It's now 2013 and we've lived aboard full time in the Med for 5 years.
This blog post actually looks back to September 2008 when we crossed the Atlantic and came to the Med aboard a semi-submersible ship, the "Super Servant 4" with the shipping company Dockwise. It took 19 days to cross from Port Everglades, Florida to Toulon, France.
We sailed counter-season, meaning we went to the Med when all the yachts in the Med wanted to head to the Caribbean or Florida. We were only one of two sailboats transported! And as sailors know, crossing the Atlantic in September and October is at the height of the hurricane season, so being aboard a ship that can move at twice our speed was an attractive advantage to us.
Usually only yachts twice our size or larger are allowed one crew member to stay aboard. But since the ship was basically empty, they allowed us both to cross.
Normally when yachts are shipped, a crane lifts the yacht onto the ship and then the yacht is secured to the ship's deck. With Dockwise, the ship is semi-submerged using technology similar to a submarine, thereby allowing you to use your engine to drive and "float" your boat onto the ship.
We were excited and anxious to get aboard. Having received boarding instructions early that morning, we arrived alongside with only two yachts remaining from the previous voyage to "unload and float off". We watched and awaited our turn.
The ship's crew was on the catwalk that goes down the centre of the ship ready to take our lines and secure us to the catwalk.
A diver then swam under Onward and placed supports under her allowing her to sit on the deck of the ship. Then we were ready for compressed air to be used to push the water out of the ship's ballast, just like on a submarine as it is the fastest method to again raise the ship. Once the seawater hit the deck where Onward sat, it took another 6 hours to finish pumping out all the ballast water.
Next the supports that the diver had put in place, along with several larger ones, were welded to the deck of the ship ensuring that Onward was secure and would not move during our voyage.
We were provided with electricity and water so that our living arrangement on board was much as it normally would be.
Shortly thereafter, two huge tugs pulled and pushed Super Servant 4 away from the Port Everglade shipping terminal and turned us around to head out of the Intracoastal Waterway to the Atlantic. We were off!
We slept aboard our sailboat but ate our meals in the dining area of the ship with the crew. We were able to use the laundry facilities and showers. But mainly we stayed aboard our boat and did maintenance jobs and watched the sea roll by. No sleepless nights for us whereas if we sailed, one person would always have to keep watch 7x24!
The Super Servant 4's crew was also busy during the crossing. Initially they moved most of the wooden timbers you can see in the earlier photos off to the side of the deck and out of the way. The salt water and air are hard on the ship, so there was the never ending painting of the ship. Equipment was cleaned and maintained.
Before we unload, plans are underway for the return voyage back across the Atlantic. Now the ship will be full as yachts head to the Caribbean for the winter. When you book your voyage, you must provide information regarding the weight, length, width and depth of your vessel. Dockwise staff then develop a plan (similar to developing a floor plan) of which boat should go where on the deck. Certainly they want maximize the number and size of yachts to be shipped as they charge by the square foot and the weight of each yacht must be considered to ensure a balanced load. So it's like a giant jigsaw puzzle to use up as much space as possible. Not only that, they also have to take into consideration the draft (how much water is required under each boat), so that as boats "float on and off", they can clear the timbers that are placed on the deck to support the largest yachts.
Several days before arriving in France, plans were meticulously examined, followed and repeated measurements and adjustments of the timber placements occurred for the return trip back across the Atlantic. The ship is on a tight turn-around schedule and can't afford to find out that a boat can't enter the ship as there isn't enough water clearance between the ship's deck/timbers, and the yacht's bottom. Note: If a ship arrives with a full load, it can take 2 days to raise the ship, reposition the timbers, jacks etc. for reloading and then semi-submerge again before loading the new shipment.
Four days before arriving in France, we made a fuel and provisioning stop in Ceuta, Spain, which is on the north coast of Africa, next to Morocco. While the ship refueled, we had the day to tour the town.
A little research on Wikipedia tells me:
Ceuta is an 18.5-square-kilometre (7.1 sq. mi.) autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of Africa, sharing a western border with Morocco. It is separated from mainland Spain (20 km away) by the Strait of Gibraltar. Along with the Spanish exclave Melilla, it is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish territories in mainland Africa.
Ceuta's location has made it an important commercial trade and military way-point for many cultures and centuries, beginning with the Carthaginians in 5 B.C. Today it has a population of approximately 78,000 consisting of Christians, Muslims (chiefly Arabic speakers), and small minorities of Jews and Indian Hindus.
A border fence, constructed by Spain in the 1980's and 1990's, forms a barrier between Morocco and Spain to stop illegal immigration and smuggling. Morocco objected to the construction of the barrier since it does not recognize Spanish sovereignty in Ceuta.
After another four nights aboard, we arrived at our final destination, Toulon, France. Early the next morning the ship began the process of using vacuum (again like a sub), to place water into the ballasts again, thereby semi-submerging the ship. This enabled us to unload and an entire new shipment of yachts to reload and head back across the Atlantic.
The spookiest part of the entire voyage began as we watched the sea flow over the side edges of the ship's deck, which had now been dry for 19 days, and rise up around us. It felt like we were sinking, but actually, we were about to begin an exciting adventure of discovering the Mediterranean!