Circumnavigation on a 26ft Catamaran

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Discrimination

June 14, 2009

Discrimination
This is really a blog entry for multihull owners, especially small catamaran owners.
 
It’s a moan about the fact that many marinas charge 50% on top of the standard marina charges for multihulls.
 
I have a small catamaran which is not as wide as many monohulls but as a multihull I am being charged 50% on top of the standard charge, even though many monohulls are beamier than my boat.
 
I can fit a boat next to mine in a marina berth, so the marina is NOT losing money from my boat taking up too much space.
 
I am saying that there should not be any discrimination between a monohull or a multihull. If the boat in the marina berth is taking up two spaces then I can understand the extra charge but if the boat is not taking up two spaces why be charged extra?!
 
Marinas should work out their costs on length and beam regardless of the type of boat.
 
If you agree then feel free to contact me, maybe we can start a campaign. I expect monohull owners not to agree to paying extra but maybe they as beamier boats would agree that multihulls should not be penalised.
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Visitors!

May 21, 2009

I am currently entertaining visitors in Portugal – my mother and her friend have arrived for a few weeks and are staying at a local hotel, which has a discount for us hard up sailors and their families!

The Portuguese have excelled themselves with their helpfullness and hospitality. The first night that my mother arrived she needed to see a doctor – being a diabetic she had forgotten her needles for her insulin. The Portuguese taxi driver picked my mother and her friend up from the train station (the train was an hour late and he waited patiently with me, in fact he bought me a coffe whilst we waited!) he then took my mother to a state hospital and translated for her so that she could see a doctor and get a prescription, the taxi driver then took us to a late night pharmacy so that my mother could get the needles for her to take her insulin. All in all the taxi driver was with us for 3 and a half hours – he only charged us what the original journey would have cost if it had been a straight run from the train station to the hotel. If he had charged us what it should have cost 247 euros – it would have wiped out my mums spending money. I cannot praise him enough – but I have often been pleasantly surprised by the Portuguese and how friendly and helpful they are. I am very disappointed when I go to England for a visit and find the services people to be very rude and unhelpful, especially to foreign tourists.

I will remember to treat people how I would like to be treated – if we all did that then this world might be a better place!!

Captain Sassy

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New sailing Friends!!

May 17, 2009

I have had the pleasure of meeting new sailing friends who have read my blog.

It is quite a strange experience to meet and talk to people who have read about you before they have met you – but I expect that will happen more and more now as I write more blogs and travel to different cruising grounds.

I have enjoyed making new friends – some cruising people are wonderful people and you have the benefit of having something in common before you even strike up a new friendship.

I hope my new sailing friends enjoyed the cocktail party on my boat, even though it was pouring with rain! I managed to fit 9 adults into my saloon for the party, which is a record so far!

As the sailing season starts here and the weather improves – I am looking forward to sailing my boat in Spain and Portugal and making new friends and meeting up with old ones! Happy Sailing everyone!!

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Email laziness?!

January 31, 2009

The weather has been so bad here that “us cruisers” in the marina have resorted to emailing each other, rather than getting soaking wet going to each other’s boats! Is the height of laziness? Or just good sense? It is difficult to get your clothes dry when it rains day after day – we have had weeks of rain without a break now. Last night the wind blew from the land and all of our boats are covered in brown sludge, even the halyards and sheets are saturated in brown dirt, which is hard to wash out. Ironically we need rain now from another direction to wash out the brown goo covering our boats!

 

Despite the weather we are still making ourselves do things, we go out for a meal on a Tuesday evening, there are normally about 10 of us every week, and different people manage to make it each week, which makes it interesting. The meal only costs about 6 Euros, and the food just keeps on coming, if you have a few drinks as well the whole evening costs about 10 Euros! The food is tasty too!!!

 

Us cruising ladies go out for a coffee morning once a week and our numbers have swelled; there are now 8 of us! We have started to go swimming after the coffee morning, the local swimming pool is like an Olympic sized swimming pool, exceptionally clean, it will give us the exercise that we need during the winter months. When the weather gets warmer there will be a weekly barbeque, they are fun too, you bring your own food and drink and throw the food on the barby, and this is a great way to meet new cruisers in the marina. Currently there are British, American, Italian, German and Portuguese sailors here – I am looking forward to meeting new people this year from other countries too!

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Worst storm to hit France and Northern Spain in a decade!

November 14, 2008

We have had a weekend of the most horrible storm! People have died in France and Spain as a result of the storm and there is more to come! My heart goes out to the poor families of the people who have died. It is a very sad time for them.
 
A hurricane Force 12 storm swept across the Bay of Biscay across France and Northern Spain and has reached Italy. We had the storm here in Portugal also, but thankfully, not the same ferocity as a little further North. We had hail and heavy rain and a permanently heeled over boat – and I have a catamaran! For those that do not know – catamarans do not tend to heel over! Especially in a marina.
 
I knew the storm was coming and had been watching out for it for a week – prepping my boat – making doubly sure that all of my warps would withstand a hurricane! Three days of not sleeping and I see from the weather forecasts that we have another storm to come in a couple of days – oh joy!!!
 
The swell was as high as the breakwater – the entrance to the harbour was impassable – the swell had the effect of cascading over the breakwater like a permanent waterfall. Us cruisers crossed our fingers and hoped that the breakwater would withstand the pounding – I understand that the breakwater in La Linea, Spain did not hold during the storms in October 2008, we all knew this and realised that the same thing could happen here. If it did we would be driftwood!
 
Well I am off to check my warps again – my toerail is chafed from the fender lines and I have to think of ways to protect my boat from more damage. Roll on Summer!!
 
P.S. I have just seen some cracks in the breakwater with water cascading through them!!!
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Hurricane Force 12 in Portugal!

November 13, 2008

This blog entry is for everyone who thinks it is sunny and warm in the Med in Winter, I have come across and spoken to many people who believe that cruising in the Med in Winter is better than England, but the reality is that the only difference is that it is possibly a few degrees warmer in some countries. The storms can be far worse than in England and very dangerous or uncomfortable for us cruising sailors!

Last night we had a Northwesterly hurricane Force 12!!!

Last night all boat owners were re-enforcing their warps and anti-chafing hoses, adding fenders to their boats and then settled in for a wild night. In typical cruising tradition, I made sure my boat was ok and went to dinner on another yacht and then battled back to my rocking and rolling boat to wait out the storm. NO sleep all night, you just lay there waiting for the unusual noise which tells you something has happened to your boat that shouldn’t have!! Everyone sleeps in the next day, when the weather has calmed down and then gets up and re-checks all fenders and warps!!

No damage!! Phew!! But we have to go through it all again tomorrow as the same weather is forecast again for Sunday! Bummer!! In fact, the forecast is slightly worse!! We have had ice and hail stones so thick it looks like snow, tons of rain and a the top of everyone’s shopping list is a new heater and dehumidifier to cope with condensation.

So, if you thought it would be sunny and warm here in Portugal or Spain at this time of the year, think again!

Hope the weather is better where you are!

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Somali Pirates drown as they flee with ransom!!

November 12, 2008

For anyone travelling the Red Sea Route, this article may be of interest to you!

Jon Swain

SIX Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi supertanker drowned with their share of the ransom when their boat capsized as it left the vessel, their leader said yesterday.
Four others were missing with their share of the $3m payoff, which been parachuted on to the tanker on Friday, Mohamed Said said by phone from the port of Harardhere.
“The small boat that was carrying those killed and eight who survived was overloaded . . . they were afraid of a chase from outsiders [foreign navies of the combined maritime forces],” he said.
Mohamud Aden, a resident of the port off which the tanker had been anchored watched by the warships, said: “The capsize was an accident. The pirates were full of joy and partially frightened by the presence of foreign war machines and were speeding. That was a tragedy for the pirates.”
In all, several dozen raiders had held the ship and its 25-member crew, including two Britons, to ransom. They were well-armed and disciplined but as soon as they got the ransom a shootout nearly broke out, it was reported.

The 1,080ft Sirius Star, owned by Aramco, is the largest vessel hijacked by the Somali pirates. It was seized in November in the Indian Ocean, well outside the raiders’ usual operating area.

The tanker was carrying 2m barrels of oil, more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output and worth an estimated $100m. Its capture was seen as a dramatic demonstration of the pirates’ ability to strike hundreds of miles offshore.

The tanker’s crew included second officer Jim Grady, from Renfrewshire, and chief engineer Peter French, from Co Durham. Yesterday they were looking forward to coming home, though latest reports said the ship was still anchored off Harardhere.

More than 100 ships were attacked off the Horn of Africa last year and maritime officials said the problem was out of control. The pirates were said to have raked in $120m and still hold some 14 merchant ships and 300 crew.

The Sirius Star’s release came as the US Fifth Fleet announced that a taskforce targeting piracy would be launching later this month.

Nato and the European Union have warships in the Gulf and the Chinese navy has said it will assist.

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Christmas Cruising

November 11, 2008

I would just like to share with you my typical Christmas Cruising tales whilst in the Med.
 
I have found, now, that come October I am looking for a place to park my boat for the winter months, somewhere safe and cheap! Last year I stayed in Northern Spain and this year I am in Northern Portugal. Both places have been great, friendly and helpful people and despite the language barrier, on my part, very understanding with my halting attempts at speaking their language. I have been spoilt in Portugal because so many people speak very good English, but I am still picking up Portugeuse and trying it out on the locals.
 
The weather is very stormy during the winter months, and in this part of the world there is lots of rain. Many hours are spent inside the boat waiting for the rain to pass before dashing out to take out your rubbish or do some shopping. The dry spells make up for it though, there are more dry spells in the winter months in this part of the world than in England during the summer, this means that lots of work can be done on the boats, getting them ready for the next summers cruising.
 
So, if you are planning on cruising for a long period of time remember that it is not 12 months of sunshine and that many months will have to be spent in a marina! I made a big mistake before leaving England and gave away all of my electrical goods thinking that they would not be used on the boat but because you actually spend a considerable time in the marina during the winter the electrical goods would have been very useful. I have the use of free electric, so my microwave, kettle and toaster, heater and dehumidifier would have been very useful. I have had to buy these products again – so don’t leave yours behind!
 
Christmas was fun this year as there are a lot of liveaboard cruisers in my marina. Last year, in Spain, I was the only liveaboard cruiser in my marina!
 
In fact, there are so many of us that I suggested that the women get together once a week for coffee in one of the local cafes to chat about their lives on the boat and female stuff! There is a mixture of different cultures, which is very interesting, in a few years time I will be speaking a mixture of about 5 different languages!
 
I had roast chicken for Christmas dinner with all the trimmings! I asked my mum to send out some essential supplies, like Bisto gravy, which you cannot get in Spain or Portugal, Cheddar Cheese and she also sent out christmas puddings, brandy butter and a chocolate yule log! Yummy!!! It was very exciting to get parcels from England with presents and I thank everyone for them! My mum also sent me some money for a christmas present and I bought a dehumidifier from another cruiser, brand new, for half the original price, and it has a heater as well, it has been brilliant, keeping the condensation at bay and heating up my boat, I haven’t had to use my little fan heater at all whilst using the dehumidifier.
 
I hope you all had a good christmas too!!
 
Love Sassy x
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Marinas!

November 10, 2008

I thought I would just share with a you a few personal insights for staying in marinas – especially from a multi hulls perspective. I can only give you my own personal experience so I hope you find it helpful!

England

The marinas on the South Coast of England have great facilities but are expensive. I paid over £400 per month for my 26ft catamaran and I wasn’t being charged 50% on top for being a cat.

In England the major marina owners often have a discount card which you can use in marinas along the South Coast – it’s worth asking them when you go into pay your bill.

The marinas often give you a berth which actually belongs to someone who has paid to be there on a permanent basis. So, if they come back you have to move your boat. Difficult if you are single handed.

Northern Spain

Again you can ask for a discount card in some marinas. It costs about 5euros and gets you a 10% discount – only good for Northern Spain though.

The marinas are very good if you are staying for a while and will give you a good deal if you ask.

Some marinas penalise catamaran owners but most do not.

I wintered in Northern Spain and was charged 180 euros per month and this included electric, water and Wifi.

Northern Portugal

The cheapest so far! The people are very friendly and helpful and speak good english. You can also negotiate for longer stays.

It actually works out cheaper to stay for a longer time than a shorter stay.

If you stay for a year you can get your haul out and re-launch and pressure wash thrown in for free.

It costs me 98 euros per month including electric, water and Wifi.

From previous experience of staying in Southern Spain, the marinas are expensive and not friendly or helpful, in fact they are unfriendly and unhelpful. I have had friends who have had to fly back to Southern Spain just to move their boats. Although, they have been told this would not happen before they left for England.

Gibraltar is nearly as expensive as England.

Southern Portugal used to be good but the prices have gone up and the anchorages have been either taken over by marinas or you are not allowed to anchor anymore.

If you have anymore information to add to this then please give me a shout! Sassy x

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Busy!Busy!Busy!

November 09, 2008

Having a multihull is great but I am now in the process of painting the deck – travelling and living on board have taken their toll on my little boat and she needs sprucing up. I thought I would start of with something easy and paint the anti slip areas all around the deck and went of to the Portuguese paint shop and bought a nice navy blue paint.
On the first nice day (weather wise) I sanded and washed down the aft anti slip areas on my boat and got down to some serious painting. After a while I thought this little tin of paint is not going to cover my whole boat – I will count how many anti slip areas that I have to paint. I counted and re counted! I have 38 ant slip areas on my boat to paint and some of them are enormous! How did I think one little tin of paint would cover the whole lot?!
My friend came over later and I said do you know how many anti slip areas I have on my boat? The answer was about 10 maybe – no I said – 38! My friend did not believe me and went and counted them!!
I am a quarter of the way through on painting them now – they look very smart but I will have to go and get some more paint before I can finish!
My boat is 26ft but as it is a multi hull I think it is equivelant to having a monohull of approx. 40 to 50 ft in terms of paintwork.
So, the moral of the story is – if you are thinking of getting a multihull be prepared to do twice as much work as you would on a monohull of that size!!!
Cockpit
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