[Public-List] Canaries, Part2

[Gordon Laco]

Interesting story Jim -

My first time to sea was in '83 when I took on a yacht delivery from
Martinique to Toronto via Bermuda and New York.  The boat was a Dufour 31,
not such a great boat, and at the last minute the owner chose to come with
us.  

He seemed like an interesting man and was quite gracious during the preps.
He had absolutely no experience with sailing but said he wished to learn.
We island-hopped up the Antilles to Sint Maarten then did 10 days to
Bermuda.  Spent the night there then 5 1/2 days to New York and on up the
rivers and canals to Lake Ontario.

At sea, the owner couldn't do much what with sea-sickness and what my friend
called 'dangerous habit of not knowing when to be scared'.  Whenever we were
in a port he styled himself our Captain and was fairly unpleasant.  At sea,
when nobody was around and he needed us he was quite meek.  My buddy wanted
us to jump ship and leave him in Bermuda - they were barely on speaking
terms after the owner let the boat get knocked down while he was on watch
(he should have called us up but honestly he never gained the knack of
seeing changes in wind direction or strength)   I argued that we were nearly
home  and would be done with him in a few weeks.

After we got to Toronto I was invited by the owner to his place for dinner
and to exchange photographs.  Toward the end of the evening he surprised me
with a list of jobs that wanted doing on the boat - he expected me to slip
into the role of a sort of yachting domestic for him. He said that he did
not know how to remove the genoa from the furler, how to check the oil, the
battery had run flat etc etc.   I told him that I had my own boat to look
after.  Privately I thought that perhaps he should have paid more attention
when we were showing him how to do these things during the seven week trip.

My friend and I compared our impressions over the trip and came to the
conclusion that the owner might have been smuggling something.  The night
before we left Martinique a cardboard box was delivered to the boat and
stowed under the owner's bunk.  We were told not to touch it as it contained
a personal gift for his girlfriend.   Each time we cleared customs he was a
complete nervous wreck, particularly when we entered the USA. When we were
approaching Toronto I called up the Canadian Coast Guard to ask for clearing
instructions and he turned off the VHF in mid conversation.  I will never
know, but if he was up to something and had been caught, I'll bet he would
have fingered my friend and I - two long-haired guys in their 20's and we
might have had a terrible time convincing the authorities that we were just
idiots.  (okay, okay, maybe it would not have been that tough)   I will
never know, but now that I am all grown up I shudder sometimes and wonder if
we had a close call.

I am also resolved that while I want to go to sea again, next time it will
be in my own boat and with a little time to enjoy it!

Gord

#426 Surprise




> Now to the sailing part.
> 
> When we joined the boat in Lagos, Sandy inventoried the boat before
> provisioning.  There was still quite a bit of non perishable food from when
> she provisioned it last year.  All she had to get was the perishables for the
> trip to the Canaries, estimated to be six days.  Sandy did wonders in the
> galley and I think we all gained weight during the trip.  For the trip there
> five on board; Sandy and I, two schooner captains (friends of ours) and the
> owner.  We helped with some routine maintenance and preparation for sea.  The
> watermaker was down and a mechanic hired to repair it.  Also stowed sails that
> had been in storage since his trans Atlantic last year.  At 1700 on Thursday
> we departed Lagos with good wind for a broad reach and doing 6.5 knots. The
> forecast told us that the wind would drop some the next day but pick up again
> later.  The owner decided that we weren't going fast enough and turned the
> engine on to maintain 7.2.  We ended up doing what I call "sail enhanced motor
> ing" and using 110 gallons of diesel so we could arrive at 0800 Monday rather
> than getting there late afternoon same day, or early Tuesday morning.
> Immediately on arrival he had a rigger on board and people to re-repair the
> watermaker (the Lagos factory reps used the parts for a system smaller than he
> has) and the gooseneck had cracked.  This probably came from his in mast
> furling and over stretching the clew outhaul by using an electric winch to
> haul it out.  Because of the motoring and over flattening the sails did a lot
> of slating - not good for them, the hardware or anything else.  During the
> passage he spent way too much time glued to the radar and electronics at the
> chart table.  Side note we were seeing ships and fishing vessels earlier by
> eyeball than the electronics.  Not only does he have a full electronics suite
> below, there are two sets of repeaters in the cockpit.  I hate to think of his
> electric budget.
> 
> We got home Tuesday evening and are thinking about where our next adventure
> will be, but it will not on this boat.
> 
> 
> 
> Jim Davis
> S/V Isa Lei
> CT 35
> 
> No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in
> session
> 
> Mark Twain
> 
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