Winter Cruise 2015

Our sea-going cruise for 2015 will be testing Mareda around Brittany, England, and the Channel Islands.  While it will be lovely, it will not be hot.  It never is.  Even when the air temperature is warm enough for a swim, the water rarely gets above 19°C (66°F).  It’s like diving head-long into a gin-and-tonic and getting a big ice-cream headache through your whole body. 

For this year’s winter land cruise, we decided to take it easy and to seek out real warmth to stock up for the year ahead. Taking it easy means no complicated treks through developing countries, and warmth means shorts, flip-flops, and wading into water without the need of Lamaze breathing techniques.

I realize that everyone has a different definition of warmth, and I believe that we are all acclimatized in early childhood to a range of temperatures and comfort zones that follow us throughout our lives.  Growing up in Kentucky with its continental climate, our summers were hot (90°F / 32°C) and winters were cold (sub-freezing much of the time with snow that paralyzed the town for at least 1-2 weeks per year).  I love both.  I need both.  I feel cheated in a winter with no snow, or in a summer where I don’t feel the sting of the sun on my skin and the ecstasy of frolicking in water that just cools the skin without tightening the muscles.

Many people are not aware that there is no summer-like weather (>25°C / 77°F) to be found in Europe or even the Mediterranean in the winter.  Much of the southern and far eastern regions of the Med, for example (e.g., Tunisia, Turkey) have the same temperatures as northern Florida this time of year.  It can be very pleasant, but you’re not going to be plunging into the water to cool off very often.

To meet our two criteria of being easy and warm, we've decided to fly to another part of the globe…all without leaving France.  The island of Guadeloupe, “discovered” by Christopher Columbus, has been claimed by Britain, Sweden, and France throughout its turbulent history, with France gaining control after the Napoleonic wars.  I hope to immerse myself in Caribbean history and culture while there, but for now, I’m ashamed to admit that my image of Guadeloupe consists largely of chocolate, coffee, rum, tropical forests, and palm-studded turquoise beaches. 

Staying in the mountains of the national park of Basse-Terre

And as if it knew that we were heading off for a wet and sandy vacation, my poor Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ8 camera gave up the ghost last week.  After struggling through 4 years of sailing, skiing, and desert trekking, the motor controlling the focus and zoom grinds pitifully, fails to focus, and throws up an “Error” message on a scratched screen.  It also has a scratch on the lens that I’m sure can’t be fixed, either. 

After hours of web surfing, I finally decided to buy an Olympus Stylus TG-3 Tough Camera, made for taking photos whilst sailing, skiing, desert trekking, etc.  It can be taken underwater down to 15 meters (50ft), frozen, dropped from 2 meters (7 ft), and crushed (100 kilos / 220 lbs).  It takes still photos, video, and time-lapse photos, and has an integrated GPS, compass, and barometer, and all this with a full 2-year guarantee.  Let the tests begin !    

Mimosa after the rain, taken with the new TG-3 !!

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Enlightenment through Anagrams

In 1982, Jonathan Raban rode out his mid-life crisis by running away to sea on a 32-foot ketch, Gosfield Maid, which he sailed solo around Britain.  I read an excerpt from the resulting book, Coasting, in a Granta travel anthology last week and am eagerly awaiting the delivery of a used copy of the book to arrive by post.

Besides being a good read, Raban’s book has introduced me to a new favourite superstition: the anagram.  When he first saw the Gosfield Maid, he quickly rearranged the letters to see what fate might await him on such a boat.  The exercise quickly revealed Die, dismal fog!  Being an Englishman, he fell in love with her almost immediately.

Having read this, I quickly grabbed paper and pencil to summon the anagram spirits to reveal my destiny with Spray and Mareda.

For Spray, only two words materialized:  prays and raspy. 

Now, perhaps I’m just being a negative nelly, but “prays on a raspy boat” does, you must admit, describe the last two years of misadventures we've had on Spray.  Maybe if we had interrogated the anagram spirits before we named her, things would have turned out differently.   

Mareda, I thought, will be trickier.  Mareda is already a sort of anagram of my first two names (Patrick’s idea…very sweet, n’est-ce pas?)  It can also be read in a pseudo-etymological sense to mean noble / wealthy / happy daughter (Eda) of the sea (Mar). 

I hovered over the paper nervously as letters appeared and drifted around the page, keenly aware that trying to convince Patrick to rename the boat now because of a bad anagram would require tense and disagreeable negotiation.

Two phrases materialized: a dream and a mad era.  While these things are open to interpretation, of course, I have to say that sailing away on a dream in a mad era is a pretty damn good omen !  In any case, it’s a definite improvement over praying on a raspy boat. 

Say what you will, I’m buying into the anagram superstition until I have proof to the contrary.  It’s got to be as sound as any other maritime superstition and at least it’s a fun one.  (Sure, I can say that now that things have worked out well for Mareda…).

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No women at sea

A friend once told us, “There are no women at sea, only sailors of different sizes.”  I quite like this idea and for the most part find it to be true.  Where it is decidedly not true for me is in the sizes of foul weather gear.

When I bought my first set of foulies, we had just started sailing and we weren't willing to shell out a lot of money.  The cheap versions were made of heavy pvc, great for keeping water out, but also great for keeping water in; e.g., not at all breathable and any sweat that formed between you and the pvc stayed and stewed…and then froze.  They also only came in Men’s small, medium, and large.  Even the smallest of these was too big for me and we eventually found something suitable in the “boys” department.

After a short time, we realized that comfort at sea is what makes or breaks many sailing projects, especially in our latitudes where even summer sailing requires foul weather gear much of the time.  We broke down and shelled out for some good foul weather gear adapted specifically for sailing.  Still, we didn't aim for the top of the line, since most of our sailing is done in “la belle saison” from May to October with only the occasional night passage.  While our XM offshore gear was light years ahead of the old pvc versions in terms of comfort and breathability, they still only came in Men’s sizes. 

Trying to work in wet, windy conditions with a vest that is way too large gets tiring fast.

I chose “extra-small” and was still swamped by the large fit.  One can argue, as I did, that it’s good to have room to add layers.  But after awhile I found that trying to move around in all that extra material was needlessly tiring, so much so that I stopped wearing my foul weather gear except in the most extreme circumstances and instead would pull on my light-weight Gore Tex hiking jacket over some polar fleece, which worked beautifully until things got really wet.

While I was in Florida last week visiting family, Patrick announced out-of-the-blue that he had sold his foul weather gear and bought himself a Henri Lloyd Gore Tex jacket that was on sale (-55% !).  Of course they didn’t have anything in my size, but that didn’t stop him from selling my foul weather gear as well.     

Patrick's new Henri Lloyd Freedom Jacket

This time, I knew that a non-negotiable element for me would be finding something made for women.  Over the years, I have been forced to accept that I am not a small man.  All that excess material around the arms, shoulders and torso have to be eliminated.  Several years ago, I tried on a women’s top-of-the-line Musto jacket and was in heaven.  With a $600 price tag, I quickly removed the heavenly jacket and put it gently back on the rack.  But I always remembered that fit and feel.

I’m still not willing to pay that kind of money unless we are going to cross whole oceans, but I am doing (perhaps) the next best thing.  I found a women’s Musto jacket on sale (the 2014 BR2 model) and it has everything I want except Gore Tex.  It is made from a similar textile for water resistance and breathability, though, and for less than half the price of the Gore Tex variety, I’m willing to give it a try. 

My new Women's Musto BR2 Jacket

Who knows?  Maybe once I’m warm, dry, and comfortable I can get back to the business of being just a small sailor again.

Post-script:  Doh !!  The Musto jacket is ENORMOUS despite my careful attention to the sizing chart.  Back to the store with this one.  And of course, they don't have anything smaller...

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The Code D, Demystified: Part 1

We visited our sail maker just before Christmas to talk to him about getting a Code D sail made for Mareda. I stammered around clumsily, explaining that I wasn't exactly clear about the technical specifications.  He stopped me immediately. 

“Let me make it simple for you,” he said.  “NOBODY knows what a Code D is, nor a Code 0, nor a Code 5.  You just tell me what you want the sail to do, and I’ll make it.”

This did, in fact, clear up a lot.  Various technical articles and web sites of the major sail makers all have a different opinion on what these headsails are supposed to do.  In general, a “Code” sail simply means a headsail on a removable furler.  The Code D is a light-to-medium wind reaching sail that can be used with a large apparent wind angle from 60° to a full 180° polled out.  I suspect that the name “Code D” was invented by Delta sails, while the generic term for it is a Code 2.  But I much prefer my sail maker’s take on things: forget about what it’s called and focus on what it does. 

Can you name these headsails? Answer at bottom of post...

While smaller than a classic spinnaker, a Code D can be used with a larger range of wind angles than with either a symmetrical or asymmetrical spinnaker, and the fact that it is on a removable furler makes it easy to set and easy to douse by short-handed crews.  This is exactly what we are looking for.

Fortunately, our sail maker already has some experience directly with Sun Odyssey 379s and suggests a sail area of 65 m².  A symmetrical spinnaker for the SO 379 is 99 m² so we will lose some power, but we’ll gladly trade power for ease of handling.  Because it’s so easy to use, we’ll put it up earlier and take it down later than with a spinnaker, or so we’re told by Code D owners.

In the technical articles that compare various headsail options, the Code D wins over both symmetrical and asymmetrical spinnakers and even the famous Jimmy Cornell touted Parasailor. If you can read French, a couple of great articles are:

http://www.code-d.fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/code-D-bateaux-aout-2010.pdf

http://www.voiles-alternatives.com/documents/voiles_de_portant/comparatif_voiles_portant_bateaux.pdf

But this ease of handling comes at a price. To furl and un-furl correctly, the size, cut, and material of the sail have to be adapted specifically to your boat.  The error tolerance for the length of the stay is less than 1%. Too short or too long by more than this and you’ll end up with a mess when you try to furl the sail.  People who buy sails and furler systems without having a custom fit are usually the same ones who gripe that furling spinnakers are crap.

The price, however, even with our custom-made sail, is still cheaper than the spinnaker option from Jeanneau for the SO379.  Go figure.  The only downside, then, is that we have to be patient and wait for the sail maker to make his detailed measurements once the boat is delivered.  He says once he has all the numbers he needs, he can deliver the sail in 15 days.  He’ll also be making a 3^rd reef point in the main sail for us, and we’ll have to rig up a way to fix it to the boom.  It just can’t be any worse than what we had to do on Spray. 

In Part 2, I’ll describe the nitty-gritty of the hardware, equipment, and installation, with pictures from Mareda, sometime in late May when she's all rigged. Stay Tuned !

Answer to headsails photo question:  1.  Asymmetric Spi  2. Gennaker  3. Classic Spi  4. Parasailor  5. Code D.

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New Year's Travel Inspiration

Like most sailors, I’m an avid reader.  Like most avid-reading sailors, I collect travel-related quotes.  Here are a few of my favorites to kindle dreams in the middle of a dreary winter.

Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.

The Prophet Mohammed

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

St. Augustine

He who does not travel does not know the value of men.

Moorish proverb

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

Mark Twain

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.

Maya Angelou

One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are.

Edith Wharton

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes, or the eyes of another.

Marcel Proust

Travel makes one modest; you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.

Gustave Flaubert

Not all those who wander are lost.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Half the fun of the travel is the aesthetic of lostness.

Ray Bradbury

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

John Steinbeck

Voyage, travel, and change of place impart vigour.
Seneca

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.

Robert Louis Stevenson

For the born traveller, travelling is a besetting vice. Like other vices, it is imperious, demanding its victim's time, money, energy and the sacrifice of comfort.

Aldous Huxley

To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.

Hans-Christian Andersen

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbour. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

I know of a cure for everything: salt water. In one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.

Isak Dinesen

The sail, the play of its pulse so like our own lives: so thin and yet so full of life, so noiseless when it labours hardest, so noisy and impatient when least effective.
Henry David Thoreau

A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.

Moslih Eddin Saadi

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit in which the gods may offer it.

Freya Stark

The cure for boredom is curiosity.  There is no cure for curiosity.

Dorothy Parker

Beware the bareness of a busy life.

Socrates

My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing,
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going.
Edna St. Vincent Millay

* * *

Now it’s your turn:  any favourites that I should add to my collection?  And have a happy and healthy 2015!

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Nautical Christmas

Brittany is a region encircled by rough seas that claim the lives of many each year.  It is no wonder that most of the churches around the coast of Brittany are closely linked to the sea through their architecture, art, and their stained-glassed windows that offer hope and prayers for the safety of those at sea.  For this Christmas season, we present our small collection of (very amateur) photos of some of these artworks.  Happy Holidays everyone !

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Sun Odyssey 379 Options

Outfitting a new boat is equal parts excitement and bewilderment.  It’s a bit like walking into Starbucks for the first time thinking you’ll just order a small black coffee. 

When we went to the dealer to discuss prices, he handed us a 3-page small-print list of options.  He explained awkwardly that many of the options weren't really optional. (Hmmm… do I really need an anchor?) 

Patrick and I rushed home and went to work outfitting our dreamboat: deck hardware, power supply, water reservoirs, navigation electronics, sail rigging, upholstery, and kitchen equipment. 

And then we pulled out the calculator to see how much this was going to cost us. 

And then we went back to our list and started removing options. 

After several days of research and tense negotiations, we designed the boat you see in About Mareda. There are, however, a few features that Mareda doesn't have that may surprise you:

A heating system.  We have 2 types of heaters on board: an electric blower and an electric oil-bath radiator, which provide all the heat we need when in port and hooked up to shore power.  On those rare occasions when we might want heat at anchor, we’ll just have to throw an extra comforter on the bed and think warm thoughts.  If it happens too often, we’ll buy a small fuel heater.  With plans to sail in the Mediterranean from April to October, we thought we could forego this 4000 Euro ($5000) option.

Bow thrusters.  These are very popular but for a 37 foot boat we think it’s entirely unnecessary, especially for 4500 Euros ($5600).

An adjustable backstay.  We have one on Spray and we use it, but we’re never sure we’re using it correctly.  We’re just not that keen on chasing fractions of a knot of speed if we have to pay 650 Euros ($800 US) for the pleasure.

A detachable forestay and set of headsails.  This wasn’t an option and would require an expensive custom order and very expensive set of sails.  On Spray, there were occasions when we greatly appreciated the sail options we had, but there were other times when we really should have changed the headsails and didn't because it was too rough or just too much of a bother.  A friend who sailed from Brittany to the South Pacific said that his set of headsails was the worst investment he made for his cruise.  I believe we do need a storm jib, however.  We have plans... 

A spinnaker.  We decided to buy a Code D furling sail instead of a spinnaker.  A Code D can be used from approximately 60° apparent wind to a full 180° using a whisker pole.  It is easy to deploy and douse by a shorthanded crew.  It is smaller in surface area than a standard spinnaker (65m² instead of 90m²) but the tissue is more rugged and has to be able to stand up to being rolled without ripping.  Because it’s so easy to install and handle, people use it more often and keep it up longer than with a typical spinnaker.  The price is similar to a traditional spinnaker, even for ours which is made-to-measure for Mareda.  As an added bonus, our sail maker tells us that he can make a storm jib that can be yanked onto the Code D furler in under 5 minutes.  That will be our next purchase !

A radar.  I want one, as well as a Navtex system, but the budget is screaming for mercy already.  We’ll grow into these.

So what do you think?  Enough energy and water for Med cruising?  Enough chain length?  Any must-haves we forgot?  

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Make way for Mareda

With Spray nestled down for winter and Mareda’s preparation demanding more of our attention, we need to prepare the blog to host a new boat.  We've chosen a responsive blog template (I think?), which should optimize viewing depending on whether you are using a smartphone or computer, and we've added a few new widgets to highlight content.  There are still some kinks to work out with the new template, but we’ll figure it out eventually.

Coming soon !

I have resisted for a very long time, but am now convinced that we need a Facebook page for the blog. I worry about the time and effort required to manage it appropriately, but it’s just so much easier to interact with readers via FB than with the blog comments feature.  As new pseudo live-aboards (6 months / year) with a new swing keel boat to master, we hope to draw on the expertise of others out there so we’ll need to build up an interactive community.

But of course we can’t keep calling the blog The Spray Logs, now, can we?  I like the idea of having a neutral blog name, one that doesn't use the name of the boat, but in the end we decided that simple is best.  The new blog will be called simply Sailing Mareda. 

As soon as I get up the courage, I will change the URL of the blog to keep our existing content, then make a new one-page Spray Logs page to redirect people to the new address.  Hang onto your hats !

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Black Friday

I'd rather eat a bug than go shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving (black friday).  In fact, I'd rather eat a bug than go shopping at anytime, and I'm not particularly fond of bugs.  But we did participate in a black friday of sorts:  we finally managed to wash the head sail, and the resulting pail of water was indeed black.

We also decided we needed to edit our advertisement for Spray, and replace "good" with "tired" where we describe the quality of the sail.  It's probably good for another year of gentle coastal cruising but anything more ambitious than that will likely result in a few rips.

Once the sail is dry and folded neatly in its sack, our winterizing will be almost complete.  Next week we have a mechanic coming to put the motor to sleep (changing the water pump turbine, all the filters, belts, anodes, filling with anti-freeze, etc.) and then we can finally say that the 2014 sailing season is officially over for us. It's been a wild ride with high highs and low lows.  It was a milestone in our cruising careers and has given us the courage to go further (if not faster).  And it was the last season sailing Spray, who has been infinitely patient with us and who has taught us so much.

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What happens on the boat

In a move earlier this week that, I believe, surprised no one, French sailing legend Michel Desjoyeaux disembarked from the MAPFRE sailing team participating in the Volvo Ocean Race where he was serving as a watch captain. In an interview, he cited various irreconcilable differences with the Spanish skipper Iker Martinez. 

Disputes and tension between skippers and crew are part of cruising life, even more so in the professional realm where careers and big money are on the line.  Finding a crew that sails happily together is a rare and precious thing.  Jimmy Cornell, the godfather of world cruising, points out that almost all of the world cruisers you meet are couples, not a bunch of pals. 

"So, have a good day?"  From Mike Peyton, the world's greatest yachting cartoonist.

Before we started sailing “alone together”, Patrick and I crewed for 25 (!!) different skippers.  Crewing for others is a great way to learn to sail.  You can sail on a variety of different boats and learn from a range of skippers (sometimes learning what NOT to do…) .  Most importantly, we learned what kind of skipper makes a good match for us, and what kind of skippers we want to be.

For anyone who is thinking of taking off on a long voyage with a skipper you barely know, it is imperative to go for a short trip of 2-3 days with the skipper before agreeing to crew for him on longer voyages.  You may meet up for a drink somewhere, swap sea stories, and find yourself charmed by him or by his boat, but nothing can replace an overnight sea test. 

My personal opinion is that the sea makes people more concentrated versions of themselves.  This magnifying capacity can be a joy or a real hell, and, as Forest Gump would say about life and chocolates, you just never know what you’re gonna get.  This is not, of course, a one-sided evaluation.  The mix of personalities has to work, too, and a skipper may work out well with some crew members and not others. 

The first thing you have to do is to decide on some basic criteria and be unforgiving when they are not met, meaning a quick and definitive decision not to sail with the person again.  For example, one of our basic rules is that the skipper has to be Zen, which means that he is calm, confident, and happy to be at sea.  It doesn't mean he has to do everything perfectly (whatever that is), but that he can handle surprises in stride and in complete security.  Nothing says “I don’t know what-the-*&%$ I’m doing” louder than a skipper screaming at his crew, especially when it’s during some mundane manoeuvre like pulling into a slip or dropping the anchor.  And once a bad situation has arisen, don’t make excuses for him by saying things like “he’s just had a bad week” or “he apologized afterwards, so it’s okay”, etc.  Throwing a tantrum is never an isolated incident.  Be ruthless or you’ll regret it.

After a bad experience with a skipper, the best course of action is to simply not sail with that person anymore.  There is a strong temptation to blow off steam by telling others about your horrible experiences, but this is an exercise best done with a small select group of close friends if necessary.  When I was in the maritime academy, the mantra was “What happens on the boat stays on the boat.”  At the time, it pertained mostly to shipboard romances.  But I've come to appreciate this as a mantra for all at-sea personal happenings in general. 

This reminds me of the television show Hee Haw that parodied southern life and culture, where a group of southern maidens sing:

“Now, we’re not ones to go ‘round spreading rumors

Why, really we’re just not the gossipy kind.

No, you’ll never hear one of us repeating gossip.

So you better be sure and listen close the first time !”

But I digress… 

The point here is that the sea can have a powerful and sometimes unpredictable effect on people, liberating them from constraints they may feel in their lives on land or providing a therapeutic stage where they can exorcise their frustrations.  And that’s one of the things we love about it. Getting caught up in someone else’s therapy is never fun, but that magical, restorative nature of sailing is worth protecting, so what happens on the boat stays on the boat.   

Unfortunately, journalists wouldn't let Michel Desjoyeaux off that easily and he recounted some tense moments on board.  These anecdotes didn't do Michel or Iker any good, and I don't feel any smarter for having read them.

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