Tell-Tales

Vessel Name: Skylax
Vessel Make/Model: Warwick Cardinal 46
Crew: Rod & Lu Heikell
About:
Before Lu and I got married I had to tell her that I would always spend more money on a mistress than a wife. The mistress at that time was a previous boat, seven tenths, a Cheoy Lee Pedrick 36. �Likewise�, she replied, �just as I will always spend money on my lover�. [...]
28 February 2008 | Greece to Antigua
28 February 2008 | Greece
Recent Blog Posts
07 March 2008

Updates before returning to Skylax

For the complete blog and supplement to Ocean Passages & Landfalls go to www.freewebs.com/seawrite

28 February 2008 | Greece to Antigua

October 07 to Jan 08

28 February 2008 | Greece

July to September 2007

For the complete blog go to www.freewebs.com/seawrite

Updates before returning to Skylax

07 March 2008
RJH
For the complete blog and supplement to Ocean Passages & Landfalls go to www.freewebs.com/seawrite

Ocean Passages and Landfalls
The second supplement for this book is now up on the Supplement page on the Tell-Tales site. See side-bar. It is all plain text.

05-03-08

Cruising Association Centennial Pilotage Fund

This will be announced in the yachting mags and by the CA in the CA magazine Cruising very soon. Imrays will be providing an information pack on application to them. www.imray.com.
MARCH NEWS - Cruising Association Centennial Pilotage Fund

A fund to encourage new writing in the area of pilotage and cruising is being made available by Rod Heikell and Imrays to mark the CA's centenary. The project is open for any cruising area in the world and proposals for conventional pilotage as well as innovative writing will both be welcome.

A fund of �3000 will be made available to cover expenses for research and writing for applicants. The CA will also provide two years free membership to the successful applicant and the winning proposal will then be published by Imrays.

Further information from Fred Barter at the Cruising Association.

BBC shortwave blues

03-03-08

Sadly the BBC has cut most of it's shortwave services for World service broadcasts covering the Med and other large chunks of the world. The rationale is that most people are receiving the beeb's world service by other means which means mostly via the internet. Oh yeah. Apart from those us cruising around on yachts without a huge Inmarsat dome on the back and the money to bankroll the connection, what about all of those people around the world who have wonderful little wind-up radios because there is no electricity let alone a telephone line to pipe a connection down.

This is just miserable cost-cutting to subsidise the beeb's foray into other services to take on it's domestic rivals. While the world service continues on the internet, some FM stations such as in Antigua and Tonga, and a few of it's shortwave services, it leaves a huge gap. Oh I wish they would reconsider but the shortwave transmitters have probably been sold for scrap already.
link

October 07 to Jan 08

28 February 2008 | Greece to Antigua
Rod

For the complete blog go to www.freewebs.com/seawrite
Cape Verdes to Antigua

Dec 7th to Dec 21st 2007

We left the Cape Verdes on December 7th and motored out into the channel between Sao Vicente and Santo Antao with three reefs in the main as there is an acceleration zone reported between the two islands. Off Mindelo there was around 20 knots of wind from behind and for a while I contemplated taking a reef out. A little further towards the southwest end of the channel the wind piped up to 30-35 knots so we left the third reef in and zoomed out into the Atlantic - well at least until we hit the wind shadow of Santo Antao where the wind dropped off altogether though the sea didn't. It took a couple of hours motoring to get out of the wind shadow and then we were off with the wind on the quarter and pointed directly for Antigua.

In Mindelo we had picked up a refugee off an ARC boat, Kaiso, that limped in with keel problems amongst others. Everything came out of the boat as most of the hatches and ports had been leaking and three of the crew opted to jump ship. Arabella walked the pontoon looking for a ride and although we were quite happy with just the two of us for the crossing, we decided to give 'Rab' a lift to Antigua where she was to join another boat.

The days ticked by with daily runs over 160 NM and up to 171NM with everything on under-drive to keep it easy on us and on 'Mole' the autopilot. Most of the time we had two reefs in the main with wind E-ENE at 18-25 knots. We could have carried more sail but the girl was happy and 'Mole' in charge without any strain, so we left it at that. There were a few BBC's and LBC's (big black clouds and little black clouds) around, but fewer that the previous crossing further north and with less weight of wind in them. There was not a lot of rain in the squalls either compared to the previous more northerly route and we carried a fair amount of the red dust that blows over Mindelo all the way to Antigua.

Often we didn't bother to reef the genny in as we were a little under-canvassed anyway. Most of the time we carried a reefed main and the genny poled out and when were making too much northing and not enough westing, we simply gibed the main over and headed west for a bit. I still have a theory that the wind goes more towards the NE in the day and back towards east at night, though we are not talking major shifts here.

We ate well, too well, and when it looked like we were going to get to Antigua well before christmas the mince pies were consumed, and then the christmas cake, though we didn't get around to the christmas pudding and brandy butter until after we had arrived. Lu baked bread, we lost several fish and lures, and generally slept, read, ate and navigated to Antigua.

We entered Freeman's Bay at 0300 on the 21st, probably a silly thing to do, but we did so very slowly and I have been in there a few times before. After the anchor was down we popped the cork on a couple of bottles, though we were by now pretty dog-tired so the last bottle didn't get finished before we all crashed.

It was hard to believe we were there with so little fuss after the previous crossing and encounters with Tropical Storm Peter in 2003. Still, a dip in the morning into the warm soupy water of Freeman's Bay soon convinced us we were in the Tropics and a trip ashore and a celebratory bottle of Carib sealed the matter.


One hour mid-Atlantic

14th December 2007

Midway between the Cape Verdes and Antigua

18 00'N 44 24'.92W

1330 (UTC-1) Course 300 magnetic

Squall clouds and rain. Wind E Force 5. Sea 2-2.5 metres. Cross swell.

Skylax two reefs in the main and genny equivalent of No. 3 out.



One storm petrel.
Lots of flying fish.
One tropic bird.
The odd strand of seaweed.
Puffy trade wind clouds


One hour in the Western Atlantic: Canaries to Mindelo (Cape Verdes) November 2007

1130 to 1230 local time (UT+1)

23 37'.06N 18 55'.17W to 23 31'.71N 19 02'.26W

Sky overcast with rain clouds to the south. Skylax with 1 reef in main and trades blowing 18-20 knots. Speed 7-7.5 knots.

Pod (c. 12) Atlantic spotted dolphins playing around the boat.

Madeira storm petrel flying around boat.

4 shearwaters

Lu sleeping

Another dozen or so Atlantic spotted dolphins join the first pod spotted and play around boat.


One hour in the Western Atlantic Gibraltar to Canaries November 2007

1400-1500 local (UT + 1)

34 28'.37N 08 33'.32W to 34 24'.07N 08 38'.13W

Light Portuguese trades. Wind NE 3. Sea moderate. Skylax motor sailing. s/y Sunrise off to starboard 3-4 miles.

8-10 petrels (?) flying south.

4 shearwaters

1 plastic bottle


Letter to Yachting Monthly Feb 08

Dear Ed
OK I was tired and should have been more attentive, but stuff happens to all of us on passage at times. On the way across the Atlantic this year during a controlled gybe, the restarining line on our gybe preventer, a Scott Boom-Lock, snarled on a cleat and after a tug of war between the main and 25 knots of wind, the wind won and bent the pin and plates that hold the Boom-Lock on. We rigged a jury preventer line through blocks leading back to the cockpit, but I was seriously peeved that I didn't have the control on a gybe that the variable spring clamp on the Boom-Lock provided.
In Antigua I emailed the company and they asked me to bring it back and post it to them. Four days after posting it, the Boom-Lock was returned, fully repaired, and at no charge. You can't can't ask for more than that and I'll be more attentive next time and keep those deck cleats covered.
www.boomlock.com

Rod Heikell

BLT on passage


Lu has a really neat way of making BLT's on passage (and on terra firma as well) that she learnt from the chef of a restaurant she used to manage.

Fry or grill the bacon as per normal and while it is cooking finely chop the tomatoes and lettuce (and anything else you want to put in it). When the bacon is cooked chop it up as well. Put it all in a bowl and mix the mayonnaise into it. Then just spoon it onto the bread or into a warmed pitta.

In lots of places you can buy vacuum packed pittas (usually 6 in a pack) that have use-by dates of several months. They don't have to be stored in the fridge and to heat them up either put them under the grill for a while or put them on a stove-top toaster. You don't have a stove-top toaster. Then go out and buy one.

Chop it all up and mix in the mayonnaise, freshly ground black pepper, and anything else you think might be good.

Penyllan's xmas message

This is a wonderful christmas email from Penyllan. They left the Canaries en route for Barbados and 300 miles out lost the lower shrouds - ALL OF THEM. They used lines as best they could to steady the mast and turned back to the Canaries where they renewed all the rigging. This email is their son Brendan's account and Xmas missive (Pete calls it libellous), reproduced here with his permission, a wry, dry and wonderfully witty account of drama at sea.

� Brendan Metherall

Subject: Brendan's xmas message from Penyllan
Date: 12 Jan 2008 20:06:00 -0000

Seasons Greetings from Penyllan, whose crew had prepared themselves for a less than exuberant celebration this year on account of the weather. Would sound a rather banal reason to those bound to dwellings built on more solid foundations, but sailors do not discuss the weather to pass the time, nor because they've run out of more interesting topics of conversation. No, with much deliberation, scratching of heads, scribbling on charts and consultation with other sailors - themselves perched eagerly
at their radios, forecasts at hand, latitudes, longitudes, wind speeds and isobars circling in their salty minds, only needing a few verbs and adjectives to form meaningful sentences - after all this we decided that the turkey would remain in the freezer; that Jesus wouldn't mind; that in any case, the transition from Julian to Gregorian calendars made fixing the exact date of Christ's birth difficult to say the least, and after a quick hands-up: two agnostics and an atheist; none of us able to attend
the stock-take sales that otherwise mark the occasion (weren't gourds going cheep the day after the lord was born!?) - all made for good reasons to delay Xmas, at least until the wind steadied below 20 knots or the barometric pressure showed an upward trend.

So the day passed much as those sea-bound days preceding it, with much lively discussion on the speed and direction of the wind supplanting the more traditional exchanges of seasons greetings. We enjoyed a modest main meal of pork chops with stewed apple, instant mash and limp beans cooked to the Captain's taste. To say they're limp is an understatement. They arrive on the plate practically digested. But I couldn't complain. On this occasion, the meal was prepared by the Captain, so I had no leg
to stand on other than the two folded beneath me (the Cabin boy must sit on the floor at mealtimes) and I was not about to stand lest I bang my head on the ceiling again. Beans weren't worth getting all hot and bothered over anyway. If I'd wanted to start an argument I'd have talked about stowage. Aboard Penyllan this is the most contentious topic by far.

There isn't any. That's the whole deal. Penyllan is fighting three weight divisions above her class. She's so loaded down with stuff it takes 15 knots of wind to even budge her. Her bum looks big in an every stretch of water she's sailed over! I blame them both: the Captain and the Mate. He needs to be prepared for any breakage or problem no matter how unlikely; spares for everything, tools for any job. It has it's upside, particularly when something breaks, but his greatest fear - ironically -
is the sum of all the others: That one day Penyllan will sink under the weight of all his contingencies.

The Mate is something else again. She won't throw anything out, has a story about every Tupperware container; knows where and when she bought it and more often than not, the name of the person she bought it from. She has a big container for big clothes pegs, and a little one for little clothes pegs. No kidding. A whole system. She's the same with food too. Can't stand for anything to be wasted. It's not uncommon for a meal to be served with an announcement along the lines of: "I used the asparagus
just in time. Another day and I'd have had to throw it out!" or "There was mould all over the first two layers of the cabbage, but once I peeled them off, look it's perfect!" Such statements are in no way intended as a disclaimer. It's a tremendous source of pride for her to have avoided such a calamity! Never sold anything in her life, my mother.

So at this particular dinner, lunch or whatever you want to call it - it makes no difference when you're all up at different times of the day and night - we'd discussed stowage, we'd gone to town on boiled vegetables, and it isn't long before the conversation turned back to the weather, the possibility of a storm and that a second reef in the mainsail would be prudent. Such a reef was made good by the Captain and I, and after a while I retired to the shelf next to the anchor locker for a few
hours rest before my midnight till 4am watch: we drew straws apparently, though I don't remember this at all. It must have been when they plied me with all that liquor back in Las Palmas: fancy being shanghaied by your own parents - twice! Fancy drawing the graveyard watch both times!

For those of you who may not have heard the news, this Xmas day fell three days into our second attempt at the Atlantic, our first having been shortened by a rigging failure that occurred not far from where we were currently positioned. In truth, had we thawed the turkey, we would have been celebrating the passing of that fateful point in the ocean with more gusto than of that barn birth of twenty centuries ago (give or take a week or two). But without wishing to sound completely irreverent,
my thoughts of late had dwelt less on His great suffering than on our own during the return to the Canaries when over two days and nights we'd motored into heavy seas, mast threatening to collapse onto our sleepless heads with every wave. Herein, I suppose, lies the difference between the mortal and divine: that we're inclined to dwell more on our own suffering than that of others. That, I suppose, and that very few of us are born in barns. But I never in all my life expected to see the Captain
knelt in prayer before a cross, yet here he was bowed before our swaying, single-spreader mast, head down, praying for a miracle.

And his prayers, it seems, were answered. We made it back mast intact; fixed the rig; got drunk; drew straws, I lost again and now I'm back in my little cot, three days out again, three hours from the midnight watch again. I shouldn't complain, otherwise it's the plank or a keel haulin' and Penyllan's massive girth takes a good haulin' to get a Cabin Boy around.
But thankfully, it doesn't take long for me to sleep. Not having to digest my beans helps a great deal as does opening the fore-hatch a few inches to let in some air. Soon I'm dreaming: I find a secret doorway next to my cot. Through stacks of Tupperware, moved aside, the space opens up in front of me. There's a king-sized bed and more than enough space for my backpack; a whole cabin as yet undiscovered by the Captain or the Mate. I sink into the lush, dry mattress stretching out my legs, then
BANG!

It's 22:30, 10:30 in Melbourne. John Howard sits alone in his living room, wearing his favourite Sydney 2000 tracksuit. He watches as on his flat screen TV, Ricky Ponting strides to the centre of the MCG for the coin toss of the Boxing Day Test. Jeanette is in another room, unpacking boxes. In downtown Melbourne, shoppers storm department stores trading blows over kitchen appliances. On Sydney harbour sailors make final preparations for the Hobart race.

Back at Christmas, I'm awake, have the lee-cloth down and am attempting to climb out of my dream but it's all uphill. What's more, the hatch, opened just a little, is spewing water, most of it directly onto me.

The ocean's Christmas present to Penyllan is a freak wave delivered with all the gusto of a hundred Santas. No need for a chimney, the wave crashes through every opening available, making some of it's own along the sides of the cockpit, where Mum stands startled, having been showered with the sea-lion's share of the Atlantic's bountiful gifts. The boat righting itself jolts me out of bed. There are torrents still falling from the forced main hatches and a water-fall cascades down the companionway
steps. There's enough water in the main cabin to boil a thousand beans, or blanch them depending on taste. The Captain is up in the cockpit and the companion-way doors are slammed shut. I guess I'll go down with the ship then, I think, but soon realise, with great relief, that I'm not being shut in. It's the water being shut out. We're not in fact sinking, it just looks that way.

In all the excitement, one of the life rings decides to jump into the sea, flashing it's strobe to it's own personal techno as it disappeared behind us, and another strobe goes off in a cockpit cupboard where one of the lifejackets self-inflates. It's a disco-extravaganza. The chart-table computer keyboard also over-indulges and is to be more than useless the following day, but every Christmas party has it's casualties.

And if a party can be judged by the amount you have to clean up afterwards then by this measure ours is a doozey, though people that say this seldom stick around to help out. As much as I can remember, none of Penyllan's regular crew got to piss in the pot-plants or pewk on the Venetians and then twist them shut so no-one will notice. These are figurative examples of course, but it is the ocean that has all the fun at our place, leaving us to soak up its excesses with already wet bedding, towels
and clothing. It arrives with a bang, gives of itself generously, but then leaves before we had time to say "thanks, but we'd have preferred a fish".

So we squeegee and soak up what we can, change into dry clothes and salvage the bunks as a priority so sleep is at least possible. I am deeply thankful there were stores of dry bedding stashed away. That this was one of those contingencies prepared for. But I sleep fitfully nonetheless. My dreams are haunted by disasters at sea. Penyllan is sunk to the ocean floor. Weeks later we share a life-raft. The Mate sitting opposite, speaks in a croaking, parched voice barely audible across the cramped
interior of the raft: "Better eat the rest of your father before he goes off."

I wake without an appetite, but manage to digest the eggs a bacon prepared by the Captain. I break a coffee cup. The mate spills hers across the cockpit. We laugh that laugh of resignation that comes at the end of shared hardship. Merry Christmas, says the Captain and it is in it's own way.

Lanzarote to Mindelo (Cape Verdes)

22-11-07

We potter out and fill up with fuel at the entrance to the harbour and then set off for the Cape Verdes. Very soon we are bowling along down the west coast of Fuerteventura headed for somewhere Lu and I have not been before. I've cooked a big goulash for the first few days. Fuerteventura is a big island and by dusk we are still not clear of it. We always cook up a big stew or ragu before leaving, enough for at least two dinners and sometimes more. It just makes it easy on everyone if a hot dinner is pretty much ready to go for a couple of days.

26-11-07

Mostly we have had Force 4-5 (14-20 knots) from the NNE-NE with occasional small increases up to Force 6 (25 knots) and a few lulls where it has dropped off to Force 3 (under 10 knots), though not for long. The wind is pretty consistent. We have carried our foresail downwind rig for a bit, genny poled out and staysail poled out the other side (lots of string), but this rig really needs 20-25 knots as the staysail is pretty small. Now we have taken it down and have a double reefed main up and the genny with the wind on the quarter.

Downwind rigs are something we have not really thought enough about. The main chafes on the lower cross-trees and especially on the leeward runner which is off and sliding lazily back and forth over the lower cross-tree chewing away at the main. Our staysail is not really big enough for a proper downwind rig with the genny out the other side, so we are caught betwixt and between for a downwind rig in the 12-18 knot range. Higher than that and the staysail is big enough.

Even so we have been making pretty good progress: 133/144/149/158 NM daily runs.

28-11-07

We have been talking to Andy on Balaena for most of the trip as we agreed to meet up in Mindelo a few months ago. Andy and I wrote Ocean Passages and Landfalls and, though we have met on terra firma, we have not met in our respective boats. Balaena is a 42ft gaff cutter that Andy built, a modern gaff cutter as Andy is always quick to emphasise, and he has certainly been clocking off some healthy daily runs in it. Mind you we haven't been dawdling too much either and have clocked off 166 and 164 NM runs in the last couple of days.

Around 20 miles off Mindelo I saw a flash of tan sail on the horizon and we hove-to to wait for Andy. Balaena came flying across the swell, all sails up including the gaff topsail, a wonderful sight, and as they went past we took photos of Balaena. Then we opened up the genny and flashed across their stern while they took photos of Skylax. Weird to meet up at sea, literally, and then sail in company down to the port.

We got in just at dusk and anchored off in the harbour. 968 miles in 6 days and 6 hours, not too bad with Skylax throttled right back. We took waypoints on the way in as Bill on Sunrise was some distance behind and wouldn't arrive until after midnight. Even worse Bill had some problems with his rudder, water was swooshing up through the bottom seal and into the boat and the rudder itself was making an awful clonking noise.

We cleared into Mindelo the next day, friendly officials and a good feeling ashore. Cruiser gossip can be a funny old thing. I had read an account of piracy off Mindelo, well not actually piracy but a trawler that was going slowly and didn't show it's stern (and name) to the yacht that reported the alleged incident. Actually that's not piracy, that's just a trawler working and they do go slow when dragging the trawl. Again in the Caribbean I came across a couple of yachts that told me that they didn't go to the Cape Verdes because of piracy. I told them how wonderful it is, that lots of yachts now go this way, and that the piracy reports are spurious, but they were convinced that there are pirates there.... despite my first hand report. What can you say?

Mindelo looking out to the anchorage over the outer marina pontoons. If it looks hazy, that's because it is though this photo was on a bad day. When the wind blows strongly enough you get red Sahara dust over everything and we are still washing it off. And it does blow some at times, around 35 knots or so on one day, but the holding in the anchorage is good and the moorings in the marina are solid although a bit of surge creeps in.

We anchored out for 3 days or so and it's quite comfortable with just a bit of ground swell creeping around into the bay. Local advice is to remove loose items from the deck, but I have to say I didn't hear of anyone losing anything and there had to be 20 yachts anchored off at times. A local will come out on his surfboard to offer services, but agree on a price beforehand. Our laundry cost us more than anywhere else I have cruised - ever, but then water is scarce and expensive. There are a couple of small supermarkets ashore, a good fruit and vege market up the high street, and a rowdy fish market along the waterfront. Ashore there is the Club Nautico, but on the street behind is a place called The Yacht Club on a 1st floor terrace with good food, cold drinks, and WiFi! The Yacht Club will often have live bands on the weekends and Cape Verdes music is stunning, the best I have heard in local bars/cafes since Cuba. They are accomplished musicians, the music is stunning and often sad, lamenting exile and struggle on the island or celebrating life, love and making love. Don't miss it.

The new marina is up and running here, 28 euros a night for us. The electricity (220V) is included but water is charged for and is not always on, so fill up when you can. The water is all from a reverse osmosis plant and so tastes fine and is potable despite some reports I've read. It's metered and not cheap so be a bit frugal. The security here is excellent and Kai, who runs the marina and has long been the inspiration for yachting in Mindelo is looking to expand the services. Those at anchor can bring their dinghies into the marina and leave them there for a small charge.

We spent 10 days in Mindelo and I would now always take this route going east to west across the Atlantic. Partly because Mindelo was such an enjoyable stop and partly because the trip from Mindelo to Antigua was easy as well with the wind on the quarter for much of the time.

In Mindelo Bill's (Sunrise) rudder, on the Sabre 452, needed something doing it to it. It was banging back and forth in the slight surge in the marina and water had been coming in at an unacceptable rate on the last few days down to Mindelo. So Andy and I dropped it, towed it over to Andy's boat, and I got out my epoxy and biaxial cloth (never leave home without it - there was none in Mindelo) and we repaired the stock where it goes through the bottom bearing. Then Bill towed it back and with the help of Tuga, a diver in the marina, we put it back in again. Bill got safely across to St Lucia when at one point he thought the dream might all be over.

And then what happened. A Spanish Beneteau Oceanis next to me in the marina popped out their rudder and so I donated the last of my epoxy to a good cause. They were headed for Venezuela - just hope they got there. I'll be expanding on the subject of rudders and other boat bits in the near future.

Gibraltar to Graciosa

Skylax en route from Gib to the Canaries November 2007

06-11-07

We slipped the lines at Marina Bay at 0630 and it's still dark. I've been talking to boats on the dock for the last week suggesting there will be a lot more wind around and after Tarifa than there is here, even if it is all in the right direction blowing out of the east. Bill and Sharon on Sunrise, a beautiful Sabre 452, are leaving with us.

We make our way out into the roadstead and weave our way through all the anchored ships, ferries zooming off to Morocco and bumboats going back and forth to the anchored ships. It's busy. We put three reefs in the main (yep -we've been here before) and motorsail towards Tarifa. Bill comes out in Sunrise and puts everything up. Maybe I'm being a bit over-cautious, but I stick with it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Get hold of a copy of Colin Thomas's Straits Sailing Handbook and follow his advice to the letter. It's worth the price just for the advice on getting in and out of the Straits of Gibraltar, but also has a lot of information and pilotage for the coasts around Gibraltar.

By Tarifa the wind is kicking up and Sunrise is starting to round up. Just after Tarifa it's up to 35 knots and it's not long before I've got 40 knots on the clock and we are doing 7-8 knots under a triple reefed main and nothing else. Bill tries to wrap up the genny, gets it in a muddle but finally rolls it up and puts three reefs in the main.

We fly downwind with F6-7 and more in the gusts until midnight. It's usually like this on this trip to the Canaries. Come out of Gib like a cork out of a bottle and then once you are off the African coast and a little bit around the corner the wind dies away to a gentle Force 4 or so and there you are putting up more sail to keep you moving comfortably through the Atlantic swell.

10-11-07

We have been slowly sailing downwind for the last four days. Sometimes with the wind on the quarter, sometimes wing and wing straight downwind. The days drift by in a relaxed fashion as the miles are clocked off, nothing spectacular at 147/132/123/127 miles from noon to noon, but not too bad either in the light winds. We see a few ships and bizarrely keep nearly bumping into Sunrise for the first three nights. Bill and Lu have a radio sched so they are nattering away in the evening.

Bill turns on the iron spinnaker to try and make Graciosa before the light goes, but we keep on drifting downwind and eventually make a night entrance into the southern bay on Graciosa and nearly bump into the outermost boat which doesn't have an anchor light on. Once we have the anchor down and are enjoying a glass or three of good Spanish red, someone on the outermost boat notices we are there and comes up and turns on the anchor light. Fool...

11-11-07

We move around to the yacht pontoon in La Sociedad on Graciosa and find a berth. Nice people come up and take our lines. La Sociedad is wonderful. A small fishing village where the streets are sand and 4 wheel drives rule. It has a few restaurants, a few shops, and posters everywhere proclaiming La Republica di Graciosa. They have no truck with big tourist hotels, most of the waters around the island are a marine reserve, and don't want villas and English pubs. Viva La Republica di Graciosa. It's the first place in the Canaries that I actually like and compared to the tourist ghettos of Lanzarote, Fuenaventura and Gran Canaria, it feels a bit like what the Canaries were 30 years ago (so I'm told).

After three days I pay the modest berthing fees (there is no water or electricity on the pontoons even though the connection boxes are there, and I figure this is intentional so the place doesn't turn into some cloned marina like others around the Canaries), around 7 euros a night for Skylax (46ft), and take a quick tour of the church with a distinctly nautical theme.

13-11-07
We motorsail down to Puerto Calero on Lanzarote. OK, it's a purpose built marina with villas scattered around it, but Mr Calero has succeeded in making it a lot less sterile than other places in the Canaries. We have been here before and the welcome is wonderful. They try never to turn a yacht away, however humble. It has a cetacean museum funded by Mr Calero. There is a drinks party with wonderful snacks for visiting yachts (that happens to coincide with the Bluewater Rally boats that are here before leaving for Antigua - in light winds and even worse wind on the nose, but that's how it is when you are on a rally and D-day approaches, Departure day that is) and for 28 euros a night you get water and electricity included.

We hire a car to go supermarket shopping and sight-seeing in Arrecife and drive over the moonscape that is Lanzarote to see Sunrise in Port Rubicon on the south side. It's a huge marina and despite restaurants and bars, it lacks a certain something. Bill and Sharon have hired a car and come to see us in Puerto Calero and somehow we cross tracks mid-island.

13-01-08

This was sent to me by Phil Kerin, known to most people in Antigua as Sir Phil. I met him in '99 when I towed his Falmouth Quay punt, Dunlin, down to Falmouth on Antigua on a pretty windless day. He was tacking slowly in and out on the passage inside Cade's Reef and not making a whole lot of progress. I met him in subsequent years, usually around Antigua, where he skippered and worked on classic yachts. Sadly he lost Dunlin in the tail-end of Hurricane Alex on his way back to Falmouth UK.

While this may not be directly related to sailing, it's amusing and, then again, maybe it is directly related to why we push off in small boats to go sailing.

HOPE THIS MAKES YOU LAUGH AS MUCH AS IT DID ME . "Sir" Phil.


The 39 steps to wisdom


1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative
on the same night.


2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often.


3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing
in a garage makes you a car.


4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.


5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never
tried before.


6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.


7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.


8. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.


9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.


10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.


11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of cheques.


12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.


13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.


14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.


15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.


16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.


17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the
waist change places


18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.


19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks
before you need it.


20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.


21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a
mistake when you make it again.


22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.


23. Thou shall not weigh more than thy refrigerator.


24. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.


25. It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.


26. If you had to identify, in 1 word, the reason why the human race
has not achieved, & never will achieve, its full potential, that word
would be "meetings".


27. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness".


28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost
never want you to share yours with them.


29. You should not confuse your career with your life.


30. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.


31. Never lick a steak knife.


32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.


33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling
reason why we observe daylight savings time.


34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely
suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby
emerging from her at that moment.


35. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to
make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.


36. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age,
gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep
down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.


37. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice
person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)


38. Your friends love you anyway.


39. Thought for the day:
Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

09-01-08
For more on food and photos go to www.freewebs.com/seawrite and click on Gourmets and Gourmands
Passage food II

OK so I'm into a bit of a foodie stage. This section is on pasta.

Pasta

We eat a lot of pasta, both on passage and at anchor or in harbour. In general we try to buy a well known brand such as Barilla as some 'own' brands can produce slimy slushy pasta when cooked. We always cook it al dente as per the instructions on the packet, usually about 10 minutes in boiling water. Commonly we will have penne (large and small), linguine, spaghetti, tortellini, tagliatelle, and some shells and spirals. Yep - we carry a lot of the stuff.

On passage we use a bit less water per serving than in harbour where we can refill the water tanks, purely to save water. It's important that the water is boiling vigorously when you put the pasta in. Generally we drain it in the galley sink with a little bit of cold salt water pumped in so that the boiling water doesn't cook the sink outlet pipe. You can drain it over the side from the cockpit but that can be dangerous if the boat lurches and you may also loose the pasta overboard.

Below are a few of the dishes we cook on passage.

Pasta pesto

Some people adore pesto, others hate it. We are solidly in the adoration camp.

For 2

Cook the pasta (3 handfuls of penne or similar, a small bundle of linguine or spaghetti per person - we generally break the bundle in half for linguine and spaghetti to make it easier to eat while bucketing around) and while it is draining put a little butter or margarine in the same pan on low heat. Put the pasta back in and add two tablespoons or so of pesto (we usually use green basil pesto). Stir it around so it coats the pasta and put some grated parmesan on top of each serving.

A one-pot dish if you disregard the colander.

You can also add finely chopped fresh tomatoes or cherry tomatoes when you stir the pesto in and chopped basil or parsley if you have any.

Salmon and cream

For 2

Small pack of smoked salmon shredded into bits

Capers - a couple of teaspoons from the jar

Knob of butter or margarine

Small (200 ml) pack of UHT cream

Pasta - tagliatelle or linguine work well.

Cook pasta and while it is draining add butter or margarine to the pan on low heat. Stir in shredded salmon, capers and cream. Add lots of freshly milled black pepper. Warm through and serve.

Smoked salmon often has a use-by date of 2-3 months on it and keeps well in the fridge.

You can also add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chopped parsley if you have any. Lu sometimes puts a small tin of peas in as well (drained).



Salmon pasta with big flat pasta

Tuna

For 2

Pasta. Penne, shells, spirals and linguine all work well.

Tinned tuna 150-200 gm.s. Get good tuna instead of some of the tinned mush that looks like cat food and is sold in places, usually in small tins. The Azores, Portugal, Spain, Canaries and Cape Verdes are good places to buy chunky tinned tuna.

Olive oil - a good glug.

1 onion finely diced.

2 cloves of garlic finely sliced.

Tin of chopped tomatoes or passata.

Capers

Saut� chopped onions in olive oil and add garlic towards the end. Add tomatoes and capers and simmer. When pasta is nearly cooked add crumbled tuna and warm through. Don't add tuna for too long or it will break up into mush. Pour sauce over pasta with grated parmesan and finely chopped parsley if you have it.

To the basic mixture before the tuna is added you can also add chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped olives, finely chopped green pepper (saut� with the onion) and a smidge of hot chilli sauce depending on taste. I have some basil flavoured sambal which is divine. The basic mixture can be adapted to your own tastes.

Tuna Nicoise

A bit of a variation on the above. For 2

Pasta - shells or penne are good.

Handful of cherry tomatoes or two medium chopped tomatoes.

Capers

Small tin of tuna.

Small can of anchovies

Lemon juice.- about a tablespoon (or white wine vinegar)

Oil

Cook pasta and while it is draining put oil, lemon juice, capers, tomatoes, tuna and anchovies into the pan and warm through for a couple of minutes. Tip pasta into pot and mix through.

There are lots more, perhaps later after something else other than pasta.

This is baked tomata and feta pasta. Go here for this.

07-01-08

OK, I'm going to get to the Atlantic passage when I have time, but there is important stuff that happens on passage and none more so than food.

Passage Food I

Cooking on passage is an art that needs to be learned. The ultimate passage food is one-pot cooking. If it's all in one pot then it can go in a dog bowl which makes eating it a lot easier when you are rolling/bouncing/bucketing around on the sea. Of course not all our cooking at sea is one-pot cooking, but it's handy to have a repertoire of dishes for those occasions when the motion of a little ship at sea makes cooking a difficult chore. And of course there is very little in the way of washing up compared to multi-pot cooking.

One of my old fall-backs is risotto. OK, maybe it's not the risotto you would have in a fancy Italian restaurant with arborio rice and truffles, but it is a versatile dish that can swallow all sorts of odd ingredients and it invariably tastes OK - sometimes it tastes divine.

Basic risotto

For 2

Olive oil (say 1� tablespoons but I just glug some in)

Parboiled rice (2 cups)

1 onion finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced

tin of peas

stock (any sort, around a teaspoon, dissolved in a cup of hot water)

chopped ham/bacon/salami/chorizo or lardons (around 200 gms or more)

small UHT cream (usually 200 ml carton. You can find these most places and it's worth getting a good stock in. They usually have a shelf life of 6 months or so. Alternatively you can get tinned cream. Just make sure any of it is unsweetened.)

Cup of grated cheese. Parmesan is best but use what you have.

Use a large high-sided frying pan (you should have one on board anyway for all sorts of dishes) and glug in a liberal amount of olive oil. On moderate heat saut� the onions, the ham/bacon/lardons (if you are using salami or chorizo put it in with the garlic or it fries into hard lumps) and the rice, stirring gently. Towards the end (usually 5-8 minutes, when the rice has browned but NOT burnt) put in the garlic and saut� gently (don't burn it!).

Tip in the stock and another 2 cups of water, then the drained peas, and leave on low heat to cook. After 20 minutes or so, just before all the water has been absorbed by the rice, tip in the cream and the cheese and continue cooking until the risotto is just moist.

Serve.


For more people adjust the quantities accordingly.

Some other risotto ingredients are:

Vegetarian option

Saut� onion, rice and garlic. Then use a tin of chopped tomatoes, capers and chopped olives.

Tuna option

Same as vegetarian option 1 but put a tin of tuna in.

Ham & bean

Saut� ham/chopped bacon/lardons and onion, rice and garlic as per main recipe. Then add a tin of cannelloni, borlotti or similar beans. Cook then go to cream and cheese at the end. Lu's speciality and tastes excellent.

Squash

Roast squash. Saut� onions, rice and garlic. Add stock and water and diced squash. Cream if you wish. Squash keeps well on board in a well ventilated dark space.




It's pretty easy to see you can add all sorts of things on board that need using on a passage. Finely sliced green or red peppers (saut�), fresh tomatoes (sliced or diced), mushrooms (fresh or tinned), leftover chicken, fresh fish, sausages (fry up first), carrots (saut� or tinned), tinned mushroom or chicken soup (no cream or cheese or stock as this thickens it up nicely).... Use your own creative powers to conjure up a special risotto out of what's available.

Risotto also has the advantage of being a bit 'sticky' making eating it when the boat is rolling around easy.



Hot-pot

For 2

Olive oil

Pack of sausages, diced ham, chopped chorizo, lardons or chopped bacon.

Tin of beans (baked beans work well)

1 onion sliced

Tomato paste (not a lot, a tablespoon is about right)

2 medium sized potatoes diced/sliced.

Paprika (tablespoon)

Brown sugar (tablespoon)

White wine vinegar (2 tablespoons)

And if you have them 2 celery sticks (chopped) and an orange (peeled and chopped)

Saut� onions and sausages/diced ham/lardons or chopped bacon in olive oil. Chorizo can go in towards the end. Stir in tomato paste, paprika, sugar and white wine vinegar. Add beans and potatoes and enough water to cover ingredients. Add celery and orange if using. Simmer slowly with a lid on for around 30 minutes and check potatoes are cooked.



There are several one-pot pastas we do, but I'll leave them for a pasta section later.

Trapani to Gibraltar

11-10-07

We left Trapani early morning headed vaguely in the direction of Sardinia or Palma Mallorca depending on weather. It wasn't a great start as we tacked off Sicily until the promised NE winds kicked in and we sailed slowly towards Sardinia. Off the bottom of Sardinia a nice strong easterly kicked in and by late evening on the 12th we were flying towards the Balearics.

13-10-07

The wind died in the early morning and we entered what the Italian forecast called an 'area di instabilite'. Between thunderstorms, light variable winds and an overcast sky we motored for a fair chunk. Lu even had a couple of waterspouts off in the distance. By night a good Force 4-5 N-NE had kicked in and Skylax picked up her skirts and was sitting on a comfortable 7�-8 knots headed directly for the Balearics.

Early morning waterspouts in the 'area di instabilite'. It's overcast so the pic is not that great.

14-10-07

By evening we were approaching Mallorca still sitting on 6-6� knots and early for a berth in Palma. Happily I'd phoned Terry who arranged a berth in the tightly packed harbour, though at a price: 90 Euros a night. Ouch.

Still it was good to catch up with friends and top up with water and victuals. On the 3rd day here a tornado brushed the east coast causing torrents of water to wash cars and houses away and killing one person. This was the second tornado in a week which sort of hints at some pretty dramatic changes to weather patterns. In Palma we had horizontal rain and the harbour turned liquid brown with all the goop washed down off the hills.

Palma harbour after the torrential rain and tornado

18-10-07

We left Palma for Cartagena with light winds that steadily increased through the day until we had a healthy 25 knots plus pushing us on and a disproportionate cross-sea. Lu even had the top of a wave dump in the cockpit on her watch. We flew down to Cartagena and were off the bay and outer entrance by nightfall. Lu was worried about catching the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa the next day, but I persuaded her we could carry on to Almerimar and easily be there in time for the evening kick-off.

Skylax flew and we tied alongside the arrivals quay at 1400 the next day.

Almerimar

We stayed a week in Almerimar relaxing and provisioning. Lu got to see the South Africans beat England, only just, and we read English papers and had a few big English breakfasts. Yeah, it's that sort of place, but easy on the brain and relatively cheap to boot. A week here cost a tad more than one night in Palma. The supermarket here has most of the things you need to get for the transatlantic and at good prices. And it's only a short trolley trundle back to the boat. So hurrah for Almerimar.

Almerimar

30-10-07

We fuelled up in Almerimar and were soon sailing slowly down the coast. Gradually a nice norther kicked in and we arrived off Europa Point early in the morning. A couple of months ago a cargo ship was rammed off here and sank just off the point with about half of the hull out of the water (at an angle). At the time we didn't know what was going on with large ocean going tugs holding it in place and isolated danger buoys all around it. We worked our way around it and finally pottered up to Marina Bay at dawn.

Skylax en route to Almerimar. Wind is around 25 knots with a healthy cross-sea.

One hour in the western Mediterranean

1200-1300 local time

37 52'.57N 00 06'.25W to 37 49'.65N 00 02'.18W

Wind east 20-25 knots

Big cross-sea 2-2� metres

1 small loggerhead turtle

Yacht off to port (it's been there all night)

2 small bits of polystyrene

1 plastic water bottle

1 plastic long line ball

1 plastic food container

1 small yellow bird (migrating?)

1 small strip of plastic

Clump of polypropylene rope

2 loggerhead turtles swimming together

1 blue plastic bag

Short bit of rope

1 plastic detergent bottle

Gibraltar

It's a love-hate thing with Gibraltar. Apart from the smell of stale fish and chips and lots of punters off the cruise ships wandering up and down the high street, it's not the place it was to provision up and get spares and repairs. In fact the amount of space for visiting yachts is decreasing all the time with Ocean Village building waterside property at a great rate and plans for more. I wonder next time if we will even stop here.


29th Sept 2007

Yesterday we finally managed to snap the bit of elastic holding us to Levkas and sailed down towards Sivota for an early morning departure. Or so we thought. After the incident with the radar and the torn genny in the Ionian Regatta, Robby at CYS just had to trot out the old homily about things happening in threes. Sure enough when the wind went light off Nidri I turned the key to start the engine and nada, nothing happened. True to my missed vocation as a car thief I got hold of a screwdriver and with a lot of sparks connected the main power to the ignition solenoid wire and bingo, the engine started.

At the time we were drifting around in circles and a charter boat chugged up to us. 'Gee, what sort of boat is that', one of the Americans on board called out, 'she sure is beautiful'. Sure, I thought to myself, but she would be more beautiful if the bloody engine started.

We spent a quiet night in Vlikho, that hurricane hole of an anchorage down past a bottleneck entrance from Nidri. A still night, faint sounds from the tavernas ashore, a few dinghies puttering back and forth to boats, a caique out laying a bottom net, stars overhead. It feels sweetly nostalgic.

We were up at 0730 and had breakfast underway as we motored down the Meganisi Channel in the early morning calm. There is a light mist over the mainland hills. A few caiques are collecting their bottom nets and long-lines. It seems like the elastic tying us to Levkas might finally part.

Motoring out into the Ionian there is a two metre plus ground swell from the strong southerlies of the last few days. It makes for an uncomfortable start on 250 magnetic to Siracusa. The wind direction needle is describing 360 degree circles. 'Shall we head up a bit' Lu asks, 'get a bit of wind in the mainsail'. Nope, when in doubt head for where you are going.

By afternoon a solid NW 4-5 has kicked in and Skylax heels on a close reach at 7-8 knots. Mole, the autopilot, (well he lives in a dark damp place in the lazarette), is in charge. We are going to Sicily.



30th September 2007

One hour in the Ionian Sea

37deg41'.80N 017deg28'.13E to 37deg38'.09N 017deg21'.06E

1030 to 1130

Brown ground dove hitching a ride

Polystyrene slab

Blue plastic carrier bag

Small plastic bit

Ship on horizon to the S

Line of plastic detergent bottles (marking long-lines?)

Small bit of painted wood

At night a big old waning moon comes up illuminating the eastern horizon with a watery yellow colour. Starry sky. The NW wind lasted through the night until midday today, then slowly died and clocked N-NNE. Slow sailing and in the late afternoon we turn the engine on (with my magic jump lead wire Lu has found for me).


01-10-07

Slow sailing with the wind on the quarter. Then in the early morning it dies. Lu calls me up at 0900 to say the boat is caught on a line, maybe it is around the prop. We cut it loose and all is OK. Earlier she had negotiated a huge mess of floating net, probably part of a drift net that had been chopped up by a ship. Drift nets are a menace at night, not just to yachts, but to all the creatures that dwell in the sea: dolphins, small whales, sun fish, and of course the intended victims, tuna and swordfish. Several years ago the government banned them, but relented after the fishermen blockaded the Strait of Messina.

Several yachts in the distance look as if they headed for Malta. And with the fresh NW we have made good time and are heading for Licata.

Clocks back one hour.

Off Pozzalo we get a plastic bag around the prop. Out of gear. Little burst of astern. Lucky ... the bag pops out the back.

It is lumpy for the last 50 miles to Licata. We sail hard on the wind a bit, motor a bit, sail some more, and arrive just before midnight. We anchor in the basin on the east after some delicate work getting through the new sheltering breakwaters, part of which are underwater and marked only by small buoys. This is probably the last time we will anchor here as work is underway turning it into a huge 1500 berth marina with apartments and a 'nautical' village ashore. The brochure talks about the feng shui of the place, though I'm not sure what that means.



Anchored where the new marina will be in Licata

02-10-07

We get a good nights sleep and set off for Sciacca the next day, motoring much of the way in a thankfully flatter sea.

The south side of Sicily is not a bad way to come late in the season. The winds are generally OK and it is reasonably warm, at least T-shirts and shorts in the day time. The coast is beautiful, there are enough secure harbours and anchorages to tuck into, and the people are friendly souls.
03-10-07

we set off early for Trapani. A bit of motoring and a bit of sailing. I promise Lu a slap-up meal and a marina/pontoon berth in Trapani. As it turns out there are none available, or at least none that we could get. The Lega Navale YC has no-one on it and the only other pontoon with a berth is pretty exposed to all the wash from the fishing boats hurtling in and out. So we go on one of the nice new and free moorings outside the Lega Navale put down for the Americas Cup.
We are weather-bound here with strong NW and west winds for the best part of a week. Still Trapani has it's charms, a lot of them, and we eat out, wander around the streets, take a trip to Erice on the cable-car, and do some boat jobs. Lu fixes the solenoid connection so now wonder of wonders the engine starts with the key.
09 October 07

Just before we left Trapani a huge floating crane and all sorts of tugs, tenders and workboats were gathered into a corner of the harbour over several days. A big salvage operation was underway and we were curious as to what was on the bottom.

Turned out to be one of the hydrofoils that run between Trapani and the Egadi Islands just offshore. It had a big hole where the front starboard foil should be, another hole forward in the hull, and the superstructure on the top was badly crushed. I have no idea what happened but it must have been at speed for that sort of damage.

� Rod Heikell 2007

July to September 2007

28 February 2008 | Greece
Rod
For the complete blog go to www.freewebs.com/seawrite
26-09-07

It's blowing a solid 30 knots as this system goes through and it has also slowed down a bit (bless you ugrib for internet weather) so we have delayed departure until Friday. Hold on, that's a Friday... OK we will leave Levkas on Thursday and potter down to Sivota for the start of the voyage and continue it on Friday. The weather will still be SW for a bit, but going south and then all over the place, generally 5-15 knots.

Skylax is provisioned up, fueled up, watered up, and stowed. The inner forestay is on and the staysail hanked on. The main and genny are back from the sailmakers (Waypoint Sails in Levkas Marina - prompt and good repairs) and we are opting out of any more leaving parties for quiet nights in.


25-09-07

Well, the final lot of proofs have gone and its looking moderately good for the off on Thursday heading for Sicily, probably Siracusa. It's late in the season to be heading west, but I'm counting on Lu's weather forecasts (don't talk to me about GRIB files and RTTY or I'll scream) to guide us through.

Most of the work on the boat is done and I'm out of here before anything else happens or any more paperwork arrives. Below is the preface for Mediterranean France & Corsica 4th edition.

MF&C Preface 2007



In many ways little has changed along the French Mediterranean coast. A few harbours and marinas have extended a breakwater to give better protection. Pontoon arrangements have been shuffled about. A few new marine reserves have been established. But topographically the coast looks much the same as it ever did.

What has changed is the numbers of yachts around. Europe is in the grip of yacht fever and yachts have been flying off the shelves. Everyone seems to want one or to want a bigger one. All these yachts have to go somewhere and consequently marinas along the French Mediterranean coast are bulging at the seams. Yacht berths are at a premium and this has meant fewer berths to go around for visiting yachts.

It has also pushed prices up on the old 'supply and demand' line so that marina prices have risen steeply in the last few years. Some French marinas have adopted a three tier pricing system with high season, mid-season, and low season. Mid-season prices are around twenty percent less than high season and given the recent hike in prices this makes it difficult to avoid shelling out a significant amount of the cruising kitty for stays in marinas.

In this edition I have included a section on 'shoestring cruising' at the beginning of each chapter where I detail anchorages and some harbours and marinas that are not in the higher price bracket so that those of us on lesser budgets can find our way around the coast without a second mortgage. I counsel caution using this guide as any inclement weather is going to mean a stay in a nearby marina and lets face it, when the weather turns nasty then a snug marina berth, even at a price, has a lot going for it. Some of the anchorages detailed do not afford the sort of all-round shelter you might wish for, but I've used all of them on numerous occasions and in settled weather they work tolerably well. It must also be remembered that some of the cheaper marina prices mentioned may change, invariably upwards, between re-working this new edition and publication.

I don't want this preface to be all negatives. The Mediterranean coast of France is one I have sailed often and have come to love. You need a different perspective on things to cruise this busy coast, but it is indelibly French from the capitaineries to the boulangeries, and all those wonderful sights, sounds and smells ashore. And that's before you get to the magic of Corsica.

Rod Heikell

Levkas 2007
25-09-07

A few days ago in Port Atheni Lu went up the mast to drop a mouse for a spinnaker halyard that had mysteriously decided to drop down the mast. While up there she spotted the pin for the genoa sheaves was working its way out - somehow the plate holding it in had dropped off.

Now I know why I carry around all those old bits of wood, stainless plate, screws, bolts, you name it, I've got a box full of it on board. And magically I did have a plate that fitted perfectly so up the mast I went with drill, loctite, plate and screws and now, heed this gods of wind and weather, hopefully the pin won't drop out and the sheaves and halyards go all awry.


24-09-07

Liferafts

Last time we came across the Atlantic we had just an old coastal 4 man liferaft in a valise. It was in date, but definitely past it's best. So in Levkas I ordered a new Seago 6 man offshore in a canister from Ionian Marine Safety. They seem to have come out well in the test in the yachting mags (both UK and French) and importantly are made of neoprene and not polyvinyl.

To go with it I ordered a canvas cover (that UV degradation again) and Joe here suggested pockets in the side. You can put odd bits of string, winch handles and in our case a knife and marlin spike with a shackle key on the end. The leather pouch is tied on with a bit of string and it sits snugly in the pocket. So we have a knife to hand on deck and, gods forbid, a knife to cut the lashings holding the liferaft in place.


24-09-07

Chart plotter

Chart plotters are a useful aid to navigation and previously we had a small Garmin 276 down at the chart table. For this trip I got a Garmin 3006 and a plastic nacelle from ebay so it could be mounted on the binnacle bar. The bar needed to be modified, as did the nacelle (it was for another unit), but overall it looks OK and importantly gives the helmsman something to look at. It was tempting to link it up with everything else, but I've had too many electronics go down in the past, even those mounted down below and in several cases only just out of the box. It's fine for the manufacturer to say he will replace it within warranty, but that's little help mid-Atlantic and all your waypoints have just disappeared. So I'm going for lots of standalone units without having the instruments, radar, other chart plotter, etc. all interfaced to one another.



A friend on another boat has been without his radar for months. It is piped to the chart plotter display but somehow his software for it has been corrupted . Now that's fine if you are in the UK near a dealer, but just try to get it fixed in southern Italy or Greece. He's taking the unit back with him. As for us, just makes me happy to have a standalone unit that is visible from the cockpit (it's mounted on the bulkhead where the chart table is) and not interfaced to everything else. The wetware we were all born with is pretty good at bringing together disparate bits of information and we all need to be aware of that warning that comes up before you are allowed into a display unit: This is an aid to navigation blah blah. And so it is. We need to combine all the information we have, from the plotter, depth sounder, the Mk I eyeball, the chart, the pilots, radar, and cautiously use it to make landfall or approach any of those hard bits above or below water. I've just plotted a position of an alleged uncharted rock. Well it's about 30 metres away from a charted rock and you are just plain foolish to believe your electronic chart or plotter is that accurate.

24 September 07

Boat jobs... and the South Ionian Regatta

There comes a point when boat jobs have to finish. Otherwise we would be here forever fixing that, making this better, ensuring that is more than strong enough, and having another cup of tea while the job list gets a few things crossed off and a lot of scribbled notes all around the margins.

What doesn't help is going racing just before the big off, even if it is a friendly informal race. Still we had to do the Ionian Regatta one more time before leaving the Med and so we did. It was a windy old race with the wind hitting 29 knots apparent at one stage and everyone struggling to hold on to all sail. Eventually up the side of Arkoudhi we put a reef in the main, but kept the full 140% genny. And did Skylax fly. Remember we are heavily loaded up with spares and food and all the paraphernalia to head west. Catching the boat in front we tacked over quickly and the genny got caught on the radar. There was a lot of adrenaline pumping and we didn't notice until the genny was half winched in and the radar was sitting at a jaunty angle. We tacked back over, went backwards while we pulled the genny out and then finally got going again after losing time and places. Shall we motor in Kerr said, he was on the wheel, no way I said, keep racing. So we did.

When we got in the next day we whipped the sails off and sent them to the sailmaker in Levkas Marina, then I started on the radar and bracket. Fortunately the cable was still intact and so I bundled the radar up in a bag hanging from a halyard and unbolted the bracket. It was a twisted mess that resembled some of the entries for the Turner Prize for art, but good old Pip had it down the workshop and back the next day, straightened and beautifully painted.

Oh the result... Well we were still 4th over the line, sixth on handicap and 2nd in Class I. 108 boats finished out of a fleet of 230, so we didn't do bad. On passage we rig the inner forestay for a staysail so the genny can't get anywhere close to the mast, but this was racing and adrenaline and a damn fine party at Sivota for the Ionian Regatta 2007.

06-09-07

Maybe theres a calm after the storm, maybe a light to guide you in, maybe a helpful soul waiting to help tie you up or point out a good place to anchor... and maybe theres an end in sight to all this refitting. I'll put a list up later, but the solar panels are fitted, a couple of halyards replaced, a lot more plumbing so the salt water pump works and the pressure tap in the galley doesn't leak, electrics and more electrics, the new Pactor modem is in place and the tablet PC more or less runs so we have email, GRIB files, RTTY, and we put our first Yotreps position report up. For those of you thinking of using Google earth to navigate with I'd suggest you look at our position firmly parked inland. Thats the actual position off the coast from the GPS (EGNOSS operating!).

So we have a bit more stuff to do but its looking good for leaving for Sicily at the end of September. Oh yesssss...

28-08-07

THE HEATHER CHRONICLES

These are letters written between 1994 and 1996, sent back by Eric and Robin Lambert from the good ship Heather, a 1964 Columbia 29. The letters are beautifully written, full of useful cruising information, and if you are sitting there thinking of how much money you need to earn before you set off cruising, then read on for a way of doing it with less than you might think. Eric is a gourmand after my own heart, but a lot better at diving for his fish suppers.

I met Eric and Robin on Heather in Cochin in 1995. We were going east against the prevailing winds, they were heading west to the Red sea and the Mediterranean. There were three boats at anchor off the Bolghatty Hotel. Dawn Treader was a 42ft steel boat out of NZ that AB had built himself. Heather pipped us for smallest boat in the anchorage by a couple of feet. I was on Tetra at 31ft with cousin Frank. While Heather was under American flag, Eric is a kiwi and as it turned out, we had both been to the same rough and tumble secondary school, Avondale College in Auckland. So on the three boats there were three kiwis taking in the delights of Cochin.

Sadly Heather was lost in 1997 off Saba in the Caribbean, an island I treat with trepidation when I pass it - the last time in Skylax we had 30 knots plus and a current kicking up horrendous seas. Oh, and the roller reefing jib, the only half decent foresail we had, was shredding all along the leach.

Eric and Robin have a new 36 footer now, Runaway, a kiwi boat they race locally on the west coast USA, though I'd wager even money they will be setting out on new adventures soon.

Go to www.freewebs.com/seawrite
and click the link for THE HEATHER CHRONICLES

RJH

New Zealand

Tonga

Fiji to Vanuatu

Australia

Christmas Island to Chagos

India

Oman and Yemen

Red Sea

Eastern Mediterranean: Israel, Turkey & Greece

Western Mediterranean: Italy, Balearics & Gib

Morocco and Canary Islands

28-08-07

Bows-to

In some of the harbours around Greece rock ballasting projects underwater from the face of the quay and going stern-to can ruin your day and possibly your season...so it makes good sense to go bows-to or take a long line ashore and use the dinghy to get back and forth.

28-08-07

Levkas Bridge

Just after we left the boat in Preveza at the end of June the Levkas Bridge, the F/B Santa Maura, a floating barge affair that swivels to let boat traffic through, suffered a major breakdown. Levkas town got one of the old landing barge type ferries up from Salamis that fitted exactly across the width of the canal. It opened only four times a day and boat traffic backed up massively. Lots of people elected to sail around the west side of Levkas and into the Inland Sea that way.

A week or so ago the repaired Santa Maura was back in place and opening more or less on the hour again. When I came through in Skylax I have to say it sounded very creaky and the bridge operator was gazing mournfully at the mechanics, so don't hold your breath, they may need to get the ferry back from Salamis. In the meantime the bridge (to the relief of lots of yachties) is up an running and opening again on the hour.

The F/B Santa Maura 'bridge' that swivels open at the north end of the Levkas Canal is opening again on the hour.

20-08-07

Well back in the water again after a week of antifouling, scrubbing, fixing, sanding and putting everything back on the girl. In August at 35 celcius plus. Now after nearly sinking the boat on the way down to Levkas (tell you later after I've had a beer or two), scraping the topsides getting out of the travel hoist bay (pig stubborn and stupid, I should have asked someone to give me a hand) and fighting the gearbox to Levkas (the engineer is looking at it now...), I'm still happy to be in the water, if a little dazed. Now it's time for a shower, a beer and just think positive, it's all going to work out in the end.

Yep, thats it for now, just sweat, antifouling, bruises and a puzzled boat owner wondering who gave him a day like this. Who is the Greek god of gearboxes anyway?
08-08-07
Yacht design

Yacht design has always had fads and fashions. Think of all those awful distorted IOR hulls that made it into production as cruiser/racers basically because they offered a lot more volume than older cruiser/racers. It's no wonder that a mantra could be heard all around the cruising community of 'long keel good/fin keel bad' when what was really meant was that IOR derived hulls were pigs downwind whereas long-keeled older boats were easier (and slower) to drive.

Now there are other fashions around that don't suit cruising in warmer climes, the Mediterranean and the Tropics, but which are flavour of the month if you cast your eye over new boat designs.

Pilot houses (Deck saloons)

A pilot house letting in lots of light and allowing a panoramic view outside must be wonderful in colder latitudes. But put one anywhere there is a bit of sun and the owner will be scampering off to get canvas covers made up to cover up all those windows which just turn the boat into a super-heated greenhouse below. The object in warmer climes is to keep out as much sun as possible while allowing maximum ventilation and that's why you put covers over all your perspex deck hatches. So if you are contemplating cruising anywhere warm discard the pilot house/deck saloon options and get a design which has a decent number of opening hatches to funnel air below. You will be spending most of your time outside in the cockpit (with a good bimini and an awning for shade) anyway and not inside the deck saloon.

Cover it up in the sun - OK this is on a motorboat but the same goes for deck saloons on sailing boats.


Fat arses

While there should always be a place for fat bottomed girls, as the song goes, it shouldn't be on production cruiser/racers. Crewed up racing boats and Open 50's and 60's with canting keels are not what I'm talking about, though you wouldn't want to go to windward for too long in one without ear-plugs. I'm talking about average production boats that are not overly wide at the stern, but wide enough, and into which the designer has tucked two quarter berth cabins which in turn push cockpit stowage even further aft. Imagine piling up a 100 metres of 10mm chain, a couple of big anchors, cans of fuel and water, maybe a generator and a watermaker as well at the back of the boat, and you have a boat which is arse heavy. Take a peek inside an older design (say 15 years ago) or in an Open 60 and you will find the back end is virtually empty. Boats don't like to have a lot of weight at the pointy end and the blunt end. OK we all carry anchor and chain forward, but an effort should be made to minimise this as much as possible and carry light stuff under the forepeak berth(s). But on boats with the weight of two quarter berth cabins and cockpit stowage right aft the weight distribution is all wrong.

Now I have a theory (amongst others) that this weight concentrated in the aft end of the boat has distorted keel design and position. Have keels moved further forward on modern production boats. I'm sure any yacht designer would shoot me down in flames, but I'm still wandering around boatyards and looking at these boats and some of them don't look right.

Less contentious is the fact that these designs are touted as off the wind flyers, but what happens when you need to go to windward, and lets face it, there is a lot more windward work involved even on a tradewind route than most people imagine. And what if you want to get somewhere interesting that lies upwind? Getting one of these fat arsed beauties going to windward is not easy because they like to be sailed flat or those stern quarters start digging in and the boat gripes awfully. Even worse they don't seem to be that stable downwind, at least on some of the common modern designs I've sailed. I won't name them but you should have a pretty good idea which ones I'm talking about from the biggest European boatbuilders.

Compare the stern sections of Skylax on the left and a pretty typical AWB on the right

Swept back spreaders

Yeah I know engineering-wise it works and it cuts down on weight aloft, but you can never sail directly downwind, at least with the main up. I remember on a trip from Antigua to the Azores a modern 46 footer came flying past our starboard quarter at around 110 degrees to the wind while we ambled downwind wing and wing. Two days later the same boat appeared on our port side after gybing over, again around 110 degrees, and just scraped past in front of us. Now this guy was putting a lot of effort into sailing his angles but it didn't seem to have paid off over a two day period (and we really were just ambling along) unless he had run out of wind or something else had happened.

A conventional rig with simple straight spreaders may be old fashioned, but you do get to go dead downwind and that works for me and lots of others.

Self-tacking jibs

Along with swept back spreaders there is the fashion for non-overlapping self-tacking jibs. The design imperative is a fairly large main so the boat is more main-driven than genny-driven and the convenience of a self-tacking jib. When the wind is light you put up an asymmetric the brochure blurb says. Come on, most cruising boats are handled by a couple and when the wind is light it's not often you go forward and hassle about with an asymmetric. Skylax is a pretty main driven boat, but we still go for a 145% genny because it covers 90% plus of the wind range we come across. In fact the asymmetric on Skylax is so old that I'm pretty sure the next time it goes up it's going to shred anyway. So go for a big genny and some decent deck gear to handle it.


Pirates

There is a lot of talk, a lot of forum threads, a lot of worry and much consternation over piracy on the high seas. Piracy is the most consulted web topic for cruisers setting off across an ocean and the talk is of 'whether to carry guns on board', 'whether to sail in a group or at least in an organised rally', 'whether to cruise XYZ route at all'. It's all such a worry.

Or is it. Take one of the most worrying areas in real terms, an area where piracy does occur in the Gulf of Aden. In the years between 1995 and 2006 there have been 14 piracy incidents on yachts off the Yemen coast. Given around 250-300 yachts do the northern Indian Ocean route and on and up through the Red Sea every year, this gives you less than 0.005% chance of being attacked by pirates. In all these cases only one person has died and that was in suspicious circumstances anyway. None of us wants to be the victim of a pirate attack. Apart from the loss of equipment and money in the middle of nowhere, the trauma inflicted by pirate attacks must be horrendous - the sort of thing that doubles the heart beat when someone raps on the hull or makes a sudden movement, that breeds nightmares and paranoia. The trouble is it seems the paranoia is infecting the vast majority who have not been attacked, but who see pirates lurking in every craft that floats.

Recently a note was posted on a web site of a piracy incident. A trawler off the Cape Verdes was acting suspiciously. It came close to a yacht, well it approached to within a mile. It never showed the name on the transom. It changed direction at odd times. It didn't answer calls on VHF Ch. 16. Now I'm not going to say there was no menace, but this sounds like typical behaviour for a trawler. They change course pretty erratically and it's unlikely anyone on board spoke English. Moreover if any of us were fishing offshore for weeks and a yacht came up over the horizon, well wouldn't it be fun and a break from routine to head in that direction for a bit out of innocent curiosity.

Most reports of suspected pirate activity are off this nature and to my mind they are nothing less than bored fishermen who are curious about this sailing yacht in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps they think we are acting suspiciously. There are of course real piracy incidents, but many reports are paranoia that should be put to one side. And are you really going to use a gun carried on board. I suggest you think about the tragic case of the great Peter Blake in Brazil. More than likely he would have lived, albeit minus some valuables and boat gear, if he had not gone below and brought out a rifle. Few yachtsmen have pointed a gun at another human being and pulled the trigger and the chances are that most of us would be just that hesitant moment too slow to take another life. We just aren't built that way. Most pirates just want to grab the loot and go... and that's what we should let them do if it ever, and the chances are remote, comes to that.

Last time we were coming eastwards from the Caribbean to the Azores I noticed a ship, pretty much a merchant ship in profile, steaming slowly across our stern at sunset. I called up on the VHF but got no response. The next morning there it was steaming slowly on a reciprocal course across our bows. I called up several times and eventually got a reply. 'This is the US Navy ship in position 34.30N 40.00W on a true course of 20�, speed 6 knots'. I asked for it's name, what it was doing out here going so slowly in the middle of nowhere (we still had 600 odd miles to run to the Azores), and whether it had picked us up on radar. To all questions I got a curt 'I'm sorry, that's classified information'.

Friends of mine, Wal and Barb had their own piracy scare in the Indian Ocean. On watch at night they saw a masthead light not far behind them. And it stayed there at a constant direction and speed right behind them. They changed heading several times to shake the pursuer off but he stuck right behind them every time they changed course. All through the night he followed, not getting any nearer, but not going away either. In the morning Barb discovered their pursuer was the man overboard light that had fallen off its bracket and followed them on its bit of string tied onto the boat at the same course and speed. 'Good on yer' Wal.

03-08-07

A few email letters with useful info from Greece on the Attic coast, Gulf of Corinth and Gulf of Patras. These are reproduced here for the cruising info and do not necessarily reflect my views.



Rod,

I thought you should be aware of the attitude of the
staff at Olympic Marina. Not only were they unhelpful
they were positively rude. We had previously tried to
get a berth for a night there and were very curtly
told that there was no room. It is clear that this is
their normal attitude to visiting yachts.


Regards,


Clive Probert



The General Manager
Olympic Marina
Panormos 19500
Lavrio
Attiki

Dear sir,

We live on a yacht and are currently cruising Greece.

Two days ago during a voyage we suffered total
steering failure. Using emergency steering procedures
we managed to work our way with difficulty into Porto
Rafti.

We now need a replacement part. Because we have no
address we needed somewhere for the relevant part to
be couriered to. As your marina was nearest we rang to
confirm that you would be willing to accept receipt on
our behalf so that we could pick it up either by yacht
or by road and thus be able to effect the necessary
repairs. We received from your staff a totally
negative response to our very reasonable request.

We have cruised for 10 years and have nearly completed
a circumnavigation. We have travelled to over 50
countries and logged over 50,000nm. We have never
anywhere been refused help when we have been in need
of it. This reflects very badly on your marina, your
town and your country. This in stark contrast to our
experiences of 3 years cruising in Turkey where we
have always been overwhelmed by kindness and offers of
help nothing ever being too much trouble.


Yours sincerely,


Clive Probert





Dear Rod,

Yes I realise that things can change just thought you
ought to get the input.

Problems now sorted with great help frpm Speedex the
local couriers. Well on our wayto the Ionian and in
the Gulf of Corinth now. Zero wind and temps in the
100s F.

One other piece of useful info. You can get diesel on
the dock at the east end of the Corinth Canal.

regards.

Clive Probert





Rod,

More info from Gulf of Corinth.

Page 154

Trizonia

Lizzie's YC is now closed. We were told that it was up for sale.

The key to the water is now obtained from the Trizonia restaurant and supermarket. Not sure what has happened to Christo. The tap is not where shown on the chartlet but is 50M to the west.

Page 158

Galaxidhi

The dock area to the south of for 100M and including the short mole is now cordoned of and a large floating crane is being used to dig out but harbour bed along this area. Apparently it is a new dock under constrution. We heard a rumour that this work had been going on for 3 years! The only option here at present is to anchor off.

Page 159

Itea Marina

There is now what appears to be an office building, unoccupied at present and also a toilet block,locked. There are electricity points on the docks but they are not functional and appear to be starting to rust. No water on docks, fire points are just empty metal boxes.

Page 161

Andikiron.

There is a new light structure on the end of the pier, extremely decorative and conspicuous. Illuminated at night but the light was not working!

We were getting short of water along this section. In Andikiron we rang the telephone number on the box on the dock. It was 1300hrs. We were told that they could not come then nor would they say when they would come. We rang again at 1730hrs. We then learnt that the tel. no. was that of a bar at the eastern end of town "Salonu". We went there and spoke to the barman who was very helpful. The man in charge of the water and electricity works there in the evenings, stays late and therfore has to sleep all day. It was arranged that they would ring on our mobile when he was available. We eventually got a call at 1945hrs. at which time we were dining so we abandoned our quest.

At Itea there is a very long hose at the toilet block which was administered by a little man who was also in charge of the mini tanker delivering diesel. The water point is about 50M to the west of where shown on the chartlet and one has to mor at the dock just east of the middle pontoon. It was very windy and difficult to get on and off that dock so we left it until the following day when of course the little man was nowhere to be seen and there were no signs of a telephone number.

At Galaxidhi of course the dock is not available.so we eventually filled one of our tanks using containers at Trizonia. The true joys of cruising.

Regards,

Clive Probert
Gulf of Corinth


Carbon footprints

Recently we had the Live Earth concert in London, an effort by Al Gore to get everyone thinking about Climate Change. It seems to me that this was yet another chance for fading pop stars to rejuvenate their careers (Madonna, Foo Fighters, James Blunt) and some committed, but other misguided pop divas, to promote their environmental credentials in public. The problem with all of this was the huge carbon footprint generated by pop stars flying in on private jets and a lot of people salving their conscience by going to a concert. The idiocy of it all has been pointed out by many and was dubbed by some other committed environmentalists 'Private jets for Climate Change'. One estimate of the carbon footprint for just the London concert was 31,500 tons, more than 3,000 times the annual footprint for the average Briton.

All this criticism, and it is justified, got me to thinking about what my average carbon footprint is and how it can be reduced. As it turns out after using several carbon footprint calculators, it is around the average for the UK at somewhere between 10 and 11 tons annually. And I reckon I have a pretty clean record. I've had green tariff electricity with Good Energy for eight years. Our mileage in the car is next to nothing as we both work at home and our average mileage in a year is around 2000 miles. We use the bus and train a lot to get around. At home we are just as mean with water and electricity (well, nearly) as we are on the boat. Our only real minus points are flying out to the boat and back, though as it turns out we are still about average on that anyway.

One of the things the carbon calculators don't really take into account is the fact we live on the boat for longer than we are back here in the house. So an average quarterly fuel bill is calculated for the year which distorts the overall figure. That said, neither does it take our energy use on the boat into account. And living on boat does consume energy and contribute to the overall carbon footprint we leave behind, so I'm a little worried that our footprint is average.

How do we get it down?

I have ranted on before about sailing boats that seem to motor everywhere, even when the sailing conditions are ideal. We do sail most places, even when the speed gets down to a couple of knots. It's a skill which seems to have been lost and as the old saw goes: any fool can sail when there is a lot of wind, but it takes skill to sail when the wind is light.

We do need to run the engine for around an hour a day to charge batteries, cool the fridge which has an engine driven compressor, and heat water in the calorifier. When day-sailing this usually corresponds with leaving and entering a harbour or anchorage. On passage it coincides with the radio net 'chat show' as the old SSB needs at least 13-13.1 volts to transmit well and given it uses 20-25A when transmitting, that means the engine needs to run to keep the voltage up and at the same time cool the fridge, heat the water, etc. Still that's a 55HP diesel using around 2-2.5 litres/hour and that comes to around 6 kgm. So if we use the engine for one hour a day for 3 months' that comes to just over half a ton of carbon. That's a lot and my estimate would be that we run it more often than that motoring when there is no wind at all.

To all of this we need to add the energy costs and carbon emissions from the original construction of the boat, the energy costs of boat equipment like sails and electronic gizmo's, bottled gas used for cooking, and any mods we have done like repairs to woodwork (invariably in teak) and old oil and filters from the engine service.

Below there are links to three of the calculators I used to calculate my carbon footprint. Suck it and see.



http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/



http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html



http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/index.html





10-07-07

Indian Ocean Cruising Guide proof time .....!

I'm just reading through the page proofs for the new edition of Indian Ocean Cruising Guide (www.imray.com) and I'm amazed how SE Asia has bounced back after the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004. When I got in contact with people I knew out there a decent interval after the tsunami their message was please, please don't write off the yachting scene here. We need people to keep coming.
09-07-07

Levkas Marina

Levkas Marina is rapidly filling up, so much so that the final pontoon on the north side extending out to the wavebreaker pontoon on the canal (left side of the marina in the picture) has been installed providing a lot more berths for the busy summer months. A lot of boats are basing themselves permanently in the marina which all works pretty well. Although there are lots of bars and cafes around the marina, most people wander over to Levkas town for a bite where there are a lot of good tavernas. Try Ev Zin in a little street just off the right side of the high street heading up into town AFTER the square.


04 July 2007, 14:27:00

Fish farms



Recently I had an email about the fish farms in the Gulf of Gulluk on the Turkish coast.



Dear Rod Heikell,



The reason we email is about the Gulf of Gulluk. We were taken by surprise by the large increase in the number of fish farms in this bay from last year to this. Nearly all of them are uncharted and most of them display no lights at night. As few sailors sail at night in these waters so we suppose the navigation hazard should not be overplayed. However, the effect these farms appear to have had on the water quality seems to be substantial. Last year for example the water in the bay at Iassos was clear and so too was the water in Paradise Bay. This year much of the water is very cloudy and unpleasant.



A fish farm expert told us that there are approx 12 million fish in farms in the Bay. This apparently equates to pollution from a town of 650,000 people. If this is correct it is hardly surprising that the water in this bay is fast becoming contaminated what with a west wind as normal and no tides to clean things out.



We wonder whether your next edition of your Guide should perhaps make more mention of all the above. Also do you know if the Turkish authorities are trying to do something about this or are the big businesses owning these farms winning the day? We are all in favour of sustainable fish farming as locals have to make a living and produce food but what is going on in the Bay of Gulluk seems rather excessive.



Hope you can spare a moment to reply to this.



Best wishes



Alison and John Epton





Fish farm in the Gulf of Gulluk off Salih Adasi (see home page on Slylax)



Everyone cruising around the Mediterranean has noticed an explosion in the number of fish farms around the coasts and islands. In the beginning the fish farms were just an annoyance as they destroyed the ambience of a deserted bay or actually took up the best space in a bay. Now concerns have moved on to the environmental impact of the farms.

� When you approach a fish farm the water turns to a cloudy green entirely different to the deeper water in the approaches and in bays where there are no fish farms. I suspect that this cloudy water is a form of eutrophication where uneaten fish food falls to the bottom and so enriches the water that it favours algal species which then deplete the amount of oxygen in the water and the diversity of marine life is drastically reduced. This cloudy green colour is typical of eutrophication and the water on inspection has lacked much in the way of marine life growing on the bottom or swimming in it. I have seen areas which are virtually bereft of weed cover.

� The debris around the shore from the farms (and I suspect on the sea bottom), the increased number of flies around the fish food stocks, and the awful smell, reminiscent of factory farmed chicken or intensively reared pigs, is environmentally damaging.

� It does not sustain wild fish stocks. As we point out below it takes 5 tons of fish feed to produce 1 ton of farmed fish.

� Fish farm operators should attend a course and train the workers who distribute the food which includes antibiotics and trace minerals and other chemicals to keep the fish healthy in an enclosed environment - much like antibiotics fed to intensively reared chickens and pigs. Having been to a fair number of these farms, often located in remote locations, I don't believe for a minute that the operatives here keep accurate records or accurately dispense the fish food and any additives fed to the fish. My guess is that badly paid workers are pretty much left to their own devices with the occasional visit from a 'qualified manager'.

� There is a danger that farmed fish escape into the wild fish stocks and breed with them, in so doing introducing the farmed fish gene pool to wild fish. How the two gene pools might differ is a matter of contention, but marine scientists have expressed concern over it.

� Fish farms are not confined to the Mediterranean and it is growing at a staggering rate with environmental fears expressed in many other countries. Farming prawns in SE Asia has led to fears of eutrophication and increasing the salinity of coastal land.





I for one always ask if fish has been farmed and if it has I won't eat it. Apart from anything else sea bass and bream from fish farms has an unpleasant muddy taste to it and god knows what else in the flesh.



Extract from Greek Waters Pilot 10th edition

Fish Farms in the EU



Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of the world food economy, and represents 31% of the total value of EU fish production. Greece, Italy and Spain account for 75% of all EU sea bass and sea bream production; in all over 100,000 tonnes of farmed fish. Other aquaculture sectors account for 160,00 tonnes of salmon (mainly Scotland and Ireland), and 750,000 tonnes of molluscs (France and Italy).

It is the development of sea-cage fisheries for fin-fish such as salmon, trout, sea bass and sea bream in the Mediterranean that carries concerns based on environmental, health and sustainability issues. Greece produces 50% (60,000 tonnes) of all EU farmed sea bream and sea bass (Italy has a 14% share). The continued expansion of captive blue fin tuna fattening farms in Spain, Malta and Italy is also raising concerns for the viability of wild stocks. Farmed fish has been seen as a solution to the natural poverty in fish in the Mediterranean, but it is becoming evident that these systems are causing more problems than they solve. They threaten the sustainability of wild fish stocks; it takes over 5 tonnes of wild fish to produce 1 tonne of farmed sea bass or sea bream. Fish farms pollute the coastal waters with toxic chemicals, and some farmed fish have also been found to be carrying unacceptably high levels of toxic chemicals.

(Figures above have been taken from a paper presented at the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries public hearing on 'Aquaculture in the EU: Present situation & Future Prospects' by Don Staniford (Oct 2002).

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