Ocean Navigator 179 2009.07-08

H
July/August 2009 Issue No. 179

$4.99 U.S. $4.99 Canada
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Go with Nordhavn
Two Nordhavn 55s cross Pacific

from Mexico to Taiohae Bay in the Marquesas
The Allards anchored off Suwarrow (above), after a chance meeting leads to a tag-team voyage covering 2,700 miles in just over two weeks for one unforgettable journey. This is what being part of the Nordhavn club is all about.
The idea was simple: Meet up in positions, currents data, sea states and Mexico and cross the Pacific weather conditions - and to ensure Ocean together - a perfect trip for everything was fine on both ends. It's stretching the legs of a couamazing ple of new Nordhavn 55s. how much The plan was hatched when conditions N5525 owner Roger Allard can vary and the N5527 owners 100 miles bumped into each other at apart at the Nordhavn factory. I met sea - even them at the boatyard in 40 or 50 China while our boats were miles can being built, Allard said. make a We talked about doing the huge difPacific crossing at the same ference. time if things worked out and luckily they did. Joan, Roger and Kimberly Allard turn a New Paige in More than their future after commissioning in Dana Point, CA. 2,700 The adventure began in Now in New Zealand, the family adventure can be fol- miles later, lowed at their blog: http://www.newpaige.ca/ Barrie de La Navidad both just south of Puerto Allard and Vallarta, Mexico. We met up four their friends aboard the other Nordhavn days before setting out for the Marquesas 55 have a Pacific crossing under the and left within a few hours of each hulls of their new Nordhavns - all withother, Allard said. We were typically out having to make a single fuel stop. about 60 to 100 miles apart, and we I would do it again in a heartbeat! talked twice a day via sat phone to share Allard said.
Safe long range ocean travel is what Nordhavns are built for. See what we mean by checking out the chart below which illustrates the performance predictions for a standard single engine Nordhavn 55.
Nordhavn 55 Standard/Single 6081 John Deer RPM Knots GPH NMPG Range 1200 6.90 3.40 2.03 4566 1300 7.35 4.05 1.81 4083 1400 7.70 5.00 1.54 3465 1500 8.30 6.20 1.34 3012 1600 8.70 7.80 1.12 2510 1700 9.20 9.05 1.02 2287 1800 9.55 10.95 0.87 1962 2000 10.80 16.80 0.64 1446
Kids, check out Nordhavns web site for Boat Kid Chatter, and meet Kimberly. Parents, see how Nordhavn can help you fulfill your life's dreams. Call Nordhavn today at (949) 496 4848. www.nordhavn.com
40II 43
47
52
55 56MS
60 62
63
64
68
72 75EYF
76 86 120
Pacific Asian Enterprises 34179 Golden Lantern, Suite 101 Dana Point, CA 92629 949.496.4848 Fax 949.240.2398 www.nordhavn.com
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Contents
7
Departments
Chartroom Chatter
6 AIS to improve search and rescue 7 Sipriz expedition reaches Florida 7 ISAF piracy prevention guidelines 8 Rock stars schooner for sale 8 First female commodore of the CCA 9 Custom millwork for large spars 10 Covey Island Boatworks rises from the ashes 10 Vandenberg artificial reef 11 Maines annual Boothbay Boat Builders Festival 11 Notable New Titles 12 Product News
Voyaging Interview
14 European shakedown
14
Marine Tech Notes

18 Register your beacon by Tim Queeney
Power Voyaging
22 Along the Aleutians, voyaging from Seattle to Japan by Twain Braden
Correspondence
27 A jury rig gets voyagers home
12 18
28 Recharging the reefer 28 Inventor of the Windex
Voyaging Tips
48 Dinghy mooring methods by Knick and Lyn Pyles
Nav Problem
56 Inflatable across the Atlantic by David Berson For bonus materials, check out the current issue at www.OceanNavigator.com.
www.oceannavigator.com
11
OCEAN NAVIGATOR
MAR I N E NAVIGATION AN D OCEAN VOYAG I NG
Issue #179 July/August 2009
22 37
Features
Ocean Voyaging
30 Wrecked on the Brazilian Coast
One navigational mistake ends a voyagers dream
by Neil Malik
Special Section
36 Watermaker primer
Practical aspects of voyaging with a watermaker
by Roger Marshall
29
43 High pressure at low power

Getting fresh water from seawater requires a high pressure, yet electrically efficient pump
by Chuck Husick
36 30
On the cover: Lions Whelp, a 65-foot, Aldendesigned wooden schooner, is helmed by co-owner Phineas Sprague on a fair day off Antigua. John Snyder photo
www.oceannavigator.com JULY/AUGUST 2009 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 3
CONTRIBUTORS
OCEAN NAVIGATOR
MAR I N E NAVIGATION AN D OCEAN VOYAG I NG
Subscriptions:
Twain Braden (Power Voyaging, Along the Aleutians, voyaging from Seattle to Japan, page 22) is an Ocean Navigator contributing editor, and freelance writer who holds a 100-ton masters license with an unlimited radar observer endorsement. Braden recently completed a law degree at the University of Charleston, with a specialty in Admiralty law. With Capt. Skip Strong he co-authored In Peril (Lyons Press), which describes an unlikely salvage off Florida when Strongs tanker rescued a tug and a barge carrying an empty fuel space shuttle tank. Braden is more recently the author of Ghosts of the Pioneers, also published by Lyons Press. Roger Marshall (Special Section, Watermaker primer, page 36) has raced at international levels, has done five Fastnet and 12 Bermuda races as well as most of the little ones in between. He has sailed in most of the worlds oceans and has written 12 books about sailing and one on gardening. Marshall is a past president of Boating Writers International, judging chair for NMMAs innovation awards program at the IBEX show and the U.S. member of the jury for the Dame Awards at the METS show in Amsterdam.
Ned Cabot (Special Section, Watermaker case study, page 37) is a retired surgeon from Boston who voyages extensively aboard his J46 Cielita. Cabot has voyaged in Maine, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He has taken Cielita to Greenland, endured a storm in the Denmark Strait, then sailed on to Iceland, Scotland and Ireland. He has also crossed the North Sea and explored Norway and ventured up to Spitsbergen, as far north as you can sail without an icebreaker. This summer Cabot plans to investigate the shores of the Baltic. Cabot is also on the board of directors of Sailors for the Sea, an ocean environmental group composed of recreational mariners.
866-918-6972 All Departments: 207-772-2466

EDITORIAL
Editors@OceanNavigator.com
EDITOR Tim Queeney COPY EDITOR Larissa Dillman ART DIRECTOR Kim Goulet Norton CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Scott Bannerot
Twain Braden John Snyder Nigel Calder Steve C. DAntonio Eric Forsyth Chuck Husick Jeff & Raine Williams David Berson ADVERTISING/MARKETING
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WEST COAST/CANADA INTERNATIONAL Susan W. Hadlock MIDWEST / GULF / FLORIDA Bruce Cole EAST COAST Charlie Humphries PUBLISHER/ ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Alex Agnew
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Ocean Navigator is published in January, March, May, July, September, October and November, with an annual special issue of Ocean Voyager in April, for $27.95 per year by Navigator Publishing LLC, 58 Fore St., Portland, ME 04101. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, Maine, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Ocean Navigator, P.O. Box 461468, Escondido, CA 92046. Copyright 2008 by Navigator Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted in any way without written permission from the publisher. Subscription rate is $27.95 for one year (eight issues) in the United States and its possessions. Canadian subscription rate is $31.95 U.S. funds. Other foreign surface is $33.95 U.S. funds. Overseas air mail is $62.95 U.S. funds per year. Distribution: Newsstand distribution, domestically and internationally: Coast to Coast Newsstand Services LTD., 5230 Finch Ave. East, Suite 1, Toronto, ON M1S 4Z9. Phone (416) 754-3900; fax (416) 754-4900. Contributions: We solicit manuscripts, drawings and photographs. Please address all material to Editor, Ocean Navigator, P.O. Box 569, Portland, ME 04112-0569. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the safe handling of contributed materials.
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4 OCEAN NAVIGATOR JULY/AUGUST 2009
Chatter
Chartroom
AIS to improve search and rescue
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Proposed AISenabled 406MHz EPIRBs will display a distressed vessel or persons position on an AIS-capable radar or chartplotter of any vessel in range.
BY JOHN SNYDER
WORK CURRENTLY UNDERWAY BY THE RADIO TECHNICAL COMMISsion for Maritime Services (RTCM) will create two new life saving electronic devices, a replacement for the search and rescue transmitter (SART) now carried in lifeboats on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and other vessels, including yachts, and a new type of 406MHz EPIRB that will transmit an AIS signal. The new AIS SART (allowed on SOLAS vessels starting Jan. 1, 2010) will derive its position from an integral GNSS (GPS) receiver and will broadcast its position eight times each minute, updating its position once each minute. Final approval for this new device is still underway at the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The present SART is a transponder, a combination of a receiver and transmitter that responds to the signal emitted by a marine X-band radar by emitting a signal that appears on the search-
ing vessels radar screen as a unique series of blips. The signal from the new AIS SART does not depend on illumination of the SART by the searching vessels radar, but will appear on the AIS capable radar or chartplotter of any vessel in range, normally beyond five miles for a surface ship. The second improved device now under consideration is an EPIRB that will, in addition to the 406MHz satellite signal and the 121.5-MHz homing signal, emit an automatic identification signal (AIS) that, like the signal from the new SART, can be detected by any ship or vessel equipped with an AIS receiver or AIS transponder. The immense value of an AIS capable EPIRB can be appreciated when you consider the following scenario. An EPIRB signal is received by a rescue coordination center. Among other actions the RCC checks for the presence of Amver (Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System)
reporting ships in the vicinity of the EPIRB. An alerted ship will proceed to the reported location of the EPIRB to search for the vessel or person in distress. While distress signaling has employed the latest in satellite and GPS technology, the ships search will be conducted visually, entirely without electronic aid (with the possible exception of the ships radar). The ship does not carry radio receivers capable of receiving or homing on either the 406-MHz or the 121.5-MHz signals being emitted by the EPIRB. The addition of the AIS signal will make the location of the EPIRB visible on the ships radar/chartplotter. Effective reception range for both the new AIS SART and the likely AIS enhanced EPIRB will depend on the VHF radio propagation, including the height of the receiving antenna above the sea, the elevation of the transmitting antenna in the EPIRB or SART and the sea-state. Chuck Husick
Courtesy ACR
Sipriz expedition
reaches Florida
AFTER NEARLY A MONTH OF SAILING WITH ISLAND STOPS ALONG
the way, Sipriz, a traditionally-built, 21-foot Haitian sloop made successful landfall in Florida. The boat and its crew of four, expedition leader Geert van der Kolk and Haitian sailors Gracien Alexandre, Jean Emmaniste Manis Samedy, and Jean Oblit Laguerre left Kakok on the island of Ile a Vache in southwestern Haiti on
March 16, 2009. The 800-mile voyage followed a route retracing that of Haitian refugees. The expedition endeavors to draw attention to the plight of the Haitian boat people and highlights Haitian boat building and seafaring skills. Sipriz was built during the summer of 2008 on Ile a Vache by Laguerre using traditional methods and with no metal fastenings. Haitis problems of hunger, disease and poverty are real. But there is a rich and thriving culture of craftsmanship and art in Haiti, as well, said van der Kolk, noting that artists from the FOSAJ Art Center in Jacmel, Haiti painted
the boats sail. Our sloop, Sipriz, is a living example of the vibrant traditions and resourcefulness that exist throughout Haiti. The Sipriz crew arrived in West Palm Beach, Fla., at 0300 on April 20, 2009 after being challenged by an offshore passage in an open boat and the hostility of some local authorities despite the fact that the Haitian crew carried U.S. and Bahamian visas. its easy to see why some boat people never make it to the U.S., van der Kolk said. Sipriz will be on exhibit at the Palm Beach Maritime Museum in West Palm Beach and the Katzen Arts Center at American University in Washington, D.C. this summer. <<
Top, Sipriz anchored at Hawksbill Cay in the Bahamas. Center, the sloops gooseneck fitting and water supply. Bottom, the bird on the mainsail is a Sankofa, a mythological creature that followed the slave ships to the Caribbean and returned to Africa to bring news to the families who stayed behind.
ISAF piracy prevention guidelines

IN RESPONSE TO RECENT INCIDENTS OF PIRACY AGAINST
Photos courtesy Geert van der Kolk
yachts transiting the Gulf of Aden, Yemeni and Somali waters the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has published guidelines for yachtsmen planning passages through the region. While the best course of action would be to avoid these waters altogether, sailors determined to go are urged to advise naval authorities prior to voyaging. The guidelines are a collaborative effort between ISAF and the Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa. The document defines high risk areas and offers suggested routing, critical communications details and general advice on protecting your vessel and crew. Mariners can download the guidelines as a PDF file at http://www.sailing.org/ 28144.php.
JULY/AUGUST 2009 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 7
Chatter
Chartroom
Courtesy CCA
First female commodore of the CCA

SHEILA MCCURDY, 55, THE ONLY
FEMALE SKIPPER TO COMPETE IN
Rock stars schooner for sale

ALL BOATS HAVE A STORY TO
Above, the schooner
Mayan sailing in the
TELL, HOWEVER GRAND OR MOD-
Santa Barbara Channel, Calif. Below, rock singer and sailor David Crosby.
est the tale. But few are as tied to a generation as singer-songwriter David Crosbys 59-foot Alden 356-B centerboard schooner, Mayan. After 40 years of owning and sailing the schooner, at 67 years old Crosby has decided the time has come to move on. Many of Crosbys finest songs were written aboard the boat including Carry Me, Page 43, and Wooden Ships. Crosby is
reportedly asking $1 million for the boat. After 40 years of sailing my Alden schooner and writing many of my best songs aboard her, I have reached the point where I must let her go. ... As a real beauty that can be sailed anywhere in the world, she needs someone to love her as I have, Crosby said. Mayan was originally built in 1947 and underwent an extensive $600,000 refit by Wayne Ettel in California in 2005.
the 2008 Newport Bermuda Race and 15-time veteran of the race (six as skipper) has been chosen to serve as the first female commodore of the Cruising Club of America (CCA). The Rhode Island sailor and writer was also recently honored as Sailor of the Week by U.S. Sailing where she serves as Vice Chair of U.S. Sailings Training Committee and head of U.S. Sailings National Faculty. She is the daughter of yacht designer Jim McCurdy, a former commodore of the CCA in the 1980s and the first club official to recommend women be added to the club. This was adopted in 1994, the same year Ms. McCurdy sailed Selkie, a 38-footer designed by her father, to a second place overall finish in the Newport Bermuda Race.
Courtesy Craven Yacht Sales
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Courtesy Craven Yacht Sales
Custom millwork for large spars

NOT MANY BOAT OWNERS ARE
LOOKING FOR A SPAR THAT IS 100
feet long. But for some vessels, like large, traditonallyrigged schooners, a tall spar is the only way to go. One of the places you can go to have one turned is the Spar Shop in Washington State. As a unit of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority (GHHSA) in Aberdeen, Wash., a not-forprofit, 501(c)(3) public development authority that owns and operates the tall ships Hawaiian Chieftain and Lady Washington, the Spar Shop provides training opportunities for at risk youth and supports living history programs focused on maritime heritage. With its two sawmills, the shop specializes in turning traditional wooden masts and spars as well as custom columns and poles. They work with tall shipowners, maritime museums and movie production companies and have built spars for the
sloop Providence, schooners Virginia, Amistad, Bill of Rights, the brig Lady Washington and others. Using the largest tracer lathe in North America, the shop can turn logs up to 40 inches in diameter and 122 feet in length. Their saw mills can mill logs as large as six feet in diameter and more than 100 feet in length. The company also offers custom fabrication services for movie sets, commercial buildings and museum exhibits. In partnership with GHHSA they offer a resource for researchers and boat builders who want to learn the intricacies of traditional wooden mast and spar building. For more information visit www.thesparshop.org and www.historicalsea port.org. <<
The Spar Shops tracer lathe is the largest in North America and can turn logs up to 122 feet in length.
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Chatter
Chartroom
Covey Island Boatworks rises from the ashes

FOLLOWING A DEVASTATING FIRE IN AUGUST 2008, THAT destroyed Covey Island Boatworks and Frank Blairs fusion schooner Maggie B, the Nova Scotia yard and dedicated boat owner are determined to rise from the ashes of the tragedy. With the Petite Riviere yard gone, John Steele and his crew have moved to a leased facility in nearby Riverport, Nova Scotia, with hopes of eventually locating the yard on the Lunenburg waterfront. But perhaps the most exciting news for the yard its first new build. Blair is building another Nigel Irens designed fusion schooner. The new boat, M2, will be a bit smaller than Maggie B and with a more modern rig that will feature two un-stayed carbon fiber masts that rotate, a sleeker deckhouse and a profile similar to Maggie B. Below the waterline, M2 will also be similar; shallow draft, low-wetted surface, a slack turn of bilge, and a centerboard. Unlike Maggie B, M2 will forego the short counter stern and have a transom stern to maximize waterline. M2 will also carry a transom hung rudder for the sake of simplicity and ease of maintenance. Blair said, Maggie B was purposely built to sail around the world, and she proved herself perfect for the job. The new boat has a different mission. She needs to be a little handier to require less crew.
Vandenberg artificial reef

FLORIDA KEYS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY SOUTH of Key West now has a new artificial reef thanks to the retired missiletracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. Next to the former aircraft carrier Oriskany, the 523-foot Vandenberg is the second-largest ship to be deployed as an artificial diving and fishing reef in the Florida Keys. It is located about six miles southsoutheast of Key West in 140 feet of water. The project is a collaboration of agencies including the City of Key West (which owns the ship), Reefmakers Inc. (the primary contractor for the project),
Courtesy Covey Island
Like its predecessor

Maggie B, M2 is
FROM RUNNING FIX, THE ON BLOG

Stop by Running Fix, our Ocean Navigator blog. Heres an excerpt: For most sailors, a collision at sea with a ship would be an emergency event that would likely send them scurrying to the nearest possible port. Not Michel Kleinjans. When Kleinjanss boat collided with a containership 210
<<
also designed by Nigel Irens and will be built by Covey Island Boatworks. The new boat, also a fusion schooner will have unstayed carbon fiber masts and modern sail design.
OCEAN NAVIGATOR BLOG

miles east of the Bahamas, Kleinjans, sailing solo in the Portimao Global Ocean Race, shrugged it off and kept sailing the
Running Fix
remaining 420 miles to Charleston. Visit the blog at www.ocean navigator.com/blog.
Courtesy Boothbay Region Land Trust
the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Its placement in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary will help divert recreational fishing and diving pressure away from natural reefs near the ship and with a life span of about 100 years it provides a stable, long-term habitat for marine fish species. Prior to sinking, the vessel was cleansed of pollutants including the removal of nearly 800,000 feet of wire. The total cost of the project including environmental monitoring is approximately $8.5 million. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that the new artificial reef will increase annual expenditures in Monroe County, Fla., by roughly $7.5 million and will create about 195 full and part-time jobs.
Notable New Titles

Heavy Weather Avoidance and Route Design:
Concepts and Applications of 500 Mb Charts: A Textbook for Professional Mariners
Maines annual Boothbay Boat Builders Festival

THIS YEARS BOOTHBAY BOAT BUILDERS FESTIVAL WILL BE HELD on Aug. 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in East Boothbay, Maine, at Shipbuilders Park/Ocean Point Marina. It is a celebration of the working waterfront and the recovery of Washburn & Doughtys shipyard, following a devastating 2008 fire that destroyed the Maine shipbuilders facilities. The event will benefit the Boothbay Region Land Trust and includes visits to Washburn & Doughty, Hodgdon Yachts, and Nat Wilsons sail loft. On the docks there will be a line up of classic Lyman boats, small boats and tugs. Ashore there will be storytelling events for kids, boatbuilding demonstrations and talks and a nautical art show. Food and live music round out the day. For more information visit www.bbrlt.org.
By Captain Ma-Li Chen and Lee S. Chesneau Paradise Cay Publications, 2008 245 pages
In Heavy Weather Avoidance, Chen and Chesneau collaborate as mariner and meteorologist to demystify 500 Mb charts and employ them as a useful tool for route planning heavy weather avoidance. The book endeavors to define the atmosphere in three dimensions and from that model provide mariners with the knowledge they need to predict the intensity and movement of weather systems. Well written and filled with explanatory
charts, this book is not for the casual weather observer. But, given careful study and a bit of homework can develop an entirely new way of looking at 500 Mb charts. Following the discussion, the book provides examples of route planning and a comprehensive glossary of terms and abbreviations. The serious ocean sailor who is willing to
put the effort into studying and applying Chen and Chesneaus concepts will give themselves a new level of expertise at dealing with weather.
News
Product
Glowfast teams with Lidgard Sails
Sail shape is key for ocean racers, but ocean voyagers can also benefit from keeping the sails properly trimmed. The Australian company Glowfast Marine offers a package of luminous Draft Stripes, Glowfast Luminous Spinnaker Vs and Glowfast Luminous Tell Tale Patches, which will allow you to keep your boat at optimal potential day and night. Sean Lidgard, general manager of Lidgard Sails, has chosen Glowfast as a way to ensure his sail lofts have access to the latest in cutting edge technology for both the racing and cruising markets. For more information on Glowfast luminous products go to www.glowfast.com, e-mail sales@glowfast.com or call from nous (glow in the dark) tapes that can be added to a sail to provide a glowing picture of sail shape at night. Now Lidgard Sails of New Zealand is stocking and installing Glowfast Lumithe US: 011-61-3-9018-6581. And for more information on Lidgard Sails go to www.lidgardsails.com, e-mail sails@lidgardsails.co.nz or call from the US: 011-64-9-489-1111.
AIS for voyagers on a budget

Automatic identification systems are a great invention for voyagers, but it does represent an added cost for some voyagers on a budget. The new Comar AIS-Multi unit reportedly delivers plenty of value by providing the added safety of AIS to voyagers at a reasonable price. In addition, according to Comar the installation is easy. The new Comar AIS-Multi saves money and delivers easier, faster and simpler installation of AIS by combining key components in one compact box: dual parallel AIS receivers, active VHF antenna splitter, and USB connections. The price is $399. The unit is powered by the boats 12/24VDC supply. The signal from the antenna is amplified before being shared by the VHF radio and internal AIS receiver, thus ensuring minimal insertion loss. AIS information received can be displayed on a compatible chart plotter using the NMEA 0183 output. At the same time, the unit can be connected to a PC via the USB port to display data with a compatible charting program.
AIS antenna
Knowing what big ships surround you is a plus for any voyager.An automatic identification system (AIS) unit will provide you with that information. But first the AIS needs a good antenna. Now the antenna maker Glomex is offering an antenna that has been specifically developed for AIS use. Working via two dedicated VHF channels (161,975-MHz and 162,025MHz) and relying on a global navigation positioning system (GPS) and digital communications,AIS enables all participants (vessels and traffic stations) to receive information about traffic in their vicinity providing real time.The Glomex AIS antenna can be used on both power and sailboats thanks to the exclusive Glomex mount designed for vertical and horizontal orientation for mast or deck fixing.The high-performance receiving/broadcasting antenna element, carefully enclosed in a conical rubber tube, is conceived to combine with all AIS devices (delivered with BNC or TNC connections on the coax cable). For more information, visit www.glomex.it or e-mail Glomex at info@glomex.it.
Voyagers mosquito repellent

Whats worse than getting to a beautiful, secluded anchorage and then being assaulted by mosquitos? The standard solution is to quickly install the companionway and hatch screens and retreat down below. Another approach is possible using a new product called the ThermaCell appliance. The ThermaCell uses heat from a butane cartridge to vaporize a mosquito repellent that is embedded in a metallic screen in the front of the device. According to ThermaCell the unit provides a 15 by 15-foot mosquito-free zone according to tests by the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army. It is reportedly non-toxic, safe and non-intrusive, being DEET-free, silent, portable and odor-free. Rather than a harmful toxin, ThermaCELL utilizes allethrin, an artificial version of a natural insecticide found in chrysanthemum flowers. The units sell for $25.99 and can be purchased online at www.mosquitorepellent.com, via phone at 866-753-3837 or at retailers throughout North America.
More electronic charts

With the way the electronic market is evolving, pretty soon you will be able to download electronic charts to your sunglasses. The electronic charting company Fugawi has just announced more electronic chart editions for Canada, USA, the Caribbean and Europe. Raster charts from CHS and NV.Digital are now available and are compatible with Fugawi Global Navigator and Fugawi Marine ENC software for PC, GPSNavX and MacENC software for Mac OS X, and the iNavX app for iPhone 3G, the original iPhone or iPod touch. You can plot waypoints in Fugawi, GPSNavX or MacENC and transfer to iNavX app on iPhone, or vice versa or simply use iNavX as a stand-alone GPS plotter. According to Fugawi you can activate any of the raster charts on up to two devices. And for a limited time this summer, Navionics has substantially reduced the price of its Gold XL9 and HotMaps chart regions for use on an iPhone, with USA regions starting as low as $4.99 and international regions starting at $9.99! The Navionics charts from Fugawi X-Traverse are compatible only with iNavX for activation on one iPhone.
Mooring line control system

The docks ride the pilings as the tide ebbs and flows, why shouldnt your boat do the same? You can follow that approach with TideMinders, from a Michigan company called Dr. Shrink. This product is touted as a way to control dock and mooring lines.The system employs nine tough plastic balls. Threaded onto the line and secured with figure-eight knots, the durable balls roll up and down as the water level changes, reportedly removing the need to adjust your dock lines.The string of balls offers constant tension with built-in shock absorption. During storms and tidal changes,TideMinders shields the line against fouling and chafing as they roll up and down any size or shape piling. One TideMinders kit contains nine balls constructed from high-density polyethylene. Individual balls are available for larger pilings.The system is available in black or white. The TideMinders system from Dr. Shrink retails for $49.99. Contact Dr. Shrink, 315 Washington St., Manistee, MI, 49660; or call 800-968-5147; email drshrink@dr-shrink.com; or visit www.dr-shrink.com.
High-performing LED light

Seattle-based company, Dr. LED, introduces a 600+ lumen LED light that uses four U.S.-made high-flux LEDs. According to Dr. LED this light, dubbed Kevin is the highest lumen-per-watt LED outdoor light. A die-cast aluminum housing provides an ample heat sink for the LEDs to keep them cool and provide for long life operation. And the patented internal circuitry of the Kevin provides consistent brightness and makes the product immune to life-shortening voltage fluctuations. For more information contact: Dr. LED, 12345 Lake City Way suite 181, Seattle, WA, 98125; call 206-388-3701; or visit www.doctorLED.com
VOYAGING INTERVIEW
European shakedown
Big Skys pilot house scooping WiFi from port to port. Con was born in Holland after WWII, spent his youth in the Sea Scouts, and got his formal training in the Dutch Navy. He emigrated to Canada 39 years ago with $1,700 in his pocket. Today he is a shareholder in Eagle Pumps and Compressor Ltd., a successful pump and compressor company. After a successful career in public affairs, Barb became a founder and was the National Executive Director of the Kids Up Front Foundation of Canada, a charitable organization. With the help of donors and a board of directors, she grew the charity from an idea to an organization serving thousands of kids in need across Canada. Together they have toured 20 countries, so far. They have sailed through winds peaking at 50 knots in the North Sea, sail-surfed on a 15-foot wave into an Italian marina; battled cross-winds in an Estonian marina while caught on a Russian anchor, managed 40-foot tides on the Atlantic coast, and were nearly swamped when stuck in tidal mud in France. What prompted you to go voyaging? We both have a huge curiosity about the world and a keen desire to explore it, so it really came down to by land or by sea. Sailing around the world was a childhood dream of Cons, so there was no question that one day he would do it by sea. I loved the idea of traveling like a turtle so to speak, with our house on our back, tucking into various communities and getting to know the culture and moving on. Seeing the world from port to port is the most fascinating thing. We arrive usually right in the center of the old towns, and set off on foot or bike to explore. Theres something magical about using the waterways as our highways. Youre one with the heavens and if youre lucky, dolphins come to visit at your bow, whales can be spotted, flying fish, exotic birds. Sometimes those highways can get really rough though and have come with challenges, but it adds to the realness and rawness of what were doing. Voyaging in this time of our lives is like the icing on the cake of an already beautiful life.
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Barb Sprenger
B
Above, voyagers Con and Barb Sprenger exploring on land. At far right, the Sprengers Nauticat 515 Big Sky under sail.
arb and Con Sprenger, two Canadians from land-locked Calgary, Alberta, have been sailing together for just two years. In April 2007, they tossed off the lines the moment the Baltic Sea thawed. They were in Turku, Finland, where they bought their 515 Nauticat sailboat, Big Sky. Con has sailed all his life. Barbs sailing experience has involved one sailing course, two charters, and two years living aboard and voyaging. The Sprengers retired early, gave away most of their possessions, and leased their house to live aboard Big Sky and sail into the sunset. Unfortunately, Con couldnt fully retire until March 2009, working from
Barb Sprenger
What were your advance preparations before departing? Getting ready was a bit like a snowball heading down a steep mountain. We started off slowly, about two years before leaving, Id taken a basic sailing course, wed spoken to the kids and to the people in our work world, so they all knew our intention. Wed purchased Big Sky a year before we departed, so wed gone through the tough job of naming and registering the boat. As we neared the departure date, that snowball was really gaining momentum and everything was happening
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at once. It was an exercise both physically and emotionally. Wed prepared our beautiful yard for low maintenance, then leased out our home. Packing it up was more difficult for Con I think, as he had 30 years to sort through. Id just moved in four years earlier so Id identified the items in my life that I had to have and the rest were just things. We set about the task of sorting everything into three areas: To give away: most of our things. To storage: our photo albums, heirlooms, and odd little things. To Big Sky: tools, Gill suits and clothes, fold-up bikes, voyaging books, reference guides, travel books,
VOYAGING INTERVIEW
leisure reading, photos of kids, medical first-aid kit, English translation (from the Internet) of all the equipment aboard, as its a Finnish boat, previously owned by a German. We researched every bank for the best international access and Internet system and found that the TD Canada Trust suited us best. We then cancelled our other banks, transferred funds, applied for new credit cards. We set up every bill for payment online, and for automatic payments. We researched for medical coverage and applied for an extension of our provincial coverage. We changed our address to our daughter and son-inlaws; prepared a garment bag of a few formal outfits for various occasions that may call us home; packaged up our ski gear for winter access when were home. I had to wrap my mind around packing in my professional career. I absolutely loved the work I was doing, and was plugged into the pulse of the Calgary community which doesnt happen overnight. It took years of socializing, smoozing, being seen and seeing people, which fed into the successes my organization was experiencing. To close that chapter was difficult too. Con looked internationally for the right person to take a portion of his day-to-day business so he could manage the bigger picture from Big Sky. Saying goodbye to the kids was really emotional, it almost did me in during the first few months of sailing. I was so crippled by homesickness for them. Theyre all adults and living away from home, but there was so much more to the dynamics. My daughters and I were still working
through our grieving from the sudden death of my husband, their dad. We had just blended our families Con and me, so we hadnt made a lot of family history together, you know Sunday dinners sort of thing, and now we were going. That for me was the most difficult part of going. How did you choose your boat? The two main criteria were safety and comfort. Safety meant that the boat had to be capable of withstanding almost all weather conditions. Comfort meant that it had to have a pilot house so that we would not, as the French call it, live in la cave. Although we had always been impressed with the Nauticat design, we were open-minded and with the aid of the Internet searched the world. We met with yacht brokers in Seattle, Boston, Fort Lauderdale and The Netherlands, viewing dozens of boats. Once we boarded a Nauticat 42 in the Boston area, we knew it would be a Nauticat. On the Internet we spotted a slightlyused 515 stored in the Nauticat Factory in Finland. After negotiating the price, we flew to Finland to inspect it, loved it and finalized the purchase. We took possession and havent regretted a moment of our decision. Did you take any medical courses before you began voyaging full time? We did. There were a few courses to choose from: a half-day basic course; a one-day; and a three-day, eight hours per day course. Thats the one we took, but in a medical situation, it really comes down to common sense. In the Baltic states, Scandinavia, Europe and
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Northern Africa where we traveled so far, weve always been close to great medical care if we had needed it. We consulted our doctors about what medications to take along, researched which inoculations to get and got them. Mind you, we had a lot of bruises, bumps, scrapes and cuts the first few months adjusting to the living aboard. Its about knowing where the top of your head and your toes are in relation to the various spots on the boat. What equipment do you use for communications? On the boat we have a VHF radio which we monitor while underway, but its rarely used as a communication tool with marinas, they prefer cell phone contact. We buy a new SIM card for each country for our cell phone which gives us phone calls around the world, SMS, and most importantly, acts as a modem with our laptops for Internet access. The Internet is our biggest communication tool, and generally we find WiFi spots everywhere. We now use Skype (Internet telephone) as an inexpensive way to make phone calls to family and friends. Its becoming increasingly easier to get reasonably priced Internet connections. Weve watched the progression of this communication tool in the past two years and anticipate it to be even better in the future. Do you have a watermaker on your boat? We do. It has never been used and probably never will. According to the factory it was the worst model they ever built; spare membranes and parts are no longer available. We have been able to get
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good fresh water in every port as part of the marina fees (except Gibraltar). Weve used chemicals from time to time to sterilize the tanks, but water has never been an issue and bottled water is really inexpensive. We anticipate things to be different when we get to Greece. How much repair and maintenance work do you do yourself? Other than complicated mechanical or electrical problems, we do most of the work ourselves. The biggest issues we face are understanding how the various systems work and interact with each other. Its also learning how to get access to the various locations where problems occur. For instance, weve been experiencing recurring problems with our hot water hoses splitting at the connection points. Finding the actual location of the split is a challenge, then gaining access, at least in one instance, meant cutting through the floor under the stove. Complicated problems such as failing battery chargers has required us to hire experts in that field. Weve shopped around for quotes for annual maintenance, cleaning, waxing, polishing, antifouling, replacing zincs, etc. So far, weve managed to find affordable prices, and the prices sure vary from place to place. What are the most important skills you have learned while voyaging? Well, for Barb, it was finding ways to cope with homesickness being away from my family and friends, handling adverse conditions at sea, and even how to drive Big Sky in and out of a marina during rough weather. For Con, it was learning to handle a boat bigger than hed ever sailed in his life, and the complex mechanical, electrical and electronic equipment on the boat. We have learned to overcome language difficulties and can now communicate in every language with a smile and a gesture. Weve gained a wonderful skill listening. So often people think they dont know the language so they close their ears and dont hear the words. Were not intimidated by language and respond to whomever sometimes using five or six different languages in one sentence! But most importantly, we communicate. What are your future voyaging plans? We plan to continue sailing for as long as were having fun doing it. If we wake up one day and feel like its over, then we make a new plan. Well leave Tunisia for Malta in a few weeks. Ill fly home from there for a month to be with our youngest daughter and her husband for the arrival of their first baby. Con will carry on to Corfu with his brother and sister-in-law, then our daughter and her eight-month old grandson will join Con in Corfu for a few weeks. For the summer and fall, well explore the Adriatic Sea (Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, east coast of Italy) then look for a warm spot for the winter, like maybe Crete or Marmaris, Turkey. In 2010, were thinking about exploring the Black Sea, then transiting the Suez Canal and heading into the Indian Ocean. In general, well see where the wind blows us.
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MARINE TECH NOTES
Register your beacon

The Sarsat system is cleverly designed to find you in an emergency. The process can be faster if you make sure your EPIRB is properly registered with the NOAA.
BY TIM QUEENEY in the morning of March 24. Lady Marys crew activated their 406-MHz EPIRB signal and it was picked up at 0540 by a geosynchronous NOAA GOES-12 weather satellite equipped with a CospasSarsat transponder. The 406 EPIRB in question was built by the ACR company. It was one of our beacons, called a Satellite 2, said Chris Wahler, director of marketing for Cobham Life Support, ACR Products. But it was not a GPSequipped unit, so latitude and longitude data were not included in the signal. Thus, the NOAA did not know which rescue coordination center (RCC) was the closest to the mariners in distress. What was included in the signal, however, was the beacons registration number, a vital clue that could help determine the operating area of the vessel in question. With the vessels registration number in hand, NOAA watchstanders can perform the simple task of calling the boats owner on the phone. This allows them to immediately determine if the EPIRB signal is a false alarm or if it is a serious emergency.
ts an odd situation when high tech search and rescue technology can be foiled by something as simple as not filling out a form or a miskeyed registration number. Yet that unpleasant situation could occur should your emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) be improperly registered in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) database. Evidently, this is not a freak occurrence as, according to some NOAA reports, up to 30 percent of EPIRB activations come from unregistered beacons. The dangerous possibilities of mis-registration were made real recently when Lady Mary, a fishing vessel dragging for scallops off the New Jersey coast, sank early
Courtesy NOAA
The EPIRB signal hit was ultimately relayed to the U.S. Coast Guards Portsmouth, Va., RCC. When the EPIRBs registration number was checked, however, there was no vessel match. Even though the EPIRB had done its job, the Coast Guard couldnt act on the alert. The RCC personnel didnt know the identity of the boat or its location. There also was the possibility that the signal was a false alarm. The only course left open to them was to wait for the NOAAs polar orbiting weather satellites to pick up the EPIRB signal. These satellites, which circle the earth every 90 minutes, have Cospas-Sarsat transponders onboard and can determine, via the Doppler shift of the EPIRB signal as the spacecraft passes over, the latitude and longitude of a broadcasting EPIRB. At 0707, 87 minutes after the first EPIRB signal was received, RCC staffers finally got a fix on Lady Marys EPIRB based on the polar satellite data. The EPIRB was off the New Jersey coast. A Coast Guard helicopter was immediately dispatched. When it arrived at the scene the helos crew discovered that only one crewman had survived the sinking. Six other crewmen, including the boats captain, drowned in the accident. Later investigation by the Coast Guard revealed that Lady Marys EPIRB registration number had been properly provided by Lady Mary to the NOAA. The number, however, had been miskeyed into the database by a private contractor hired by the NOAA to perwww.oceannavigator.com
form this function. The number manufactured into the beacon and the number in the database matched except for one digit. Had the number in the database been
correct, the Coast Guard RCC would have known at 0540 the name and home port of Lady Mary and could have determined its likely operating area. The
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MARINE TECH NOTES
Finding a squawking EPIRB

You might think that the distress signal from a GPS-equipped emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), which provides a lat/long position to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), would be all that is needed to perform a search and rescue operation. But that is not the case according to Lt. Shawn Maddock, Sarsat operations support officer at NOAAs National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) facility at Suitland, Md. Maddock explained that although a GPS position-encoded signal is immensely helpful, the Sarsat system still uses the Doppler shift approach for finding a victims actual position. Even if a signal is GPS encoded, Moddock said, we would do the Doppler shift method anyway. We always rely more on Doppler. A GPS-encoded EPIRB signal allows NESDIS operators to identify the general search area more quickly. It also allows them to use their polar orbiting satellite-based Doppler shift data more effectively. As a satellite passes over a beacon, it uses the Doppler shift of the EPIRBs signal to determine the beacons rough position. But because of ambiguities involved in this method, the satellite derives two possible positions, one to either side of the satellites ground track. At this point, however, NESDIS operators know enough to alert the rescue coordination centers (RCC) nearest to the two first pass positions. Sometimes one position is at sea and the other is on land. In that case, both Coast Guard and Air Force RCCs receive an alert on a possible search and rescue mission. To eliminate the two-position ambiguity, a second satellite pass is needed. The second pass also produces two positions to either side of its track. One of those positions, however, will coincide with one of the two positions obtained from the first satellite pass. The two positions that match will be the EPIRBs actual position. If GPS data is available, that is used as an added cross-check. Tim Queeney
search could have commenced immediately, rather than nearly an hour and a half later. Every EPIRB owner who registers his or her unit with the NOAA receives a sticker that must be placed on the EPIRB unit. This sticker is printed with the beacons registration number. EPIRB owners need to check the units manufactured ID number against the number on the sticker provided by the NOAA. Wahler, of Cobham/ACR agrees, What were saying to beacon owners is just double check. Make sure the ID the system has for you is the same as the ID number on your bea-
con. If the numbers dont match, that means your beacon is not properly registered. An incorrect registration (or no registration amazingly, up to 30 percent of emergency beacons are never registered by their owners) means added time that could elapse before SAR forces come to your rescue. To register your beacon, go to http://www.beaconregistration. noaa.gov/. Another aspect of the fishing vessel sinking that has Coast Guard investigators scratching their heads is the lack of response to a reported VHF mayday call from Lady Mary. According to
Lt. Tim Marriott of the Coast Guards Delaware Bay sector, the Coast Guards VHF network did not pick up a mayday call from the vessel. We did not hear any call on our system, Marriott said. However, some vessels that were in the area did say they heard something. There were reportedly as many as 22 vessels in the immediate vicinity, including a merchant ship and another fishing trawler that passed Lady Mary within 1.5 miles. Yet, apparently, none of these vessels made an effort to respond or offer assistance to the vessel in distress.
POWER VOYAGING
Steve and Carol Argosy
BY TWAIN BRADEN Along the Aleutians, voyaging from Seattle to Japan
W
The Nordhavn 62 Seabird enters the fog at Chatterbox Falls in British Columbia.
Seabird, along
with Nordhavn 68 Sans Souci and Nordhavn 62 Grey Pearl, will cross the North Pacific this summer by way of the Aleutians and Japan.
hen Braun Jones envisions the shorelines rimming the Pacific and its countless archipelagos of islands in between he sees the outline of an amply-proportioned human body. The forehead is the bridge of the Aleutian Islands stretching toward the Kamchatka Peninsula to one side and the arc of Alaskas coast on the other. The haphazard belt of islands, from Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia and up to Japan, many thousands of miles apart in some cases, stretch across the Pacifics vast belly for a distance of more than 13,000 miles. For Jones this shape explains how he chose the northern route, just 5,500 miles, aboard his
Nordhavn 62 Grey Pearl to get from the West Coast to Japan. It just seemed like a better idea to cross at the narrow part across the forehead, Jones said, carving the shape in the air with his hands. I realized we wouldnt have to spend more than about six days at sea.
For Jones and for the other two power voyaging couples joining in on this trip, the key was preparation their Nordhavns had to be ready to tackle a lonely and sometimes dangerous passage. Engines, fuel systems, and every other system on board had to be checked to ensure there were
Courtesy Nordhavn
no surprises should they be caught by a howling Bering Sea gale. The original idea was first hatched when, taking out the trash one evening while participating in the MedBound Rally, Joness wife Tina met voyager John Kennelly. They got to talking, and she learned he, too, owned a Nordhavn (the 62-foot Walkabout) and his boat was moored in Japan, having just crossed the northern Pacific with his wife and three children the year before. I knew Braun would be intrigued by this, Tina said, unaware that his casual interest would morph to inspiration. But when Jones first proposed a trans-Pacific voyage seriously to Tina, she had quickly stipulated two requirements: no ocean passages of more than a few days and no voyaging alone. She had enjoyed the safety and camaraderie of the Nordhavn trans-Atlantic rally in 2004 and a similar rally in the eastern Mediterranean thereafter, but the long stretches of open ocean, while relatively brief across the Atlantic, would seem virtually endless and perhaps terrifying in the Pacific. Against prevailing winds Finding company for the adventure presented a challenge. The voyage is against the prevailing winds and represents some of the least-traveled pleasure-cruising grounds on
the planet. Few friends of theirs spoke Russian and Japanese; fewer still seemed to have interest in the storm-tossed waters of the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, and the northwest Pacific along the Kamchatka Peninsula. But the Joneses pressed their friends Ken and Roberta Williams, owners of the Nordhavn 68 Sans Souci, whom they had met while crossing the Atlantic with the Nordhavn rally, and Steven and Carol Argosy, owners of the Nordhavn 62 Seabird, and soon hatched a plan together they would form their own rally, staying together on both the coastal routes and in the ocean passages. The trio departed Seattle in mid-April, and at the time of this writing had just completed the Inside Passage to Juneau, Alaska. According to Ken Williams, owner of Sans Souci, fewer than 20 recreational powerboats have made the passage, both because of the isolation and because of the rough weather. Fewer still have made the voyage west to east. But one of the pleasures of commanding a 60-plus foot Nordhavn is the comfort of having all the accoutrements and systems of any oceangoing ship albeit on a smaller scale. Each vessel is a veritable fortress of redundancy and well-engineered systems, from watermakers to generators in the engine rooms to AIS and mini-VSAT unlimited broadband in the pilothouse. Niad
stabilizers will quell rolling in the ocean passages the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Strait, for example and each vessel is equipped with Arcticstrength survival gear, including oversized enclosed life rafts and full survival suits in the event of emergency. For more prosaic comforts, Tina Jones quips that she also saved room aboard Grey Pearl for the cappuccino maker, her Sub-Zero refigerator, and a (lightweight) goose-down comforter. Ive watched too many episodes of the Deadliest Catch, she added. For his part, Braun Jones admitted to stocking the boat with every conceivable seasickness medication: Ginger pills, ginger gum, ginger tea, he said, but I personally believe in ephedrine. Meticulous planners Each of the couples are meticulous planners, and have considered the considerable demands of what will be both a wilderness experience ashore and serious ocean passagemaking at sea. It would be easy to dismiss the voyage as a gentlemans lark, each vessel overstuffed with double-redundant gear from a landsmans fear of not having adequate seamanship skills. But each couple has voyaged extensively, logged many thousands of miles on open-ocean routes and coastal voyaging along foreign shores, and so well knows the risks. Theyre just exceedingly well
Ken and Roberta Williams
Braun and Tina Jones
Carol and Steve Argosy
At top, Steve and Carol Argosy of

Seabird;
middle, Braun and Tina Jones of Grey Pearl; above, Ken and Roberta Williams of
Sans Souci.
POWER VOYAGING
prepared and have done their research. Williams, who has written several books on power voyaging, recently completed marine engineer training; Tina Jones upgraded her
USCG masters license to 100 tons; and Braun Jones, whose earlier sailing career included ownership of a 43-foot Mason sloop that he used for numerous Caribbean
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voyages, became certified in wilderness medicine. This voyage does raise the stakes considerably for the trio. All of us have cruised extensively, Williams told me by e-mail from Petersburg, Alaska, just south of Juneau, but it has generally been fairly calm running. On our Atlantic crossing, we had calm rolling seas virtually all of the time, and even stopped a couple of times for a swim! Fast-moving storms adds a measure of anxiety to the voyage that simply did not exist in the low latitudes of the Atlantic. This will be the groups first exposure to the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, Williams said. Weve timed our voyage to give the best weather possible. However, Ive been watching the weather in the Gulf of Alaska, and am looking at sustained 30-knot winds as I type this. My guess is that we would not be very happy if we were out there now. Even in the good months, the lows seem to move quickly and strong storms seem to arrive with little notice. Along the Aleutians, we should always be fairly close to an anchorage, but across the Gulf of Alaska well be making a three-day passage, with no place to hide. In addition, the Williamses have also hired commercial fisherman Bill Harrington, a native Alaskan, to serve as a pilot for the Aleutian run affording the group an insiders knowledge to harbors of refuge, local weather systems, and on-shore points of interest, such as WWII military sites (an interest of Braun Jones, a Naval Academy graduate).
Twin engine power At 68 feet overall, Sans Souci is powered by a pair of twin, continuous duty 340-hp Lugger diesels (standard equipment on Nordhavn 68s specify a single 400-hp Detroit Diesel, but Williams wanted the added maneuverability and the get home ability of the twins); a Simon Systems monitoring system throughout; dual Village Marine watermakers; and in the pilothouse an Iridium phone, Icom radios, dual Furuno GPS and compasses; a Simrad autopilot; a Dell laptop with MaxSea chart software; and a pair of Furuno radar sets all linked together with NavNet. Grey Pearl and Seabird, both Nordhavn 62s, are powered by slowspeed 325-hp Lugger diesels. Unlike most marine diesels, these feature dry exhaust systems, specifically designed by Nordhavns in-house design group, Pacific Asian Enterprises. Instead of a seawater cooling system that PAE asserts introduces the corrosive effects of seawater and requires a through-hull, an enginemounted raw-water pump, a heat exchanger, and anti-siphon valves, this closed system circulates coolant through a hull-mounted keel cooler a system common in commercial applications. Each vessel can carry almost 2,500 gallons of fuel in its four bunker tanks. The trio planned to voyage separately up the Inside Passage and to meet in Ketchikan, Alaska, for the official start of the rally. When I caught up with them last, in Petersburg, they were planning to steam together to Juneau the following day.
From there they envisioned stops in Glacier Bay, Hoonah, and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and further west, Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Siberia, and then would
proceed down the Kuril Islands, to Sapporo and then mainland Japan. They hope to arrive in Tokyo by mid-summer. Were confident in our boats,
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POWER VOYAGING
possible time, with seasoned crews and careful planning. We are certainly concerned, but Id position (our attitudes) more as highly focused, and paying attention to detail. Where we are going, the storms move quick, and there isnt a lot of forgiveness for mistakes. Contributing editor Twain Braden is a freelance writer, former schooner captain and the author of the books In Peril, the story of a spectacular marine salvage and Ghosts of the Pioneers, in which Braden and his family retrace the route west based on the unpublished diary of a nineteenth century pioneer.
Courtesy Nordhavn
Grey Pearl participated in Nordhavns 2004
trans-Atlantic rally. On that run, Braun and Tina Jones first got the idea for a North Pacific crossing.
Williams told me. Nordhavn boats have run millions of miles. We have the safest boats, crossing at the best
CORRESPONDENCE
A jury rig gets voyagers home

To the editor: Sometimes
you have to patch together a repair until you make port. Recently, we devised a jury-rigged solution that allowed us to return to our current home port of Mazatln in Mexico. During a passage of more than 300 miles along the Mexican coast, we had an engine overheating issue. We discovered what we thought was a leaking coolant hose, tried to fix it, but it continued to leak. Reaching Barra de Navidad, Mexico, I found a replacement hose. However, during installation I used a mirror to inspect the area behind and around the hose fitting. I discovered a crack in the coolant reservoir.
The reservoir had to be removed, welded and reinstalled. Now came the test. To our surprise, a different coolant hose was now leaking. Apparently it had broken while dealing with the reservoir fix. This hose was unique, a two-inch hose that tapered to 1.5 with a 90 degree turn. No hose was available and there was no chance of having one shipped down! I had helped another voyager make O rings from a kit. Wed cut a piece of rubber to size and super-glued the ends together. It occured to me that I could glue my hose together this way. However, the hose is under pressure and high temperature, so the glue alone might
Left, Pat and Susan Canniffs

Pat Canniff
trimaran Perpetua at anchor in Mex-
not work. I had some Mariners Choice Safety Wrap tape. The package said it was good for 100 psi and 212 degrees. I glued the torn hose on the outside and inside with Kola Loka super glue. Then I wrapped the hose with two layers of tape. This combination of fixes stopped the leak. After we left Barra while it was under load it did leak a little, so we wrapped it with two more layers of tape. No more leaks! We traveled the more than 300 miles back to Mazatln checking the hose periodically and made it home safely.
Pat and Susan Canniff have voyaged aboard Perpetua, a 40-foot Trimaran built in 1964, for 10 years. They are currently based in Mexico.
Pat Canniff
ico. Bottom left, the tape repair to an engine hose needed to hold until the Canniffs made port.
CORRESPONDENCE
Inventor of the Windex

To the editor: I read with interest in
Recharging the reefer

To the editor: Nearly every boat we know has had problems with their boats refrigeration system. Usually reefers need to be recharged. I made a recharge system using a NAPA automobile AC recharge system that uses the 134A refrigerant. I cut off the automobile AC fitting and spliced in a hose that connects to the boat reefers Schrader valve. The Schrader valve hose shown above can be found at an AC equipment supplier or AC service center. Be sure to evacuate the hose with 134A refrigerant before attaching it to the Schrader valve, otherwise air will be pumped into the reefer. The 134A pressure should be high enough to bring frost down the line just outside the reefer box. Usually about 10 pounds on the gauge will do it. A can of 134A should last a long time, because boat reefer pressures are much, much lower than auto AC pressures.
Dick de Grasse and his wife Kathy live aboard their Tartan 34 Endeavour in southern waters during the winter and sail in Maine in the summer.
the Chartroom Chatter section of the May/June issue about the Windex wind indicator device sold by Davis Instruments. It sounds like a new product but, in fact, has been around for some time. I thought we should give credit to its inventor, Lars Bergstrom. He was quite an innovator who died in March 1997 when his experimental glider crashed. I met Bergstrom back in the mid 70s when he and Warren Luhrs would come to my shop where I was building the Hunter Marine plugs and molds at Marine Concepts. Bergstrom invented a lot of rigging innovations and the Windex was the simplest and best little wind direction indicator. In 1989, Bergstrom and Luhrs broke the 150-year-old speed record for sailing from New York Harbor to San Francisco on the 60-foot Bergstrom-rigged sloop Thursdays Child. Two months later, the record was broken again by French sailor Isabelle Autissier. Good for Davis Instruments Co. to keep the Windex on the market for so many years.
Kiko Villalon escaped from Cuba in 1960 with five dollars in his pocket. He became involved in fiberglass and aluminum hull design and production and worked at several boatbuilders before founding Marine Concepts, a boat design and development firm, in Cape Coral, Fla. He currently lives in Pine Island, Fla., and does contract work for the Coast Guard.
JULY/AUGUST OCEAN NAVIGATOR 29
Courtesy Davis Instruments
Dick de Grasse photo
OCEAN VOYAGING
Wrecked on the Brazilian Coast

One navigational mistake ends a voyagers dream
idnight on July 27, 2007, was the start of my 38th birthday. What normally was a happy time turned grim when my Westsail 32, Wanti, slammed into a remote section of the northeast Brazilian coast. I awoke to a thunderous, crunching sound. My first reaction was that we had hit a reef. I jumped from my bunk and scrambled to the deck. I was greeted by a shocking sight Wanti was surrounded by breaking waves which, with each surge, pushed my beloved boat higher up onto the beach. I stood helplessly on the deck,
Story and photos by Neil Malik Above, Neil Malik aboard his Westsail 32, Wanti before going aground in Brazil. Right, Wanti under sail during one leg of Maliks Atlantic passages.
bracing against the cabin top as each surge knocked the fully canvassed boat toward the shore. My Brazilian crewmember, Hosana Farias, called from below O que isso (what is it)? I replied, Weve run aground. We hit the coast, but
the boat is okay. Wanti had set sail a year and three days earlier from Barrington, R.I., on a trip that would take us to the Azores, Portugal, Porto Santo, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, and finally Brazil. We had
weathered five gales, several violent squalls and had recovered from a knockdown off the African coast. I could not imagine that a simple and fundamental navigation error would spell out the final chapter in the wonderful history of Wanti. Hard aground As dawn approached, it was clear that the receding tide had left us high and dry upon the coast. Oddly, I was filled with an empowering sense of optimism; the salvation of my boat was still possible. But we would need assistance. We were grounded in a remote section of Lenis Maranhenses National Park in the northeastern state of Maranho. Lenis is one of the jewels of Brazil. Composed of high, sweeping dunes, the landscape appears like a massive desert speckled with random pools of water. As far as the eye could see was sand and it felt as if we had suddenly landed at the edge of the Sahara. We were approximately 180 miles from the capital city of So Lus which was our final destination. The only signs of life were a smattering of thatched lean-tos which appeared to be uninhabited. By 0600, we were greeted by a local fisherman and his nephew. They had spotted our stranded vessel. The fisherman was a welcome sight and he advised us that his village was several miles away and that we
might be able to find assistance in the larger city of Santa Maria. I knew Id need tractors to try to get Wanti refloated. This would be a tall order given our remote location. The full moon had brought us upon the shore to the maximum height of the tide and the tidal range left us 150 feet from the ocean at low tide. This was a huge distance to move the boat and to make matters worse, we would have to make all rescue efforts within a short six-hour span before the tide turned. The fisherman kindly offered his nephew as our guide and agreed to watch our boat as we set off. The possibility of looting was very real an abandoned, foreign sailboat would quickly gain the attention of other local inhabitants. In Brazil, abandoned meant
that your property became public. The chances of my boat being pilfered increased with every hour we spent away. Our journey by foot took us across splendid dunes and cliffs of sand from which the eye could survey a massive range of sand mountains. There were no roads, no signs, no paths, no people. After two hours, we came upon the young boys village. Here, finally, was some civilization and we happily paused for a short rest. The local village quickly gathered around to stare at these two aliens that had been dropped into their world. Here there were no cars, no electricity, no stores the only way to access the village was by foot. Villagers were kind people, offering us drinks and a snack. After our brief respite, we
While on a passage from Fortaleza to So Lus in northeastern Brazil, a nighttime navigational error drove Wanti, with Malik and one crewmember aboard, onto the sands of Lenis Maranhenses National Park.
Alfred Wood/Ocean Navigator Illustration
OCEAN VOYAGING
Malik launched a major salvage effort that included up to 15 people from a local village, plus two tractors. At right is Hermano Cruz, a tractor owner, and his wife Cecelia and one of their children.
walked for another three hours. We came upon a wide riverbed and had to wade through the river up to our chest. From the time we had left our boat to the time we arrived at the outskirts of Santa Maria, five hours had passed. We quickly set out to find help. We spent the next three days walking all over town trying to locate assistance of any kind. We tried to convince tractor owners, but they werent interested. We discovered that a fishing village known as Travoso had tractors. They had apparently been involved with rescuing a stranded European vessel last year. Travoso was only accessible by 4 x 4 as the fishing village had no roads and no phones. After much negotiation and time, we finally paid the price for the 90 minute ride to Travoso: $500 BR (about $250 US). Ouch.
A village with a tractor We left the following day. After 90 minutes of driving, we came to the tiny village of Travoso. The towns population numbered around 150 people, mostly fishermen and their families. We were brought to a small mud house on the edge of an inlet that led out to the ocean. My eyes caught sight of a weathered, red tractor parked in front. The owner was Hermano Cruz and his wife Cecelia. They heard our story and, with some persuasion and diplomacy, we were able to convince the couple to look at our boat. From Travoso, our boat lay about 12 miles south. Hermano loaded up the tractor with a crew of male villagers, fired it up and off we went. About an hour and a half later we arrived at Wanti. Seeing my mast in the distance, my heart jumped for joy. As we approached, I could see that everything onboard was intact. This was a relief. Half of me had expected the decks to be stripped and the interior of the boat to be plun-
dered. By the time we returned, Wanti had been sitting on the shoreline for more than three days. Hermano scanned the boat from all angles. He exchanged words with his crew, seeking opinions and after a 15-minute survey, he announced, Vamos voltar amanha sair seus barco (we will return tomorrow and free your boat). My heart lifted and I felt that we did have a chance. The villagers once again packed onto the tractor and it departed. The villagers had agreed to return tomorrow morning at 1000 to start work. We had not discussed any cost for the efforts and I was reluctant to set a price without seeing what type of progress we could make. In Brazil, everything is negotiable. Hosana and I had chosen to stay behind as a security measure. We had plenty of food and water. I also had a tent onboard which we could set up for sleeping on the beach. Living inside the boat
was extremely uncomfortable given its extreme heel. That evening we were greeted by the fisherman who had assisted us on the first morning that we beached. He invited us to join him for dinner at this hut just inland. Hosana and I grabbed a few bottles of the Sao Braz wine we had onboard. We were treated to a feast of salted fish grilled over a small fire. Despite recent events, my surroundings provided a curious relief: the undulating desert landscape, the brilliant canopy of stars, the distant sound of crashing surf and the orange moon that hovered just above the ocean. With gleeful enthusiasm, we greeted the arriving red tractor in the morning. Fourteen people had accompanied Hermano. I was ecstatic. I quickly got to work explaining my game plan to inch the boat down to the water. We planned to secure two separate loops around the bow and stern sections using the hawsepipes as anchoring points. Using the might of the tractor, we would first pull on the bow and then on the stern, slowly scissoring Wanti down the beach. Before we could even attach warps, we first had the task of digging out Wantis keel from the wet sand. With all men working, we were able to expose the keel. Then, we used four logs to wedge under the keel. These provided a platform for the keel to roll over with each pull of the tractor.
The tractor digs in Having positioned the logs, a 100-foot-long warp was secured from the bow to the trailer hitch. All watched as the tractor wheels dug in and smoke bellowed from the tractor stack. The bow moved slightly and started to swing, but it was clear the single tractor was having trouble managing Wantis weight. This pattern continued for the next four hours. The men worked busily securing logs and pushing on Wantis bow to assist the tractors pull. Once some progress was made, the warp was then set on the stern loop and the men began to push on the stern as the rallying cry of Embora!! sent the tractor hauling. To my dismay, after five hours of effort, the vessel had moved a mere seven feet. By 1700, the incoming tide made it impossible for the tractor to set its wheels in the soft sand and efforts were abandoned for the day. It was clear that two tractors would be needed. Hermano told me that there was a second tractor in Travoso that was owned by the municipality. He believed the tractor could be used tomorrow. We joined the villagers for the tractor ride back to the house. Hermano had invited us to spend the night at his mod-
est house and we accepted. The sight of two tractors at the beach the next day was enough cause for my enthusiasm. Plus, we had a larger, 24man crew, as word had spread of a prize for freeing my boat. We found Wanti in the same position that I had beached it with the stern facing the ocean and the bow pointed to the beach. The crew began to
remove the sand blanketing the keel as two warps each were respectively secured to the bow and to the stern. The other ends of the warps were secured to the tractor hitches which were positioned adjacent to equalize and maximize the pulling force. With the hail of Embora! the tractors would surge forward, wheels clawing for ground, eventually digging their large wheels deep into the sandbed. Lines would be reset, the tractors repositioned and then again, the tractors would
Following three days of unsuccessful efforts to refloat Maliks boat, the author abandoned Wanti to the sea and to the locals, who stripped the boat of all valuable gear.
OCEAN VOYAGING
Initially, Maliks gear and personal effects were scattered across the beach, but soon all that remained was the boats bare hull.
strain with full force. Progress was clearly evident as the additional horsepower scissored the bow and then the stern toward the water. By 1100, we had moved 20 feet. I made a quick measurement and figured we needed to move at least 150 feet in total we still had 130 feet to cover. I become nervous that we would not reach the waters edge. I was deathly afraid my boat would not be freed. Shortly after 1100, it was clear that the rudder was acting as a brake and it needed to be removed. Hermano insisted that it would be fine and, despite my rantings, he signaled to the team and the tracors to pull. A loud crack was heard. Closer inspection of the rudder showed that the tail of the rudder had been split down the middle from top to bottom. Already under considerable duress, I could not control my anger. I threw off my baseball cap in disgust and began to yell at Hermano, swearing at the top of my lungs, gesturing at the rudder and pointing to my head shouting, How could you be so goddamn mindless? I told you to take off the rudder! Why didnt you listen? I must have looked like a foreigner possessed by the devil. The sit34 OCEAN NAVIGATOR JULY/AUGUST 2009
uation was deteriorating. By 1700, we had moved 60 feet. The tide had risen and as it continued to flood, it was apparent that the three feet of water that covered the sand would not be sufficient. Wanti would not refloat today. Dejected, the crew of villagers and myself returned to the village that evening on the tractors. An eerie silence infected the exhausted group. It was an uncomfortable night at Hermanos house given the days tensions. Salvage day three Day three began with confusion. It was unclear whether the villagers were going to rally to make a third trip to the boat. After yesterdays efforts, my morale had sunk and the villagers did not think they would be able to free the boat. They had spent two full days in exhausting labor without result. Without the villagers and the tractors, my boat was a certain loss. I knew that we needed to take action immediately or enthusiasm for the rescue would disappear. The villagers knew that a cash prize was only possible if they succeeded.
I suggested the night before that we obtain an additional two tractors from the neighboring city 20 miles away. With four tractors, we could more efficiently move the vessel given our experience over the last two days. This would take time, however, and that was a luxury we did not have right now. After some convincing and coaxing, we managed to round up the troops and start again for the boat. But it was a late start. By the time we arrived at Wanti, it was already 1100. The crew quickly set to action. During one attempt, a warp snapped. Hermano and his wife demanded that I pay for a new warp. I argued with him that this should be his cost. We had agreed the night before that I would pay some price even if the boat was not salvaged. I made it clear that costs for the labor and the materials would be his and were not ancillary to our deal. Given my refusal, the situation began to escalate as Hermano and I found ourselves screaming at each other in Portuguese and nearly coming to blows. Furious, he began disengaging all warps and packing up his supplies in his tractor. I noticed that he was only aided by his wife, son and father-in-law. The other men refused to pitch in. A large cash prize I gathered a small and separate crowd of men and pleaded with them. Hermano was risking losing the large cash prize over a $80 BR (about $40 US) rope. Did the men want to go home with nothing after three days of hard work? The men listened attentively and, surprisingly, I found that my speech had its intended effect as a
small party approached Hermano and told him, Queremos trabalhar. Queremos sair o barco de Gringo (We want to work, we want to free the gringos boat.) The next five hours passed quickly. The team worked with absolute focus and concentration. We were 150 feet down the beach. It was 1700 and the sun was beginning to set. I was convinced that we would have sufficient water to refloat. With water tanks emptied and all gear removed from the deck, the heavy displacement sailboat would be lighter and would respond to the advancing tide. Two long warps off the bow kept us facing toward the ocean. One warp made use of the 200 feet of chain and my 35-lb CQR anchor. As the water level rose, Wanti would periodically teeter along its keel from port to starboard and then from starboard to port. A grouping of men were positioned astern, and as the waves surged, the men would attempt to push the hull in unison screaming Embora! As the tide rose, the men soon found the water up to their chest and shoulders. The water level was starting to look adequate. Water would flood the gunwale and pour over the toe rail surging the length of the deck. I needed five feet to meet the draft requirement of the Westsail 32, and, in surges, I could feel the keel pick up off the ground and then bounce along the bottom. It was the troughs of waves where the water level was less than five feet, probably four feet at best. Part of our strategy was to have a fishing boat placed 300 feet offshore. A long warp would be secured from the bow of Wanti to the fishing boat.
After some time, the warp was delivered to the waiting boat. As the waves surged and Wanti lifted, the tension of the offshore warp was supposed to provide forward motion for the vessel. Standing alone on the deck, I could not feel the effect of the fishing boat, not even so much as a nudge, a slight skip, a minor advance. Meanwhile, the tide was advancing to a dangerous level. Soon, the water level had risen so high that with each surge, gallons of water poured into the cockpit. The fiberglass cockpit floor cover lifted and water began to flood the engine room. The situation went from bad to horrific. The fishing boat tried to tow us off, but without success. Finally the tow line snapped. The power of the waves In the meantime, the surging waves increased in size and power. Waves buried the bowsprit as they broke over the hatches and cabin top. Seawater continued to flood the engine room and I knew that my Volvo motor was fried. I witnessed the incredible power of the ocean. The forward hatch was the first to go. The hatch had been locked in place by a solid stainless steel 5/16-inch threaded bolt and the hatch itself was made of 1.5-inch solid teak. I watched as the force of the waves lifted the hatch, breaking the lock, causing the hatch to flip open. Standing alone, I watched helplessly as water poured through the forward hatch. I made an effort to close the forward hatch, but it was almost impossible to get any footing on the forward deck against the waves superior force. Seawater
began to flood into the cabin and I could see the water level belowdecks rose to the height of the settees. I knew with each surge, that the weight of the seawater would increase the weight of the hull. On deck, I watched as the teak hand rails were ripped off the cabin top along with my rack system which had so faithfully housed all of my gear. The middle hatch which acted as a skylight was also ripped off and it floated into the sea. The surge was so violent that it became dangerous for anyone to be onboard. I shut the cabin aft hatch, kissed the cabin top, and jumped in to the sea. Wading to the neighboring shore, the large crowd of villagers gathered on the beach was my sole audience. I reached the shore in shock. I was cold, numb, empty, speechless. The villagers gathered up their belongings and loaded themselves onto the tractor. Within 10 minutes, they had left me and Hosana alone on the lonely and desolate beach. I had sailed across the Atlantic two times first to Europe and then from Europe to Brazil. By simply setting sail, I did what most sailors only dream of doing. I took risks and with those risks come consequences. In doing so, I had become a sailor. And, this in itself was awesome.
Neil Malik lives in Barrington, R.I. Upon his return from Brazil, he started a new company called Barrington Marine which has introduced a new line of sailboat rack systems called SailboatRacks. Malik is currently planning his next sailing adventure a passage across the Pacific following a rounding of Cape Horn.
WATERMAKERS
Nearly endless fresh water while at sea or anchored out makes a watermaker a popular item with voyagers.
Watermaker primer
Practical aspects of voyaging with a watermaker
BY ROGER MARSHALL
Steve DAntonio
oastal sailors can usually carry enough freshwater to meet their daily needs. But if you sail in deep waters you may find that water must be rationed or used sparingly in order to make it last the trip that is, unless you have a watermaker. With a watermaker you can make fresh water anytime provided you have enough power. Watermakers are available for boats as small as 24 feet (although youd probably not take a 24 footer across an ocean), giving mariners a freedom never before enjoyed. How do you pick the right size watermaker for your boat? First, you need to determine how much water you use over the course of your voyages. For example, suppose you routinely
empty an 80-gallon tank every weekend. You know that you use at least 80 gallons in two days, but how much more would you use with a reverse osmosis watermaker onboard? Typically, water use rises as the crew gets used to having almost unlimited water available. If you currently use about 80 gallons on a weekend, estimate that your water usage will increase by 50 percent with a watermaker. This must be taken into account when determining your water needs.
This Spectra Newport 400 MKII benefits from years of improvements by watermaker manufacturers. It has a two-way freshwater backwash system that helps prevent bacteria formation in the filters.
Steve DAntonio
If you want to figure the amount you need exactly, you should estimate how much water you use for drinking, showering, shaving, washing dishes, and cooking in one 24hour period. (Tip: you can do this at home simply by keeping a journal.) You can figure that most low-flow shower-
36
heads use at least a gallon per minute. If you have a washing machine on the boat, add its capacity into your total. Then divide this number by the total number of hours per day that you want your engine or generator to run because, in most cases, the engine or generator is required to power the watermaker. This will give you the number of gallons per hour output that you require. All you need to do now is match the number of gallons to your boats voltage supply and figure the cost. You should also check to see that your generator or main engine alternator can handle the additional power. You might also check to see that you carry enough fuel to run your generator or main engine regularly to use the watermaker. Having found the right size watermaker for your boat, the next step is to make sure that it can fit in the space available for it and that it is not too heavy. This may require making templates and offering them up to the space. You must also figure out where your water intake and exhaust will be. Make sure that the seawater intakes are well forward of any bilge, engine room, or head discharges. Running times If you intend to run your watermaker every few days, you should get one with a reverse flushing feature so that you can clean the membrane after making water. If you do not flush the membrane with freshwater after using it, and you leave it for a few days, it is likely to foul. If you run a watermaker constantly, as you might on a powerboat, you can use a smaller system and may not
Watermaker case study

I opted for a small watermaker that produces about seven to 10 gallons per hour, which is more than ample for my needs, provided I go to sea often enough to run the thing without taking in harbor water, and provided I am not spending a lot of time in the tropics. Mine runs on 12-volt DC power off the ships batteries. This means I operate it only at sea and only when the battervariety of reasons. But as long as its working, it is a great comfort to the off-shore sailor to have a way of replenishing the supply of fresh water as it is being consumed. The only down side (other than the expense) is the need to maintain the device. Once put in operation, the membranes must be kept moist. So it needs to be run every couple of days. In
Ned Cabot
ies are being charged by either the generator or the engines alternator. But it also means I dont have to have the inverter on or use shore power to operate it. I dedicated a separate 35-gallon tank for the product water with gravity feed from there into the two main 50-gallon water tanks. That way I know the water in the first tank is chlorine-free and can be safely used for backflushing the membranes on a weekly basis. I do have a fresh-water shower on the boat, but we dont use it very often, at least not in high latitudes. The real beauty of having a watermaker is the freedom from ever having to take on city water, especially in ports around the world where the quality of the water may be less than ideal. The product water from the watermaker is essentially the same as distilled water. It contains no salts, no particulates, and no bacteria or viruses. If one is going on a long passage, it is obviously prudent to start with full water tanks and to ration usage on the assumption the watermaker may stop functioning for any of a
addition, it needs to be back-flushed with chlorine-free water once a week. Most models can be set up to do this automatically. If the system is not going to be used or back-flushed regularly, the membranes have to be removed and placed in pickling solution to keep them healthy and free of bacteria. So its one more system on board to worry about, but well worth the effort for those who voyage extensively. Boat name: Cielita Make and length: J Boats, 46 feet Total water tank capacity: 135 gallons in two 50-gallon main tanks and one 35-gallon tank dedicated to the product water Watermaker brand and model: Sea Recovery, Ultra Whisper (12v) Watermaker maximum output capacity in gallons per hour: 10 Your typical watermaker output per day: 10 to 20 gallons as needed Ned Cabot
WATERMAKERS
Watermaker manufacturers
This list provides information about a number of manufacturers of reverse osmosis watermakers.
Toll-free within the US: 800-850-0123 Fax: (714) 850-0955 Web: www.filtrationconcepts.com E-mail: info@fciwatermakers.com
800-366-4476 Fax: (310) 631-6395 Web: www.hrosystems.com E-mail: sales@hrosystems.com
units can generate enough water to keep you alive, you would probably end up with muscles like Charles Atlas if you were in a life raft for many days. PUR Recovery Engineering, Inc. 9300 North 75th Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55428 Tel: (612) 315-5500 Toll-free within the US: 800-845-7873 x 5561 Fax: (612) 315-5503
PUR
PUR hand-operated watermakers should be in the grab-bag of every boat going offshore. They require serious pumping to push the water through the membrane, but if you are stuck in a life raft a hand-operated unit can be a lifesaver. The PUR 06 requires 40 strokes per minute to produce 1 ounce of water every two minutes. The PUR 35, another handoperated unit, requires 30 strokes per minute and makes 1.2 gallons per hour, although it would be hard to keep pumping for an hour. While the PUR hand-operated
FCI Watermakers
FCI Watermakers range from 25 gallons per hour up to 400 gallons per hour and so can be used on smaller vessels all the way up to superyachts. The UROC universal reverse osmosis controller allows operation from remote locations at the push of a button. FCI Watermakers, Inc. 221 West Dyer Road Santa Ana, CA 92707 Tel: (714) 850-0123
HRO Horizon Reverse Osmosis

HRO was among the first developers of reverse osmosis watermakers. It started to manufacture these units in 1975. The company makes a range of units that produce from 8 gallons per hour to 6,800 gallons per day. Horizon Reverse Osmosis - USA P.O. Box 5463 Carson, CA 90745-5288 Tel: (310) 631-6300 Toll-free within the US:
Sea Recovery
Sea Recovery is probably one of the most well known names in reverse osmosis watermaking.The company offers many models.The units can supply water for boats from 25 feet long to megayachts, and the capacities range from 25
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Carrboro, NC 27510 Tel: (314) 579-9755 Fax: (314) 558-9253 Web: www.skimoil.com E-mail: info@skimoil.com
36,000 volts at a microamp through the incoming water to kill off bacteria and other ocean organisms.This system keeps the membrane cleaner and improves the quality of the freshwater. Spectra Watermakers 20 Mariposa Rd. San Rafael, CA 94901 Tel: (415) 526-2780 Fax: (415) 526-2787 Web: www.spectrawatermakers.com E-mail: techsupport@spectrawater makers.com
Spectra
Spectra uses what the manufacturer calls a patented Clark pump.The Clark pump is a pressure intensifier that uses two opposing cylinders and pistons that share a single rod. The pump works in both directions to force water through the membrane.This significantly lowers the power consumption of the unit to where, in some cases, it makes 8 gallons of water for 8 amps of power draw, one of the lowest power requirements you can find. Spectra watermakers also use a patented Z Guard system that puts
own products.Village Marine uses titanium pump heads and offers a lifetime guarantee on its units.Village Marine watermakers come in a variety of sizes and styles, the smallest being the Little Wonder unit, which makes 150 gallons per day.The No Frills unit has an output of 200 to 1,200 gallons per day, while the Squirt has a 200 to 600 gallons per day capacity. Village Marine Tec 2000 W 135th St. Gardena, CA 90249 Tel: (310) 516-9911 Toll-free within the US: 800-421-4503 Fax: (310) 538-3048 Web: www.villagemarine.com Roger Marshall
Skimoil
The Baltic line of watermakers ranges from 200 gallons per day to 1,800 gallons per day.The units use stainless steel piping and a titanium pump with a lifetime warranty. Skimoil, Inc. 103 W.Weaver St. #209
Village Marine Tec.

Village Marine Tec. has an honest claim to being the originator of the marine watermaker, and it still makes more than 50 percent of its
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WATERMAKERS
Two views of watermaker installations using Village Marine Tec.s Model SPW, which has most of its watermaker elements in a self-contained frame. For vessels
Steve DAntonio
with less room, a modular approach can be used.
long the unit has been in use and service it accordingly. There are several other points you should consider when looking for a watermaker. First, order the unit with an oil/water separator and a booster pump. An oil/water separator keeps oil away from the membrane. If oil gets on the membrane, the membrane will deteriorate and let saltwater through. Second, make sure the pump is self-cleaning to ensure that water stays pure. Some units flush
need to have the back-flushing feature. However, if you do run the system constantly, you will need tanks large enough to hold all the water you make. Ease of servicing must be considered when buying a watermaker. All watermakers need servicing, and that means that you need to have
easy access to them. Some units have electronic displays that tell you when service is required. This readout indicates whether the pre-filters need cleaning, whether the oil in the high-pressure pumps needs changing, and most importantly, when the membrane needs to be cleaned. On other models, you must record how
Onboard water usage per day

The following are some water usage estimates. The actual amount of water you use will vary depending on how warm the weather is, your type of boat, the number of heads on board, your proximity to a marina, and other factors. Showering and washing:Allow 3 to 8 gallons per day, per person, less if you dont shower aboard. Drinking and cooking:Allow 4 to 6 gallons per day, per person. Dish washing:Allow 4 to 6 gallons per day. Hand-washing clothes:Allow 2 to 4 gallons per day, per person. use 40 gallons of water a day, and we want to run the generator for two hours per day, we need a watermaker that can make 40/2 = 20 gallons per hour, or 480 gallons per day. 2. Reverse osmosis watermakers can make large amounts of water. The exact amount is determined by the size of the pump and the ram chambers, plus the temperature of the water and the state of the membrane. Most manufacturers list the amount of water made in gallons per day, assuming that your pumping system is operating for 24 hours a day. However, most sailors run their main engine or generator for only an hour or two per day, so the amount of water that is actually made will be a lot less than the manufacturer states. 3. Another way of looking at how large a watermaker you need is to consider the amount of water you currently carry on your boat. Based on a recent survey that I made of more than 100 boats, the weight of water carried on a voyaging sailboat is equal to about 5 to 7 percent of the displacement, while on a racing sailboat it equals about 2 to 4 percent. On boats that have a watermaker, however, the weight of water carried seldom exceeds 2 to 4 percent of the displacement, even on voyaging boats. So by installing a watermaker, you can cut the amount of water you carry by about 50 percent.This means that if the watermaker weighs less than 50 percent of your boats water tankage, you will increase the boats performance because you will reduce overall weight. If a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, then a 100-gallon tank will weigh around 840 pounds (including the weight of the tank).Therefore, if the watermaker you install weighs less than 400 pounds, you come out ahead. 4. If you install a watermaker purely to supplement your water supply, you should also consider how you are going to store the water.There is no point to buying a 400-gallon per day watermaker if you only have a 60-gallon freshwater tank to store the water in. Roger Marshall
Points to consider:
1. If we assume that two people
Steve DAntonio
John and Lisa Caruso
their systems regularly to keep everything clean. Third, make sure the membranes are cleaned regularly. A dirty membrane makes the job harder and produces less water. Finally, if you intend on sailing to foreign ports, make sure that parts for your watermaker can be obtained worldwide. If you want to make sure that your freshwater stays pure, there are several additional steps you can take. First, install an ultraviolet sterilizer and carbon filter in the water system so that all water goes through them before going to your faucet. Next, make sure that your boats water supply is divided into at least two tanks. That way, if one tank is contaminated, a second tank is available. For this same reason, the watermaker unit should have an automatic diverter valve. Then, if contaminated water gets through the membrane, it will automatically be directed over the side.

There are several things we like about our watermaker. First, no transporting jerry cans to and from the boat in the dingy. Second, we make water everywhere. Even when we tie up at a marina, we only use dock water for washing the boat. Filters are cleaned and changed every 12 run hours in a dirty harbor or marina and every 24 run hours in clean anchorages. Third, we tried first thing is the low capacity of our watermaker. The best we have ever seen was about 13 gph and that was in the cold waters of the northwest. In warm waters, the performance is lower and we only get about 10 to 11 gph with both pumps running. Another problem is the pumps themselves. If both pumps are run at the same time, they fight each other and the pump life
to make Andiamo as much a 12-volt boat as possible. Our watermaker, with the twin 12-volt pumps, draws 9 amps per pump. We do not need to run our engine to produce water, ever! We added battery capacity (see ON #130, May/June 2003) and our six solar panels supply all the energy we normally need. Lastly, we do not need to get water in areas where theres a lack of water. Our cruising grounds are primarily the west coast of Mexico and the Sea of Cortez, with a nine month sail to French Polynesia and back a couple of years ago. There was a severe water shortage when we were in the Tuamotus. The Polynesians are very generous people and would have given us water if we needed it, but it would have been a hardship for them. There are also a few things we dont like. The
Steve DAntonio
is cut in half. This is a basic engineering issue and I would think that Spectra would have supplied pumps and/or new pump heads on an extended warranty basis or at reduced cost. Our model is no longer in production. Boat name: Andiamo Make and length: Wauquiez Pretorien 35 Total water tank capacity: 33 gallons (we converted a second 33 gallon tank to diesel) Watermaker brand and model: Spectra Santa Cruz Watermaker maximum output capacity in gallons per hour: 10 Your typical watermaker output per day: 25 to 30 gallons every third day John and Lisa Caruso
A watermaker should have sufficient output to match crew needs. If everyone aboard takes regular showers, more capacity will be required.
WATERMAKERS

Were particularly pleased to be asked about our 19-year-old watermaker, Grendel the Groaner. Already appreciative of its simple virtues when we purchased Carricklee 17 years ago, we moved Grendel with us from our previous boat. Like an old friend, this 19-year-old PowerSurvivor 35 has been steadfast and reliable, never once failing to come to life when weve turned on the for five or more days, we pickle it according to the manufacturers instructions. Over these 19 years 12 years, and 50,000 miles, of those on this current cruise weve replaced the Orings twice because the unit had begun to leak. Otherwise, it has not been disassembled. We clean the membrane as recommended in the manual and, no doubt as a result, are still using
switch, and we know how to get along with it. We have resisted the temptation to replace Grendel with a newer model simply because it has been so dependable and easy to operate. Before we leave a harbor, we fill our two belowdecks water tanks as well as three six-gallon jugs we carry on deck in case of contamination in the tanks or watermaker failure, neither of which has ever occurred. Because we use water sparingly at all times, we usually run the watermaker at most five hours a day, enough to supply us with six gallons, the amount we use on a normal day if were alone aboard Carricklee. The upkeep on our primitive watermaker has been minimal. When we are out cruising, we generally run the watermaker every day or two. When we anticipate not using the watermaker
that original membrane. We keep six or more pre-filters in reserve, but havent disposed of many used pre-filters. Instead, we normally remove the fouled one once a week and clean it by trailing it in saltwater as were under way. Boat name: Carricklee Make and length: Hardin 45 ketch Total water tank capacity: 180 gallons Watermaker brand and model: PowerSurvivor 35 (now Katadyn) Watermaker maximum output capacity in gallons per hour: 1.25 Your typical watermaker output per day: 6 gallons Bob and Carolyn Mehaffy
How much power? The next question is one of power availability. Emergency watermakers use a hand pump to produce freshwater, but they only make a few pints per day. In fact, you might sweat out more water than you can make with an emergency watermaker although you may have little choice in a survival situation. Most onboard watermakers run on 12, 24, 110, or 220 volts. The voltage of the unit is not so important as the amperage draw. Some units draw up to 27 amps to make a gallon of water. If you run a 12-volt unit from a 60-ampere-hour battery, you can run the battery flat in under two hours and get less than two gallons of water. For this reason it is best to use either a generator (or a large alternator on the main engine) to drive the watermaker. Having a watermaker onboard can free you from the constraints imposed by finding water in every port. It can also reduce the risk of inadvertently filling your tanks with contaminated water. But the drawback is that your watermaker system will usually require an additional generator or large alternator, and it will need maintenance to keep everything shipshape. On a long voyage, though, being able to take a shower at the end of a swatch is a morale boost that makes having a water maker very worthwhile. Roger Marshall is a sailor, designer and freelance writer who has written for a variety of publications. He lives in Jamestown, R.I.
Bob and Carolyn Mehaffy
WATERMAKERS
This belowdeck watermaker installation has been well labeled for ease of maintenance. The key to any watermaker setup is the ability to make fresh water efficiently.
High pressure at low power

BY CHUCK HUSICK
Ralph Naranjo
oyagers are surrounded by water, but drinking seawater is not an option. Fortunately, osmosis, the natural physical process that makes drinking seawater fatal, can be reversed and used to extract potable water from seawater. However, reversing what nature has created always comes at a cost; in this case we need a substantial amount of energy to overcome the natural osmotic pressure that would move fresh water into saltwater. Although the devices used to provide drinkable water on board our boats are commonly called
watermakers, they dont make water, they remove enough of the dissolved solutes in seawater to produce water we can drink. While there are a number of ways to produce drinkable water from seawater: distillation, electro dialysis, ion exchange and reverse osmosis, the latter, commonly called R/O, is the system of choice on yachts. The water produced by an R/O system will generally be entirely suitable for human consumption, with the possible exception of viral contamination, a problem that can be eliminated by treating the product water with a UV sterilizer.
We can reverse the osmotic flow by increasing the pressure applied to a high solute solution (seawater), forcing it through a membrane whose pores are too small to allow the relatively large solute molecules to pass through. The pressure required to separate out the undesirable materials dissolved in the intake water varies with the concentration of the solutes and the temperature of the water. High pressure water For seawater, the required reverse osmotic pressure ranges between about 800 and 1,180 pounds per
Getting fresh water from seawater requires a high pressure, yet electrically efficient pump
43
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square inch. The fact that a substantial amount of energy is required will be attested to by anyone who has used a hand-powered reverse osmosis device to produce a liter of drinkable water from seawater. The theoretical minimum amount of energy required to produce a liter of drinkable water using R/O is 0.767 watt-hours/liter, accounting only for the work required to overcome the osmotic pressures in the system. Actual energy consumption for small, 12-voltpowered R/O systems ranges from about six to 12 watt-hours per liter, with the exception of systems that recover energy from the pressurized brine flow. The Clark-pump-equipped units from Spectra Watermakers can produce drinking water at an energy cost
as low as 3.8 watt-hours per liter. (These energy consumption estimates do not include the power consumed by feed water pumps used to ensure a constant flow of seawater to the R/O system). Selecting an R/O system for your boat will largely be dictated by the boats electrical power system capability. Boats equipped with AC gensets can choose among a wide range of AC motor-powered R/O systems. Those limited to using only 12or 24-volt DC power are necessarily more limited in their choices. Reverse osmosis desalinators suitable for use on boats differ primarily in the type of pump used to create the water pressure required to overcome the osmotic pressure of the seawater and the pressure of
Ralph Naranjo
the brine the seawater that contains the solutes rejected by the R/O membrane, the waste product of the desalination process. Multi-piston pumps Typical systems deliver
Most boats wont have as elaborate a distribution manifold as this Italian vessel, but multiple water tanks do make sense.
Osmosis and reverse osmosis

Osmosis is the movement of water molecules through a membrane (the walls of our cells) from a region of low solute concentration to one of higher solute concentration. Simply put, if you separate two containers of water with a permeable membrane and add salt to one of the containers, osmotic pressure will force water from the nosalt side to flow into the water containing the salt. The fluid in our bodies is in an isotonic state (equal amounts of solutes salts throughout. Seawater typically contains about 35 grams of various dissolved elements per liter or kilogram; Chloride (54 percent), Sodium (30 percent), Sulphate (7 percent) Magnesium (3 percent) and about 1 percent of Calcium and Potassium. Drink seawater and it will create a hypertonic (high solute) solution in the stomach and gut. The lower solute concentration fluid in the surrounding cells will move through the cell membrane into the high solute fluid, dehydrating the cells, damaging them or at the extreme causing them to collapse and die. Rather than quenching our thirst and hydrating our bodies, the ingestion of seawater or any other high solute solution will add to our thirst and dehydrate us. This effect is often demonstrated in school biology labs where a small amount of salt applied to the body of a common garden slug (a snail without a shell) will draw water from its cells, killing it. Chuck Husick
WATERMAKERS

We have a small watermaker on our boat Bahati, a Katadyn PowerSurvivor 80E. It was the only one that would fit where we needed to put it. It has served us well to-date. We use it when we are offshore only to help augment what we carry in tanks (60 gals) and in jerry cans (36 gals). We tend to run the watermaker when we are running the engine as it I wouldve bought something with higher output had we been able to find a place to put it. I am always jealous when I hear the capacity of some other boats watermakers. That said, this one has done well by us so far and we have yet to have a water quantity problem even with five or six people on board for 10+ day passages (knock on wood again!). We do not shower with
draws quite a lot of amperage for our power supply (500+ amps). We run the engine about one to two hours per day, typically for the fridge etc., so we can make about six to eight gals/day which is enough to top-off the port aft tank which we draw on first and into which the watermaker fills. So far (knock on wood!), we have had no major issues with the Katadyn. We bought it before we left Maine in 2006. We clean the filters regularly whenever they look like they need it and we pickle it when we are not using it for long periods of time. Both those processes are relatively simple. It runs quietly and requires little maintenance, just a little grease on the pump piston and cleaning only.
fresh water on a passage and are careful with consumption, even washing dishes in saltwater. Boat name: Bahati Make and length: Montevideo 43 Total water tank capacity: approx. 100 gals Watermaker brand and model: Katadyn PowerSurvivor 80E Watermaker maximum output capacity in gallons per hour: 3.4 Your typical watermaker output per day: 3-6 gals on passage Nat Warren-White
between one and two liters of fresh water for each 10 liters of intake water. The most common pumps are multi-piston units similar to those used in the pressure washers sold at hardware stores. For marine R/O use, however, they must be made of metals that can withstand constant exposure to highly corrosive, high-pressure seawater. Many of the pumps are made of 316L stainless steel and, depending on size, can pump between 0.5 and 10 gallons of water per minute at a pressure of 1,000 pounds per square inch. Some manufacturers use titanium, a metal highly resistant to corrosion, for the pump heads. The piston pumps in the smallest 12-volt DC powered R/O systems are usually beltdriven from a fractional horsepower DC motor. The Offshore Marine Laboratories Sea Quencher can produce up to eight gallons of drinking water per hour (depending on seawater temperature) operating from 12volt DC power with a current drain of 17 amps, 6.62 watthours per liter. Larger R/O systems are usually powered by direct-coupled AC motors and therefore can be operated only when a supply of line voltage power is available (although it is possible to power some of the smaller AC motor units from a boats DC/AC inverter). Clark pumps An alternative method for supplying seawater at the pressure
Nat Warren-White
required for operation of a boats R/O system employs a Clark pump, a type of hydraulic amplifier in place of a conventional positive displacement motordriven pump. A Clark pump can be considered to consist of two pistons of different surface areas connected to a common piston shaft. A high volume supply of relatively low-pressure (typically less than 100 psi) seawater is supplied to the larger piston from an external motor driven pump. The resulting displacement of the large piston moves a rod connected to the small diameter piston, creating water pressure in the cylinder bore that houses the small piston in the ratio of the difference in the diameters of the two pistons. For example; a piston area ratio of 10:1 will produce a high side pressure of 800 psi when the pump is operated from a low side supply pressure of 80 psi. The volume of 80 psi water will have to be 10 times the volume of 800 psi water required by the
R/O system. While the amount of work that must be done by the low pressure water pump might be somewhat less than that required by an equivalent high pressure piston pump, the efficiency gain would not in itself be sufficient to justify the use of the Clark pump. However, the Clark pump system makes use of the pressurized reject water or brine that exists on the seawater side of the R/O membrane to improve the overall mechanical efficiency of the water pressurization process. This energy recovery technique allows the Spectra Catlina 300 R/O system to be specified by the manufacturer to produce 12.5 gallons of product water per hour with a 12-volt DC current drain of 15 amps, 180 watt-hours, 3.74 watt-hours per liter. (An analysis of the operation of the Clark pump can be found at the Spectra Web site: www.spectrawatermakers.com/art icles/CREST_Clark_Pump.pdf.) A number of additional considerations must be accounted for when installing an R/O sys-
tem. A dedicated seawater intake with a seawater strainer will be needed and a discharge port for the reject water (brine). One or more prefilters are necessary to ensure that the most debris-free water is presented to the systems pump. A raw water feed pump may be required to ensure positive water pressure at the systems high pressure pump. Although R/O systems should normally be operated only in clean water there may be times when it becomes necessary to use the system in areas where oil contamination may exist. Special oil excluding filters will be needed in such circumstances. Spare filters will be a necessary part of the boats stores. The joy in having a watermaker on a boat can extend beyond being able to take as many showers as you wish. For some mariners the ultimate R/O system experience occurs when they are able to use fresh water to wash down the anchor chain before sending it below into the chain locker.
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VOYAGING TIPS
Elements of Knick and Lyn Pyles dinghy mooring kit. The toggle pin is pulled using the white line at bottom, releasing the anchor which rides on the green rode.
Dinghy mooring methods

BY KNICK AND LYN PYLES
How to leave your dinghy when you go ashore and find it safe and sound when you come back
owboys and their horses; voyagers and their dinghies these are natural companions. A voyager must have a sturdy vessel to cross the seas, but once safely at anchor in some romantic port, without a dinghy, that foreign shore will still be just a dream. To guard against dinghy losses to wind and waves, a
well thought out mooring system must be fitted. A properly moored dinghy will not only be able to handle the forces of nature, it will be less attractive to the lightfingered stranger. A dinghy painter should be secured to a pad eye on the stem, as low down as possible above the waterline, to make for smooth towing. It is best
to splice, with a thimble in the eye, the painter to the pad eye. A bowline with a round turn on the pad eye will suffice for shorter periods of time. The painter should be long enough to use as a short towline. It should be the right length to allow the dinghy to tow while riding on the forward slope of the second stern wave, plus enough line to reach a sturdy cleat and be made fast. Select a stretchable, UV-ray resistant, floating line of sufficient diameter to make handling and knot tying comfortable. For most voyagers and dinghies, this means a 3/8-inch line. Inflatables and RIBs are usually fitted with D-rings on the bow section of each tube. A yoke should be fitted between these two points, ideally with eye splices containing plastic thimbles. How to finish off the working end of the painter is a matter of personal preference. Some voyagers prefer to splice a good-sized eye in the end, to make it easy to slip it over a piling or mooring cleat. Others will just tape and whip the end. A wall and crown knot and tapered back splice will leave a slight bulge in the end of the line that is easy to trap with hand or foot.
Knick Pyles
A stern painter can be rigged, though often the bow painter will be long enough to double back and serve as a stern painter when one is needed. An anchoring system is a must for every dinghy used by a serious voyager, on weekends or on blue water. Ideally, it will include a stout canvas bag fitted with a grommeted hole in the bottom and a sturdy drawstring at the rim. The bag should be straight-sided to allow the anchor rode to pay out smoothly. The bag should be of sufficient size to hold the chain and line rode randomly flaked down inside it, the anchor, a coiled trip line, and a
strop to hold the anchor and chain in launching position. There are a variety of anchors sold for dinghies and other small boats. The squid type anchor is one to strongly consider. It consists of four foldable flukes that when spread out will provide good holding in most types of bottoms, yet when folded will be less likely to damage the brightwork and gel-coated surfaces of dinghy and mother ship. Fit the anchor with about five feet of 1/8-inch chain to give some weight to the system and provide chafe protection. The line part of the anchor rode can be
spliced directly to the chain or secured to it with a thimbled eye splice and shackle. Be sure to mouse the shackles with rigging wire. Make the anchor rode 30 to 50 feet in length. The traditional five to seven to one scope is not needed, as the anchor will always have the trip line attached to it when anchoring off the beach. If the dinghy needs to be anchored alone or in deep water, then an additional section of line can be affixed to the bitter end of the anchor rode with bowlines to give as much scope as desired. The best anchor rode is stretchable, sinkable, and resistant to
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VOYAGING TIPS
chafe. UV resistance is not important. Run the bitter end through the grommet so it can be tied to a secure fitting in the dinghy. Tie a bulky
Top, the dinghy is afloat and ready to be shoved out to deep water. Above, with the dinghy out past the surf line, the trip line is pulled to release the anchor.
knot a foot or so up the line to keep the bitter end from being lost inside the bag. Make the trip line at least 100 feet long and of a chafe resistant, sinking type. In most cases, a 1/8-inch to 3/16-inch line will be sufficient to pull in the anchor and retrieve the dinghy. Tie a toggle pin onto the trip line
at a point about two lengths from the end. The pin, of wood or plastic, must float and be smooth with rounded ends both features needed to avoid snagging. The tie line must be smaller than the trip line. A strop, or endless loop of line, can be made up to be secured at a point on the dinghy, then toggled to hold the anchor and chain safely over the side where the rough metal surfaces cannot mar the dinghy. An eye in the end of the painter can serve the same purpose as a strop, if desired. In ideal situations, when going ashore, the dinghy can be just pulled up on the beach, clear of the high tide and secured from theft or damage, as at a yacht club, a hotel or at a new friends house. Oars, life jackets, and other gear can be stowed with a caretaker. Folding wheels, or a portable dolly, will make it possible for short-handed crews to bring their heavy, outboard-powered tender clear of danger. Where high tides will cover the beach, or the shore is rocky and rough, or there is a risk of curious passersby, especially children, causing damage to the dinghy pushing it off to anchor in deep water is the practical alternative. A few minutes of preparation and the following steps are necessary to carry out the
maneuver successfully. Bend the trip line onto the crown of the anchor. Rig the strop or an eye in the end of the painter. Hang the anchor and coiled anchor chain in a bight of the strop or painter eye and hold them in place with the toggle pin attached to the trip line. Pay out sufficient anchor rode to hold the dinghy in all stages of the tide. Make the length of rode fast to a secure point, then flake it down ready to freely run. Flake down the trip line clear of obstructions and free to run. If it is partially covering the anchor rode no harm will be done as it will be gone when the anchor rode is deployed by the weight of the anchor and chain falling to the bottom. With the bitter end of the trip line securely in hand (an eye placed over a wrist is a good way to ensure the trip line will be kept safely on the shore) push the dinghy out from the shore to glide to the point that the trip line is stretched out. Then a sharp tug on the trip line will pull the toggle pin free and the anchor will drop. Make the bitter end fast to a handy place. In the case of a wide open beach make the trip line fast to a chunk of wood, piece of palm frond, or a rock that can be buried in
Knick Pyles
the sand above the high tide line. Be sure to locate the buried trip line by bearings on landmarks. To retrieve the dinghy, the bitter end of the trip line is freed and the anchor is hauled to shore with the dinghy following along. Sometimes, especially on rocky shores, the anchor will snag. If this happens, lift the trip line high in the air with an oar or long piece of drift wood. With a higher angle of pull, the anchor will usually come free. In the very rare cases when it does not a swim or a call for help from another boat is the only solution to bring the dinghy to shore. Where there is an amply sized
dinghy float available to anchored voyaging vessels, only the dinghy painter need be put to use. If the float is crowded or insecure, the dinghy can be kept away from the float with painter and trip line or by anchoring in the same way as anchoring off a beach. The choice of what method will work best can only be decided after determining the possible directions of wind and current, the rise and fall of the tides, and the layout of pier and shoreline. Rig the anchor for mooring off a float just as for anchoring off a beach. Then the dinghy can be pushed out away from the other
small boats into a traffic-free spot of water. The bitter end of the trip line can be secured to the dinghy float or carried onto the pier or shore to provide maximum security and convenience. Dinghies, camels and horses can all live about the same length of time if given care and attention. So, with a little luck and considerable watchfulness, the faithful tender will give voyagers service and pleasure for years and years in many a port of call. Knick and Lyn Pyles live in Los Morros de Coliumo, Chile, when they are not aboard their boat Muriel.
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BETA MARINE is the leading manufacturer of refined diesel propulsion engines from 10 to 90 HP all based on Kubota diesels. Offering user friendly service and maintenance and the latest spec EPA and CE certified engines and world wide service. www.betamarine.net CAPE GEORGE MARINE WORKS, INC The hull form of the Cape George Cutter is based on time-tested principles, inspired by the work of the CAPE GEORGE MARINE WORKS, INC. late William Atkin. The long keel/short overhang concept results in a protected rudder and long waterline for high average speeds and self-steering ability. The deep cross-section gives excellent load carrying and an easy motion. Our yachts are noted for their strength and sea kindliness with excellent performance under sail even when heavily laden. www.capegeorgecutters.com CELESTAIRE World's largest selection of marine sextants, navigation computers, compasses, books, videos and software for traditional navigation. www.celestaire.com DAVIS INSTRUMENTS has a full line of marine products for sailors, power boaters, fishermen, and outdoor enthusiasts of all types. www.davisnet.com DIGITAL WAVE Visual Passage Planner 2 (VPP2) was designed to bring the power of the computer to the passage planning process. VPP2 automates the tedious, time consuming task of evaluating passage conditions and then estimating passage elapsed times with pen and paper. Using VPP2, many "whatif" scenarios can be played out in the time it would take to manually calculate one route using traditional methods, allowing selection of the best route.www.digwave.com EPIFANES The Worlds finest Yacht Coatings for over 100 years: varnishes and Clear finishes, one component topside finishes, primer systems, thinners and additives, specialty finishes, brushes and accessories. www.epifanes.com FUJINON Fujinon Mariner II Binoculars100% waterproof. Heavy Duty. For over 50 years Fujinon has offered the largest variety of quality optics at a great price. That is why the US Army, Navy, the FBI and NASA have ordered over a quarter million units from Fujinon. www.fujinonbinocular.com FURUNO Manufactures more than 200 marine electronic products for both recreational and commercial vessels, including state-of-the-art radar, GPS, depth sounder, sonar, chart plotter, charting software, weatherfax, satellite communications, VHF, SSB radio, AIS system, GMDSS and nav instrument systems. www.Furuno.com HANSEN MARINE is dedicated to customer service. We are a major distributor for Westerbeke, Universal, Aquadrive, and Reverso. We also have developed the XRT power system. Please visit www.xrtcombi.com for more information. www.hansenmarine.com
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HARKEN, INC. is a leading manufacturer and marketer of quality sailboat hardware and accessories. Our gear has dominated such events as the America's Cup and Olympics. Our blocks, travelers, furling systems and winches can be found aboard the smallest dinghies to the largest megayachts and cruisers. www.harken.com KATO MARINE Stainless Steel sailboat and powerboat davits, outboard lifts, radar and wind generator poles, radar mounts for mast, mini backstay mounts and sailboatarches. www.katomarine.com LONSEAL FLOORING: Matte and varnished Teak andHolly sheet flooring products. High performance and slip retardant safety flooring. Flooring for exterior and/or interior installations. Call today for complimentary samples: 800-832-7111 www.lonsealspecialty.com
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Hamilton Marine 100 Fore St, Portland, ME 04101 (207) 774-1772 / 800-548-6352 www.hamiltonmarine.com Hamilton Marine 20 Park Drive Rockland, ME 04841 (207) 594-8181 www.hamiltonmarine.com Hamilton Marine 155 E Main St, Seaport, ME 04974 800-639-2715 / 800-548-6352 www.hamiltonmarine.com Landing Boat Supply 106 Lafayette St. Yarmouth, ME 04096
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Marine Electronics of the Outer Banks 4711 Croaton Highway Nags Head, NC 27959 P: (252) 441-1360 / F: 252-441-7322 rocketman@beachlink.com
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Rex Marine Center 144 Water Street, South Norwalk, CT 06854 (203) 831-5234 / (203) 866-2518 store@rexmarine.com www.rexmarine.com
NAV PROBLEM
Inflatable across the Atlantic

BY DAVID BERSON
Dr. Alain Bombards route took him from the Canary Islands to Barbados carrying no food or water.
A: Ho is 52 30.6 B: Latitude is 13 54.4
n the 1950s, Dr. Alain Bombard had some radical ideas concerning survival of shipwrecked mariners. Although it was a common belief that drinking saltwater would kill, Bombard, after much research, came to the conclusion that drinking about 1 pint of seawater daily-if necessary, along with water extracted from 5 to 7 pounds of freshly caught fish, plus a dollop of plankton could provide the hydration and nutrition necessary to keep a mariner alive for weeks. Not one to hide behind his research, Bombard decided to test his theory. To this end he chose to sail across the Atlantic Ocean, from the Canary Islands to Barbados, in a 15-foot Zodiac inflatable that he named LHrtique (Heretic). Initially he was to be joined by a fellow researcher, but at the last moment his partner withdrew and so Bombard set out alone. In order to test his theory he took no fresh water, no food, supplying himself with a plankton
net and fishing gear. For navigation, Bombard, who was an ace celestial navigator, took only his sextant. Suffice it to say the passage was fraught with difficulty. To be in a 15-foot rubber inflatable, with virtually no freeboard, powered by a small sailing rig, with no food or water, heading across the Atlantic, seems a suicide mission. Yet Bombard headed out to sea and 65 days later walked ashore in Barbados, 55 pounds lighter. In transit he did stop to have a meal aboard a British freighter and for this his results were criticized. It was also claimed that he had stowed a fresh water supply aboard his boat. Testing his results a few years later Hannes Lindemann, a German doctor and long distance kayaker found that he couldnt survive on Bombards diet and discredited the results of the Frenchman. Regardless of the validity of Bombards methods, it is quite a courageous feat to head out to sea in a rubber dinghy. Bombard spent the rest of his life adventuring and in politics, becoming a thorn in the side of the French establishment. In later years he became a well-known environmentalist, remarking that, I had fought on behalf of man against the sea, but I realized that it had become more
urgent to fight on behalf of the sea against men. Were not sure which sight reduction tables Bombard used. In the 1950s H.O. 214 the precursor to H.O. 229 was in use, but so was H.O. 211. We know that he had a Nautical Almanac and that he had his sextant tested for errors before departing. We can only assume he did noon sights in order to ascertain his latitude. We will use the 2009 Nautical Almanac. On December 20, we have a DR position of 13 55 N by 58 45 W. He was a few days away from his landfall on Barbados which was at 13 05 N by 59 30 W. There is no error to his sextant, and as seated in his boat, his height of eye was three feet. He waited until meridian passage and took a lower limb of the sun. He got an Hs of 52 26.0. Just to gild the lily a bit here, the shot was taken at 15:53:12 GMT. This is not necessary information, but it could make the results a bit more accurate. A. Find the Ho B. Find the latitude
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July/August 2009 Issue No. 179

Two Nordhavn 55s cross Pacific

WARNING Ask For a Test Demo

NOT Stable in a Car NOT 100% Waterproof

Buy the Best... Fujinon True Stabilized Binoculars

quarter of a million pairs

Marine Tech Notes

28 Recharging the reefer 28 Inventor of the Windex

Issue #179 July/August 2009

43 High pressure at low power

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4 OCEAN NAVIGATOR JULY/AUGUST 2009

6 OCEAN NAVIGATOR JULY/AUGUST 2009

ISAF piracy prevention guidelines

Photos courtesy Geert van der Kolk

JULY/AUGUST 2009 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 7

First female commodore of the CCA

Rock stars schooner for sale

TELL, HOWEVER GRAND OR MOD-

Courtesy Craven Yacht Sales

8 OCEAN NAVIGATOR JULY/AUGUST 2009

Courtesy Craven Yacht Sales

Custom millwork for large spars

KUBOTA & TOYOTA based

IN THE USA 1 - 800 - 286 - 8758 e-mail: nannidiesel@waterwaypowercenter.com

Ufficio Grafico Nanni Trading, Roma design: MONICA INFANTINO

JULY/AUGUST 2009 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 9

Covey Island Boatworks rises from the ashes

Vandenberg artificial reef

Courtesy Covey Island

Like its predecessor

FROM RUNNING FIX, THE ON BLOG

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OCEAN NAVIGATOR BLOG

Courtesy Boothbay Region Land Trust

Notable New Titles

Maines annual Boothbay Boat Builders Festival

JULY/AUGUST 2009 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 11

AIS for voyagers on a budget

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Voyagers mosquito repellent

More electronic charts

Mooring line control system

High-performing LED light

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JULY/AUGUST 2009 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 15

Worlds largest celestial navigation catalog...FREE!

PRACTICE BUBBLE HORIZON $59

STARPILOT $ CELESTIAL 379 CALCULATOR NAVIGATOR SOFTWARE

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JULY/AUGUST 2009 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 17

MARINE TECH NOTES

Register your beacon

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SHEUNG WAN, HONG KONG

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MARINE TECH NOTES

Finding a squawking EPIRB

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Steve and Carol Argosy