Cruising in Searffyn – Reviewed

Book the Captain has snoozed upon:  
Cruising in Searffyn, by Lin and Larry Pardey   

The Can Opener has actually been taking my advice to heart. He’s been powering through the pages of cruising wisdom in hopes of growing…wiser. And as a happy result has just finished another great book by Lin and Larry Pardey…

Who are Lin and Larry Pardey?
Only one of the most famous cruising duos EVER! Their motto is: Go simple go modest, go small, but go!
 

‘They have sailed over 185,000 miles together, having circumnavigated the world both eastabout and westabout. They have also sailed westabout (against the prevailing winds) past all the great southern capes, including Cape Horn. Larry built the two boats they used for two circumnavigations. 

‘Both boats were under 30 feet and were designed by Lyle Hess. Neither boat had an engine (except for an outboard on the dinghy which they carried on board Taleisin)…. Together they have written eleven books and created two VHS tapes and four DVDs.’*

Topics Covered

This travelogue covers seven years of their adventures from California to Central America, Panama, Columbia, the Caribbean, back up to Virgina, USA and then on to England – a final destination that was chosen at the toss of a coin.
 
The Best Part
Lin and Larry are first rate narrators, picking out careful details to make their descriptions of the places they visit come alive. They also explain in detail their philopsophies regarding boat design choice, boat maintenance and repair, some storm tactics… and life. 

Their unique perspective has made their fascinating life possible. And it is a FASCINATING life!
 
Wishes

I wish we could have been there…. and I wish our life turns out to be half as fun as theirs!
 
Conclusion
It’s a classic. The Can Opener has previously read all their ‘how to’ type of books for cruisers (eg Capable Cruiser and Self Sufficient Sailor) and had avoided their travelogue type books. We are so glad we picked up this one. 

It had enough ‘how to’ knowledge in it to satisfy us… and we realised that it’s quite inspirational to read a well written travelogue. And this was certainly inspirational.

Ever read Cruising in Searffyn, by Lin and Larry Pardey? How did you find it? Any good recommendations for other books for the sea library?

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

* wikipedia

Previously: Come Hell or High Water
Next: The Reluctant Mariner

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Dolphins Can Stay Awake For 15 Days???

 
Dolphins can stay awake… for 15 days??? 

This news just in from the online UK newspaper, The Telegraph:  

In fact, dolphins may be able to stay awake for longer. Recent scientific testing in California of two smart bottlenosed dolphins, called Nay and Say, was planned for 30 days but was curtailed after 15 due to a storm.

Apparently dolphins can sleep with one eye open and half of their brain – called unihemispheric sleep. This ‘allows them to come to the surface every so often to breath, and remain constantly vigilant for sharks.’ 

—————-

This is exactly the kind of performance I need from a First Mate. Should take about 28 days to cross the Atlantic, from the Canaries to the Caribbean.

I need a First Mate who can be constantly vigilant twenty four hours a day making sure we don’t get run down by a freighter or bump into a whale or a shark en route.  

When solo-sailing oceans, you can normally only nap for 15 minutes at a time. Then you’ve got to wake up and scan the horizon for ships. 20 minutes is the approx length of time it takes a cargo ship to blast from the horizon across the waves over to crush your boat (should you happen to be on a collision course).

That’s why I’ve been training the Can Opener for months with ‘sleep interruption drills’. But now I can…

(Can Opener: You mean walking on my face at 3am wasn’t just about opening the smoked oyster tin for you?)

…now I can replace the Can Opener with a dolphin First Mate that is vigilant non-stop day and night AND catches his own food!  

Huh. Last week I wanted to eat a dolphin. Today I want to adopt one. Times change. This news puts a whole new spin on things…

Can Opener: Eat one of them??– that was a basking shark! …Hey, replace ME??

Captain Cat: A shark? (Really?) Well… same difference.

Can Opener: Replace me? Who would polish your orb, catalogue your wig collection, write your Jackie Chan fan letters?

Captain Cat: …Good point. Good enough to make me pause whilst drafting my profile for the dolphin dating site I just bookmarked…

Can Opener: I‘ve got the opposable thumb, Furrball. I‘m the only one ’round here bookmarking anything. That was a secondhand cat site I just bookmarked. 

Captain Cat: ??… 
Hmm… Gives one paws for thought…

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

 Previously: Dolphins

Captain Cat Mounts His (Sugar-Free) Soap Box

 
On Dieting
An unnecessary and unnatural scourge. There is no reason in the universe for a diet!

What’s dieting got to do with sailing?
Everything. 

True, you can sail when you are overweight and out of shape. Same as you can play baseball or cricket or golf when you’re out of shape. 

But you sail better when you are the right weight and in good shape. You move faster and with greater agility. 

Fast and agile means fewer medical issues when you might not be close to a good doctor or hospital. And it means you’ll move faster when there’s a challenging situation on board (storm, gale, tight manoeuvre, extreme sea state, rescue situation, etc). It’s a fact.


I put the Can Opener on his no sugar diet about a year and a half ago. He’s lost fifteen pounds and looks great. He sleeps better. He never had to calorie count or think about what to eat while he was optimising his weight – he just followed the Golden Rule below. 

And yes, indeed, he looks fine! 

The Solution

The Golden Rule
If you need to lose weight, then …  

DON’T. EAT. SUGAR. EVER. 
(Or fat. Obviously.)

What other names can sugar masquerade as?
Sugar is sugar no matter what cute name it is disguised as. Just don’t eat it. 

That means…

NO agave, corn syrup, any syrup, cane juice, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, glucose, invert sugar, lactose, maltodextrin, malt syrup, maltose, rice syrup, saccharose, sorghum, sucrose, xylose…

Read the label and if it lists it, don’t eat it. Simple. 
But not easy.

How to avoid sugar…
Check every ingredients label, and if ANY of these sugar/fake sugar/sugar wannabes shows up on it (or anything else ending in -ose)… DON’T eat it. 

By the way – don’t eat those other artificial sugars (eg saccharine) either. If it doesn’t exist in nature, you shouldn’t be eating it either. Captain Cat has spoken.

There is NO FREE LUNCH. Literally. 

What’s that you say? No fructose?
Yes, fruit has fructose in it. But in an unrefined form. It takes longer (ie a normal length of time) for the body to break it down. 

On the other hand if you read ‘fructose’ as an ingredient on a box, this is a refined form of sugar which is super-easily absorbed by the body. Not good. You want your body to at least burn a regular amount of calories whilst it works to break down your food.

Is it easy to stop eating sugar?
Nope. 

The Can Opener complained bitterly. He was doubled over in pain the first month sometimes. When he looked really bad, I’d bung him a prune. Fortunately, that would perk him right up.

Sugar is supposed to be as addictive as cocaine . That means it’s a hard habit to kick. 

And in the west, it is nearly impossible to avoid sugar in any processed or restaurant food. Start checking the ingredient labels and you’ll see what I mean.

Our local supermarket has twenty-six aisles. Twenty-four of them have products in them that contain sugar. Only two do not – these are:

1. the vegetable aisle
2. the shampoo and cleaners aisle.

How to survive sugar withdrawal symptoms?  
Go eat a few dried fruit pieces instead. Or a piece of whole fruit. Or a salad with lemon on it. Loads of fun, right? No, not at first. But after a while, yes actually. Even the Can Opener thinks so now.

The sugar withdrawal symptoms may drive you insane, but if you can survive the first month, you will be okay. The next three months are hard, but not impossible.

After six months, sugared products actually become unpleasant. It is too much and too granular. You can taste the emptiness.

After a year, it is easy and you are fit, optimised and ready to sail in top form!

 
That’s it. 

Follow my plan and you’ll have a six pack in no time. 

And live longer with nice teeth.

 

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

 Previously: Fitness on Boats

Come Hell or High Water – Reviewed

Book the Captain has snoozed upon:  
Come Hell or High Water, by Clare Francis    

Good news! The Can Opener has just finished another great book – this time by Clare Francis. Here is his book review which he has just handed in to me (on time surprisingly, though with dog-earred corners) for approval. Aaaaand… approved!

Who is Clare Francis?
She studied at the Royal Ballet School, graduated in Economics from University College London, worked in marketing, excelled at offshore yacht racing, was the first woman skipper in the Whitbread, became a BBC presenter and then… oh yeah, morphed to an international bestselling thriller writer. Not bad. We are an instant and HUGE fan. 

Come Hell or High Water was her first book and the one we focus on in this post.

The First Mate was powering through Francis’ book on the tube when he was approached by devoted fans asking, ‘Is that a book by Clare Francis??’ 

Despite the book being written more than thirty years ago, she still clearly remains high and visible in the British public’s consciousness.

Topics Covered

Clare describes racing her boat Gulliver G in the 1973 Observer Royal Western Single-handed Transatlantic Yacht Race when she was 28 years old. She covers preparation, refit, funding and the race itself.
 
The Best Part
She’s a great writer. Smooth. It’s not just a record of events. Although the events are riveting in their own right. 

Francis sets up scenes and keeps the tension high throughout her tale – even though you might have known the ultimate race results (her result was pretty damn good actually) before you begin reading. The Can Opener read it straight through. Brilliant.
 
Wishes

Okay. All right… I wish that this book were longer. Or that it had a sequel. Hey, wait! It does have a sequel! It’s called Come Wind or Weather. We’re assigning it to the Can Opener next.
 
Conclusion
We were mesmerised. We’ll read any book Clare Francis has written. 

She only wrote three books about her sailing. Then post- ballerina-ing, marketing, dominating the yachting scene and bbc presenting, she began writing psycho-thrillers that debuted on the NY Times Bestseller list right out of the gate. Is there anything she can’t do?? 

I also just bought Wolf Winter… set in Norway… for the First Mate to read me at bedtimes. Book in one hand, palm fronds waving over me in the other… I’m looking forward to some delightful nights. 

Ever read Come Hell or High Water, by Clare Francis? How did you find it? Any good recommendations for other books for the sea library?

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

In the US
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Book Reviews

Previously: The Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat – Reviewed
Next: Cruising in Seraffyn

Sea Sickness – The First Mate Succumbs

Photo by: Erik K Veyland

 
Mal de Mer

There we were last weekend, just setting out from Weymouth on the southern shores of England. We were repositioning an Arcona 37 so as to be well placed for the race start the following day. 

The Can Opener discussed race details with the tactician. The skipper gazed stoically out to sea. I stood over the rest of the crew poking them judiciously from time to time with the motivational sceptre. All were shiny bright and waxing optimistic.

Then suddenly we gurgled forth from the protective arm of the headland curving around the east side of Weymouth Bay… and met a quartering four metre sea…

The rest of the crew had been over to Cherbourg and back in the last month (thus inuring themselves – or at least upping their resilience – to the unsettling motion of the waves). My dear Can Opener had not.

This put him outside the mythical ten week* ring fence since he last had faced rolling seas (on the Spain to Greece delivery). ‘Twas as if my First Mate had never been to sea at all.

First he began to yawn. That’s the first sign. Then he was careful to keep hydrated and even popped a few of my ginger biscuits I had ear-marked for later. But greener and greener did he glow.

Signs of sea sickness include**:

• drowsiness (yawning)
• lethargy
• cold sweat
• pale face
• nausea

Ways to combat sea sickness before you leave the dock**:

• get enough sleep before you leave
• don’t drink alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, or greasy or acid foods (citrus juices for example) for several hours before you leave
• eat breads or mild food to put something in your stomach
• drink water – stay hydrated 
• take an anti-motion sickness medication eg Stugeron, Dramamine, etc (consult with your doctor) 
• use accupressure wrist bands
  
• and long before you leave the dock – be in good physical condition overall

Ways to combat sea sickness on the water**:

• avoid gas and diesel fumes
• avoid confined spaces or going below
• eat soda crackers or ginger 
• don’t sit near others who are being sick
• sit at the centre (amidships) of the boat
• look at the horizon
• steer the boat
• lying down amidships with eyes closed

I clipped his tether to the jacklines… and not a moment too soon. The Can Opener was sick as a dog.

I will not regale you with vivid descriptions of projectile ginger biscuits, nor the inelegant way he convulsed and spewed. Suffice it to say… (Alright, alright Furrball! Enough. I puked, okay? Stop yer giggling… ). Ahem. Er… yes, well.

… I firefighter-lifted him tenderly down the ladder to the saloon and dumped him behind the port bunk lee cloth where he neither moved nor whimpered for nearly three hours. After which point, he woke up and was perky as a Pomeranian.

There is not much misery worse than sea sickness. Even Captain Cat succumbs from time to time. But after it passes, it’s like a whole new dawn. 

I took it easy on the Can Opener thereafter and for the rest of the trip. Seated in his lap, I regaled him with pithy wisdom (mine) from my book of memorable quotes. From time to time, I enhanced my delivery with operatic embellishment, further illuminating its hidden meaning. The Can Opener was most appreciative – opining that yes, the meaning was, indeed, well hidden.

It’s just in rough draft now, but one day I will publish my genius for the benefit of humanity. The Can Opener says he looks forward to it.
 

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

* Some say that if you build up ‘immunity’ to sea sickness by surviving it once (usually takes about three days to get though it at the beginning of a passage), then your body will remember how to cope next time. As long as ‘next time’ happens before another ten weeks have passed, you should be okay. It you don’t do a passage for ten weeks or more, then you have to start all over again. Of course these are just rough guidelines. They seem to fit the Can Opener’s experience, however.

** This info is nicely summed up with more detailed explanations at http://www.goddesscruise.com/SeaSick.htm

 

Shark for Lunch!

Photo by: Anita363

‘Lunch!’ said I, my whiskers twanging with anticipation, gazing out over the chunky sea. 

We were in the North Channel last weekend, just west of Lymington heading into the Solent when – most amazingly and unusually – we sighted one, probably a basking shark.

‘It’s not that kind of a safari,’ said the Can Opener. ‘They’re twenty million times bigger than you – you’re lucky they’re filter feeders that only eat small things. Plankton, algae, felis domesticus…. Just keep taking the photos.’ 

You can’t win every battle. Got some great shots though. I’m putting them in an album entitled, ‘Meals I Might Have Had’.

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Sailing vs… Writing About Sailing

 
Captain Cat is reluctantly finding that if you are actually out on the water sailing… there is j*** all time to sit down to write. 

And if it comes down to a choice between writing or sailing – we’re going to pick the sailing every time.

But we love writing too. So we’ll be at that whenever we have down time between. This winter we’ll be doing repairs and maintenance, taking courses to upgrade skills, attending cruising lectures, reading sail training books, researching designs and generally going flat out. And we’ll write about it.

But fact is, if you spending all your time writing about sailing…  you’re probably sitting at the dock.

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Sailing Again!

We’re racing on an Arcona 37 this weekend – a nifty Swedish racer-cruiser with a fantastic new captain! 

I am eager to get down to the water, so am currently standing over the Can Opener while he packs the necessities: pet life jacket, fuzzy cat suit, smoked clam rations, Jackie Chan movies on the ipod and the working tiara. 

I am becoming concerned everything will not fit in my taxi (You’ll be taking the train down to the water with me, bud. …Like all the other cats…)

This weekend is double great because we are not just getting in a race with a new team, and not just because we get to learn about a new deck layout and another boat’s systems – we also get to fit in two passages, there and back, to reposition this boat from its home berth, nearly a day’s sail from the race site.

We’re are pysched and ready to go! Right after the Can Opener finishes polishing the motivational sceptre.

 

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

On The Water Training – At The Boat Show!

Photo by: Alex E. Proimos

On The Water Training – At The Boat Show!

Can you believe it? This past Southampton Boat Show was not just about great boat designs and super cool gear as far as the nose could sniff – it was also a chance to develop real skills in real time!

Yes, at the very end of the longest pontoon, there was an F40 keelboat with state-of-the-art RYA-trained instructors aboard just waiting to train us postulants in the arts of docking and ‘Crew Overboard’ rescue techniques. 

Naturally, I alighted from my shoulder perch upon the Can Opener, landed stealthily on the dock and then shoved the First Mate briskly along the pontoon (my front paws firmly embedded in his backside) towards the said enlightenment. 

There was a lot of unnecessary commotion going on overhead from the First Mate about the sharpness of my claws, the unfortunate location wherein I had installed them and some ‘Enough already, Furrball. I’m goin’, I’m going‘. But we got there in the end.

The docking practice and ‘Crew Overboard’ training was almost as entertaining as was the excitement of getting there…

Each lesson lasted 1.5 hours, including theory rundown and actually driving the yacht through every skill set drill planned. Only 5 students and 2 instructors per boat. All included in the price of the boat show ticket. 

Unbelievably not all student places were taken!!??! (Well, all the powerboat lessons were taken, but not the sailboat spots… Inexplicable.)

So we joined 3 lessons – did I say fantastic? 

It was.

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Previously: Boat Show – Designs Galore!