DOOR HANDLES

After suffering with countless sets of door handles on our forward facing, dutch stye wing doors, which could never be closed tightly enough and were always blowing open or closed, Dave finally decided to make his own. He wanted the type that pulled shut and tightened against the weatherstripping, that you 'dogged" down, that had the capability of locking and he wanted imporvement on the piece that secured the top of our dutch door to the bottom. the one we had would jiggle loose, and the old handles would eventually break down, and refuse to either open or stay closed. He is so proud of the beauties he designed, and had the men at Cable Marine cut out and polish for him.

THE MIAMI BOOK FAIR

I don't very often write about where we have been or what we are doing, but for this I will make an exception. It is that time of year when so many of you boaters are "heading south", and so many of you end up in Miami or someplace close by. I am urging you to give consideration to the Miami book Fair, as a must stop, on you way to where ever. Unfortunately, this year the dates coincided with the Seven Seas Cruising Association's annual Gam in Melbourne, but I am hoping this won't happen again.

 I have always loved the Gam, and the one we attended in Annapolis, in October was superb. I always credit the Gam with giving us the impetus to go to the Med, one of our life's happier decisions, but are we sorry we missed it this year? Not on your life. Will we go to the Book Fair again next year? You bet!

Our only disappointments were Barbara Kingsolver and Orhan Pamuk, who basically read from their books, and we decided, unless you are truly funny, like Wally Lamb, and Susie Essman, reading on in a droning voice is a quick inducement to sleep, at least for me. But everyone else, from Al Gore, (standing ovation), to Ralph Nader, Sam Tanenhaus, Don Senor, Chris Hedges, Norman Podhoretz, Gwen Ifill,  and the dozens and dozens more, gave us something to think about, something to laugh about, something to cheer about, and something to worry about. The world is full of great writers and deep thinkers, and this was a feast of so many of this year's best. Dave's comments as we left each all day session on the week ends, was, he didn't miss hearing another Bob Smith talk on diesel engines one bit.

 I would love to go into details about each and every session, but I think you can find it on U-Tube. Sooner or later it will appear on C-Span's Book program on the weekends. For my grandchildren and their mother's, try to see Susie Essman reading the first chapter of her book, What Would Susie Say?, about how teen agers know it all, eye roll, eye roll, and then how the roles are reversed. I don't know if it is as funny just being read, because she is a master comedienne, so if it comes in a talking book, get it. We feel that way about Wally Lamb's latest, and he does do the talking book himself. I also want  to read Al Gore's latest. That along with Friedman's book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, may give you a different perspective about what is possible, nay necessary, for our country's energy needs, including some of the downsides of nuclear you may not have thought about. Actually I want all my family and especially the youngest to read this book. it is the world they are inheriting, and if they don't get the generation in power to do something now, they are going to be inheriting maybe more than can be fixed.

 Google the Miami book Fair web site for details, you will be amazed at what was included. Vendors selling street food from around the world were on site, along with hundreds of booksellers, from new to old and every genre.

Best thing about all of this, was a five dollar admission fee, ten if you are not a senior, on the week end days, and other than the big names that spoke during the weeknights, for ten dollars a ticket, which also bought you a drink and appetizers, the rest was free.  Even parking was free. There were people who drove down from many parts of the state. They hired buses, or came as a group, staying overnight at a local hotel like Holiday Inn, on the doorstep of Miami Dade College. So all of you who live anywhere in the vicinity, put in your next year's November Calendar, to get the information on the Miami Book Fair. For the big name speakers, you must apply for tickets, (on line) which are free, but the room only seats about a thousand people, and they do run out of space. If you come by boat, anchoring by the Miami Yacht Club is very handy, a walk for the vigorous, or a short taxi ride for us lame ducks. Maybe some sort of deal could be made with them to use their dinghy dock for this occasion, without paying a fortune. When something this great is on your path of travel, it is a pity to miss it.

SSCA, I hope you try not to schedule on the same weekend next year. The week before would be perfect. For those who may not know, Seven Seas Cruising Association welcomes all boaters, or wannabees, or has beens, to join or even just participate in any and all affairs. Check out their web site, http://ssca.org/

THE C HOOK, A MUST HAVE

THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR US

We call this a C hook, and it saved our bacon again today. We were anchored in an out of the way side creek off the Waccamaw river in South Carolina, out of touch with the world, when we tried to raise our anchor on this rainy cold morning, only to bring up a massive tree stump hung on the anchor chain. Dave tried knocking it off with the boat hook, then driving with it and lowering the chain again, nothing worked. Ta-dah, trumpets blare, C-hook to the rescue. I wrote about this before, but didn't have the pictures to show you what it looks like. We bought this in Turkey, but you can make your own. Dave simply grabbed the chain with the C, hooked the heavier line around our windlass and cranked it up so the stump- larger than he could have bear hugged -was about four feet out of the water, then let the line slide quickly on the winch which, was enough to shake the stump loose. Most times, when he has another anchor he is trying to get off ours, he hooks it on the offending anchor line, ties the heavier line on a cleat, then trips the smaller line, and the other anchor drops loose from ours. It sounds simple and it is simple, but I can't think of any simple way it could be done without this little miracle gadget.
DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!

FLASH, SERIOUS ANCHOR TIP

DON'T BE A DRAG

Our very best tip about not dragging, is BE SURE YOU HAVE PUT OUT ADEQUATE SCOPE! This can't be repeated often enough or emphatically enough! What is adequate scope? You could use the formulas of three to one, seven to one, etc, but I say use this only as a guide line. It is not a religious imperative, and don't forget, when you apply the formula, add your bow height above water to the depth, AT HIGH TIDE to get the suggested amount. Deep water, you can reduce the proportion, shallower water, increase it. If wind is predicted, or a chance of wind, I can't believe that anything under 100 feet, even in the shallowest water, is not leaving yourself vulnerable. Bigger and heavier, put out more, anchorage too crowded, get out and find someplace else. Doesn't matter if you are the dragger or the draggee, the damage can be the same. You are safer in a more exposed anchorage, where you can put out the maximum, than to be in a tight place surrounded by other boats, all with limited scope.

Enter the anchorage, take a serious look around and choose the spot that keeps you clear of other boats if possible. Having the best protection is not as important as having a well set anchor with maximum scope. Drop the anchor, put out the amount you need to set it best, (every anchor has a different length at which it digs in best) and make sure it is set by slowly increasing the RPM to what you know is necessary to dig that anchor in. How do you know what this is? Get in and look at the anchor after it is set; if it isn't perfect, have the person left on the boat turn on the motor and again take up the RPMs slowly and keep pulling until you have achieved what you want. Note what the RPMs were and you have a base line. Did you ever watch a live sand dollar bury itself.? It slowly wiggles itself , almost just vibrates itself, and it literally wiggles itself into the sand. Your anchor will do the same thing, if it is a burying type. Some anchors simply pull up a mound to a size that they can pull up no more, and you are held, but you know that if there is a major wind shift, they will need to repeat this from the other direction. Which is why you want to allow yourself some dragging room. If you start your anchoring life in conditions where you can't get in and see the process, than pull on it with enough intensity that the person on the bow should see water coming by at a brisk rate. From there it is experience, if you never drag, especially when others around you do, you are probably doing it right. Every time you drag, you should KNOW you did something wrong. Once it is well set, then put out the scope you will need to keep you there, even in storm conditions.

Ask yourself, how many times you have dragged in the last year, the last five years, the last ten years. If you can't remember each and every time, (because there should be so few incidents) if it is more than a couple of times, even in ten years, you are doing something wrong. Dave says if you drag even once, you have failed anchoring. Even in squall conditions, unless 8 out of 10 drag, you better not blame the bottom. Compare your anchor to someone near who didn't move, compare the type and weight of chain, compare scope and technique. Figure out what you are doing wrong, so you will get it right, and go for years without incident, and so you don't have to run to a dock every time wind is predicted.

A HATCH FOR ALL WINDS

This unique boat hatch is truly for all seasons and all winds. As you can see, it is a large round hatch made of Lexan, which is strong enough to stand on, easy to open and close and has never leaked. but what makes it so unique, is the ability to swivel it in any direction, to match the direction the wind is blowing over your boat, which may not be from the front of the boat when it is tied to a dock, or riding to the tide, and not the wind. You can even face it backwards, to extract air; what ever works best for the conditions. To raise it, just loosen the fitting as Dave is doing in the picture, raise it to the desired height, and tighten up the fitting. Yo change directions, put your fingers on the small fitting you see in the top of the picture, pull it loose from the wall of the hatch, swivel it where you wish the hatch to face and put it back in place. It is ridiculously simple and amazingly useful.

As you can see from the upper picture, we have five of these hatches, two in the galley, two in the forward cabin, and one in the forward head. We can snap on plastic covers to keep out sun when no one is staying up forward, and we have mosquito netting that quickly snaps on all the hatches. This is not manufactured by any maker, although I think they are missing a chance in a lifetime, but we would be glad to give any further information for those wanting to make their own.

MARINA BAY IN FT. LAUDERDALE

A marina not to be missed if you plan to spend any time in Ft. Lauderdale, is Marina Bay. It is located in the upper reaches of the New River, beyond the I-95 bridge, where 95 intersects with Highway 84, making getting anywhere a snap. It has new floating docks, a country club like atmosphere, with a gorgeous heated swimming pool, (essential in the winter time), hot tub, indoor lounge with coffee always available, handball court, small exercise room, internet room, and even a small theater where movies are shown. The restaurant on site has what I think is the greatest hamburger to be had, with indoor and outdoor dining. It is surrounded by new condos that are all rental units, which makes it handy when your boat is out of the water in a nearby boat yard, to rent an apartment, and walk to the boat. Rates are reasonable compared to any comparable marina, like the ones near the beach, and long term rates, particulary in the summer, and this is considered a safe marina by our insurance company, are really reasonable. To me, the only downsides, are the long trip up the New River, so I wouldn't choose it for a weekend, and the soot in the air, which is a problem all over that part of the coast. I can live with it, because it is such a pleasant place to be, and handy for shopping, medical, and boat work, all things we do while there. It presupposes you rent a car, and again, the helpful staff at the marina will point you in the direction of an affordable rental car. Do think of it, especially if you are going to be tied up for any length of time.

BOOKMARK THIS LINK

I found a web site full of invaluable information, especially on how to communicate from a boat. The creators, Jeff and Karen, are the kind of cruisers you want to meet, so if you see them on their boat, aCapella, give them a hail. Meanwhile, take the time to find the web page, and save some time to take in all the information there is posted.

http://www.activecaptain.com/

Take a look, you are bound to learn things about communication from a boat you never knew. And if you have dogs aboard, or want cruising information on the east coast, you will have found a home.

THE PERFECT CRUISING MOTOR BOAT

THE PERFECT CRUISING BOAT

Is there really such a thing as the perfect cruising boat? Yes, if you have a boat that fulfills your needs, and you love her, and you are not thinking about another boat, you have the perfect cruising boat---for you. Is there a boat built that would be perfect for everyone? Absolutely not! Couple of examples: Mary and Joe want to make that Great Circle Loop that everyone talks about. They want to buy a boat, ready to go, that will allow them to do this one long trip, and sell her afterwards. Of course they go to the used market, best source of a ready to go boat, at a price that will be easy to unload when the passage is over, since it will have already taken that big dip. They choose a boat that meets the depth, and most importantly, the height requirements. They don't need stabilizers, massive storage space for food, but the ability to keep warm and cold, and keep the bugs out is important. A turn of speed, while still being fuel efficient, meaning a light weight, well designed hull, would be a priority. They will always be in civilization, so they need only the most necessary spares, a dinghy can be their life raft, good dock lines and anchoring gear are still important.

Fred and Alice, on the other hand, want to cross an ocean; they want to be real passage makers. They carefully shop both the new and used market, since they plan to keep the boat for many years, and they don't mind taking that new boat hit. They want stout, safe, and comfortable, for all the varied conditions the ocean can throw at them. The boat must have some stabilization method; they must have massive storage for food, fuel, spares, and a good life raft. They will want room for extra people, since most insurance companies require you take at least three for an ocean crossing.

Then there is Hank and Sarah, who live near a big city and just want an affordable weekend cottage. They may never leave their marina, maybe an occasional picnic cruise so the kids can go swimming. If they are social, they need lots of entertaining space, if it is for a personal get away, just big enough for them will do. Only enough equipment to get from boat yard to marina, and some very short hops; anything more, including giant powerful engines, is a waste of money.

Different boats, for different blokes.

I know you have read all this before, but it needs to be repeated over and over again. Fit the boat to where you are going to cruise, and how you like to cruise. Every night at a marina, fuel always handy, restaurants and grocery stores all about, that's one kind of boat. If living at anchor in remote places is your dream, that's another kind of boat. Buy the boat that fits your needs now, and in the immediate future. If your plans are to retire in eight years, and cross the ocean at that time, but right now you are cruising the Chesapeake, where you live, then buy and enjoy that nice Chesapeake Bay boat that will get you about faster, so you can cover more territory, in the short time frames you have, while still working. When you start crossing oceans, full displacement, slow speed is the only way to go.

We call our boat a "perfect liveaboard cruising boat". Key word here is liveaboard. The boat is our only home, other than a few things left in storage at our son's home, she must carry all our clothes, books, gadgets and gillhickies that we feel are essential for comfort and pleasure. We still had to cull. Too much "stuff", can ruin any boat. When people ask Dave what their boat needs, he most always answers, "A dumpster". If you can't store it, and retrieve it easily, if your lockers are so jammed pack you don't know what is at the bottom of them, and you've got as big a boat as you can handle, get that dumpster.

We fall into the category of liveaboards who want to spend most of their time at anchor. We are mainly in warm climates, we are often away from shoreside amenities, and we figured our longest off shore passages would be one to three days. We had dreams of cruising the Med, but any ocean crossings would be done using one of the yacht transport companies. To sum it up: If you want to cruise long distances in short steps, keeping yourself within fairly reliable weather windows, and spending most of your time at anchor, do the following:

1. Get as large a boat as you can manage, both physically and financially. You pay dearly for the extra size, maybe not in purchase price, but in every other way. But the benefits are greater comfort underway and at anchor, and plenty of storage space if the boat is your only home. If guests are rare, have only one extra cabin that serves another purpose, such as an office, or hobby room, with something that converts into a bed.

2.Look carefully at how the boat ventilates, at anchor, and underway. If the main cabin is forward, where the best breeze will be, make sure the noise level is tolerable. If you are mostly going to be in a marina, this is a non-issue. Have an air conditioner, just making sure it runs quietly, and the extra electric costs are okay with the budget.

3. You will be much safer, (from the sun's damaging rays), and more comfortable when the spray is flying or its cold, if you can steer from inside. If she is a semi displacement boat she will lift her bow as the speed goes up; choose one with an enclosed upper station. 4. Having the labor saving devices a woman is used to, is as important to her, as your engine room is to you. Everybody will be happy there is a washer/dryer aboard, especially if you like having company. When our kids come, they travel light, and the machines are running constantly. I also love my built in vacuum, and having every thing in the galley I would want in a house ashore. One of the big annoyances, a chest type refrigerator and freezer, like I had on the sail boat, is a thing of the past, thank goodness. 5. Don't be afraid of a steel hull. It will give you a lot of peace of mind. I have hit the bricks twice, once when the new engine, not properly tuned, quit as we were coming around a tight corner in the New River, and I slammed into a concrete wall; once a rock reef in Maine, that I hit so hard, it lifted the bow. No damage to report. The new coatings are fantastic, but you do have to check for any bad spots, and fix what you find. With all her insulation, the boat is so quiet, and sits so well that I'm constantly fooled in windy periods, thinking the wind has settled as I get up each morning, only to see it is still blowing stink.

6.The boat is rigged so that one person can do any chore. Dave can easily drop and raise the dinghy from her nest on the upper deck. Raising and lowering the anchor, navigating, driving the boat, all these tasks can be done alone. It would make a fine boat for a single hander.Even the passarelle, a fancy name for a gang plank, can be raised and lowered by one person.

7. Make sure you can board the boat easily, whether from high docks, floating docks, the dinghy, or from the water. Steps, ladders, a passarelle, if you are going foreign, and lots of grab rails are essential. We have a variety of ways to get aboard. Along side a fixed dock with usual tidal range, we go out the middle or rear side openings using a folding ladder with grab rail on the dock, and a set of hanging steps on the boat, one or the other or both, depending on tidal range. With floating docks, we generally go out on the back deck and down the nice wide steps, onto the swim platform, and off. Everywhere I go, there are either banisters, or grab rails. I stress this, because I can't tell you how many boats I have been aboard that have stairwells with no room for a grab rail. That was number one reason for crossing so many boats off my list, the other big reason, not being able to see the back of the boat from the steering station. The swim platform is part of the hull, which makes getting aboard from the dinghy easy and safe. Picture the trouble you can get in when conditions are rough, and the bolted on swim platform wants to rise up and crush your dinghy under it. From the swim platform, with its outside shower, we can also enter directly into our shower, through a rear door. This not only keeps wet bodies from trailing through the boat, but makes unloading the groceries from the dinghy a snap, and it is vital to our ventilation.

8.If you are going out onto larger bodies of water, and your boat is slow, you will need stabilizers for comfort. Be sure the boat has them or can have them put aboard, or think of the newer, but possibly still pricey, gyroscopic method, which has to be the cat's meow. It works even at anchor.

9. Dave feels so much of our love affair with our two boats, was having the incredible luck of getting boats designed by great naval architects. Bill Lapworth didn't know how to design a slow sailboat, and Jim Krogen didn't know how to do an uncomfortable motor boat. Talk to any owner of a Lapworth or Krogen designed boat, and you will see what we mean. So look at the designer, with some idea of what he was trying to achieve, and does this fit with what you are trying to achieve.

10. If you plan to anchor, look hard at the anchors and anchoring gear. No such thing as too heavy, no such thing as too much chain, but be sure the windlass can handle it. Don't forget all those dock lines and fenders for marina times, and at least one extra long floating line for towing or tying to shore.

11. You want all the latest gear when t comes to chartplotters, (the plural is deliberate), depth sounders, (ditto deliberate), radar, autopilot, and radios. A radio at each steering station, a portable VHF, and one in the dinghy, although the portable will work for this, and don't forget the Single Side Band radio. Cell phones and at least one that is unlocked, so you can buy local SIM cards if you go foreign. I suggest you look at www.activecaptain.com web site, for every thing about communications. One of our latest additions, well worth the price is a rear mounted video cam. I'm so grateful for it every time I back into a dock.

Once you own the boat, the list of things you need may overwhelm you, and I have hit only the major ones, trying to give you an idea of how to look at the boat and how much more you are going to have to spend, if the necessary stuff isn't there, or is out of date, or inadequate. Don't think the builder, or the guy who commissioned the boat really knew that much about what works and what doesn't, or was thinking about how you are going to use the boat. Get educated yourself.

Back to the starting premise, there is no perfect cruising boat, everything is a compromise, but do the best you can to buy what is perfect for how you are going to use it, and what you can comfortably afford. Dave adds, "Leave your ego at home."

MEDITERRANEAN CRUISING-USING AN AGENT

AGENTS, ANGELS IN PARADISE

So we are on our dream cruise, we are seeing our "newer world " in the Mediterranean, but let's face it, certain elements pertain to all cruisers everywhere, what I call the nitty gritty. If you are on an owner operated boat, the same tasks face you, shopping, cooking, cleaning, fixing and fussing, that face you what ever your boat and where ever you cruise. The big difference is, doing them in another language, another culture, and always in another strange port. We tend to do only the immediately important things on days we are passage making, or on days we go off touring, or when we have guests aboard. Sooner or later, we must pause and play catch-up, such as we are doing here in Malta. It is all part of the cruising package. If you are a boat owner, you know how things fail. If you are thinking of becoming a boat owner, be prepared to find fun in the fixing, or get a boat with a captain, or learn to utilize the shore support, in the form of specific boat yards, or agents, who will find the help you need, and see that the jobs get done.
Using an agent is new for us and in a country where English is the second language, like Malta, maybe not as essential. But oh how much he, Darius Goodwin, took the burden of organizing, of hours we would have spent on the phone, or running here and there by foot, bus or taxi, away from us. We got his name from a cruiser we met in Italy, who explained, that for a price, usually a percentage of what you spend, the agent will save you a lot of time, and a lot of hustling. How right he was. We called Darius at RLR Ltd., while still in Sicily, for information on how and where to ship spare parts. He said DHL was the best in Malta, and they were hugely efficient. The parts arrived before we did, almost overnight. He arranged for berthing, and was in the harbor by dinghy to lead us to our spot along the wall on Manoel Island, when we arrived. He then whisked Dave off to customs, helped with the clearing, delivered Dave back to the boat, and made a date in the morning to go through our list of what we wanted to accomplish. He arranged our fueling, by tanker truck right at our slip, that next day, duty free, with the customs man standing by, and took both of us on our shopping forays, me to an excellent grocery store, and Dave for pumps, fittings, nuts and bolts. We could have left the next day, certainly a tremendous time savings, but we took two extra days, one for fixing the stabilizer fin with the broken fitting, and one for a tour of Malta, which he also arranged. Tomorrow he will deliver our jerry cans of gas for the dinghy, saving Dave some heavy carrying, clear us out, and we will be on our way, quickest, easiest turnaround we've ever had. With the great savings in fuel prices, about a quarter of what we would have paid in Italy for the thousand gallons we needed, well worth the passage down here.
So now we have discovered a way to simplify our lives when time is short, or we don't want to struggle with a foreign language, and I am sure we will use the services of agents in the future. There are agents in Italy who own or control a lot of the marina space, and also have men who will help you find what you need from taxis to spares. Using their services will allow you to reserve space in marinas that are always tight, you will know ahead of time that you have the space, and you don't have to make all the phone calls, or faxes yourself. I am thinking specifically of J. Luise and Sons of Naples, and next time we pass through middle Italy, I would use their services. Then we could probably have had space at Sannazzaro Marina, instead of rocking and rolling at anchor outside. They also have an office at Porto Touristico de Roma. Not necessary for all, certainly not necessary if the budget is tight and the time frame is not, but it sure worked for us.
As an addendum, without an agent in Athens, we never would have got space in a well located marina, when our generator failed. We didn't need his help for the fixing, but he was Johnny on the spot when we needed a diver to find our anchor when another yacht tore it loose. We also used Gino Marine for all our arrangements in Turkey, from clearing in, berthing, to getting plane tickets home, (over the phone while we were still in Greece), to arraigning tours, and doing cosmetics. We have since discovered that agents, maybe called by another name, are there to help you in ports in the U.S. also. If you are a stranger, in a strange place, and pressed for time, and uncertain as to where to go for what you need, getting an agent can be very good solution.

Late summer, 2003

MORE BOAT FOR THE BUCK-BUYING YOUR DREAM TRAWLER

MORE BOAT FOR THE BUCK

In past years we have been to various cruisers rendezvous and we have always welcomed people aboard to to have a look. Although she bears a famous name, Krogen, for her designer, she wasn't for sale, and you couldn't buy a boat like her, because she was a custom boat, in other words, unique. What we were trying to impress on people were the wonderful bargains available in the used market, for the one of a kind boat, the boat that is never advertised in the show case ads, the boat without name recognition, which usually reduces the potential buyer market to just a handful. Most people go out looking for a specific boat, new or used, like a Camano 31, or Nordic Tug 37 , or a Krogen 42, or a Flemming 55, and the magazines are full of showcase ads for all of these boats. But many top notch designers, design only custom boats, or some custom boats along with the advertised production models that may, or may not bear their names. To order your dream boat to your specifications would be a wonderful thing, but you are going to get a bill for Big Bucks For Your Boat. I am saying do the opposite; look for that custom boat in the used market, where her lack of name recognition usually makes the price very attractive indeed. It is liable to fall below the price of a well advertised new boat of half the size and half the features. In good hands, that older custom boat may have been maintained to a quality that makes her as good as new, sometimes even better, and the owner knows little or none of this cost will be recovered at the end. He keeps her up to snuff, because he is enjoying her, because he loves her, because that is the kind of boatman he is. This is the real bargain you are looking for, the more boat for the buck! Don't be fooled into thinking that the cheap boat that looks like a wreck and probably is a wreck will be a great bargain; she will eat up your time and money faster than you can count it.

How do you go about this? First rule, everyone's first rule, is to decide where you are you going to use this boat, and how are you going to use this boat right now! Boats for the tropics are built one way, for the colder and wetter regions another. Boats planning to do waterways must look at all the height, width and depth restrictions. You must be very honest with yourself, and answer, "Where am I going to use the boat now.?" If you know for certain, in the immediate future, one to two years, and maybe three at most, you are going to be changing your cruising grounds to something quite different, you must throw that into the equation; anything beyond three years becomes quite iffy, and shouldn't keep you from buying the boat that is perfect for right now! If you live in the North America's North West region, you have a whole host of well built, custom boats to choose from, but most of these were designed with cold, deep, waters in mind, where keeping the boat warm enough takes precedence over keeping her cool, and shallow depths that are a reality of the east coast's Inland Waterway, or the Bahamas, may make such a boat totally impractical. Do your homework! Be brutally honest about the chances for future plans coming true. This includes looking for that boat suitable for crossing oceans.

To be truly sea worthy in ocean crossing situation, certain features that make a boat grand for full time living as a coastal cruiser, especially in warmer climes, will have to be ignored. I am thinking of multiple large openings, dangerous off shore, but essential for comfort where the breezes blow hot. I am thinking of large open spaces that make life a pleasure in normal cruising mode, but again can be dangerous in long offshore passages, where you go beyond the range of accurate weather forecasts. The offshore passagemaker also excludes the light, fast boats built for speed. These boats can be the most comfortable when they are up on a plane, but when the seas get rough and tough, and they have to slow down, watch out. Usually a fast boat doesn't have the fuel capacity for long distances, but again, here is where that custom boat can become a winner. John Doe went to his naval architect and said, " I want a boat that can cruise the whole world in comfort, and safety. it must have the latest in stabilizer technology, so that like the fast ferries, we can maintain speed in almost all conditions. I want large picture windows, and either you design a super quiet generating system so we air condition all the time, or they must open, which means you design some sort of acceptable storm shutters, for ocean crossings.. I want some good speed potential, so I know it must have hugh fuel capacity, a very stiff hull, and will probably end up being a size that will require multiple crew members." Such boats do exist , and when they hit the market, chances are they will be real bargains. Such purpose built boats will have small demand, but if the purpose fits your purpose, and you are comfortable with the purchase price and the ongoing expenses, then go for it. More likely to fit your budget, is the grand boat for everyday cruising, and let the yacht transports take care of the ocean crossing part. Do the math on what it costs to ship versus the cost of a true ocean going vessel, and what you may give up in cruising comfort, for safety crossing oceans, and you may save yourself some more money.

Price is directly related to size, and size is so vital it is usually the first figure mentioned in any ad. Do not be waylaid into buying more boat than you need because the price is so attractive. The bigger the boat, the smaller the market, so if you can really benefit from the size, and afford to maintain her, this can become your chance of a lifetime. If she is bigger than you need for where you are going with her, (back to Rule One) and if you can't really afford comfortably to pay her bills, from extra marina costs, to extra insurance costs, to extra everything costs, she will become a millstone around your neck. If you can't maintain her properly, she could become life threatening. How do you figure yearly costs of a boat? Old rule of thumb was ten to fifteen percent of the cost of the boat per year, should cover all costs, including berthing, fuel, insurance, up grades and maintenance. Applying this rule, don't use the cost you paid for the boat as a used boat, especially if she was a bargain of a lifetime. Use the approximate replacement cost of the boat. After all, if she is a sixty foot boat, her dockage fees will still be for those of a sixty footer, her fuel useage will be the same as when she was new; n mmo one charges you less for anything because you got a bargain. Charges still relate to size, so don't buy more of a bargain than you need, or can afford.

Most of us look for boats close to home. Makes sense; we are usually going to use the boat close to home, we are comfortable talking to the people in the area, we can quickly learn something about the builder, and usually the designer, and if locally built and designed, we stand a good chance it will suit our immediate needs. We can "kick a lot of tires" that way. The use of the internet, or a good boat broker, and watching the ads in the magazines opens many doors beyond your neighborhood, and with that special custom boat, you need to have access to other doors. In fact another suggestion for you bargain hunters is to look in certain key parts of the world, where the passage maker may have arrived, and wishes to go no further. The Panama Canal Zone used to be such a place. All over the world there are boats, who because of their owners , ,illness or death, or sudden "change of plans", as the ads so often say, are on the market. Maybe it is in a territory where locals are unfamiliar with the designer, or the potential of the design, maybe there is no one to actively market the boat, and if she doesn't have a name that can sell itself, you will have a bargain in the making. It can be even more of a bargain if it is located in an area you wanted to cruise in the first place. I think having a good broker who can network, and is familiar with the ins and outs of buying procedures outside your home territory can be well worth his commission

Now for a little personal information, so you will have some idea of how we reached the conclusions we reached. First of all, we sold our previous cruising boat, a forty six foot cruising ketch for a third of her insured value. She was typical of the boat owned by people who loved her, and wanted her to always be equipped with the latest improvements, and kept in perfect condition. You know you will never recover the cost, just like you never recover the cost of a house that far outptices her neighborhood, but it meant everything to you. We are making the same "mistake" with our present boat, if you can call keeping her up to snuff when you live aboard full time a mistake. If you love your boat, you take care of her to the best of your financial abilities.This is why I urge you to buy the best maintained boat , rather than the cheapest, it will be by far the better bargain.

When we told our good cruising friend , who had swallowed the hook and become a boat broker, we were truly ready to move from a sailboat to a motor boat, he responded with a description of a boat he wanted us to see. It was a custom Krogen, a name that we only associated with a very unique sailboat we liked, it was sixty one feet, much bigger than we thought we needed, and it was a steel hull. The conversation went something like this:

Us: "Bob, it is bigger than we need, we aren't interested in a steel hull, and it is more money than we think we need to spend."

Bob: "It has just a single engine, something you wan,t that can be hard to find, and the owner had it designed to "live on the hook", the way you like to do."

Us:" We really don't want to waste your time Bob"

Bob: Come down anyway, (to Miami) and we'll have our end of the season dinner together, and you'll have a look. If nothing else, it will help give you ideas".

We came, more for the social evening, because we truly were not interested in a steel hull, a prejudice developed from my father's influence, we really didn't think we needed 61 feet, and we were totally unrealistic about what a motor boat of a size larger than our sail boat to accommodate the growing size of our numerous offsprings' families, would cost. Of course we fell in love with her, but we weren't to be dissuaded, since she was the first boat we looked at.

Looking at the boats in the boat show in the fall was the clincher. The truth of what a larger power boat would cost, especially in the new market, made the used boat look like a bargain. I also never saw another boat that had the all around visibility the Whistler. her original name had, which gave me some hopes in my being able to get it into a slip, and out again., Too many of the boats had stairwells not easily negotiated by someone with creaky knees. Very few of the boats at that time had refrigeration and batteries, fuel capacity and water making capacity to make living away from a marina, without a constantly running generator, a possibility and a joy. The more we looked, the more convinced we became we had passed the deal of a lifetime. With heavy hearts, we called Bob and asked, out of curiosity, how much did he sell Whistler for. He said, "Would you believe, I haven't had an offer." We couldn't believe it, but we were overjoyed. Now we not only had a chance to buy our dream boat, but we had a bargaining position. And that is how we became the owners of our present pride and joy, more boat than one could ever expect for the price, and that is why I say, if you want more bang-or boat- for your buck, search out that custom designed, one off, whose first owner's dream was the same as yours is now. What about the extra size, and the steel hull? We love every inch of her, there is room for everything we could want to bring aboard, including having as many as six extra guests in comfort, and feeding and drinking "boatloads" of people. Her apartment sized galley makes big time cooking easy. Twice now the steel hull has been a life saver, once when our new engine failed during her shakedown, and I rammed a cement wall in the New River, and another time when I took a buoy on the wrong side, one of those situations where the colors reversed suddenly, and I ran up on an underwater stony ledge. Bless that steel hull; I no longer fret about hitting possible floating debris and being holed, and if we ran into the situation of being fired on like the two steel hulled sailboats coming up the Red Sea recently, we too might have the bullets bounce off of us. It does take extra maintenance, as Bob told us it would, but it's a small price to pay.

Here's wishing you the same luck we had in your pursuit of your dream boat, and looking in the used custom boat market may help that dream really come true.

MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK-BUYING YOUR DREAM BOAT

MORE BOAT FOR THE BUCK

You have finally reached that point in life where a boat is in the offing, but not a schooner, as in the poem. You've already made the decision for a motor boat, which is why you are reading this magazine. But the decisions seem endless; size, one or two motors, fast or displacement hull, new or used, galley up or galley down, and even where to look, but these are not the choices I am going to address. Instead, I want to steer you to a particular class of boats, one on which almost no advertising dollars are spent, one with little or no name recognition, unless it is for the designer or yard that built it, and that is the custom, one-off motor boat. Of course i am talking about previously owned boats. Building a new custom boat can be the most expensive way to go, and I am trying to steer you onto the most boat for your money, more boat than you ever dreamed possible within your budget.b

We have had our boat at Trawler Port and Trawler Fest, and in both cases, left her open for the public to view. Although she bears a famous name, Krogen, for her designer, she wasn't for sale, and you couldn't buy a boat like her, because she was a custom boat, in other words, unique. What we were trying to impress on people were the wonderful bargains available in the used market, for the one of a kind boat, the boat that is never advertised in the show case ads, the boat without name recognition, which usually reduces the potential buyer market to just a handful. Most people go out looking for a specific boat, new or used, like a Camano 31, or Nordic Tug 37 , or a Krogen 42, or a Flemming 55, and the magazines are full of showcase ads for all of these boats. But many top notch designers, design only custom boats, or some custom boats along with the advertised production models that may, or may not bear their names. To order your dream boat to your specifications would be a wonderful thing, but you are going to get a bill for Big Bucks For Your Boat. I am saying do the opposite; look for that custom boat in the used market, where her lack of name recognition usually makes the price very attractive indeed. It is liable to fall below the price of a well advertised new boat of half the size and half the features. In good hands, that older custom boat may have been maintained to a quality that makes her as good as new, sometimes even better, and the owner knows little or none of this cost will be recovered at the end. He keeps her up to snuff, because he is enjoying her, because he loves her, because that is the kind of boatman he is. This is the real bargain you are looking for. Don't be fooled into thinking that the cheap boat that looks like a wreck and probably is a wreck will be a great bargain; she will eat up your time and money faster than you can count it.

How do you go about this? First rule, everyone's first rule, is to decide where you are you going to use this boat, and how are you going to use this boat right now! Boats for the tropics are built one way, for the colder and wetter regions another. Boats planning to do waterways must look at all the height, width and depth restrictions. You must be very honest with yourself, and answer, "Where am I going to use the boat now.?" If you know for certain, in the immediate future, one to two years, and maybe three at most, you are going to be changing your cruising grounds to something quite different, you must throw that into the equation; anything beyond three years becomes quite iffy, and shouldn't keep you from buying the boat that is perfect for right now! If you live in the North America's North West region, you have a whole host of well built, custom boats to choose from, but most of these were designed with cold, deep, waters in mind, where keeping the boat warm enough takes precedence over keeping her cool, and shallow depths that are a reality of the east coast's Inland Waterway, or the Bahamas, may make such a boat totally impractical. Do your homework! Be brutally honeest about the chances for future plans coming true. This includes looking for that boat suitable for crossing oceans.

To be truly sea worthy in ocean crossing situation, certain features that make a boat grand for full time living as a coastal cruiser, especially in warmer climes, will have to be ignored. I am thinking of multiple large openings, dangerous off shore, but essential for comfort where the breezes blow hot. I am thinking of large open spaces that make life a pleasure in normal cruising mode, but again can be dangerous in long offshore passages, where you go beyond the range of accurate weather forecasts. The offshore passagemaker also excludes the light, fast boats built for speed. These boats can be the most comfortable when they are up on a plane, but when the seas get rough and tough, and they have to slow down, watch out. Usually a fast boat doesn't have the fuel capacity for long distances, but again, here is where that custom boat can become a winner. John Doe went to his naval architect and said, " I want a boat that can cruise the whole world in comfort, and safety. it must have the latest in stabilizer technology, so that like the fast ferries, we can maintain speed in almost all conditions. I want large picture windows, and either you design a super quiet generating system so we air condition all the time, or they must open, which means you design some sort of acceptable storm shutters, for ocean crossings.. I want some good speed potential, so I know it must have hugh fuel capacity, a very stiff hull, and will probably end up being a size that will require multiple crew members." Such boats do exist , and when they hit the market, chances are they will be real bargains. Such purpose built boats will have small demand, but if the purpose fits your purpose, and you are comfortable with the purchase price and the ongoing expenses, then go for it. More likely to fit your budget, is the grand boat for everyday cruising, and let the yacht transports take care of the ocean crossing part.

Price is directly related to size, and size is so vital it is usually the first figure mentioned in any ad. Do not be waylaid into buying more boat than you need because the price is so attractive. The bigger the boat, the smaller the market, so if you can really benefit from the size, and afford to maintain her, this can become your chance of a lifetime. If she is bigger than you need for where you are going with her, (back to Rule One) and if you can't really afford comfortably to pay her bills, from extra marina costs, to extra insurance costs, to extra everything costs, she will become a millstone around your neck. If you can't maintain her properly, she could become life threatening. How do you figure yearly costs of a boat? Old rule of thumb was ten to fifteen percent of the cost of the boat per year, should cover all costs, including berthing, fuel, insurance, up grades and maintenance. Applying this rule, don't use the cost you paid for the boat as a used boat, especially if she was a bargain of a lifetime. Use the approximate replacement cost of the boat. After all, if she is a sixty foot boat, her dockage fees will still be for those of a sixty footer, her fuel useage will be the same as when she was new, no one charges you less for anything because you got a bargain. Charges still relate to size, so don't buy more of a bargain than you need, or can afford.

Most of us look for boats close to home. Makes sense; we are usually going to use the boat close to home, we are comfortable talking to the people in the area, we can quickly learn something about the builder, and usually the designer, and if locally built and designed, we stand a good chance it will suit our immediate needs. We can "kick a lot of tires" that way. The use of the internet, or a good boat broker, and watching the ads in the magazines opens many doors beyond your neighborhood, and with that special custom boat, you need to have access to other doors. In fact another suggestion for you bargain hunters is to look in certain key parts of the world, where the passage maker may have arrived, and wishes to go no further. The Panama Canal Zone used to be such a place. All over the world there are boats, who because of their owners , ,illness or death, or sudden "change of plans", as the ads so often say, are on the market. Maybe it is in a territory where locals are unfamiliar with the designer, or the potential of the design, maybe there is no one to actively market the boat, and if she doesn't have a name that can sell itself, you will have a bargain in the making. It can be even more of a bargain if it is located in an area you wanted to cruise in the first place. I think having a good broker who can network, and is familiar with the ins and outs of buying procedures outside your home territory can be well worth his commission

Now for a little personal information, so you will have some idea of how we reached the conclusions we reached. First of all, we sold our previous cruising boat, a forty six foot cruising ketch for a third of her insured value. She was typical of the boat owned by people who loved her, and wanted her to always be equipped with the latest improvements, and kept in perfect condition. Being a production boat, her sale value was based on BUC Book prices. It's like owning an expensive home in an area of low cost housing. You will never recover the cost of the house..We are making the same "mistake" with our present boat, if you can call keeping her up to snuff when you live aboard full time a mistake. If you love your boat, you take care of her to the best of your financial abilities, especially when you really are aware that " you can't take it with you." This is why I urge you to buy the best maintained boat , rather than the cheapest, it will be by far the better bargain.

When we told our good cruising friend , who had swallowed the hook and become a boat broker, we were truly ready to move from a sailboat to a motor boat, he responded with a description of a boat he wanted us to see. It was a custom Krogen, a name that we only associated with a very unique sailboat we liked, it was sixty one feet, much bigger than we thought we needed, and it was a steel hull. The conversation went something like this:

Us: "Bob, it is bigger than we need, we aren't interested in a steel hull, and it is more money than we think we need to spend."

Bob: "It has just a single engine, something that can be hard to find, and the owner had it designed to "live on the hook", the way you like to do."

Us:" We really don't want to waste your time Bob"

Bob: Come down anyway, (to Miami) and we'll have our end of the season dinner together, and you'll have a look. If nothing else, it will help give you ideas".

We came, more for the social evening, because we truly were not interested in a steel hull, a prejudice developed from my father's influence, we really didn't think we needed 61 feet, and we were totally unrealistic about what a motor boat of a size larger than our sail boat to accommodate the growing size of our numerous offsprings' families, would cost. Of course we fell in love with her, but we weren't to be dissuaded, since she was the first boat we looked at. Another big issue we had with the boat, was the unique round hatches, which could be lifted and swiveled in any direction, to maximize airflow, an invention of the original owner. We were afraid of taking a wave,which might sweep them open. We talked about the boat all summer, poring over the plans, and one day I woke up and thought, "Why am I worrying about taking a wave on the foredeck. In our twenty some years of cruising the sail boat, where we threw ourselves in front of almost everything the Bahamas or Caribbean could offer, we only took on blue water twice, and all we had to do was reduce our speed to stop it. Now we are older, and a lot more cautious, our chances of this happening are almost nil. Forget about it" . Twenty one thousand cruising miles later, we are glad we did.

Looking at the boats in the boat show in the fall was the clincher. The truth of what a larger power boat would cost, especially in the new market, made the used boat look like a bargain. I also never saw another boat that had the all around visibility the Whistler. her original name had, which gave me some hopes in my being able to get it into a slip, and out again., Too many of the boats had stairwells not easily negotiated by someone with creaky knees. Very few of the boats at that time had refrigeration and batteries, fuel capacity and water making capacity to make living away from a marina, without a constantly running generator a possibility and a joy. The more we looked, the more convinced we became we had passed the deal of a lifetime. With heavy hearts, we called Bob and asked, out of curiosity, how much did he sell Whistler for. He said, "Would you believe, I haven't had an offer." We couldn't believe it, but we were overjoyed. Now we not only had a chance to buy our dream boat, but we had a bargaining position. And that is how we became the owners of our present pride and joy, more boat than one could ever expect for the price, and that is why I say, if you want more bang-or boat- for your buck, search out that custom designed, one off, whose first owner's dream was the same as yours is now. What about the extra size, and the steel hull? We love every inch of her, there is room for everything we could want to bring aboard, including having as many as six extra guests in comfort, and feeding and drinking "boatloads" of people. Her apartment sized galley makes big time cooking easy. Twice now the steel hull has been a life saver, once when our new engine failed during her shakedown, and I rammed a cement wall in the New River, and another time when I took a buoy on the wrong side, one of those situations where the colors reversed suddenly, and I ran up on an underwater stony ledge. Bless that steel hull; I no longer fret about hitting possible floating debris and being holed, and if we ran into the situation of being fired on like the two steel hulled sailboats coming up the Red Sea recently, we too might have the bullets bounce off of us. It does take extra maintenance, as Bob told us it would, but it's a small price to pay.

Here's wishing you the same luck we had in your pursuit of your dream boat, and looking in the used custom boat market may help that dream really come true.

THE GET HOME ENGINE

Our boat, a single engine displacement trawler, bought with eight years of age on her, was designed with a get home capability, by belting a 25 horse power electric motor, driven by the 33kw generator, directly to the drive shaft. This delivers more than four knots of forward motion in calm waters; we have never tested her in rougher conditions. I was glad we had the capability when the engine quit quite suddenly after one of our more boisterous passages, just as we entered the reef strewn bay at Rum Cay in the Bahamas. We immediately dropped the anchor, got secure, but with a lot of roll. We called the marina, where we had dinner reservations, and explained the situation, and while we all agreed it was probably a clogged fuel filter, they offered to lead us into a spot among the reefs, where we could more comfortably attack the problem. We explained the pitfalls of this system, no speed control, no reverse gear, just an on or off, full speed and coast to a stop situation. Another difficulty was communicating from the commander (me) at the wheel, to the master (Dave) in the engine room, when to engage, and disengage the power. All went well, including the tactic of turning the wheel hard over a couple of times to hasten the slow to a stop procedure, once we got within striking distance, literally, of the reef.

It is possible this problem could be overcome, by putting a manual transfer switch on the bow thruster motor, so I could use that control at the helm station to engage the get home motor in forward, reverse, or neutral. Both motors are the same size, it should work, but since we have only used the get home motor once in ten years, we have tended to ignore it.

Is it worth having this equipment? Dave would rather use the space for a second smaller generator, for the many hours when the other one is seriously underloaded. Our get home method, like all secondary drive systems has its pitfalls, as I mentioned above. It is certainly of no use in tight situations, like in a harbor, but then, the dinghy tied along side or a tow would be an option. It is out in the open that it could be a blessing, helping us keep the boat in a more comfortable direction, while working, and getting us within reach of other help. Of course it would be worthless if the problem was in the shaft or prop. As I said, it has been used only once in what is over 30,000 miles, and then it was for comfort, and a chance to try it out, neither really necessary, so is it necessary? You be the judge.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

There are all kinds of places you are going to want to anchor, or will have to anchor, even if not a first choice. The above photo is an example; a beautiful setting, but presenting challenges, typical of many anchorages in Turkey that were desirable, but ever so tight. We used the usual technique, drop your anchor in what is usually fairly deep water, judging the spot, (we used the radar to get some idea of distance) that will allow you to have adequate scope for the depth, but you know you won't run out of anchor chain before you reach the shore, dig the anchor in, then continue backwards until you know your stern line will reach the shore, keep the engine in gear so the weight of the chain won't pull you forward, while your mate leaps into the dinghy, and you feed the line kept stored and tied securely in the back of the boat- and hope it is floating line to be doubly sure it won't get into the prop, and rows or motors, or even swims the line to shore, ( and pity the woman who is given a chain to swim ashore, but that has been done), secures the line to a tree, a bollard built for the purpose, or around a large rock. Once this is done, the motor is taken out of gear, and the anchor chain is tightened, or loosened, to a proper tension. If you are in one of those favorite places where everyone wants to be, and the boats get a little close, you may want to take two stern lines into shore, to limit swing sideways. Sounds complicated, but done a few times, it becomes routine, plus, if you are very lucky, another kindly boater may help get the lines ashore. This isn't always good. We got our floating line after an eager helper leaped aboard and tossed all of our former line, non floating, into the water, not realizing we were in gear. It was immediately sucked into the prop. After that we had a spliced, non floating line, for the secondary, and a new heavy duty floating line, which is also better if you have to tow someone. Other nice things to have, especially if you are going to the Med and want to take advantage of all the great anchoring possibilities,is a very good, very heavy anchor, lots of chain, up to 400 feet, since we many times anchored in 100 feet and 40 to 60 feet was routine, and what I can only call an anchor line grabber. This is a heavy duty, approximately 8 inch flat C shaped piece of metal, with a hole at the top end, to attach a shackle with line to hold the other guys anchor line when you have accidentally picked it up, and another hole half way down the C to attach another line for a trip line. When you pull up someone else's anchor line while pulling up yours, you use this to grab his line, keep it off yours, until you are housed, and then use the trip line to drop his line. It is not an every day occurrence, not even an every year one, but when it happens, you are going to be so happy you have it. Also, if you are a tree hugger, and want to protect the trees, get a heavy duty piece of canvas with cringles sewn into both ends, put the canvas around the tree, and tie your line into the cringles. You can buy this at places that sell trail riding equipment for horse camping. Turkey is aware of the damage done by the boats, and is working very hard to put rings and posts along the shores of the popular anchorages. But you can do your part too. It is a great system where there is almost no tide, no current, and consistent wind in protected anchorages. Our preference was always to swing on our hook, if possible, which is why we had the 400 feet of chain.

MORE ANCHORING HINTS

Seems like the biggest mistake we see people make when anchoring, is not using enough scope. How much is enough? Forget the formulas, three to one,or seven to one and ten to one. How much you need is a product of how heavy your boat is, and how much windage, and how much you have in the chain locker, and how much swing room you have where you are anchoring. Can't really say why, but it seems in really deep water, three to one might work; we rode out the storm of the century in Belize, in 60 feet of not well protected water, with a little over three to one, using a 75 pound CQR for a 46 foot 34,000 pound boat. Winds got into the mid fifties. On the other hand, in water 20 feet and under, it seems harder to set an anchor, unless we use over ten to one scope. Maybe someone else can tell me why. Our saying is, "you bought and paid for all of it, why not use it."

Notice I refer to chain. You don't have to worry about chafe, the weight of the chain adds to the holding power, and you ride much steadier than the boat on a rope rode. Main disadvantage is the chain chews you can get on a fiberglass hull, if you are anchored in a tidal sluice way, and the wind pushes you over the anchor chain. A bow protector will help, or stay out of these situations. Otherwise, you better have a windlass that will allow the switch from chain to rope, and have only 40 to 60 feet of chain with rope spliced on. This really is an issue for those cruising the Keys or Bahamas, but as I said, you can learn to avoid the situation.

Next biggest mistake, is not pulling back hard enough and long enough, to really dig that anchor in. We pull really hard, taking it up slowly, and letting it pull, up to about five minutes in total. Even so, when swimming the anchor afterwards, we may be surprised at how the anchor is set, our 200 pound Danforth often only half dug in, with the stock protruding on one side. This leaves you subject to wrapping your chain around the stock, although in ten years of use, it has only happened once It was the one time we were glad we had our Turkish anchor line grabber, on this side of the Atlantic. See the blog, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

After years of anchoring in mostly sand, or as in the Med anchoring in "god only knows what" since it was too deep to see, we are now learning a lot of tricks about anchoring in deep mud, which seems to be standard for the Chesapeake. Don't remember having the problems getting our anchor to stick, like we are having this year, but I am wondering if the extremely heavy rains have raised the ground water level to such an extreme, that the bottom in places has become soup. So here are a couple of our new "tricks of the trade."

For what ever reason, when we have gently dropped and gently backed up, to where the anchor should have set, we just as gently start dragging backward. A good hard pull will sometimes make it set. In the past we were never so gentle, and I thought the jerk on the windlass might not be good, but the anchor always set, so maybe it is better to give it a quick dig to start with.

We have also found, when taking up the anchor, giving it a good hard pull while still set, and leaving it in gear for thirty seconds seems to knock the spaghetti line of mud that forms after dragging around all night, off the anchor chain, just like dropping the anchor back on the bottom after you first pull it up, can knock a lot of the mud off of it. I do hope you have a salt water wash down right up in the bow of the boat, because unless you like a lot of stinky mud or critters decaying in your chain locker, you have to get that anchor chain clean.

Last, but not least, a good strong windlass is essential to good, safe anchoring. Otherwise you will find yourself disinclined to set and reset you anchor three or four times, when it didn't really dig in properly, or you ended up too close to shore or another boat. And for those nasty situations that could happen in the middle of the night, having a windlass may enable you to get your anchor up fast in heavy conditions. For tses sort of emergencies, also be sure you can cut your chain loose, by having a length of rope that leads up on deck, tied to it, and don't ever anchor too close to shore if deep water is behind you. In a sudden and heavy wind shift, you could end up in the surf zone.

MANUALS FOR THE CRUISING BOAT

Get all the manuals for all your equipment. Know who made the components. Most equipment you buy, from your engines to your watermakers are assembled of other manufactures equipment, not built by the name of the company on the item. When you need a replacement part, it can be quicker and always cheaper to buy from the manufacturer of it, or a major parts supplier such as Grainger, rather than the company who assembled the item. Be sure you have aboard a Grainger catalog, a West Marine catalog, and a Defender catalog.

MIXING METALS AND AN INFRARED THERMOMETER

 

Don’t mix metals in your twelve volt wiring, such as using a stainless washer on your battery terminal bolts. Use a copper washer to match the copper wiring. If possible, use copper or bronze bolts on the battery terminal. This is really important with your major twelve volt wiring, not so much with the minor wires, although you may lose some power. Check for the extra heat generated, with your infrared thermometer.

 

Buy an infrared thermometer, if you don’t have one. Any good hardware store has them. They have multiple uses, such as measuring the changes in temperatures in your water and oil in your engine, and your exhaust emperatures. Remember the water temperature in your engine will change, as you go from area to area with sea temperature changes.

 

ANCHORING HINTS

For those of you who bring an anchor into a hawse pipe, and the anchor must be brought up and face the right direction to house it, rather than try to lean over with a long pole poking at it to turn it about, just back up as you bring it aboard, and it will automatically turn facing the way you need it.

 

Here’s how to clean your anchor quickly, when it wants to bring a big sample of the bottom aboard with it. When it comes off the bottom, and has come up a few feet, give it a quick drop. This assumes you are in clear water where you can see what is happening, and you are not moving.  If any thing remains on the anchor, backing will help clean it, without banging it on the hull. Of course you must have a wash down on the chain as it comes aboard, and it still pays to stand by with a hose in hand. Best of all, if your boat didn’t come with an enclosure that keeps the dirty water from running down the deck, you can often build your own, and cut some scuppers in the toe rails at the low point of the blocked area, so the dirty water runs overboard.

With very few exceptions, never anchor with two anchors. The exceptions are anchoring in a tidal sluice way, where you place one anchor upstream and one down stream, or if in a heavy gusting situation where your boat is being batted from one side and then the other, and the motion is miserable. This happened to us just once in thirty two years. Last exception is a very tight anchorage, where those around you have two anchors out. Best is to avoid these places, the risk is too great. Most times when we see someone anchored with two anchors, we know he, or his anchors, is not to be trusted, and we move away.

 

Get some means of communicating with your partner that is hands free, to be used when anchoring or going into a slip. We bought the combination microphone and ear phone set, the first ones at FAO Schwartz, the second set at an SSCA Gam. The two sets were the same equipment, but the first ones were half the price.  Both have proved invaluable. Best part of the second set is the soft case that came with it, which keeps the off switch from being moved to on, accidentally. Doesn’t help if we just forget to turn them off.

 

EQUIPPING THE CRUISING DINGHY

                                             BOATER BEV’S BOLG

 

                  A COLLECTION OF THINGS WE’VE LEARNED: PART TWO

 

EQUIPPING THE CRUISING BOAT’S DINGHY:

What you put in your dinghy is as important as the dinghy. You must of course comply with regulations, which means the proper licensing, safety equipment, and lights, and please, do what is necessary to get that white light high enough.

Oars may not be required, but they are on the top of the list of essentials.

 

On the must have list is two anchors, one to hold the dinghy to the beach, and the other one, and it can be smaller, to hold the dinghy off the beach. Sounds funny and superfluous, but so often, even if the wind should blow the dinghy out off the beach, there will be a side current, or next to shore the wind blows along shore, or wakes will set you on, so you almost always need that second anchor. If your dinghy is small and light enough, you can do as most people do and drag it up on the beach, but that does nothing to enhance the bottom paint. If you keep your dinghy in the water, and it has a hard bottom, it pays to have bottom paint on it. If it is a soft dinghy, you are abrading the bottom. And any dinghy sitting on the shore can have waves splash in and fill the dinghy, unless you’ve taken the wise precaution of turning it around with the bow facing outward.

 

Next, I also suggest two painters, the primary one for tying to docks or your boat, strong enough and long enough, so there is no question of breaking, or not having enough scope to comply with the request at most busy dinghy docks, to leave a long line. Half inch line works well; it may be overkill in terms of strength, but smaller line can become difficult to untie. The second painter should be for towing, if you ever tow. This time a floating line is preferred to eliminate this necessarily longer line from getting down into your prop. You still must keep it short as you anchor, and let it out as you pick up speed.

You also should have another small, lighter line from the stern, so you can tie your dinghy alongside your stern, or the dock or another boat, when this becomes convenient. And don’t forget to have a long steel cable you can use to padlock the dink to shore or the boat in iffy areas. Chain would be better, but hard to carry a long enough piece. Don’t use this in areas where dinghy theft is almost unknown; it’s hard on everyone else.

 

A spare gas can, a small two gallons worth can be a life saver, if you have a gauge that fails, or you’ve been careless, and for years, after having both these failures, we carried one, but now with the four stroke engine, an the fuel lasting so much longer, we’ve given it up. May regret this someday.

 

A ladder to climb back in the dinghy after a swim, unless the tube size is small enough and you are agile enough. Eventually, you will have a guest who isn’t.

 

A good air pump is a must have, although it doesn’t have to be in the dinghy. Not inflating the tubes hard enough is one of the biggest destroyers of inflatables. Don’t forget the water pump, even if you have a built in pump, and an extra stern plug may be a lifesaver someday. A pliers, and screwdriver, and a few fuses should be aboard.

 

In the nice to have category, and close to essential, I would put a radio, (this can be a portable) and a compass, a bottle of water, and any kind of map you can get of the local area. This can be a freebie, or one you’ve copied from your chart boo; it’s just great for dinghy exploring. At night have some sort of powerful flashlight or searchlight.

 

Depending on the area you cruise depends the risk of theft, so judge by that, what you can leave unsecured in the dinghy. In our experience, the Caribbean was the worst place, and we kept the dinghy pretty stripped down, but you must carry oars, and eventually, we lost a pair.

 

Ancillary to the dinghy, is a means of hoisting it. Our experience was with davits on the stern of the sailboat, modified with cross bars, to prevent swaying in big seas, and set so the stern of the boat rode lower than the bow, to allow water to drain out the back hole under almost all conditions. It follows, there must be lifting rings mounted in the dinghy. When we got electric winches, it was as easy as pushing a button to hoist it up, and took less time than writing about it. We lifted the dinghy every night, and on every run. Kept the dinghy quiet, clean and safe, and meant extra speed underway. Now with a trawler, we have a crane that hoists the dinghy to the upper deck. It is rigged to be a one-man operation, but we don’t do it every night, and when it is a short hop, of less than ten miles, we usually tow it. Did lose it once having the line slip away when we hit unexpected, very rough seas. A problem with floating lines, especially new, is they are slippery, and must be very carefully tied.

 

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Now for the addition to our dinghy that has meant the most to me, and as you can see from the photo, even Dave uses. We call it the Granny Rail. It is a support I can grab on to, whether climbing in or out , from the side or the front mounted step (the highest part of our dinghy), and feel safe and secure. You can make it as simple as a single stanchion mounted to the floor, but it must have a rigid floor. You can write, if you want more details. Best present you can give yourself, if leaping about from deck to dock is getting beyond you.

GO SLOW IN SHALLOW WATER

It took a long time for us to realize that running our boat at normal cruising speed, seven to nine knots, in shallow water, (under nine feet) not only caused a distinct rumbling sound, serving as an excellent depth sounder, but caused the back of the boat to sink, so our swim platform submerged. We found it was common knowledge among tug boat captains, but it was a slow learning process for us. This slows the boat noticeably, another clue something is happening.

 

HANDHOLDS EVERYWHERE FOR GETTING OFF AND ON THE DINGHY

We have been cruising the Bahamas again, this winter of 08-09, and as spring comes on, so have the winds, seemingly endless winds. We are hanging to a mooring at Exuma Park headquarters in the north Warderick Wells anchorage, enjoying the scenery and the social life among our fellow cruisers. Out came the Scrabble board and the Domino set, and so, some pleasant afternoons have been spent. So now on to some useful information, I hope, for you wannabes, and you newbies. I thought a "wish list" of important goodies you might not think of, would be nice

1. You must be able to get on and off your boat, from a dock, from a dinghy and from the water. It must be easy; you won't always be young and nimble, and your older guests, like parents, really need it easy. For a sailboat, without a rear swim platform, a folding ladder, set along the side decks as a break in the life lines, will work for dinghies and for swimming. Must have solid stanchions on either side. For motor boats or sailboats with swim platforms, all you need to add are some things to grab onto as you dismount from the dinghy, and cleats to tie to. Some sort of folding ladder for swimming should be permanently mounted. I wish I knew how to post pictures, but we have a folding ladder mounted between stanchions in the center of our swim platform, another set of single stanchions on either side of the platform to grab onto when you land the dinghy, and to allow us to tie the dinghy along the back of the boat, when we want to load and unload in heavier seas, and a pair of large handles attached to either side of the boat,at stand up height, to grab onto if we pull the dinghy alongside the platform. There is also a grab rail along the entire back of the boat about three and a half feet up from the platform, used to hold onto, and to attach our passerelle, for exiting the boat from the stern when the dock is high. We attached a small grab rail to the deck, for the passarelle, when we are backed up to a floating dock. You just can't have too many supports, for safety and comfort.

2. The dinghy, don't leave home without it! Get the biggest one you can lift aboard your boat, and get some way to easily lift it aboard. Best is to have what we had on the sail boat, very sturdy high davits, so easy, that we never thought of not lifting the dinghy every night. Yes, I said every night, keeps it clean and safe. We never went to bed without preparing the boat to take off at a moment's notice, and that meant not worrying about the dinghy. It was slung at an angle, and the plug pulled so it couldn't fill with water. Best is a hard bottom inflatable, and make sure neither the color, nor the protective strip will rub off on your hull. If you are getting up there in years, particularly the little woman, get an electric start, and even a center steering wheel, can become essential when old arthur-itis sets in.

It's the electronic age- as if you young ones didn't know, and take advantage of all of it. Latest on the scene, and a blessing like all the other gizmos have been, is AIS, which tells you who your larger neighbors are, and now for not too much extra, you can tell them who you are. Also, XM weather on your chart plotter, and FLIR, which turns night time into day on its monitor. I have a lot of issues with XM, too inaccurate, not far enough time in future, no time given for when the forecast is given, and too expensive but you get used to it, and don't want to give it up, in spite of these flaws. Cellular phones, unlocked, if you are going foreign, so you can buy SYM cards and use your phone in any country, are a must, and an antenna to extend the range, and a good antenna for wi-fi signals. Now there is a totally new technology radar on the scene, which is supposed to pick up even the smallest object close to your boat, and boy, do I want that one. Seeing the big boats isn't so hard, it's the small ones, or the floating refrigerator you want to know about. Guess we'll now need two radars. A chart plotter, and a back up, a really dependable autopilot, (we used to have a back up and thirty years ago it was essential-not now) depth sounders, weather instruments, single side band radio, and don't let anyone tell you it isn't important, VHF's, plural, even if the second one is a portable, so you can take it in the dinghy, if you don't have one mounted in your dinghy. Important point! Be sure you can hear your VHF in your cockpit; this is an essential safety factor.

I'll go into more later, it is just too late for any more.