Author Archives: samandmags97

One Thousand Miles in a Car

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Our plan had always been to drive the car out to Sweden, so throughout the winter we had bought things for the boat under the knowledge that we could take them over in the car. The flaw in the plan began to dawn as we moved everything into the sitting room…. As it appeared to be more than a cars worth. Mags rose to the packing challenge and every square inch was used – including packing kit around the spare wheel.

So with wheel arches greatly diminished we set off on an 1000 mile journey via the channel tunnel and a ferry from Kiel to Gotenborg.

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Stopping overnight in Herford, Germany where I had been posted for 15 months in 1987. I had forgotten that the old town was so beautiful and was relieved to see that the Mess was looking in good order despite being handed back to the Stadt in 2015.

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After a long drive, we were back at the boat. Thankfully the car had managed the journey despite being fully laden.

The next week was spent getting the boat back in the water, putting the mast back and sails on. We had a couple of big maintenance tasks to do – change the gas regulator and a water sensor.

WP_20180426_007Both of which had failed and were being replaced. It gives you a great sense of satisfaction when you manage to complete task unaided. We were due to get the radar reflector and wind generator fitted. But frustratingly both items were supplied with some missing components – so they are still on the to do list. We did manage to get part of the wind generator up – it just lacks blades. This was another item that had failed and was being replaced under warranty. The physical mounting of the generator should have been straight forward – it sits on a pole and we were replacing it with the same unit except them appear to have reduced the pole diameter. So it was a very tight fit – which took a frustrating hour.

We invited some local friends Goran and Lena over for drinks on board. It was a good deadline to get the boat looking less like a tip and more like a home. We had a lovely evening with them and we will catch up with them in June.

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The best cure for seasickness is to stand under a tree, but if that isn’t an option….

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When the sea state goes from smooth to slight, Mags generally starts to be “stomach aware” – the first stage of seasickness. For those fellow sufferers, you will be please to know that you do get your sea legs. Mags managed the entire trip round Britain without being seasick, though there was the odd time she did feel grim. When going round Britain we used Sturgeon and Scopoderm patches, the latter has the advantage of working even when you cant keep anything down. But with these she did feel drowsy. However, since then Mags sailing has been transformed with the Cattle Prodder as I call it or Relief Band to give it is full name. A drug free solution – what is not to like!

However, you still need to be sensible and here are Mags’ top tips to reduce the likelihood of seasickness:

Minimise the amount of time spent performing tasks down below:

  • Prepare lunch in advance before leaving the harbour
    Use food flasks, which can be filled with hot food if sailing overnight and it is likely to be rough
  • Prior to a trip we would fill a flask with boiling water. Our flask dispenses water a push button top. It is safety too, when you are heeling you don’t need to defy gravity when filling a cup, as you can take the cup to the flask and not the flask or kettle to the cup. This is very useful even if you don’t suffer from sea sickness.

Keep warm

Perhaps the most important – pick your battles: if you know it is going to be rough stay in harbour. With any extended trip you have more time that your average 2 week holiday Cruiser. But do ensure you are planning to allow for time for non sailing days.

Keep a packet of ginger biscuits to nibble on when you become stomach aware

Have a spare battery for the cattle prodder ready to hand

Keep drinking

Regular medicines: If you are taking medicines make you sure you take them as prescribed so have them handy

Set up your boat – part of the rational of putting the chart plotter in the cockpit by the companion way with both our boats was to enable Mags to ensure that we were safe even if she was not prepared to venture down below

Get horizontal: When venturing down below get horizontal as soon as possible.

But remember….
The first fear with seasickness is you are going to die – the second fear is you aren’t.

How to Make a Fender Board

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If you value your GRP or wood, then a fender board is a must for a UK circumnavigation. On many occasions you will need to use it when mooring against a wall, pilings or when refuelling. Many of the cheapest refuelling points are designed primarily for fishing boats that are a little more robust. They are easy to make, but the key is not to make them too heavy, as they become difficult to hold and manoeuvre. Ours for our first boat Ituna ( 38ft) was made from pre treated timber, sanded to remove the rough edges. The dimensions were: 0.9in (2.2cm) thick, 5.4in (13.8cm) wide and 5ft 7in (1.6m) long.

fender

 

The board hangs horizontally via 2 thin (10mm) ropes. The key is to ensure that one side is free from these ropes, it is this side that faces a wall. This will ensure that the rope will not get chaffed through by rough walls., We have two short lengths of 0.16in (4mm) cord which are permanently attached to the fender board, which makes it really easy to tie it to the boat to store it along the gunwales. If you have to moor against piles, it is very difficult to judge where the board needs to be located. Hang three fenders vertically, where the distance between each one is not less than the board. This gives you the chance to move the board relatively quickly to the right spot.

Lentil and Bean Chilli

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Serves 8-10 but it is ideal to use in batch cooking and we then divide it up so that we can have it on different nights. It is perfect for after a long passage when you can just heat it up when you arrive and you cant be bothered to make anything.  It keeps for about 5 days in the fridge. Mags makes it when we are in harbour and we are on electricity so that way we can use the induction hob. It is popular with both our vegetarian and non vegetarian friends alike. We like a milder chilli – a friend of ours calls it a cooli – if you are similar then then follow the quantities in brackets.

  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 large red bell peppers, deseeded and finely diced
  • 2 tsp dried chilli flakes (1 tsp)
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 cardamom pods – crushed
  • 300g puy lentils – but you can use green or red
  • 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
  • 750ml water
  • 2 x 400g cans red kidney beans
  • 4 tbsp. tomato ketchup
  • 4 tbsp. tomato paste

Pick a pan that will be able to fit everything in it and which has a lid. Fry off the onions, garlic and peppers in the pan in the oil until soft – about 10 mins. Add all the spices (chilli, coriander, cardamom) and stir. Add the lentils and stir.

Add the beans, tomatoes, water, ketchup and tomato paste and bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 45 mins. Stir it frequently – if it looks too liquid – then cook with the lid partially uncovered.

 

Sundowner invite – what to take?

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Part of the fun of cruising is meeting other fellow yachties and hearing their stories and top tips for good places to visit. Whether it is on their boat, yours or ashore – it is a great, relaxing time of day. Whilst the name is indicative of the time of day to start sipping your favourite tipple… as the sun is setting over the yard arm….well unless you are in the Baltic and it will still be broad day light at 10pm….

When we were sailing around Britain, we always made a point of inviting other sailors, moored near to us, over for drinks. We had some great evenings and made some good friends. However, according to one seasoned sailor we met, it was, surprisingly rare to be invited over for drinks. On several occasions we pooled our food with neighbouring boats and had a slap up feast. We also invited local people on board for a drink if they were interested in our boat. Twice we were then invited back for a meal at their home. Further away from our shores inviting others onboard is far more normal amongst long term cruisers.

dsc09692So you have been invited onboard what do you bring? Well the standard present is a bottle of wine or some cans of beer. But you can make it more interesting with some easy to make canapés or a dip. Also now that we have moved to boxed wine – it is a little more difficult if we have run out of bottles of wine. So we now bring either a plate of canapés or a jar of Carra High Seas Hummus. We have made up labels to make them unique. We save all our jars onboard and repurpose them.

Here you can find our favourite canapés and dips, recipes are linked:

  • Caramelised onion or smoked salmon on blinis with crème fresh. You can make the caramelised onion in bulk and keep it in a jar ready for the next sundowners. With a high sugar content it keeps well.
  • Cucumber islands
  • Hummus or Tzatziki and a bowl of carrots/cucumber/peppers or crisps.bottle
  • Friends Gordon and Irene (SV Fereale) who when we met them in 2006, had been full time liveaboards for over 10 years brought a bottle of their Chateau Bilge – a wine bottle with their own label replacing the original label.

Are there any rules?

  • It is polite to take your shoes off if going down below
  • Don’t stand on cockpit cushion with your shoes.
  • Don’t over stay your welcome!

If you are hosting then here are some here are some other drink options:

Yet another phrase I had assumed the wrong origin…

Sundowner and sun over the yard arm have nothing to do with sunset. The original meaning of sundowner was a bully on a ship and sun over the yard arm referred to “elevenses” when the sun in the northern hemisphere was over the foreyard and the officers would slip down for their first drink of the day.

Cucumber Islands

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  • 1 cucumber
  • zest of a lemon
  • smoked salmon

Cut a cucumber into slices about 2 cm thick. Scoop out some of the seeds from the middle to form a hollow. Mix 200ml of crème fraiche with a zest of a lemon ( keep some for decoration), some freshly ground pepper. Then spoon 1 tsp into each cucumber then top with some smoked salmon, some lemon zest and some black pepper.

Blinis Canapés

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On Blinis spoon 1 tsp crème fraiche then add of topping of either:

  • small strips of smoked salmon and sprinkle with a few chopped chives
  • 1/2 tsp of caramelised red onion mixture

Caramelised red onion

  • 1 red onion peeled and chopped
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp sugar

Cook in a pan for 45 mins, then blend – add water if necessary

 

 

 

Hummus

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Hummus is the Arabic for chickpea and is a perfect dip for crudities or chips

Serves 6-8 as a starter

  • 2 x 400g chickpeas ( you can keep a few chickpeas for decoration)
  • 4 tsp tahini
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp crushed sea salt
  • 6 tbsp. quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 31/2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Paprika (optional)
  • Coriander or parsley leaves (optional)
  • Eqpt needed: hand blender

Rinse the chickpeas in cold water and tip into a bowl with the tahini, garlic, salt, lemon juice and about 7 tbsp of the reserved liquid from the cans and blend with a hand blender and slowly pour in the oil whilst it is blending. When the mixture is smooth put in a bowl to serve. Drizzle some more olive oil and decorate with a few chickpeas, and sprinkle with paprika, and finely chopped coriander or parsley leaves. Alternatively you can put it in a jar and gift it to someone for sundowners.

 

Timing of Engine Checks

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Often people do engine checks just before starting up the engine prior to leaving. If you discover a problem then there is very often little you can do to fix in time for your departure. Result – you end up being delayed. If you do the engine checks as soon as you arrive in a port you can often get things fixed so that your departure is not delayed. This is particularly important on a UK circumnavigation as you will need to keep your schedule as much as possible. Clearly you can’t do checks such as oil checks as soon as you arrive – but you can do most.

Carra’s Adventures in 2015

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kiel mapWhat a variety of sailing locations we have been lucky enough to experience this year in Carra’s voyage from the UK to Sweden. From anchoring in Durgan Bay in the Helford River being watched by a curious dolphin – to hanging off a rock in Trakso Storo in the stunningly beautiful Stockholm Archipelago. We have had some cracking sails though also had to motor a fair bit more than we would have liked. Poor Peter and Chris had absolutely no wind so had to motor from Falmouth to the Dutch coast and then had too much wind to the mouth of Elbe just before the Kiel Canal.nyk map

Our best experience: Seeing Carra in the British Kiel Yacht Club and all the memories it evoked.

Our worst experience: gradually seeing every piece of electronic navigation aid fail as we crossed the major shipping lanes in the Baltic and then having to turn into lumpy sea and beat to a harbour with a safer entrance.

Our favourite anchorage: Ostholmen with is multi-coloured cliff face, the giant sized bird boxes and a well timed visit from the ice cream boat. See the banner picture

Our favourite harbour: Utklippan – a tiny desolate rocky island 12 miles offshore from the Swedish Coast – with its ochre lighthouse and nesting birds. Which has a heart stopping narrow entrance. See the other banner picture.

Cruising stats:

  • NM sailed 1502m. Peter and Chris sailed 716m to Kiel and we sailed the rest.
  • Engine hours: 221
  • Night hours: 8….. it is never really gets dark here in the summer.
  • Fuel used – good question – we still haven’t got our fuel gauge working.
  • Starting Point – Mylor Marina, Falmouth UK. Finishing Point – Svinninge Marina Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Number of weeks before we could say the name of our current marina and not have a Swede say where..  at least 6.
  • Excluding the 6 weeks we left Carra at Kiel, Fehmarn and Nykoping. No of nights: 4 in a marina, 6 box mooring (Germany), 2 harbour walls, 2 bows to / stern anchor, 1  bows to/ buoy, 8 at anchor and 2 bow to hanging off a rock (still not as confident as the natives)
  • Number of rocks touched: 1 + marina pontoon anchor stone….which considering the charts have areas marked – known rocks above 6m depth marked – we are very relieved about.
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