floating bifocal sunglasses. The lenses are shatter and scratch resistant, and incorporate polarised lens technology as well as being optically corrected for crystal clear all round vision.

A hydrophobic outer lens repels water quickly and efficiently from the surface and avoids build-up of salt residue. Oleophobic technology helps to keep the lens free from sunscreen, skin oils and fingerprints.

Available in +1.5 and +2.5 diopter strengths they cover a broad range of reading needs, and come in our Sense frame with a wraparound design to sit solidly and provide complete sun protection.

Bifocal Sense Sunglasses Diopter: +1.50, +2.50 Colours: Black Price: £55

With the ever increasing number of on board electronic devices yachtsmen are looking for increased power generation. SunWare offer a very handy solution in their new TX textile range which are lightweight but highly durable and fold away for easy stowage.

They are designed to maximise the sprayhood space using standard Tenax fasteners, snapping on and off quickly and easily. As each 50W section operates independently any shading on one part does not affect the other sections which continue to operate fully. Made in Germany by SunWare they are part of a range of marine grade solar panels established for 25 years. Find out more at www.sunware.de or www.marlec.co.uk

5: GRENADA TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS A Cruising Guide to the Lesser Antilles 3rd Edition, Jacques Patuelli.

This popular book covering the Caribbean from Grenada and Barbados to the Virgin Islands is a translation from Jacques Patuelli’s original French version. Each island is dealt with in detail and pilotage notes are followed by tourist information and the usual data on formalities and facilities.

Fully illustrated with plans and photos, many of which are new for this third edition, the guide is packed with interesting and useful background information on the Caribbean.. The last section of the book, the blue pages, consists of listings of facilities, restaurants, bars, hotels and other information of interest to tourists.

This new edition is based on the author’s research during 2013. The text, plans and photos have been revised.

6: ATLANTIC SPAIN AND PORTUGAL Cabo Ortegal (Galicia) to Gibraltar 7th Edition, Henry Buchanan - Imray/RCC Atlantic Spain and Portugal is the classic guide to this varied coast which includes the rias of of Galicia, the estuaries of the Douro and Tejo with Lisbon, the Algarve and then the coast of Andalucia down to Gibraltar. It’s the essential companion for yachts making passage to the Mediterranean or onwards to the Canaries before an Atlantic crossing and also a comprehensive cruising companion for anyone visiting the delightful cruising grounds of Galicia and beyond.

Completely updated from visits to the area

by Henry Buchananthis new edition now commences at Cabo Ortegal, taking in Ría Cedeira. There are new photos and most of the plans incorporate changes since the last edition was published.

Save 10% on Pilot books and Cruising Guides at www.worldcruising.com/onlineshop

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When every moment counts Choosing the right sail is where your journey starts!

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worldcruising.com LATITUDES

Cruising notes from Tahiti, Papeete: Renovated Marina The old “Seawall” on the Papeete seafront on the island of Tahiti has been totally transformed into a full-service, state-of-the-art marina with floating piers, security, and berthing for 80 yachts.

Gone is the old flotilla of rickety, derelict, local resident boats haphazardly Med-moored to the wall with wobbly wooden gangplanks leading onto the street. The new Marina de Papeete, aesthetically, designed in a graceful curve, blending with the parkways and public places on the seafront in the heart of Papeete, was inaugurated on 23 April, 2015.

The floating finger piers will accommodate 80 yachts, with metered water and electricity. The yachts are buffered from the public street by a “moat” of water and locked security gates. The marina office complex features an air-conditioned guest lounge and patio with free Wi-Fi, washing

A round-up of recent news and information for cruising sailors from Noonsite.com, the global directory for cruising sailors.

machines, and ample men’s and women’s toilette/ shower facilities. New rates are being established starting soon and are slated to be competitive with the largest private marina in the area, Marina Tahina. The Marina de Papeete is run by the Port Autonome de Papeete, responsible for all activities in the port. www.noonsite.com/Countries/FrenchPolynesia/ tahiti-papeete-totally-renovated-marina

Extending your Stay in Turkey: Improved online system Most foreign cruisers are only allowed to stay in Turkey for 90 days in any 180 day period.

Therefore many cruisers that want to spend longer in Turkish waters apply for a residence permit. This process has just become much simpler with the

launch in May of a new online e-Residence system (as of 18-05-2015) making it easier and faster for foreigners to apply for residence permits and renew online. www.noonsite.com/Countries/Turkey/extendingyour-stay-in-turkey-improved-online-system

Cook Islands Increased Fees for Visiting Yachts The Cook Islands have increased their fee schedule up to and over 1000% for yachts. The fee for anchoring in the lagoon at Penrhyn and the various atolls used to be approximately $3 NZ per day. Now the fees have increased to about $3 NZ per metre per day. www.noonsite.com/Countries/CookIslands/cookislands-have-increased-their-fee-schedule-forvisiting-yachts

Ocean Crew Link Specialising purely in ocean sailing opportunities, OceanCrewLink.com is a new online directory of sailors and sailing opportunities, which aims to connect boat owners with offshore sailing crew.

Now with over 4500 sailors already signed up to use the service and more than 150 opportunities to sail currently available, oceancrewlink.com offers a unique meeting place for those who love ocean sailing.

Create your sailing profile now at...

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Saint Lucia welcomes all ARC participants to its simply beautiful shores

E-mail: information@stlucia.org Saint Lucia: 758 452 4094 www.stlucianow.com

USA: 1800 456 3984 www.stlucianow.com

Canada: 1800 869 0377 www.stlucianow.ca France: 33 1 45 32 0254 www.stlucianow.com

UK: 44 207 341 7000 www.stlucianow.co.uk

Germany: 49 69 89 00 9081 www.jetzt-saintlucia.de