Storm over the straight of Bonefacio, severe damage and anchors dragging.

3 O'clock in the morning. A peaceful scene, with 2 humans, and two cats piled on the bed, in deep sleep. On the deck the storm is raging. The peace is quickly disturbed by the anchor alarm emitting its loud “Beep, beep beep....”. It is my belief, nothing wakes you up faster and with more clarity of mind than an anchor alarm going off in a storm. Not even a triple espresso, with a red-bull thrown in will have the same effect. Of course this has to happen at 3 in the morning, a time when the sleep is deepest. After so many false alarms, we did not expect this one to be real. After all, outside it was blowing a “mere” 35-40 knots of wind. Nothing for the likes of Excalibur. After confirming on the navigation laptop that we were indeed dragging, we decided to get the anchor back up. At this point we were 200 meters from the lee shore rocks, pounded by an inviting surf. The distance between where the anchor was dropped, and the location where the anchor was finally retrieved was 400 meter. This can be broken down in: 100 meters for the alarm to be triggered. 200 meters for us to wake up and decide to get the anchor up, and 100 meters for the actual anchor retrieval.

When Excalibur was finally up, with it came a large chunk of mud and weed. Excalibur never relinquished it's death grip on the soil, it was the soil being to weak to hang on to itself. As this all happened, the water under the SaltyPaws was lit up by bioluminescence, as the water was running below the hulls.

Examining what happened from our track in the bay

How could this have happened? We anchored at an “official” anchorage, marked on the map. The anchor was dropped in 10 meters of water, with 60 meters of scope. When we dropped the anchor, the water was too murky, so we did not have the chance to select an inviting sandy patch, or to snorkel over the anchor to check it was set. And if we would have snorkeled over the anchor, we would have found an anchor that was set.

We tried to re-anchor in the same bay, close to the original location. In the second attempt, the anchor did not set at all, a first for Excalibur. In the same bay there was a Dutch boat, that also experienced anchor drag at the same time as we did. The holding in this bay was simply not up to 40 knots of wind, even with a massive anchor. Strange that this bay made it's way into the anchor symbols on the map.

We moved to the next bay, which was also filled with the sound of strained anchor winches of ships re-anchoring. We dropped Excalibur in 16 meters of water. After our previous experience, we decided to chase it with the full 100 meters of chain. This time was more in line with our usual anchor experience: Excalibur set in no-time, and held firm, even in the highest wind gust of 52.1 knots. We reset the anchor alarms, and after a cup of tea, we went back to bed.

 When we woke up the next morning, the sea could not be more calm. Anyone on the beach would not have believed our story was it not for the viable storm damage. A catamaran in our bay, on the beach lost it's mast. A mono hull in the same bay blew out it's Genoa. It was really 52.1 knots out there after all, and when fed with a clean sand, Excalibur did not disappoint the second time around.

This yacht suffered a ruined genoa due to the storm

The water the day after the storm could not be more calm

More boats have entered the large sheltered bay to ride out the storm

Top 10 Reasons for leaving the Med for other Cruising grounds

1. 
    You are tired of the frequent storms, especially in the straights of Gibraltar, Messina and Bonefacio. However, storms can strike at any moment, and sometimes the storm does not even have the grace to drop the barometic pressure. People say the Northsea is infamous for storms, but at least you sea them coming in the North Sea, unlike the Med, where storms can be missed in a 3-day weather forecast. Also, in the North sea, most storms are reserved for the winter season.
2. You are pulling your hairs out, every time your deck is covered in dust after it rains for 5 microseconds.
3. You do not like being becalmed. When there are no storms, winds in the med are often very light.
4. You are looking forward to the challenge of the Atlantic crossing
5. You would like catch your own lunch. The Med is fished quite empty, and I haven't met any cruiser that caught anything of significance here.
6. You would like to get away from all the superyachts. Ok, they frequent the Carib, but often do not have the range to do the Pacific.
7. You want to get away from the Marinas
8. You have taken in all possible culture that you could retain
9. Your are tired of once again finding yourself in a bay with loud clubbing in progress
10. You are struggling to find any uninhabited islands.

Atlantic Crossing: Ready set go!

What does it take to cross the atlantic. Our safety gear was in order long ago. We have an experienced crew. We have loaded up the Diesel tank and the supplies. The boat has been checked, the rigging has been inspected, the rudder has been inspected, and the engine service has been quite recent. We know how to use the sat-phone for the weather forecasts. Our medical supplies are all topped up.

Our plan is to sail from La Linea in Spain to the Grenadines. Depending on the wind we may make a short stop in either Madeira or the Canary Islands. Our strategy is to sail South, to catch the trade winds and then west towards the Grenadines. We will use the grib files to predict the exact location of the trade winds.


 Now all it takes is: The courage to remove the lines tying us to the La Linea Marina.

Grib file, showing the location of the trade winds. We can receive this data via sat phone.

The Atlantic Crossing Strategy

For the Atlantic crossing, our strategy is a mix of tried and tested with the unusual. The unusual part of our strategy, is that we will leave from Gibraltar, and have no planned stop in Cabo Verde, Canaries or Madeira. Inspired by the Volvo Ocean, we will take the fastest route from Gibraltar to the Carib. We see the locations above as stops of opportunity, we will make a short stop to refuel, rest and eat if we get close.

The tried and tested is the route. We will aim to make our way south to location 20N, 30W to catch the trade winds. From there we will change course and aim for the Grenadines!

Charles' Inspiration

Dear friends,
On the threshold of yet another big adventure, of an unusual scale and length, let me share these words with you:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
- Mark Twain
Fare thee well!

Shopping for the Atlantic crossing and beyond!

SaltyPaws at the start of the Volvo Ocean Race

The selection process was tough, and we did not make much traction with the sponsors. Nonetheless, the SaltyPaws will be at the start of the Volvo Ocean race 2014/15, together with 7 Volvo Ocean teams.

 The race will stretch over 38,739 nautical miles, and call in 11 ports. SaltyPaws was disqualified from taking part of the race, on account of the fact that the dual hull design, hot showers and coffee machine would provide an unfair advantage over the rest of the competition.

At the moment we are in Alliance, where all the Volvo Ocean race yachts are lined up. The boats look spectacular from the outside. We also managed to visit one of the boats on the inside, but not before signing an indemnity waver, and donning a helmet. Once inside of the boat it quickly became clear why the waver was necessary. As I am blogging, and looking around in the SaltyPaws, I see upholstery, a coffee machine, microwave, dual sink with hot water, wooden finish, soft cushions, wooded floors, LED indirect lighting and a couple of cat scratchers. The Volvo Ocean boats off course have none of this on the inside. The finish in the inside is bare carbon – there is no finish the hull and bulk-heads are left bare.

SCA girl crew showing Volvo Ocean Helmets, not only designed to protect from impact with bulkheads, but also flying fish!

SaltyPaws team showing off the correct grinder handling.

SCA navigator showing the navigation equipment. Note that from this position it is impossible to see outside, or even to be comfortable at all.

Even the one little toilet bowl, and the single little sink are made out of carbon. There is no shower on the boat. There is no furnace, only facilities to heat water. There is no freezer or fridge. The only food on board is nonperishable. I can see how a ships dog would be somewhat impractical, as there are no trees on the boat, and the landfall is not expected for another 30 days for some legs. However, what disappointed me the most is that the Volvo Ocean Race Official went as far as doing away with the ships cat. In hindsight, this was probably done as the ships cat would be smart enough to take domicile in the single carbon kitchen sink, Tuxington style, taking away the only available sink to the entire crew.

Tuxington blocking the sink and so simultaneously  earning his nickname "Sinkerton" and being disqualified as a Volvo Ocean Crew. Notice the copius amount of articles not found on a volvo ocean race boat: Cat, dual sink, kitchen top, tap, towel, dishwashing soap and drip tray.

With all the bulk-heads, and tights corners, this boat was already very difficult to navigate on the inside while firmly planted on terra firma. I can only imagine what it would be like going at speed in massive waves. The organizers state how safety was a big part of designing the new Volvo Ocean 65 class, but from the inside it is difficult to how this translated in the design. I imagine every team member in a constant state of sea-sickness, while slowly cutting and abrading their appendages, and breaking the occasional bone. But athletes being athletes, they are probably very manly¹ about it.

Another safety observation: The helm station and navigation station are all within minimum safe radiation range.

The finishing does not even begin to touch on crew comfort. Whereas the SaltyPaws has a comfortable queen sized bed, on a lat bottom, the crew on the Volvo Ocean 65 has to make do with netted bunk beds. Can you imagine trying to sleep on a netted bunk bed, on a boat moving at speeds up to 40 knots, with lots of grinding and noise on the deck!

Volvo Ocean bunk bed on port, SaltyPaws based full queen sized bed, fluffed up by Tuxington on starboard.

The Volvo Ocean Race is designed to take both the sailing sport as a whole, and the definition of the word “minging²” to new levels. No showers for 30 days, a single change of clothing and poo bags... Need I say more? Even the Girls team, sponsored by SCA, which is a big manufacturer of hygiene products, such as Tork, Tempo and Libresse, are expected to come off the boat being the epitome of mingingness.

It is interesting to see how the race and the boats have evolved over time. You will see that not all changes have been for the better. For example, in the first race, all boats were fitted out with a galley, manned by a chef. The boats where equipped with a freezer, and the winning team even brought some bottles of wine on-board. As mentioned above, the current boats have freeze dried astronaut food and energy bars. I hope the team nutritionists remember the cure for scurvy. Technology wise, the materials have changed from aluminum to carbon, the keels have become canting and tilting, dagger boards have been introduced, and the sails use the latest and greatest materials (excluding carbon, as that would block the satellite signals). The first editions of the race made use of sextants for navigation, whereas now it is all GPS and satphone. As a matter of fact, a number of cameras have been installed on the boat, and every team also includes an on-board reporter that has to send 20 minutes of footage every week. The last we heard, he actually forgot his boots for the first leg!

As far as the officially SaltyPaws endorsed Volvo Ocean team, the jury is still out. Elizabeth supports the all woman SCA team. Skipper supports the Dutch Brunel team. Holland has a very strong Volvo Ocean tradition, and is the only country that has won the cup three times. Luna supports the USA/Turkish team Alvimedica. Because we are in Spain, and because of our Spanish relatives, we also root for the Mapfre team. Rest assured that the last word has not been spoken on this subject on the SaltyPaws.

The start of the race will be coming Saturday at 14:00. The race will begin with a few laps in front of Alliance, before setting sail to cape town. SaltyPaws will observe from the spectator field, this time.

1Or womanly in case of SCA

2Absolutely disgusting!

Self sufficiency

SaltyPaws does not have the domes or the crew, but in all other aspects aspires to be a super yacht. We even have two launches.

SaltyPaws is a pretty self sufficient yacht. In the 4 months that we have spend in the Med, we have just spend 5 nights in a marina. Self sufficiency means that you can stay out of the marina in any conditions, generate your own power and water. Our anchor Excalibur has been proven in quite adverse conditions. Our nearly 1000 WATS of solar panels drive the autopilot, coffee machine, vacuum cleaner and microwave oven. The water maker provides the cleanest of drinkable water. Our dinghy allows us to carry a myriad of grocercies to the larder.

The main reason for us to go into port is the deck wash. Especially in the Med, rain does not clean the boat, instead it leaves fine dust all over the white deck. Also, beating against 6 Beaufort or more will get your deck covered in a fine salt layer. The solution of course is the “pit stop” boat turn around. In Greece many marinas allow a free short stay, and some even throw in free water. During one such pit stop in Athens, we managed to: Clean the deck, fill the water tank, deliver the genacker for repairs, and have repairman over to fix some electrical issues.

This luxury is not extended in Italy. Free water can be had, just when fueling up at the pontoon for the duration of the fueling. Most other places charge around 20 euros. Having lived in Norway, where the water is free, I was not prepared to loose 20 euros over a few liters of water. Instead, we decided to hook up the deck shower to the water hose. Using just about 3/8 of a tank, we managed to turn SaltyPaws in a Cinderella state, into a SaltyPaws, ready to sparkle at the ball¹. When we were scrubbing the deck, as the second largest yacht in large mooring field, we got a lot of yachties looking what was going on, and probably wondering why we where scrubbing the deck while at anchor.

As I am writing this, our water maker has made up quite a bit of water that we drained over the deck, and it was a good 20 euros left unspent.

Now, the next item on the self-sufficiency list is a washing machine. SaltyPaws does not have one, yet...

1No pumpkins or mice where harmed in the process, but only because Tux could not find any mice.

The old Roman port in Venotene

After the unimpressive island of Capri, we did not expect much of the small island of Venotene. They main reason we decided to stop there, is that is was located at a convenient distance on our way to Sardinia. However, Venotene managed to impress. According to the notes there is supposed to be a free town key. As the weather was quite calm, we decided to anchor off the old Roman port instead. We took the little SaltyPaws into the old Roman harbor, and tied off to a bollard installed by the Romans themselves. Looking at the remains of the ancients is one thing, but sailing into their port, and tying off to an original bollard is like being part of the ancients. What was good enough for the Romans, is actually still good enough for the locals, and yachties that park their boats into the old Roman harbor every day.

And it does not stop there. At the quay, there were many shops, that where dug out of the stones. Doorways and windows where hewn directly into the stone. They where protected from the sun, by an arcade, also hewn out of the rocks. You can almost see the Romans walk about at this place.

And Venotene had even more to offer. When walking up the steep steps towards the main square, we had a magnificent view over SaltyPaws, and the adjacent island housing a fortress. The main square is quite pleasant, with a massive town hall. There was also a little square with really chilled out looking coffee stops. The supermarket had a large assortment of fresh wine, and other products.

 We ended up not eating out in the many nice restaurants. Instead we went into a take-away pizza place, build into one of the original Roman shops. Pizza in an old Roman place, is there a better way to combine the new and the old of Italy?

Little SaltyPaws is moored up to a Roman bolard

In front of the pizza shop, which has been in the Roman arcade. A shop has been here for several milennia!

SaltyPaws looking smug at anchor in Venotene

Ischa

Panoramic view of Ischa

We did some shopping in Procida, mainly to top up our fig supply. We were not impressed with the town our the island. We had to leave the island of Procida in a bit of a hurry, as we were not allowed to drop our garbage off.
 Since Tuxy and Luny had worked hard to make the contents of the garbage as stinky as possible, we decided to move our anchor to Ischa. Ischa turned out to be really nice. We were moored next to the citadel, and it was shown off wonderfully with the floodlights during the night.

We always look for other boats with an American or Dutch flag, to catch up with our compatriots. Next to us was a Lagoon 380, flying the star spangled banner. We went across, and we were quickly invited onboard by a lovely American couple from Georgia, and their dog Wilson. After some socialising, and a tour of the boat, we invited them (minus Wilson) onboard our boat for some more socialising.