10.08.2008, Wolfratshausen, Germany
We're back in the fatherland now and slowly transitioning again into land-locked life... There are a few items which we still have on our list to post here as some kind of a "wrap-up"; here's the first installment - our year aboard Namani in summary (in somewaht random order...):
10,268 sea miles
360 nights aboard Namani
70 nights at sea
19 countries visited
4 broken toes (3 within first 10 days, 1 towards the end)
Longest passage with us 2 adults: Milos (Greece) to Malta, 6 days, 636 miles
Longest passage overall (3 adults): Atlantic crossing, 26 days, 3192 miles
Shortest day's sail: Mayreau to Tobago Cays, 3 miles
Easternmost point of cruise: Greece: Sifnos (Vathi) 024°41 E
Southernmost point of cruise: Grenada: Prickly Bay 11°59.59 S
Westernmost point of cruise: Florida: Fort Pierce 080°19 W
Northernmost point of cruise: Maine: Snow Island 43°49 N
Of our 360 days aboard Namani:
• 129 we sailed with friends on board
• 156 we sailed in company with another sailboat
• A total of 247 days (excluding overlaps) we sailed either with friends on board or in company of friends on another boat
Roughest conditions:
• Europa Point off Gibraltar - big, confused seas
• Atlantic crossing: 1 rough night mid Atlantic, big seas last 50 miles into Antigua
• North of St Vincent
• Barbuda to St Kitts - big following seas
• We never experienced more than a Force 7 (perhaps low 8) at sea
Sails
• 9 sails carried, 6 used
• Never used: storm sail, spare main, spare genoa
• Most used: Mainsail, #2 genoa, large staysail
• Used just once: spinnaker, small staysail
Most valuable equipment: tow/wind generator, Lego, Rocna anchor, SSB + Pactor modem, solar garden lamp as anchor light
Longest time spent in one place: 3 weeks in Fort Pierce, Florida, waiting for engine parts & repair; 3 weeks Jolly Harbour, Antigua after crossing and celebrating holidays
Biggest problems: (not too bad, considering)
• break in self steering with 1000 miles to go in Atlantic crossing; had to hand steer
• engine problems started with flooding through exhaust in Atlantic, later caused failure in Bahamas and Florida
Favorite places:
• Valletta, Malta
• Mahon, Menorca
• Tobago Cays, St Vincent & Grenadines
• Les Saintes, Guadeloupe
• Portsmouth, Dominica
• Grenada in general
• Bahia de Almodovar, Culebra
• Snow Island, Maine
Most scenic points of our cruise:
• Pitons, St Lucia
• Tobago Cays
• Snow Island, Maine
• Barbuda
• Culebra
• Cala Covas, Menorca
Most special sights:
• whales in Atlantic
• many dolphins off Lanzarote
• lunar eclipse inTobago Cays
• space station passing overhead, Florida,
• swimming with sting rays and turtles, Tobago Cays
• swim call in the open sea in water 3000 meters deep
Longest stretch of only anchoring: 36 days in Windward islands
Windiest anchorages: Canouan 32 kt winds, St Kitts 38 kts (measured at deck level)
Most expensive repairs:
• Engine repair US $750, Florida
• New bracket for self steering: US $630, Antigua
Best beer: Dogfish 60 Minute IPA, Maine
Worst beer: Anheuser Busch sampling, Florida
Best Mediterranean beer: Ichnusa (Sardinia)
Best Caribbean beer: Piton (St Lucia)
Things we would do differently next cruise:
• More solar panels and maybe a permanently mounted wind generator
• Keep a slower pace than we had in the Mediterranean
• Sign up with Chris Parker or similar weatherman / router sooner
• Get rid of hot water heater for more space
• Better insulate fridge
• Different wind vane steering system (we liked our old Windpilot's separate rudder but it was frequently knocked off course in big following seas)
• Anchor windlass set-up that can handle mixed rode (we had to manually attach / detach line from chain)
Things we liked most about our boat:
• Good mix between a hardy, sea going vessel and a roomy, livable home
• Spacious cockpit
• Small enough to be affordable (upkeep, bottom paint, marina fees), big enough to work well and be comfortable
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Comments [1]
22.07.2008, Yarmouth, Maine
It is strange to be winterizing our boat in July while other sailors are just launching, and very sad to see Namani out of the water. The end of our adventure, at least this one. I am trying to get motivated for the "adventure" of heading back to work and "real life". Wasn't what we just had real life, too? A really good life, that's for sure.
We spent four days tied up alongside at Yankee Marina getting everything ready for two years of storage. Starting with general cleaning and fresh water washing everything, and then on to specifics: outboard ready for storage, sails stowed, anchor and chain cleaned, etc. I wish we had kept track of how many meters (kilometers?) of line we washed or how many kilos or gear we unloaded, Lego collection and all.
On the fifth day, the mast was unstepped and Namani hauled out. Markus could watch it optimistically, glad for our year of sailing, but for me it was a sad moment. Typically for him, Nicky was unmoved, except for fervently admiring the power washer used to clean Namani's dirty hull. Since hauling her out, we have spent two more days perched high above the ground in the boat yard to finish off the job list: winterizing the engine, emptying all lockers, painting a few corners, drying the bilge, greasing the steering, etc.
Namani is now 27 years old and has crossed the Atlantic at least three times (with us and with her former owners). She seems to be in generally good shape though we know there will be several major projects to undertake before our next long cruise. New sails, a new topsides paint job, a little repair to the keel. We suspect that parts of the deck will have to be replaced if the core proves as hollow as it sounds, in places at least. Well, time will tell. It will be good to focus on getting her ready for future cruising rather than moping about this ending.
Namani is not the biggest or nicest sailboat around, but I am continually struck by the number of "biggers" and "nicers" we see that rarely, if ever, venture away from their home waters. It is certainly true that the best boat for cruising is the boat you have now. And to go now! A case in point is our sailor neighbor at the marina: he bought a beautiful and spacious Bristol sloop three years ago and outfitted it for extensive cruising. Health problems intervened with his plans and he was forced to sell the boat. It makes us doubly appreciate our good fortune to be able to turn our dream into a reality.
In our time at the boat yard, many different people come up to ask us if we were the ones who had sailed "all the way" from Europe. That provided a little fanfare for the conclusion of our yearlong journey which was touching for us, and a prompt for us to quietly celebrate our cruise. We are not quite ready to let go yet, so we will make a few more blog posts and update our website with some practical information for sailors and answers to the most commonly asked questions we hear about our trip.
Not yet, the end.
| 04 - Puerto Rico to Maine |
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13.07.2008, Tied up at Yankee Boatyard, Yarmouth, ME
As I will have to disconnect our SSB antenna (read: insulated backstay) tomorrow in preparation for unstepping Namani's mast, this will likely be the last blog post from aboard Namani (at least for this trip - more wrap-up to follow once we're land-locked again). We had nice afternoon sail last Thursday up to Yarmouth on the Royal River where we are now tied up at the Yankee Boatyard (again a very likeable family business). Since Thursday we've been busy getting Namani ready for haul-out and storage on the hard - freshwater washing all sails and about half a mile of lines and running rigging, plus all anchors and chains, cleaning all the nooks and crannies, ...
Despite all the clean-up we're very happy to be "back home" on Namani again, even though it will only be for a few more days. We'll have a sailmaker take measurements tomorrow morning (it's Sunday evening now) for a new suit of sails (main plus #1 and #2 genoa) which we will need before we do any more extensive cruising aboard Namani again. Haul-out will likely be on Tuesday.
Aside from all boat business we've also fallen in love with Yarmouth - a beautiful little town. We've slowly started running again two weeks ago (after a year no aerobic exercise...) - first on Peaks Island and now in Yarmouth - and every time we set out from the boatyard here we find some new little treasure around the town.
Back in Gibraltar, Peter Crouch from "Jenny" had called Namani a "tough little boat" - which is definitely the way we've come to think of her and like her. Provided we can ascertain over the next two weeks that she still is "structurally sound", we will look forward to ready her again for some extended cruising in a "few" years time. Stay tuned...
PS: Picture above shows our well worn German ensign which just made it to Yarmouth before fully disintegrating...
| 04 - Puerto Rico to Maine |
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