We’re on our way…
–Captain Cat
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
Downsizing
Next: Downsizing Paper
We’re on our way…
–Captain Cat
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
Downsizing
Next: Downsizing Paper
Celebrating Passage Milestones
We are looking forward to the upcoming Spain-Greece yacht delivery. Time to plan for success!
Three weeks is great, it’ll be a chance to really get a feel for long passages. It’s also a looooong time for a small group of people to be in constant contact with each other in a constricted space.
So the Cruising Kitty is planning ahead with crew building treats and activities.
I’ve been researching online, on sailing forums and putting my thinking cap on (the one with the feathers).
Here are the highlights of my favourite ideas so far…
Treats
Activities
Timing
‘Course not every crew is going to go wild for the same treats and activities, every group being different and all. But I hope to build up a time tested bank of ‘passage treat’ ideas to draw on. I’ll be testing and having the Can Opener taking my notes as we go.
We’re looking for suggestions – the wackier and more creative, the better!
* Special thanks for these great suggestions to ‘The Cruising Couple’, ‘Ex-Calif’ and ‘drew23’ on Cruisers Forum
Last Wednesday at Limehouse, Paul and Rachel Chandler presented a narrative of their experience of being captured by pirates near the Seychelles and held hostage for 388 days. They refer to this dryly as their ‘Somalia Excursion’.
Paul, a civil engineer, and his wife Rachel, an economist, decided to retire early and go cruising in 2005. By the end of 2007, they had done enough shakedown cruises in the Med and headed for the Red Sea.
After sailing around the Indian Ocean, they headed back towards Africa and in October 2009… the Seychelles.
What was unusual about the Chandlers’ capture at the time is that
Organisation of Pirates
Previously pirates had not been seen so far offshore (usually they were limited by the amount of food and ammo their tiny boats can carry.) These pirates were able to overcome these limits by using an (often captured) ‘mother ship’ to launch smaller boats from to look for targets.
Pirates were:
And in general, pirates are:
The Chandlers’ pirates were no exception.
When the Chandlers’ were taken to Somalia where they were held for 382 days
Lessons learned
Controversy
Final Outcome
Conclusion
Prevention is the best answer
Find recent reliable knowledge on where pirates have been reported is your best planning preparation. Then avoid these areas completely.
Definitely a lot to think about and digest here. Everything has good and bad sides. Piracy is an extremely big ‘down’ side.
It’s a serious topic to weigh/research/prepare/inform oneself about that sits on the other side of the beauty and dreams of paradise.
Paradise is worth it. But best be prepared.
Turns out this cruising crew the Can Opener has been invited to join – they specifically want to practice Crew Over Board training and anchoring… over and over and over again.. for days!
The Can Opener is practically skipping with joy – when he should be filleting my Sunday night’s prime haddock!
Granted this will be the perfect chance to prep him for the RYA Coastal Skipper exam that I have decreed he will get this year.
And also granted that being invited to test on the boat with a familiar crew is a boon. Not only will he be familiar with the boat and crew before the test – but it will be quite cost effective. But honestly – COB drills??
(That’s not Crew Over Board – that’s Cat Over Board drills, Furrball. We can skip this part if you reeeeeeally want us to…)
Hmm… But……with all this training going on… how will the Can Opener find time to stand over me waving palm fronds as I snooze? (‘Twas never likely, my friend…)
How will he eke out sufficient time to dust my orb, polish my feather cap and rinse my frillies? (I’ll do it before we go out.)
Ah. Hmm… okay. If you erect a properly sized yoga platform across the foredeck – it’s a done deal.
(Right-ho, Captain. I’m on it.)
Links at bottom below post |
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Mallorca is on our route from mainland Spain to Greece on the upcoming boat delivery.
The Can Opener is about to begin studying exceptionally hard and all good Can Openers deserve an extra bit of start-up motivation.
We’re gonna take a moment to relax, put the paws up, crack open the smoked oysters, and picture the future… in Mallorca. We can hardly wait!!
Destination Dreamin’
Next: Cruising in Oceania
Next: Menorca – Destination Dreamin’
Previously: More Destination Dreamin’ of Spain
Can Opener: Pretty hard to miss the Team Racing Dinner, Furrball, but… I was thinking the same thing meself…
Can Opener: That sounds incredibly painful.
Can Opener: Hm……… Righty-ho.
Links below at bottom of post |
Book the Captain just finished for the third time: The Care and Feeding of the Sailing Crew, by Lin Pardey
On a 49 day voyage (49 days!), from Yokohama, Japan to Victoria, Canada, Lin Pardey wrote down just about everything you could want to know about food and crew care on a boat.
The stuff we loved
Wishes
Any other crew care/provisioning/cookbooks you would recommend for cruising?
I am always researching the next round of additions for our sea library…
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More Cocktails at the Red Tabby!
Another swell evening was had by all. Naturally. It was a party to give longtime club members a chance to honour the new member… me! (There were actually quite a few other new members being welcomed to the club there last night, Furrball.)
However, as I’m of the feline persuasion and hence a habitual teetotaler, I was more than bemused at the bizarre choice of lubricants on offer. (Yep, bud, they were honouring you, but topping me and so many others up with the bubbly. Pretty mysterious, huh?)
I did note with regret the absence of my old friend and singing companion, Prince A. (And you cared not a mote for the non-appearance of Pussy Galore as you told me, oh, I don’t know, about two hundred times…)
The Red Tabby Yacht Club
Next: It’s Official!
Previously: Cruising Crew!
Just back from another lecture at Limehouse… La Dolce Vita: Cruising the Islands of the Central Mediterranean, presented by Kath Stott.
About 10 years ago, Kath and her husband joined and enjoyed a great flotilla vacation with Neilson Holidays. They were so taken with the experience that when they (shortly thereafter) retired, they sold their house and with the proceeds bought a flat… and a Hallberg-Rassy 43.
This was their first boat and they have been sailing ever since.
Along with some stellar photos, Kath presented an overview of their experience and learnings from a three-month exploration of Corsica and the Italian Islands of Elba, Sardinia, and Sicily…
Highlights
Pluses
Minuses
Tips
Sail Training
Touring in Italy…
Anchoring is the way to go!
Sailing in general… and Fishing
Our Conclusion?
We are definitely destination dreamin’ of Corsica and the Italian Islands!
Ever cruised in Corsica, or the Italian Islands of Elba, Sardinia or Sicily?
–Captain Cat
Destination Dreamin’