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Yachting experiences
This page shows my yachting experience that is difference
to my dinghy sailing experience.
The trips were:
»Greece 2001
»Mallorca 2006
»Plymouth 2006
»Plymouth 2007
»Pembrokeshire 2008
Greece 2001
This was a day trip for a picnic. We started from the hotel for
a sail of two hours. We are on beam-reach. The boat was straight
and it looked like a normal sailing afternoon as the boat
had a tiller.
However, on the way back, the wind was against us and required
a lot of tacks. As we were against, the boat lean a bit. This
was a bit of daunting experience as I had to accept that the boat
will lean without capsizing.
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Mallorca 2006
From Friday 19th to Saturday 27th May 2006, I went
with a group of 9 to sail around Mallorca and Menorca. I arrived on Friday morning
and stayed about 1km away from the Marina of Alcudia. See
the map Alcudia for further details. A point to note
that there is as well a commercial port that is about 500 meters from
the Marina. We took the
boats on Saturday afternoon after some (included myself) recovered from
a hang-over. We were divided into two groups. I sailed with Jane (the skipper),
Justine, Paul and Darren. I know all of them through the
Sailing Club.
On Saturday night, we went to a restaurant favourite of the locals. The dinner
was pretty good. We had an early night due to early start.
We sailed from the Port of Alcudia on Sunday 21st May. Because of
the way the Marina is organised, the start was very tricky. Paul and Jane
did very well not to damage any boats nor anchors. We crossed from
Puerto del Alcudia to Ciutadella, Menorca. The wind was
moderate and dropped to the point
that we had to put the engine on. However, in the afternoon, the wind picked
up. We stopped the engine and put the main sail on. We could not put a reef on. We tried
to put the Genoa at the same time. However, the boat was starting to lean a bit
too much. This was a good idea as it was the start of the trip. We finally dropped
the main sail and sailed under full Genoa. The boat sailed well although we did
not arrive before the second boat. We arrived at Ciutadella around 1900. During
the crossing, we made entries to the navigation log (compulsary). For good measures,
we made one entry every hour. I made one with Paul when the sea was calm and to learn
how to do it. I made with Jane when the sea was not that calm. We both felt that
it was time to go on deck as the sea sickness started to byte.
Ciutadella is the former capital and is a lovely place. The attached
link showed a picture from the night. There are a lot of things to see
but one thing that I felt amazing is the turn of the ferry. This a small
port and the ferry has a meters margin to do a 180o turn.
We only stayed for the night. We had a good evening meal.
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We took off about 9am as we were on the petrol
pontoon and could not stay further. In the bay, we practised stopping
the boat. Everyone took the wheel (this boat had a wheel instead of a tiller).
It was a nice experience and reassured me if it was needed.
The following day i.e. Monday 22nd May,
we sailed to Fornells, see Menorca for its
position. The sailing was nice as the wind was moderate i.e. about
force 2 to 3. However, because we were almost on the dead run, we could
only sail on the Genoa as the main sail would have been shadowed.
We arrived at Fornells around 1800. The pictures showed below our anchorage.
The two boats stayed at the top of
the bay near the town.
, see map for further details.
We went to shore through a small dinghy. I had a good meal.
Fornells has a reputation for good sea fish and to be a natural
harbour. It was one of the pride of Menorca during the
18th century. The bay is also the center of
Minorca sailing that seems to have too much when we arrived especially
on RS700 and RS800.
Although, when we went to bed, the wind was light and the sun was out,
unfortunately during the night, the rain came. It was also accompanied
with strong wind. We woke up in the middle of the night checking the boat
and tieding up ropes. When we woke up, the wind strength was about force 4
and forecasted to have gusts of 5. We started on the engine to leave the
bay as it was impossible to sail. We were on the engine for a good hour.
With the sea waves, I was not that confident especially with sea sickness but
I recovered. I was well enough to take the wheel. It was quite challenging
at the start but I got the hang of it. The boat surfed on top of the waves.
However, it was a completely different feeling than with a dinghy. In a few
gusts, I had to put the wheel hard left i.e. putting the brakes on.
Although it was physically challenging, it was very enjoyable.
In theory,
we should have entered the log every hour. However, we only made three entries
as we did feel well enough to stay below decks for long time.
We arrived at Mahon about 1800. The pontoon lending was delicate but went well.
See Menorca for the position of Mahon (Menorca's
capital). We were able to stay for half a day. We made a good use of it i.e.
walking in the streets, having a few good meals, etc. Mahon is a natural harbour
and is very nice as shown below.
We left Mahon around 2pm ish. We went to a cave that is very pretty. The sailing
was lovely. It was not too hot and the wind was moderate. The coast view was very
nice. I made one entry to the log and check that we went to the correct point.
This was a second back point as the boat has a GPS and Paul had a portable one.
We, as the other boat, almost missed the entry (passing in front of it as I enjoyed
the wheel too much).
Unfortunately, the anchorage to the other boat was a bit tricky but we
managed at the end. We had dinner on board as we could not go onshore.
The evening was as the previous ones very pleasant but not as heavy as the
first night. On the morning, I went for a swim but it was well too cold for me.
I will have pictures soon to prove it. However, I had to go back for them to be
taken.
We left the cave about midday ish. We took off on the engine due to the
shape of the cave. However, as soon as we were out, we put our Genoa.
The boat sailed well. The other boat sailed initially with the Genoa.
They put their main sail in an hour after departure and started to gain on us.
We decided to put our main sail up. Jane wisely had put a reef on Monday where we
were at Ciutadela. We started to pull away again. We arrived in front of Santa
Galdana around 1800. See Menorca for the
position of the town.
I rowed ashore all the crew. The town was very pretty with a lot of small
cafe and lovely restaurant. We had another lovely evening. Unfortunately,
we had to get up slightly early as we had a long crossing back to Port de
Alcudia. I took the wheel very early on but not at the start. The departure
being a bit tricky, Jane was at the wheel. I got gusts of 27 knots over the
water but I was on the engine. We put the Genoa in full about finishing the
repairs. I was at the helm for about 1 hour and half. The maximum speed
that I had over the water was 7.6 knots. Note that this represented
only 6 knots over land due to the tide. Unfortunately, the wind dropped
dramatically to the point that we had to finish the trip on engine.
The arrival at the Marina was as tricky as the departure if not trickier.
The Marina layout is very tight and the wind is against you. Jane and Paul
did a fantastic job to park the boat. We spoke to one of the charter
instructor who explained that even very experienced sailors do not like
this Marina.
We spent the evening in town but did not stay long as we had to
clean the boat for 10am. In afternoon, we hired a car to go back to the airport.
We went trhough the mountains. The view was pretty good to see.
Click on the link. (Click on the button
back once after you finished).
My views of this trip:
This is was not my best trip but it was not far behind to be the best one.
As it stands, it will enter the top 10 if not the top 5. I learnt a lot
about yachting but I have made a few mistakes that could have been dramatic.
I did suffer from sea sickness but everybody does anyway. This point was
reassuring to hear from experience sailors. I enjoyed the sailing but I found
the mouring and the anchoring tricky but I was not the only one.
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Friday 13th to Sunday 15th October 2006:
On Friday 13th October, I participated to a night yachting. We left Plymouth
around 2100 and sailed towards Plymouth. The exit of Plymouth was a bit tricky
with pontoon, buoys, etc. After an hour, we put the Genoa. With only this
sails, the boat was sailing fine. It was not necessary to put the main sail.
The wind was strong enough for Genoa only. Around 23, the first watch took
place. I went for a nap (I was not the only one). I managed to sleep an hour.
At 0215, it was my turn for the watch with two other. I took the wheel and
kept it until we arrived to
Falmouth around 0800. The sail was tiring and tricky. Things to watch
were ships (e.g. cruiser), lobsters trap, buoys (even the bell is scaring),
etc. Except that, it was an enjoyable sail. I have even managed to park the
boat on the pontoon. It was after the third attempt though.
We stayed, on Saturday morning, a few hours (mainly to recharge the battery)
in Falmouth. We sailed towards Fowey
instead of Mevagissey.
This change of course was due to the weather (stronger wind than anticipated).
The port of Fowey is much easier to arrive than Mevagissey. The sail was
relatively tricky. We only put the Genoa but the wind was against us. We felt
that it was unsafe to continue with sail alone and put the engine half way
through the afternoon.
We stayed overnight at Fowey. We had a good meal including for me a tuna steak
(strongly recommended). On the morning, the wind was stronger than the previous
day. In addition, the wind was once more against us. Therefore, we put the engine
very early on. We had another try to put half the Genoa when arriving at Plymouth.
However, the boat was uncontrollable. We put the Genoa back. This was very painful
for my muscles. There was a bright note though i.e. the highlight of the
week-end. We saw a couple of dolphins swimming around the boat. This was
when we did not have the engine on.
In overall, it was a nice weekend. It was tiring but rewarding. I will do
another yachting trip in the future. Although the group that I was with will
have one in May, I may not attend it as I have my jury service around that
date.
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Plymouth 2007
From Friday 5th to Sunday 7th October, I did another yachting trip
around Plymouth. We took the yacht, a Bavarian 44, on Friday afternoon. We sailed around the Plymouth
bay and anchored in the area which was used for explosives dumping. We had our dinner and slept on the yacht.
On Saturday, we woke up under a blue sky with above average temperature and a reasonable wind. We set up sail and some
sailors cooked the breakfast. After 30 minutes of sail or so, we put the yacht in hove-to position such that we could
have our fully cooked breakfast. We sailed on a beam reach towards a former lighthouse.
We passed that point and gybed on a broad reach towards Fowey. I took
the helm just after the gybe. I initially got disorientated as the yacht does not respond as quickly as a dinghy. After a
while I got used to it. When I was at the helm, we saw a few dolphins playing around and jumping. One of them swim along
side the yacht and cross the bow. Unfortunately, the dolphins were too quick for anyone to take pictures.
We arrived around 3pm where we picked up a mooring. We went to Fowey
for an evening meal. We returned to the yacht for the night.
We left Fowey around 10am. However, the wind did not want to play ball i.e.
lighter wind than the previous day and poiting to the bow of the yacht. After an hour of sailing, it was necessary to
put the engine on to arrive on time. We arrived in Plymouth around 3.30pm under sail. In all, it was a very enjoyable
week-end.
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Pembrokeshire 2008
Between Friday 14th and Sunday 16th March 2008, I participated to a training program run by
Pembrokeshire Cruising based at Neyland. My aim was to improve my confidence in yachting. I was joined by four
other including three doing their RYA competent crew course and one brushing off her costal skipper skills.
On Friday night, we had a dinner on the boat and chat what was our objectives for the week-end. We went through some
of the safety drills including life jacket and gas leak.
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On Saturday, we went through a bit more thoroughly about safety including emergency dinghy and gas cut-off. We also trained
ourselves how to rig the main sail as well as put reef in. We filled the water tank and set off. We left the Marina under
engine. In front of the Marina entrance we each tried the wheel response by doing 360. We hoisted the jib and started towards
a point called "Dale". The weather was not very pleasant. Although the temperature was about average for this time of the year,
there was plenty of rain, lot of wind in the morning and the sea was not calm. We had a coffee break half way through where
we practised picking up mooring. We continued our training about picking up mooring around Dale. There we sailed to a
more protected area where we anchored. We went back to Dale after a small break. We then practised triangle courses. It was
interesting to see that the boat handling was similar to a dinghy except the size of the yacht. We picked up a mooring under
sail. We went back to the Marina through Milford Haven for our night sail.
On Sunday morning, the weather was more pleasant. The temperature was about the same as the previous day but the rain
has stopped and the sky was slightly overcast. In addition, the wind has dropped slightly. The plan was to go through
the estuary in the East to Neyland passing Lawrenny and carrying as further as possible on the water. When we passed the toll
bridge, we took a mooring without engine. It sounded like a dinghy response. After the debriefing, we went carrying on the
estuary. However, the wind was on our nose forcing us to tack regularly. I took the wheel half way through and sailed for a
nautical mile (approximately). When the river depth was too small to continue we turned backed under Genoa and stopped at
Lawrenny for our lunch. We then came back to the Marina where we cleaned the boat and refilled the water tank.
In all, it was a very nice trip when I built an experience and realised that the yacht has some similarity
with a dinghy except the weight differences.
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I will have a trip in May between Mallorca and Ibiza.
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