Admirals' Angle

#73 – Cruising in the Golden Years

Sylvie — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 23:16:29 +0000

Photo: Mary Verlaque.

There’s a lot of gray hair amongst the cruising set. Those who wait to start cruising until retirement bring gray hair with them. Others who began cruising earlier in life wake up one day and look in a mirror (or across the cockpit) and exclaim, “Who’s this OLD person and when did she/he get on board!?”

Gray hair notwithstanding, the cruising community is remarkably age-blind. Children back home would be surprised to see parents and grandparents socializing easily in sundowner get-togethers and potlucks, adventuring in reef exploration and mountain hikes, or partying and dancing at beachfront palapas, generally heedless of generation gaps that might loom large back home.

This age blindness stems from the reality that everyone is coping with the same issues – from weather to breakdowns to the challenges of new horizons. It’s a community where young learn from old and old learn from young, and members stand ready to help one another without discrimination.

Plus most cruisers insist that the lifestyle keeps them younger. Margie of Peregrina, in her early 60s, cites the healthy diet of fish, fruit and vegetables that took 25lbs off them in their first year. Ellen of Cayenne III points to the toning activity of living aboard: “up and down companionway steps, clambering in and out of dinghies, bracing and balancing in a chop, and, of course, walking everywhere!”

Plus the mental stimulation of planning, navigating, and interacting in new countries beats crosswords and Sudoku for keeping the brain sharp.

That said, there are some realities about cruising in The Golden Years that we can’t ignore. No matter how much we will it not to be so, those golden years – that promised time to live out our dreams, the long awaited ME time — is also a time when our capabilities are changing, our strength and endurance ebbing. Since the Admirals and I have been at this for quite awhile — cruising and the column — many of us now fall in the Golden Year category!

Several of my older Admirals have changed boats, down-sizing or switching to trawlers or catamarans. Still cruising in her 80s, Bev of mv Cloverleaf states, “Just like you don’t sleep on the ground in a pup tent anymore but can still enjoy the great outdoors in an RV, forget you were passionate about sailing and buy a motorboat!” On the other hand, not wanting to give up sail-power, Suzanne and John of Zeelander at age 67 switched after their circumnavigation from a full-keeled monohull ketch to a catamaran, welcoming its more-level sailing characteristics.

Instead of changing boats, others change style. Perhaps, for longer passages they, like Bette and Tom of Quantum Leap, engage crew, gaining not only more hands, but more hours of off-watch sleep. Or like Mary and Carl of Camryka in Panama they decide to limit their cruising to a smaller range, forgoing long passages.

Gwen Hamlin crewing aboard QUANTUM LEAP

“Choosing the easier path,” Bev points out, “doesn’t mean you can’t go see the whole world. That’s what yacht transporters like Dockwise or Yacht Path are for.”

Virtually all the Admirals stressed “substituting brains for brawn.” Power windlasses are a must; they make big anchors and stout chain manageable by anyone, which in turn brings peace of mind and better sleep. Two or three-part tackles for all hoisting jobs; bigger, double-handled winch handles, or even electric winch handles (either the commercial Winch Buddy or a homemade version using a 2- speed right-angle drill with a winch bit) are recommended to help with sail management. After my stint as crew aboard the catamaran Quantum Leap, I’m a firm believer that electric winches are NOT a luxury, but a safety essential for keeping older sailors going.

Another recommendation is doing what you can to minimize time on deck. Self-furling sails, controlled from the cockpit, protect older bodies from being on deck in bad conditions. After doing a delivery on a boat that had one, Margie says she and Peter would consider a furling main next opportunity. What sacrifice there might be in performance is more than made up for by not having to go on deck every time to raise, reef or drop sail.

Short of a major change to the rig, installing lazy-jacks or a cradle cover and rerouting halyards and control lines to the cockpit where one could have at least one power winch, as Sheri of Procyon had, help minimize exposure on deck. Not all older boats, however, can be adapted efficiently. Fortunately, newer boats are increasingly designed for cockpit-based control.

Preventing injuries and health problems was also high on the list of the Admirals’ advice to older cruisers. Consistent hydration – with water not beer! – is essential for all, but particularly so for seniors who could be prone to urinary and kidney issues. Physical injuries can be reduced by installing strategically-placed handholds, making steps non-skid, removing throw rugs, and keeping decks above or below tidy and organized. Wearing shoes (not flops) on deck protects feet.

Another age-related issue to be alert to is vision. Not just a matter of glare, UV light contributes to cataract development and macular degeneration among others things, so it’s essential to wear good sunglasses. On the other hand, good lighting — daylight fluorescents and LEDs — in cabins, the galley, over nav desks and cockpit reading perches — prevents eyestrain. A stash of magnifiers for reading faint or tiny notations on charts doesn’t hurt!

As we get less nimble, having the boat easily accessible from docks, dinghies and the water is a high priority. Many boats have stern-opening entries with landing areas that make unloading from dinghy to boat very easy. Catamarans and trawlers generally excel in stern accessibilty. However, high-freeboard bluff-stern boats can be boarded easily by hanging solid mounting steps amidships.

Bev Feiges: My Granny Rail, a simple stainless steel tube bent to mount into two stanchion bases, which gives me something to hold onto while climbing into the dinghy

Getting from boat to dock is sometimes the most precarious gyration demanded by the cruising life. If you spend a lot of time stern-to in pier-less marinas, as often found overseas, a wheeled passarelle with stainless-steel handrails mounted on the stern is worth the cost. Where finger piers are available, the passarelle alongside or a set of steps reduces the challenge of tidal changes. Also worthwhile is a good boarding ladder for getting out of the water after snorkeling. The best ones are wide with good props and wood steps on each rung. Some passarelles do double duty.

Lastly, making the boat easier to care for saves a lot of effort and back-strain. Consider, for example, painting over your varnished cap rails or, alternatively, leaving your teak to go au naturel. Allow yourself do things at a slower pace, and face the reality of hiring more maintenance help in the yard or marina for stuff you used to do yourselves. You don’t have to keep up with a standard you set ten or twenty years ago! “Keep the tire out of re-tire-ment,” Bev says!

Perhaps, most importantly, not every cruiser will be able to go on indefinitely like Suzanne or Bev. Sometimes, serious health or family issues intrude; sometimes we just get worn out. The later you wait to start, the more chance such terminal interruptions will cut short your ME time before you’re ready, or worse, before you even get started! All the Admirals urge those who dream of cruising to go, to not let age daunt you. “Old” is not what it used to be. According to Suzanne, gerontologists are redefining “The Golden Years” calling persons 60-75 as “Young Old”, 75-90 “Middle Old, and 90-100+ “Old Old”.

“Who says there is a time limit to when you must start or stop cruising?” concludes Bev. “It’s like anything else in life: if you feel like doing it, if you are willing to compensate for whatever handicaps age has brought you, you can go. You can do it well and comfortably, you just have to make the right choices.”

This article was first published in the Cruising Outpost magazine.
Friend the Admiral at www.facebook.com/admiralsangle

Also on this website (on the Women and Cruising blog):

Sailing into the Eighties, by Germaine Beiser
Germaine Beiser shares her story and her suggestions on continuing to cruise as you get older.
Handholds, handholds, handholds, by Bev Feiges
There is no such thing as too many handholds, especially as you or some of your special friends and relatives get older.

#72 – The Ties that Bind

Gwen Hamlin — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 14:16:23 +0000

Debbie Leisure and her grandchildren on annual family vacation.
That vacation is one of two trips she never misses each year.

Docklines aren’t the only things that hold a cruising boat to shore; emotional ties can snag like poorly-tied knots, resisting release and holding us back.

Ellen Sanpere with her Dad when she left her boat in St. Croix to live with him in Chicago for his final 5 months.

Whether to our kids (Launched at last from the nest… but are they really ready?!?!) or to our aging parents (Can they manage without our being near?), such bonds and the degree to which we can loosen them are something most of us must eventually address.

Where today people hardly think twice about moving from one coast to another, throw an ocean into the mix, leaving becomes complicated.

Different people make different choices, and situations and resources vary, of course, but from many a cockpit conversation over the years, I’ve deduced three exit strategies cruisers typically take:

Door #1) They say “See ya” and sail away, hardly looking over their shoulder as they go;
Door #2) They sail away, but devote time energy and dollars to staying connected, arranging visits, maintaining some sort of oversight, and being prepared to get home quickly if needed; or
Door #3) they don’t sail away.

Since I first left Florida twenty-something years ago — indeed because I left, I haven’t talked to many folks stuck behind Door #3. Generally, speaking, once you’ve left your home port, you’re on your way.

But an early encounter in my cruising career made a lasting impression, a couple met in my very first marina while preparing for my first passage. They lived aboard a handsome cruising boat, and I’d been steered to the husband, an accomplished marine carpenter, for some joinery work I needed done in my salon. They invited me for dinner, and while I admired an interior where everything was perfectly fitted for passage-making, the husband told me how they were stuck there indefinitely because his wife just “couldn’t leave her family.”

I loved my family, but I never wanted to feel that way.

Since then I’ve talked to many people at boat shows that see themselves waiting to go. There’s always something that has to happen before they can: retirement, the start of pensions and social security, or for kids to be established in careers or new families. Others are waiting until grandkids are in school, when they’re no longer needed to baby-sit, or, alternatively, waiting until their parents move to assisted-living, or, more finally, to their own waiting room in the sky.

In the final analysis, all these waiting people, until they actually go, are also trapped behind Door #3.

I’m not preaching irresponsibility. We descend from a responsible society. It’s expected that we will care for our kids until they’re able to care for themselves and our aging parents when they no longer are, and this is good.

When we’ve met cruising couples of middle age who’ve truly walked through Door #1, the ones who don’t maintain contact or fly home, have never seen grandchildren or have left the care of parents entirely to others, then we’ve felt a little squirmy, asking ourselves privately if these are people we really want to be friends with!

Defining what care is truly needed, and when, is hard. Do you not go, for example, because parents will worry about you at sea or because you yourselves will worry that your kids are not making the choices you think they should?

To help decide, ask yourself if it is not possible that we in the current middle generation are taking too much responsibility for either our parents or our children, all of whom are in fact adults themselves? This is very hard to admit to, and not something Don or I have done well.

Door #2, as usual, is compromise.

Kathy Parsons with her family.
When the time does come that we are needed, cruisers discover we have unusual freedom to put cruising on hold and to return “home” to help

My contributing Admirals (and most all our cruising friends) — by virtue of their all being experienced sailors (and of non-squirmy character) — have found ways to balance their wanderlust with their sense of responsibility to family. Here are some of their insights.

One trick is to identify the best time window between obligations to children and aging parents, when kids first move out and parents are still healthy. This may mean leaving earlier, before official retirement or pensions start and so making do with a smaller boat or tighter budget and working along the way.

You are, however, younger and more physically able, and your parents’ years of real need (not to mention the arrival of grandchildren) are likely to be further off. Several of my Admirals, and indeed we ourselves, did this, departing in our 50s and thus getting many good years in before we needed to be on call.

Even then, leaving is easier, if your parents and children have been encouraged to live fulfilling lives of their own, without being all entwined in or dependent on yours. The example you set when choosing to live your own life actually sets a good example to them and fosters everyone’s sense of independence.

At the same time, it’s wise to ensure that those you leave behind have good support systems established, people that can stand in for you to advise and help out and on whom you can rely for objective communiqués on changing situations. Family members, preferably living close by, are ideal, but school counselors, pastors, or professional caretakers such as those found in assisted-living facilities, senior services or even hospice can be recruited.

Debbie Leisure: A special trip home for one of my best friend’s wedding. We had not seen each other in over ten years, but it was worth the trip,to be there.

Next, do whatever it takes to stay in touch. Equip your boat with HF radio, satellite and/or cellular email systems, and make Skype voice calls to landlines or video calls to the computer-equipped. These new technologies permit you to reassure parents face-to-face and baby-talk with grandchildren possibly more often than you would if you lived only a state or two away.

Finally, schedule visits during haul-outs or hurricane seasons, for weddings or births or major holidays, or whenever you can get the most family bang for your buck!

“I decided I had to live my own life not my parents’ when I left the Netherlands when I was 25,” says Truus of Key of D. “They encouraged this attitude. I’ve made sure I’ve always had the money to get home in case of a crisis and to visit once a year for a week or two which was, in truth, about as long as they enjoyed having me around before my presence began keeping them from their normal and comfortable routines.”

There are some sacrifices. You give up the continuity of weekly Sunday suppers at which you track all the highs and lows of the years, or those nightly phone conversations during which you spend an hour talking about very little. You might miss some anniversaries and birthdays, perhaps even a birth or a funeral.

“If I wasn’t cruising,” says Debbie of Illusions, “I would probably be working and tied down to a schedule with two weeks’ vacation a year. I would miss a lot of those things anyway. As it is, I can spend a full month each hurricane season with my mother, and we both enjoy the time.”

And finally when the time does come that we are needed, cruisers discover we have unusual freedom to put cruising on hold and to return “home” to help, whether the help is needed with new babies or new knees, terminal illness or the reality of bereavement.

Gwen with Don’s mom

I write this while overlooking cornfields in a small town in Indiana where my husband Don and I are temporarily relocated to help with his mother’s failing strength and his father’s fear of what comes next.

Last week we did a slide-show for town seniors called “At Home on A Boat.” The reception couldn’t have been more enthusiastic, and it reminded us what a gift it’s been that we were able to go live that life.

As much as it’s been a gift to be able to come back.

Contributing Admirals: Kathy Parsons, Ellen Sanpere, Sheri Schneider, Truus Sharp, Debbie Leisure, Beverly Feiges, Bette Lee Walker.

This article was first published in the Cruising Outpost magazine.

Friend the Admiral at www.facebook.com/admiralsangle

Also on this website:

Admiral’s Angle #14 – Staying in Touch
Out of sight of land no longer means out of touch: the ways and means cruisers stay in touch with each other and back home.
Admiral’s Angle #38 – Part-timing
When choice or necessity dictates we become part-time cruisers, what adjustments are we likely to have to make?
Ask your question: How to best tell our family we are sailing away?

#71 – Sew?

Sylvie — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 21:17:36 +0000

Photo: Marcie Connelly-Lynn, NINE OF CUPS

Cruising boats come in all shapes, sizes and materials, but what distinguishes one from another in the crowded anchorage is the way we dress them. Thus, you might think all the pretty canvas a boat sports is for appearances only, but reality is that UV protection for sails, equipment and crew is the driving force. The farther a boat travels into the tropics, the more UV protection is essential, and, of course, the longer a boat travels, the more need there’s going to be for repairs, often in remote situations. Because every cruising boat afloat is unique, as are its needs, every solution will be unique. So … it’s pretty handy to be able to sew.

TACKLESS II displaying a bunch of canvas projects
(foredeck awning, gib sheet bags, side awnings, cradle cover, staysail cover)

Several different kinds of sewing are called for on a cruising boat. There’s big, complicated stuff – sails, sail covers and stackpacks, awnings, biminis, and cockpit cushions – that require real skills, workspace and an industrial sewing machine to handle the multiple layers of heavy fabric that must be stitched through. There are smaller, more domestic type projects – courtesy flags, utility bags and organizers, pillows and cushions, fitted sheets, and covers etc. – than can be managed with a home-style machine. There are emergency repairs to sails, dodgers, and covers that can be made in place with the ingenious sewing awl. And finally there is marlinspike sewing – making splices and whipping lines – that calls for its own set of tools.

Photo: Margie Benziger, PEREGRINA

Sewing is a skill that often (but not always) comes aboard with the female cruising partner. If your mother succeeded in teaching you this skill, you have a head start in setting up to sew on your boat. A brand new cruising boat is (pardon the pun) a blank canvas for someone who loves to sew.

However, many of us in recent generations dodged this old-fashioned skill-training, so now what? Is it essential?

I canvassed (oh, dear!) the Admirals and got answers that ranged the spectrum. Some like Betty Lee (Quantum Leap), Linda (Hawkeye), and Mary (Camryka) sewed as girls and brought that pleasure and ability to their boats, setting themselves up with industrial grade sewing machines to handle most of the sailing projects and repairs they might need, and even making money along the way by sewing for other cruisers.

Others like Sheri of Procyon, Judy of Ursa Minor, and, yes….myself… made it thousands of sea miles relying almost exclusively on shore-side canvas workers. Other Admirals like Daria of Aleria, Wendy of Velella, Lisa of Lady Galadriel, and Jane of Lionheart fell in between; they know how to sew and equipped themselves to tackle the more manageable domestic-scale projects — like courtesy flags, organizer bags and awning repairs — but leave the big jobs to professionals who have the machines, space, and know-how to handle them.

So, the answer is, NO, you don’t absolutely have to know how to sew to go cruising. But don’t stop reading! While sewing as a skill and the space to do it are found in most places you will visit, quite often the materials needed to do it right are not. Below, we’ll list materials you’d be wise to bring with you.

Also, you may decide this is a horizon you want to broaden. There are marine sewing courses offered around the country, one of the most famous of which is Carol Hasse’s course at Port Townsend Sails. Sailrite, Inc, an online source for everything related to marine sewing, also has instruction books, videos and kits. Plus, sewing can be an ideal skill to learn from a cruising mentor. Cruiser nodes like Trinidad (which happens to be a fabric nirvana) often support cruiser sewing groups.

The easiest first stop for setting up your boat for sewing is Sailrite (www.sailrite.com), a second-generation family business, whose objective from the start was to provide a source of instruction and materials for amateur sailmakers and canvas-workers. Its founder, Jim Grant, wrote The Complete Canvasworker’s Guide, which even I had on my boat.

Sailrite is the best known vendor of heavy-duty sewing machines for sail and canvas work, which feature straight and zigzag stitching and a walking foot that moves the layers of heavy fabric together through the machine. They are beautiful and pricey. Several Admirals have Sailrite machines. Several others, however have old-fashioned hand-me-down sewing machines from the 40s and 50s – like a Pfaff 230, while Mary had a Reed’s Sailmaker machine her husband bought in the 80s. Older machines (I’ve even seen hand-crank Singers), found second or third-hand, often have strong-enough motors to do much of what most cruisers need.

Today’s “canvas” is most often Sunbrella™, colorful solution-dyed acrylic fabric which is water-resistant and stands up well in the cruising environment. Since aesthetics are at least part of our motivation, think carefully about your color scheme from the outset. You’ll be living with it a long time. Dark colors are eye-catching, but hotter and provide a darker shade.

Hammock bag, under kayak

On Tackless II we chose a two-toned theme: Erin Green for our sailcovers, but the lighter, cooler Linen for our bimini and shade awnings.

Sunbrella™ fabric is widely found throughout the cruising world, but not always your color(s). If you’re picky about color, you may want to bring with you fabric for future projects, even if not doing the sewing yourself.

Likewise, what isn’t widely found is UV-resistant thread. More expensive, of course, but it pays for itself in durability. Sheri and I, the non-sewers, both learned to bring spools in colors to match our Sunbrella™ to provide to sewers, and the same for UV-resistant zippers and pull tabs particularly for crucial replacements like the dodger roll-up windows and the stack-pack.

Other recommended stuff for all cruisers to carry are snaps, buckles and toggles, particularly to match what you already have. Some of these require a specialized tool to apply them; others just need a mallet! Velcro in spools and nylon webbing (great for reinforcing corners) are useful, as is 2-sided tape, particularly for sail work. “Never use pins in sail work,” says Rita Diehl, a new Admiral who’s worked in sail lofts but says she did not sew aboard!

For serious sewers, Rita recommends keeping a yardstick and T-square for straight cuts to selvage, and dedicating a pair of very sharp scissors for cutting and a soldering iron for sealing synthetic edges. Don’t forget the 3-in-One Oil to lubricate your machine.

Re sail repair, Rita goes on to advise caution. “Hand repairs are best in an emergency. You can really screw up a sail that is not laid out properly, both patching and large seam stitching, because you could create stresses the sail was not designed for, that are harder to correct for later on.”

All cruisers should have a ditty bag with the tools to make emergency repairs and to whip lines. This should include a leather palm, a fid, heavy-duty needles, beeswax, waxed thread, sail tape and patch material. Also a sewing awl. “I am always checking sails and canvas for things that need a stitch here or there with my sewing awl,” says Bette Lee. “It’s best to see to it right away to avoid bigger jobs later on. You know…`a stitch in time’…!” There are videos on using the ingenious sewing awl on YouTube, and most any seamanship book will show the basics of whipping.

Courtesy flags
(Bette Lee Walker of QUANTUM LEAP)

One of the most popular sewing projects among cruisers is courtesy flags, much cheaper than buying them. Sailrite has a book of patterns for flags of the Caribbean. To go further, carry an atlas of world flags and keep a grab bag full of colorful scraps!

The Admirals together listed over three dozen sewing projects they’ve completed, not counting clothes, costumes, placemats and napkins, or hobbies like quilting! Invariably, they started with simple obvious covers for UV protection, screens for square hatches, or bags for organizing stuff, but ideas proliferated quickly from seeing what other cruisers did. Even those of us who don’t sew ourselves get into the creative game. Tackless II was covered in Sunbrella™ by the time we reached Australia.

Special thanks to the serious sewers: Betty Lee Walker of Quantum Leap and new Admirals Linda Keigher and Rita Diehl.

This article was first published in the Cruising Outpost magazine.

Friend the Admiral at www.facebook.com/admiralsangle

Also on this website

5 Tips every Seamless Sailor should know about canvas on her boat! by Annette Baker

#70 – Networking

Gwen Hamlin — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:49:14 +0000

SSCA Women& Cruising’s brown bag lunch! Everyone introduced themselves, shared info about boats, destinations, experience, and passions. Many new connections were made!

Recently, as I stood in the crowd sipping my plastic glass of red wine during the Friday night cocktail party of the annual Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) Gam (gathering of members) in Melbourne (Florida!), a couple I didn’t know, wearing “First-Timer” ribbons on their badge, came up to me and thanked me for “saving their cruise.”

I was already feeling pretty good, even before the red wine, because my day — the first day of the three-day annual event — had gone well. Within moments of donning the giant button identifying me as an SSCA member – pinned to ribbons identifying me as a “Commodore” (member), “Pacific Crosser”, and “Speaker,” – I’d run into dozens of old cruising friends, enjoyed informative morning seminars, plus made the face-to-face acquaintance of cruising’s premier guru Jimmy Cornell, the featured guest of this year’s Gam.

Kathy Parsons and Gwen Hamlin

But, better than all that, my afternoon Women and Cruising seminar with collaborator Kathy Parsons had gone exceptionally well.

I’ve been doing these interactive seminars with Kathy and others at SSCA Gams, boat shows, and even via Internet webinars, on and off for eight years, but this year at SSCA we did something different. We scheduled a “Women’s Brown Bag” lunch before the afternoon seminar.

We wanted a more informal, interactive opportunity for these cruising women to meet one another, especially since so many of them are newbies heading south for the first time.

Approximately forty women showed up with their Subway sandwiches and chips to join us around three round tables in the corner of the seminar room. Some were old friends, but many more were first timers. We asked each woman to stand up and introduce herself, tell about her boat, cruising experience, and destinations, but also to share with the group any special interest or hobby she was taking with her and if there were any particular concerns she hoped to have addressed at the Gam.

This sounds an awfully simple program, hardly anything revolutionary. But what a hit! The hunger to meet others with shared interests was palpable! We had three avid birders. We had newbies heading to the Bahamas and veterans with Bahamian tips to share. We had — would you ever guess? — four textile artists who immediately started comparing notes on how to accommodate an avocation hard to fit on a boat. Participants scribbled down names and boat names and exchanged email addresses.

Question lists from Women and Cruising seminars

Why is this important? Because eight years of caring about the kind of experience women have when they go cruising has demonstrated to us that cruising women have better experiences when we don’t feel that we are out there alone.

Quite simply we women like to share — interests and accomplishments as well as concerns and anxieties; and we grow stronger through reinforcement from peers.

Of course, in most cases these women are not sailing alone. Most are cruising with partners – usually husbands or boyfriends, but even those of us who have the best-balanced relationships with our partners need and benefit from connections with other women.

Some men are sensitive to the ways women’s needs and perspectives differ from their own, yet some are not. You might think the distinction a product of experience, but not necessarily so.

Witness the long-time SSCA Commodore in a loud discussion over his sandwich whom we had to ask to relocate so that we could have our scheduled brown-bag gathering. He glanced around at all the women waiting behind him and groused, “I don’t believe in all this pink and blue stuff.”

My retort was, “Neither do we.”

But wait a minute. Aren’t I contradicting myself?

Here’s what I think (and what I think has driven this column for six years):
All women going to sea should constantly be moving forward in educating themselves about all the fundamentals of operating safely the boat that is going to be their home and transport. They need to be sufficiently informed to participate in decision-making, alert to the realities they will encounter, and (I hate ever putting it this way, BUT it does come down to it), confident that, should something happen to their partner at sea, they have the knowledge to get the anchor up or the sails down and get themselves home. Personally, I don’t see this as a “blue” responsibility.

However, balancing that, I equally believe that cruising women must be supported in maintaining however-much “pink” in their perspective they need. For some women, that may mean a bit more emphasis on the accoutrements of femininity — lipstick, jewelry or painted toenails – than others need, but for all of us it means a dependable network of girlfriends.

Obviously, cruising events like SSCA Gams (which, by the way, take place all over the cruising world) are terrific ways to establish contacts with other cruising women with similar interests and shared destinations. Just by being a member and hoisting the SSCA burgee, you increase your potential for making connections in any anchorage, because it’s easier to go knock on someone’s hull that first time if the familiar burgee also flaps at the spreaders.

Women & Cruising Q&A session

The women in our seminar came up with many more specific ways they’ve cultivated new friendships out cruising. One single-hander invited all the women sharing a Bahamian anchorage over for mimosas. Another hosted neighbors to a book swap and pot luck lunch. A third described announcing on a morning radio net an interest in “meeting any women with a shared interest in weaving,” where “weaving”, of course, could be any hobby you have. It’s easy to follow-up with responders over coffee on your boat or at a shoreside palapa.

A destination like Trinidad has all sorts of group outings offered on the morning radio net which throw you together with folks with like interests. But in any anchorage, even one without a net, a general VHF call to “anyone interested in a hike ashore”, for example, can bring you a willing new companion.

Mentoring situations in which cruisers who are experienced in some endeavor connect to those who are less so are another great way to make connection at any stage. Don and I had already been cruising three years when one of our strongest friendships was built in Mexico with a couple who taught us the secrets of hunting and gathering seafood in the Sea of Cortez. Reaching out to teach or learn about a whole retinue of cruiser specific skills — like exploring a market, cooking local dishes, snorkeling, using Winlink and Sailmail, reading weather faxes, sewing canvas projects or rediscovering group games that you haven’t made time for in years like bridge, cribbage or dominoes — are awesome opportunities for extending floating friendship networks.

So, back to the SSCA Gam and the couple whose cruise “I saved.” What did I do that was so magical it saved the day? It seems the couple had attended SSCA’s “Heading South” gathering the previous afternoon, at which experienced cruisers pass along tips and ideas all intended to give new cruisers a leg up “learning the ropes” of leaving US waters for points east and south. It sounds pretty much like the mentoring I’ve been talking about.

However, sometimes, sessions like these, despite their good intentions, can collect more than their share of “don’t do’s” and “watch-out-for’s” cumulating in an intensely negative impact. Such was the case for this particular woman, who tossed and turned all night in a maelstrom of anxious images and woke announcing to her husband that the voyage was “off.”

Evidently, our simple session of women talking to women brought her back to an even keel, demonstrating how powerful an antidote it can be. It’s not that the serious topics of cruising don’t need to be addressed face on. Far from it. But the need for them to be balanced by the matters of everyday life and personal interests should never be overlooked, and that’s something we women do best for one another.

This article was first published in the Cruising Outpost magazine.

Friend the Admiral at www.facebook.com/admiralsangle

#69 – Boredom

Gwen Hamlin — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 17:34:32 +0000

The cruising life, towards which M and her husband have worked so hard, is not turning out to be what she expected.

M and her husband got a good deal on the boat of their dreams. It needed work, so their first seven months living aboard were spent at a dock working on projects. With winter nipping at their heels, they came down the Intracoastal Waterway to a mooring in balmy Marathon where they continued boat work in the popular cruising hangout. Finally in March, they crossed to the Bahamas.

M thought she was ready for cruising. She’d read books, attended seminars and taken sailing classes. She had experienced friends and family giving her good advice. What could be wrong?

M is bored.

“Every day, I’m surrounded by beautiful water, sunny skies, and gorgeous vistas in every direction, but…is it possible that every day being the same BEAUTIFULNESS gets old? Do we understand, when we seek the simplicity of cruising, the SAMENESS we are choosing?

Sure, we have gut-wrenching diversions of storms, scary passages, and alarming gear failures, but otherwise cruising seems to me a tedious stream of boat repairs in the midst of gorgeous, serene sameness!

And though I like getting together with other cruisers once in awhile, I get really bored with one potluck after another and the endless cruiser talk about batteries, solar power, refrigeration, anchoring, and heads.”

“I’ve promised my husband five years,” says M, “but I have to figure out why I’m bored in most people’s version of paradise. Am I the only one who feels like this? I feel tremendously guilty over it.”

M is not the first person to ask about boredom.

It comes up occasionally in our Women & Cruising Seminars, and, honestly, it’s the one question that stumps us, because it is so far away from our experience.

The Admirals echo that confusion.

From Truus, world traveler on Key of D, “Boredom? Ha!… It never happens for me.” Period!

“Boredom?” says Sheri, recently moved ashore from Procyon. “I never got bored on the boat. I kept expecting it would happen, but it never did. Life just seemed to be full all the time.”

“I really don’t even get the idea of boredom,” chimes in single-hander Debbie of Illusions. “If I feel boredom coming on or am tired of what I’m doing, I do something else.”

And Ellen of Cayenne III? She can’t get over the boredom of her new life ashore!

Of course, Admirals are Admirals because they’re fully invested in the cruising lifestyle. Their success belies the many for whom it doesn’t work out, whose boats are up for sale within a year or two, and who then disappear from the cruising conversation. There are various reasons. Boredom may be one.

Carolyn of Que Tal points out that there’s a difference between simple boredom, which is temporary and which we all experience, and what she calls “chronic boredom.”

“It’s a chicken-or-egg kind of issue. If the various components that make up cruising — sailing, navigating, exploring new places and, yes, even boat repair and maintenance – don’t interest you, then they’ll seem boring. And if you think they’re boring, you’re not likely to get involved. But if you don’t get involved, they can’t become interesting.”

Why do some people have a hard time while others adapt more readily?

Some struggling cruisers may be confronting the difference between expectations and reality. Living aboard and cruising full-time sounds great in theory, but it’s not the same as a week’s vacation. All those fundamentals Carolyn talks about, even if you go into it believing you are interested, require constant ongoing attention and effort. Not everybody bargains for that degree of commitment.

Another difference between vacation and full-time cruising is that vacation is a break from everyday life, where you temporarily leave problems behind. Cruising, however, is a full-time exchange of realities, so any issues you have with yourself or your partner come with you. Most times, if problems were not getting sorted out on land, it won’t be easier in the confines of a boat amidst the challenges of sailing her. That can be a fatal disillusionment!

If your new reality continues to feel like vacation because your partner wooed you aboard by pledging to do all the work, be prepared for that to boomerang. Remaining disconnected from all that needs to be done on a cruising boat will eventually leave you feeling sidelined, disempowered, and, perhaps worst of all, that others are judging you. A crew that stays so out of balance is one that cannot go on for long.

One other pitfall that could bring on chronic boredom comes when you confuse strong family ties with geographical proximity, causing you to cling too close to home and not push out to a distant horizon. The result is a sense of feeling stalled out, stuck, neither home nor away, without ever having given the adventure a fair chance.

Of course, sometimes boredom is just the passing kind. All that free time, time no longer channeled by outside forces like a work schedule, can seem overwhelming to new cruisers like M, switching gears from land life to cruising mode for the first time, especially since afloat they’re removed from familiar filler activities like Internet, TV or shopping malls.

Trust me. Your cruising boat can carry you forth to a hugely fulfilling life if you let it.

All that is required of you to banish boredom is to take some initiatives.

Take one for the boat: Learn something new about your boat’s operation every day, whether it seems boring to you or not. Every one of my Admirals believes that taking an active part in the management of the boat is essential to successful cruising (plus involvement makes “cruiser talk” less alien!) First grade is boring to a child in September, but by summer they’re a whiz at reading and math.

Take one for yourself: Most of us have something we’ve always wanted to do if we “ever had the time,” whether it’s writing, photography, or knitting baby blankets. All you have to do is choose a project and start! All the Admirals have a passion (or three!) they pursue, whether it’s writing blogs, researching a cookbook, collecting bird sightings, making things with shells, or learning a new instrument. Anything goes. Think of it as a chance to reinvent yourself.

Take one for your mind: Most cruisers are big readers. Try pushing your tastes out to include more meaty material, particularly things that relate to your cruising experience and the places you visit. Check out podcasts and audiobooks for an easy way to transform long night passages.

Take one for your body: Get off the boat. Go hiking, snorkeling or diving. Take up kayaking, windsurfing or kite-boarding. Walk the beaches and collect shells. Go to local markets and learn about local foods.

Take an initiative for nature: “Many women who really bond with the cruising life, take a particular satisfaction from nature,” observes active birder, Diana Doyle. Rediscovering the natural world (all but forgotten in the artificial techno world left behind) and learning as much as you can about its elements — moon phases, weather or current patterns, or fish and bird behavior — rather than passively watching another sunset, re-situates you more firmly in your new reality.

Take one for your soul: Meet locals, not just cruisers. Figure out how to give something back.

I can’t say whether any of this will answer M’s dilemma, but giving it time is key. As one woman told us at a seminar, “If I had continually asked myself those first six months, ‘Am I happy? Am I enjoying this?’ I’d have driven myself crazy. It’s a huge adjustment. Tell new cruisers just to give it time.”

Special thanks to M!

This article was first published in the Cruising Outpost magazine.

Friend the Admiral at www.facebook.com/admiralsangle

#68 (Rerun) – Dinghy Driving 101

Gwen Hamlin — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:36:38 +0000

First printed in 2007, Dinghy Driving 101 is a perfect companion piece for the previous three Admirals’ Angle columns on cruising dinghies. In fact, Dingy Driving 101 was set to rerun in the July 2012 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes for that reason. Unfortunately, that issue of Latitudes and Attitudes never made it to print. With the debut of Cruising Outpost Magazine and the transfer of Admirals’ Angle to that platform, Dinghy Driving 101 got skipped. However we at Women and Cruising still feel it goes so well with the Cruising Dinghy trio, that we are reposting it here.

An Achilles heel for many cruising women – even for some Admirals – is driving the dinghy. Hardly surprising since couples cruising – especially for the first time – are doing pretty much everything together, and, without any particular thought, the guy gets into the habit of driving. When they finally reach Georgetown or Trinidad or Zihuatenejo, hundreds of miles out from their home port, enough is going on that couples need — or want — to do things separately. Suddenly, women discover that they’ve become dependent on their men to drive them around.

“Just take the dinghy,” he says, assuming that you will know how to drive it by osmosis. And maybe you will. Maybe you’ve been paying enough attention to wing it. Or maybe, if you ask, your partner can teach you. It may turn out, however, he’s been winging it himself!

Just in case, here’s Dinghy Driving 101.

In the outboard store there are dozens of different kinds of motors, but from a novice driver’s point of view there are two: ones with a transmission and ones that start in gear. Reading your engine’s manual (what a concept!) is the best way to get the starting sequence right.

Before setting out anywhere in your dinghy, even just to practice, be sure you have a dinghy anchor and rode aboard, lifejackets (a Coast Guard requirement), a line or painter to tie up with at your destination, and, until you get some experience, a handheld radio to call for help with! Oh, yes, and oars. Take a minute to learn how to mount and/or extend your oars, and remember to put in the seat. Even with these backups in place, avoid casting off from the big boat or the dock until you have your engine running. It is surely one of the most frustrating things to have to ship the oars and row back to your own boat when an outboard refuses to start.

Before yanking the start cord on your outboard, check the fuel tank to be sure you have gas. On external tanks, check that the fuel line is securely connected at both ends (with the arrow on the bulb pointing toward the engine) and without kinks and that the vent on the tank is open. Put the shift lever in neutral, and twist the throttle to the start line. If your motor hasn’t been run yet that day, give the fuel bulb a couple of squeezes and pull out the choke. Now give that start cord a brisk, even pull. It should start in two or three tries. If it doesn’t, review the above checklist.

When the outboard starts, push in the choke quickly, or it will stall. There is no need to rev the motor, and if it is revving loudly on its own, then you probably didn’t have the throttle set at the start line. Back it off. If on the other hand it sounds like it’s struggling, give a bit more throttle. If it does die, open the throttle a bit more, and start again (no choke). All motors benefit from a little warm up. Make sure your outboard is running well before you cast off and ensure nothing is dragging overboard.

Now, VERY IMPORTANT….before you do anything else, attach the cable from the motor’s kill switch to your person. This is the little twisted wire with a clip on the end that hangs from the outboard’s “key,” a C-shaped wedge shoved under the red “kill” button on the front of your outboard. Pushing on the button is what shuts your motor off, so pulling out this key will stop it instantly should you unexpectedly fall out while in gear. This is a habit that could save your life someday. Get into it!

To go forward, push the transmission lever forward and gently twist the throttle to accelerate. Underway your dinghy will steer like any boat with a tiller. If you push the tiller to the right, the boat will turn to the left and vice versa. In reverse, if you push the tiller to the right, the stern of the dinghy will go left “following” the direction the back of the motor is pointing. Very small outboards without a transmission start in forward. Since they don’t go fast, it’s not a problem. To reverse, you spin the whole engine!

Drive slowly to start. You’re probably already aware that a boat does not react as precisely as a car, especially at slow speeds. This is even more pronounced for a dinghy, especially an inflatable one. For example, when you come to a stop, the bow will blow down one way or the other as soon as you lose momentum. Another effect comes from prop walk; whichever way your propeller turns in forward, the stern of your dinghy will kick in that direction. In reverse the dinghy’s stern will pull hard the opposite way. This affects your maneuvering ability at slow speeds in tight places. Play with this, turning in circles, in forward and reverse, so you can anticipate these effects. With a little practice they can work for you instead of against.

Depending on the dinghy, the size of the outboard, the load you have aboard, and the water conditions, you can generally move across open stretches of water more quickly with less splashing if you can get the boat up on a plane. If you are alone, be cautious and sit forward as the bow can come up abruptly as you accelerate! Once on the plane, you can ease back on the throttle a bit and stay there. Be conscious of your wake and its effect on others, and when you slow down, do so gradually or else your wake will swamp you from astern!

To come alongside a boat, approach its quarter slowly from behind (into the wind) at a 45^o angle. Several yards before your dinghy touches, turn to parallel and shift to neutral. Your momentum should slide the dinghy neatly and gently alongside. This avoids smacking the side creating a scratch or a splash! Plus your remaining momentum gives you time to stand up with painter in hand and secure yourself before you blow off. This takes a bit a practice, but it is better seamanship than a T-bone or downwind arrival!

Landing ashore is always easiest at a dock. If there are too many dinghies to dock alongside as above, you may have to nose your way in. You will quickly appreciate the good protocol of leaving plenty of painter between the dock and your dinghy, so, if you lock up your dinghy, be sure your cable is plenty long. If your dinghy could be caught under the dock by a rising tide or if a wharf’s condition might damage your inflatable, play out your dinghy anchor from the stern as your momentum carries you the last few yards and tie it off just long enough to let you climb off. Leaving plenty of painter from the bow will spring the dinghy away.

Beaching a dinghy in anything but the quietest of waters is not something novice dinghy drivers should attempt alone. Getting cock-eyed in a swell can spin you, swamp you, or worse! Even in flat and tide-less conditions, you still need to worry about abrading the dinghy’s bottom when approaching and dragging it ashore. As water shallows, turn your motor off and tilt it forward to protect to your propeller. Then step out and walk the dinghy in. Either anchor the dinghy afloat or pull it above the high-watermark and put the anchor a few yard inshore or tie it off.

Becoming competent in driving the dinghy removes many fetters that constrain a woman’s enjoyment of cruising. It eases the making of friendships and frees you to spend more time doing things you enjoy. With experience will come finesse, but getting out there on your own is the first step.

This article was published in the June 2007 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

#67 – Accessorizing the Cruising Dinghy

Sylvie — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:07:35 +0000

Few cruisers have a master plan for accessorizing their dinghies, and instead leave things to evolve.

The result is often a cluttered dinghy, the kind that’s hard to step into, a pain to hoist aboard, and all-too-often not prepared to do what you need it to do when you need to do it! Improvements and additions are often devised AFTER there’s a problem and not before. To help you think ahead, here’s a collection of popular cruiser aftermarket upgrades.

The first thing you need to add to your dinghy is a painter, the line that attaches to the reinforced eye(s) at front of your dinghy, with which you will tie it up at docks and to the back of your boat. A simple thing, but darn important! Lost dinghies are usually the result of careless tie-ups behind the boat (or at parties!), so cultivate a habit of cleating the painter properly and then tying a safety bowline behind it every time.

The painter is also how you tow your dinghy. The painter needs to float to avoid tangling in your prop, so most cruisers select polypropylene line. Choose polypropylene that is flexible and has a nice finish since you’ll be handling it a lot, especially when hauling the dinghy in close for maneuvering! Unfortunately, polypropylene’s UV resistance is not great, so check it regularly, replace it as it deteriorates, and resist any temptation to tow in rough or open water.

It’s also useful to have a shorter line on the stern to be able to secure your dingy bow and stern when moored alongside a dock or the big boat, especially for loading and unloading, but also when hanging the dinghy alongside overnight. One line on a carabineer can be shifted from side to side as needed.

This line is also ready to do the brunt of the work when you must harness up your dinghy to the big boat’s quarter to propel it in the event of an engine failure, a situation that usually comes up without warning.

Clutter in a dinghy is obnoxious and even dangerous, especially considering that unless you’re using davits, you’ll need to empty the dinghy every time you hoist it aboard for passage.

One of the main culprits in dinghy clutter is a fuel tank left loose to slide around.

Many new dinghies come with a built-in indent and/or tie-downs to secure the tank in the bow. Using this distributes the load forward to counterbalance a driver sitting aft which is helpful when trying to get a dinghy up on a plane, especially solo. The fuel tank forward means a long fuel line aft to the outboard, so ensure it’s led so that other items don’t crimp it.

Fuel quality in outboard fuel tanks exposed to sun, seawater and third-world fuel docks is always a concern, so a desirable addition to your fuel line is an in-line fuel filter. Simple glass ones trap dirt particles and let you see that fuel is flowing, but some cruisers go a step further and mount a fuel/water separator.

Another culprit in cluttered dinghies is oars. It’s easy to overlook the importance of oars aboard when the outboard is working, but when it fails, for any one of myriad reasons, oars better be aboard! One of the best things about today’s inflatables is that they come with collapsible oars ingeniously stowed so that they are ALWAYS ABOARD… at least as long as the rower remembers to re-stow them after use! Careless stowing of oars often results in loss of one or both! Collapsible oars may not be the best choice for actual rowing, but wooden oars are heavy and generally too long to easily stow.

Other things that should always be in your dinghy are a bailer or pump, a light to show at night, and anchors. Popular dinghy anchors are small Danforth-style anchors, mushroom anchors and folding grapnels. It is useful for dinghy users to carry two anchors, one on a short rode and one longer, to be able to set a longer rode off the stern to hold the dinghy off rubbly shores, beaches, ragged wharves, or docks and drop a short bow anchor in the shallows. Divers and snorkelers who visit remote reefs are wise to carry one rode at least 125’ long on a burying anchor with several feet of chain, if they want the dinghy to still be there when they return! Dinghy anchors are a good application for stainless chain, to avoid mess from rust.

Some way of containing anchors in the dinghy keeps them from underfoot and reduces the risk of punctures. Many dinghies have built-in bow lockers, but buckets or tubs also do the job or a mesh bag, sewn to fit the length of your anchor and designed with a flap to snap around a dinghy life line or to hang over a dinghy seat. Either contains anchors and rodes plus makes it easy to lift them in and out.

Bow lockers are good for stowing required safety gear like life jackets, but they are not water-tight, so other safety gear like a flashlight convertible to a night running light, a signal mirror, a whistle and even some hand-held flares, plus a small toolkit for your outboard with spare spark plugs, should be kept in proven watertight containers.

If you plan to cruise anywhere remotely tidal, where you need to beach and later relaunch your dinghy, you will absolutely want to invest in dinghy wheels that mount on the dinghy transom. If you have a heavy RIB, choose wheels with large, fat tires to support the dinghy’s weight over sand.

Mount these carefully so it will be easy to manipulate the locking pins into place in both the raised and lowered positions, because sometimes you’ll find yourself doing this after dark!

Another popular upgrade, for those who like to crank up the horsepower and go fast (always clip that kill switch to your person!), is the addition of hydrofoil stabilizer fins (e.g. from Doel Fin®) to your outboard. These reduce propeller cavitation and help your dinghy get up on a plane for a smoother ride.

If you are routinely driving a big dinghy solo, consider a tiller extension, which allows you to sit farther forward and keep the bow from rearing up.

Alone or with others, if you like to take your dinghy on long runs out of sight of the anchorage, add a waterproof handheld VHF radio to your safety gear.

If fishing is your thing, a couple of rod holders mounted to the transom are great for trolling inshore reefs, as is having a short handled gaff or net. For scoping out the bottom of an anchorage or a channel from the dinghy a hand-held depth sounder can prove incredibly valuable, while for sightseeing a reef or checking the anchor without getting wet, consider a Bahamian “look bucket” – simply a bucket with a see-through bottom.

We mentioned dinghy covers previously when talking about dinghy choice. Covers are conceived to protect inflatable pontoons from both UV and chafe and are usually custom made by canvas-workers to fit around all the dinghy’s handles, lines, fittings (including oars, oarlocks, and valves) via Velcro flaps.

If you choose to use one, it should fit snugly, be of UV resistant material, and have chafe patches over areas vulnerable to wear.

Finally, smart spares to have on hand are a patch kit for pontoons, a spare stern plug, spark plugs, a propeller (or shear pins), gearbox oil, and replacements for the start cord, kill switch and a set of ends matched to your outboard’s fuel line and tank.

A good cruising dinghy stands ready to serves you in many ways. Prepare it ahead instead of playing catch-up later.

This article was published in the June 2012 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

#66 – Choosing the Cruising Dinghy’s Outboard

Sylvie — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 21:51:55 +0000

Once you’ve selected a dinghy that you believe will best serve your needs when cruising (see last month’s Admirals’ Angle), it’s time to start outfitting it so that it WILL serve those needs. Many sailors allow this to evolve, but some forethought can make a huge difference in how easy your dinghy will be to run, use, hoist aboard and launch.

The first thing you will shop for is an outboard.

You may be offered a package deal for one when you buy your dinghy. Proceed cautiously; just because it’s a deal, doesn’t always mean it’s a good deal for you.

First, read the placard on the transom of the dinghy to determine what range of horsepower (hp) and weight the dinghy can handle, and understand that there’s an upper limit for safe operation.
Next, zero in on what performance you expect. Will you mostly use it to putter around an anchorage, or do you expect to make long trips where you will need enough power to get you and any load (e.g. multiple people or scuba gear) up on a plane?
Finally, as you weigh brand names, consider the ability to get service in remote destinations.

Just as there has been a trend in recent years toward bigger tenders, there has been a trend toward more horsepower.

Logical: it takes more oomph to move heavier dinghies. There is, however, also the factor of modern mankind’s addiction to speed, and speed in a dinghy is a lot more dangerous than people realize. In my sailing career I’ve known several people who’ve been run over by their own dinghies after being thrown out after hitting a wave at speed. Usually they were travelling solo in an overpowered setup without using the kill switch. It’s not a pretty way to go.

So when choosing horsepower, remember that half the point of cruising is to slow the pace of life down a notch.

Also remember weight. Bigger outboards are heavier. Unless you have a catamaran or a very big monohull where you can carry your dinghy with the outboard in place, you will be manhandling your outboard and gas tank between the dinghy and the big boat every time you haul or launch your dinghy. In the store a bigger outboard may seem manageable, but picture yourself and your partner dancing around with it on deck in rolling or bumpy seas. We’ll talk later about ways to help manage this.

Finally, because big outboards can be harder for smaller women to pull-start and tilt up, they can cramp our independence. You don’t want an outboard you can’t use on your own!

These days, in North America, your options in shopping new outboards are largely confined to four-stroke engines.

Four-stroke engines have pushed out two-stroke models because they are quieter, smoother, have better fuel economy, and meet stricter EPA pollution standards. I guess it’s the good-citizen choice.

However, if you already have a 2-stroke model, the reality of third world cruising is that you aren’t likely to encounter “4-Stroke-Only Waters.” Two-stroke engines have been in use all around the world for 80 years, which means in the smallest port you’ll likely find someone with knowledge and maybe even parts to fix it when there’s a problem, perhaps not as likely with a 4-stroke. For these reasons, some cruisers actually weigh the advantages of buying used two-stroke engines or waiting to buy new models outside the country where often prices are lower.

Many cruisers carry two outboards: a larger model – 10-20hp (with 15hp being average) – to use when taking bigger dinghies farther distances or carrying more load, and a small 2-3HP back-up motor that’s easy to hand up and down between deck and dinghy and which can certainly get you around most harbors while using much less fuel.

To give you an idea of real situations, our dinghy was a 10’4” AB RIB with a 15hp Yamaha (2-stroke) that would plane satisfactorily with us and our scuba gear or a third person, but not with the scuba gear and a third person. On the other hand, when our previous Johnson was stolen, we borrowed friends’ back-up 3hp Honda and were astounded that it could actually move our heavy dinghy and gear to a dive site. It took a lot more time, of course!

Speaking of theft, larger outboards are a very tempting item in many cruising grounds. Ours was stolen shortly after the Mexican government issued an edict that offshore fishermen must carry a spare motor!

The first line of defense against theft is an outboard lock, a tube or channel designed to slide over your outboard’s mounting screws.
Second is not to leave your dinghy floating overnight.Instead, hoist it out of the water either on davits or alongside using your main halyard and a 3-point lifting harness (most inflatables come with eyes for this purpose and you can customize a harness from cable and Nicopress® fittings.)Raise it level with the deck against small fenders, secure the bow forward and stern aft so that it can’t shift around in wind or chop, and, in questionable areas, add a locking cable between the outboard and the mother ship. In addition to keeping your dinghy and outboard safe, this habit alleviates worries about careless knots or lines chafing through and keeps crud from growing on your dinghy’s bottom.
Another defense, less against theft than accident, is to have a short cable securing your mounted outboard to the one of the eyes on stern of the dinghy. Outboards put out a lot of torque and can spin themselves off the transom if bolts aren’t tightened enough.

Now that you have your new dinghy and outboard, you have to figure how best to carry them aboard for passages.

Before buying, hopefully you scrambled around with measuring tape to be sure the dinghy will fit on your foredeck or in your davits. Personally, I don’t favor davits, especially for long trips and heavier dinghies, except, of course, on catamarans. I don’t like the weight aft, the issue of shift and chafe in swell, the risk of getting pooped, and, not the least, the obstruction of my fishing deck and sightlines aft. We had davits but only used them in marinas.

I (and I think the majority of monohull cruisers) prefer to hoist the dinghy aboard with a halyard and carry it upside-down on the foredeck. This keeps the underway boat a more compact unit, especially in heavy seas. If, however, it will interfere with getting around on deck, hopefully it’s not too late to consider an inflatable you can deflate and stow away instead of a rigid hull.

Underway, cruisers typically carry their outboard(s) on a special mount on the stern rail, arch or amidships by the mast, since most outboards ride best upright (with prop lower than the head). A mount on the stern makes it easy to integrate a small hoisting arm with block and tackle to facilitate manhandling the outboard between deck and dinghy.

We positioned ours so that, with the dinghy secured bow and stern alongside the quarter, one of us could lift the engine from its mount and lower it – using a three-part tackle hitched to an outboard harness (ours was homemade from cable) – directly to the dinghy transom where the other would bolt it down. Never did we have to “dance” with our 15hp outboard and never was there a chance of dropping it overboard! Being prudent types, we still often hitched a safety line to the outboard handle.

Equipped with the right dinghy and outboard and a system for getting them aboard, the next step to the perfect cruising dinghy is to accessorize it so that it gives you the best service possible. More next month!

Photos: Thanks to Kathy Parsons, Hale Kai.

This article was published in the May 2012 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

#65 – Choosing the Cruising Dinghy

Gwen Hamlin — Mon, 28 May 2012 21:04:24 +0000

Drop a new cruiser into a busy anchorage, and one thing sure to surprise is the variety of tenders hanging behind the anchored boats. Who knew they came in such a mind-boggling array of sizes, shapes and materials?!

New cruisers who have bought pre-owned boats may have inherited the previous owner’s dinghy choice…and considered it a good deal: an accessory they didn’t have to go out and shop for right away. Cruisers who buy new are likely to choose a model on display (or on sale) at the last boat show or closest chandlery.

Chances are in neither case do they fully evaluate all the ramifications of choosing a tender for their new lifestyle. We tend to think of tenders as a means to get between the boat and shore and forget to consider so many of the other things they do for us.

Our tenders are everyday workhorses, schlepping laundry and garbage bags to shore and groceries back or carrying heavy fuel and water jugs back and forth to rugged work docks.

We ask them to land in tricky places — tidal docks, ragged wharves, barnacle- encrusted boulders, muddy mangroves, and beaches with surf – and then get back afloat when the tide goes out or the surf comes up.

We count on them to set and retrieve second or stern anchors, run lines to trees ashore, tugboat the big boat (harnessed alongside the quarter) when the engine fails, and in some instances to double as life-rafts.

Some people even use their dinghies as laundry tubs!

We also use our dinghies for the fun and social side of cruising. We zip around the anchorage in them visiting or raft up with friends at sunset for a happy-hour dinghy drift. We use them to go fishing, snorkeling or scuba diving on distant and sometimes exposed reefs or push them up muddy or rocky rivers to explore.

Some of us regularly use our dinghies to ferry bikes ashore, and if you have a dog? Well, there’s no more regular a commuter!

If we have kids aboard, we might want tenders able to pull boogie boards, tubes or water skis or sport a sail and let our junior captains practice tacking and gibing with some autonomy!

But sometimes, we may also want to row quietly for exercise or solitude or get around the anchorage independently. We ladies in particular want a dinghy we can handle ourselves.

So, clearly cruising dinghies are not simple people ferries. What you choose will be a compromise between what you want to do with it, where you plan to take it, how many people it will regularly carry, how you can carry it aboard (typically upside-down on the foredeck, on davits, or folded up and stowed away), and (as always!) how much you can spend.

Those issues will impact how big a dinghy you need, how stable it needs to be, what material you want it to be made of, and how big or small an outboard will work for you. You may not be able to get all you need from one tender. Some cruisers carry two: one to be the work horse and another smaller one to be the “second car,” often a sailing or rowing dink or even a kayak.

Generally speaking, the more active you expect to be in your dinghy (e.g. setting up scuba gear or fishing), the more important a flat rigid floor may be; the more rugged your landings, the more important a hard bottom. The more water activities figure in your cruising plans, the more important it is to choose a dinghy easy to get into from the water; the more you travel alone, the lighter it needs to be.

The most commonly-seen dinghy in today’s cruising fleet is the inflatable. RIBs – inflatables with rigid fiberglass bottoms, single or double hulled — have grown hugely in popularity in the last decade or two because of their stability, speed through the water, and comfortable ride.

They are, however, relatively heavy for pulling up a beach or getting on deck for passages, and they collapse only as far as their rigid hull. They are also expensive.

There are also many models of roll-up inflatables, which have soft bottoms or inflatable keels. Most of these inset wood or aluminum panels to provide a firm floor, which come out should you use the option to deflate and roll the dinghy up. These dinghies also give a comfortable ride, just not quite as fast, stable or as dry as the RIBs.

A neat thing about inflatables of either style is they typically come with seats and stowaway oars, often a small anchor locker, plus lifelines, towing and lifting eyes and various handles helpful for pulling the boat ashore or getting back aboard out of the water. Not all inflatables position these the same way, and some configurations are more useful than others.

A major issue with cruising inflatables is the material it is made from. If you plan to cruise the tropics and want an inflatable, be sure to choose one made of Hypalon® fabric. Inflatable dinghies made from PVC have a poor record for holding up in tropical strength UV.

A vulnerability of inflatables in general is their susceptibility to punctures from anchor flukes, spearguns, and sharp projections on docks. Many owners make Sunbrella® covers to protect pontoons, but even so it’s important to choose a model that has multiple air chambers and to carry a patch kit.

Also, the bigger the pontoons, the drier the ride, but the harder it is for swimmers to climb back aboard from the water.

The main alternatives to inflatables are rigid fiberglass dinghies. The most traditional of these are rowing dinghies, some of which can double as sailing dinghies. This flexibility, the fact that they are virtually indestructible, as well as their lower cost make them popular with cruisers on a tighter budget and with families as a second dinghy. Rigid dinghies, however, are not as stable as inflatables nor as buoyant. If they fill with water (from waves or rain), they will sink.

You occasionally see skiffs and Whalers behind bigger cruising boats. These are typically faster and drier than even RIBs and indestructible like rigid-hulled dinghies, but thanks to inbuilt flotation, relatively unsinkable. The reason you don’t see more is their cost and the difficulty of carrying them aboard. Hanging them from davits is too much weight off the stern for most cruising boats.

For singlehanders, the most important criteria for a tender is that it be one they can launch, handle or beach solo, not to mention fit onboard often smaller motherships. These are the cruisers whose tenders are kayaks, rubber rafts, tiny inflatables, Porta-botes®, or small rowing dinks.

Is bigger better? The bigger the dinghy, the bigger the outboard, the more load you can carry – people or gear (like scuba gear) – and the farther and faster you’ll be able to go.

HOWEVER, the bigger the dinghy (and its outboard), the more fuel you need to run it and the heavier the dinghy will be for hauling up a beach, for towing, or for hoisting aboard. Also, the bigger the dinghy the harder it can be for one person (particularly the slighter and less strong members of the crew) to manage.

In the final analysis, whatever dinghy you decide you need, it must also fit your boat. If you can’t fit it on the foredeck, collapse and stow it, or hang it from davits without overweighting your stern, then it is not the right tender for you.

All this is a lot to consider, but choosing the right dinghy is just the first step.

Next month we will look at considerations for choosing the right outboard.

Photos: Thanks to Kathy Parsons, HALE KAI.

This article was published in the April 2012 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

#64 – Provisioning Principles

Gwen Hamlin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:35:09 +0000

Chances are you never used the word provisioning before you went cruising. My online dictionary defines provision as “food and other necessities, especially for a long journey,” and provisioning as a “preparatory step taken to meet a possible or expected need.”

Provisioning the boat with food and essential spares is the single biggest preoccupation of cruisers getting ready to leave port.

This is especially true when leaving your home country and heading to parts unknown. Before you have been somewhere, it is hard to imagine what you will and will not be able to get or how much it will cost. After a lifetime in the first world where you can get anything anytime you want it, the possibility of doing without, of making substitutions, or of making favorite things from SCRATCH (or jerry-rigging a part) is a daunting prospect.

Making favorite things from scratch

Although there are many books and articles on provisioning and countless cruising-oriented cookbooks have resulted from food-lovers collecting their best ideas, things have really changed over the last decade in terms of what you can carry aboard as well as what you can find when you shop. Observations on individual websites and blogs can sometimes give the most up-to-date insight.

On our website www.womenandcruising.com we present in our Resource Section a good list of these with which to get started, plus we have a whole collection of galley and food-related material by contributors in our Articles Section.

Overprovisioning

So, it is not my intent here to go over lists of what to take and how to mark, preserve, or store it. Instead, I’d like to offer some principles to guide your decision-making, because one of the biggest mistakes cruisers make is that they seriously over-provision on things they think they should have and under-provision on what they actually will want.

What’s wrong with over-provisioning?

You need room in your freezer for that 30lb mahi-mahi you are going to catch

First is the waterline goes down! Canned goods in particular can add a lot of weight. So can an overstuffed freezer. An over-loaded boat works harder and goes slower, plus you’ve left no room for the big wahoo you may catch!
Next is the fact that things go bad, especially in tropical environments. Overstock in oils and nuts go rancid; crackers, chips and cookies go stale and get pulverized; flours and mixes get weevils; spices lose their potency: yeast and medications expire; aluminum cans develop pinholes, and plastic bottles can chafe through. (This last is particularly depressing when the plastic bottles contain spare engine oil!)
And finally, when you cram lockers full of things you think you ought to have because some book or article told you to, you are likely to end up carrying around for years all this stuff you don’t particularly like.

It is hard to find anything if every locker is … CRAMMEDFULL!

What’s wrong with under-provisioning is quite simply that you may go hungry! Or you may get to a destination and find the things your family considers essential are exorbitantly priced or just unavailable.

So, when you sit down to plan your provisioning, consider the following:

Take what you like to eat!

Provisioning Principle #1

Shape your plan around THE THINGS YOU LIKE TO EAT.

It may take some ingenuity, but you can, within reason, figure out ways to eat favorite things right round the world! You’ll just need to stock the ingredients, recipes and equipment to make them from scratch!

Provisioning Principle #2

People eat everywhere, and, if you cannot find the same foods you are used to at home, you will not starve. The trick is to know as much as you can about what will be available and affordable when you reach your destination and to be flexible and ready to try new things.

Basics are in even the smallest stores pretty much everywhere

Basics like flour, yeast, sugar, rice and milk powder are in even the smallest stores pretty much everywhere, and you may wish you had taken up less room with these bulky items. Unfortunately, other things you may consider staples may not be staples where you are going. Sometimes it is because they are not part of the local diet, other times because it is so costly to ship in and stock. In the Bahamas, for example, meat, chicken, beer, wine, and snack foods are very expensive and you may kick yourself for not bringing more.

Fortunately, one of cruising’s greatest pleasures is trying the foods of the places you have sailed to. The ladies of the morning marketplace love nothing better than to teach you how to cook that unfamiliar vegetable! The same is true of local dishes at restaurants if you ask for recipes. Eating fresh and local is always cheaper, better, more interesting (and healthier) than eating canned.

The ladies of the morning marketplace love nothing better than to teach you
how to cook that unfamiliar vegetable!

Even in the impersonal aisles of supermarkets, there are adventures to be had. While many American products make their way onto foreign shelves, check out the unfamiliar label next to it. It may be less expensive. Sample before stocking up, because it may taste different than what you’re used to, but you might discover something you like even better … or can live with at a much lower price.

Check out the local labels

There are many products standard outside North America that are particularly useful to cruisers — like canned cream, New Zealand butter, bulk cheddar cheese, crackers in tins (they stay fresher), and there are even canned (or UHT-boxed) prepared products that are more interesting than the ones you are used to seeing, e.g. the paired cans of ratatouille and couscous available on French islands.

Provisioning Principle #3

On the other hand, when you see something that really matters to you – a favorite peanut butter or a preferred mayonnaise — buy it then and there. You never know when you’ll next see it!

Provisioning Principle #4

What and how much you need to put aboard depends on several factors besides your eating style:

How much you entertain?

how much passage-making lies ahead,
how much time you’ll spend in remote anchorages versus ports,
how much you expect to eat out,
how much you entertain.

Foods for entertaining – sundowner get-togethers and potlucks –account for a far greater proportion of most cruisers’ stores than many people anticipate! The same goes for snack foods!

Finally, how much refrigerator, freezer and storage space you have (or don’t have!) must necessarily shape your choices and quantities. Also consider what ambient temperatures will be, not just for preservation, but for how often you’ll want to use your oven!

Provisioning Principle #5

To keep track of what you have onboard, an inventory system, is useful.

Keep an inventory

Go low tech – a notebook, an alphabetized address book, or index cards – or hi-tech – a computer spreadsheet, database or an app (e.g. ListPro or Bento) for an iPad or tablet. Remember, too, you need to know not just what you have, but where it is stowed. Devise a layout system and stick to it.

Inventories, however, take discipline to maintain daily. If it becomes too much trouble, at least keep a master list of your preferred stores and check your shopping list against it to remind you what you may be forgetting to buy. A smart adjunct is to keep a running list of things you have used and update the inventory before shopping.

Provisioning Principle #6

In avoiding over-provisioning, don’t cut things too close on a passage. Things don’t always go as they should. Have enough of something to sustain you should S-@#$ happen!

Finally,

Provisioning Principle #7

It helps to be clairvoyant about what lies ahead. Invariably, we cruisers bemoan that we should have bought less/more if we’d only better known what was/wasn’t available at the next stop!

To help on this very issue, Kathy Parsons collected info from world cruisers to put together a very helpful handout for her boat show provisioning seminar “Proper Provisioning” which she is willing to share. For a copy, email me at admiralsangle@yahoo.com.

Photos: Thanks to Kathy Parsons, HALE KAI; Ellen Sanpere, Cayenne III; Karyn Ennor, Magic Carpet.

This article was published in the March 2012 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

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#64 – Provisioning Principles

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