[Public-List] Canaries, Part2

Fri Nov 23 07:00:11 PST 2007

Hi Gord,

This is a great story. With your fabulous contacts this would make a great
movie. On the topic of movies, we comissioned a one hour promotional movie
for Brigantine Inc.  We are planning to premiere it at the Grand Theatre
with a black tie fund raiser much the same as the "Master and Commander"
fund raiser in which you participated. I'll call you to discuss the
details as this develops.

Peter Milley

 > 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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