George Day

George Day



Welcome to Cruising Compass. The newsletter has been designed with cruisers in mind and offers all who wish to participate a forum for new ideas, personal stories, comments and more. Your contributions are welcome. Whether you sail across your local bay or around the world, Cruising Compass is for you.

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The Log of Mahina Tiare - Cruising Germany and on to England


(John Neal and Amanda Swan-Neal run Mahina Expeditions aboard their Hallberg-Rassy 46 Mahina Tiare. Last summer they sailed with their expedition crews to Norway's Arctic island of Spitsbergen. We rejoin them as sail south from Scandinavia to England via Germany. Onboard Mahina Tiare is the crew of Leg 5 who joined John and Amanda in Norway and will sail with them to England. If you have an atlas handy, you can follow Mahina Tiare's voyage more easily.)

GERMANY

Holtenau Lock u Kiel

Our early morning departure started out with a nice sail that turned to motorsailing in choppy 25 knot headwinds with wind against tide. Sixty miles later we arrived in Kiel to be greeted by a rugged lot of sailors. They were racing flat out on cold rainy Sunday with rails in the water and going for it!

The traffic in Kiel Harbor was intense, and we were relieved to pull into the little Holtenau Yacht Haven at the entrance to the Kiel Canal, a quiet, tree-lined spot with a dozen Dutch sailing barges and sail-training schooners. Soon after tying up, Amanda and I went for a run, exploring the locks and meeting the friendly lockmaster who explained how the locks worked and told us that they average 2,600 ships passing per month. He proudly announced that their locks were able to accommodate longer ships than the Panama Canal.

Over the past year we had made tentative plans to meet up with Lore Haack-Voersmann, a German psychologist who is joining us on Leg 1-2002, from Panama to Hilo. To our mutual amazement, it worked our for Lore and her husband Peter to join us and our crew for dinner at a fascinating 1800's grain warehouse-converted into a restaurant, a short walk from the canal entrance. We had an excellent dinner while looking at Lore and Peter's photos of their just-completed sailing trip from Norway to Fair Isle, the Orkney, and ending in Scotland's Caledonian Canal on their 53' steel ketch with their four teenagers. Lore, with over 60,000 miles sailing experience, much of it on square-riggers has to be by far the most experienced person yet to join us for an expedition.

Keil Canal Transit

At 0700 we stood by in front of the small lock opening, soon joined by two German yachts. The massive gate opened, the lights started flashing and we motored into an immense lock before the gate closed behind us. Once Mahina Tiare was secured, we ran up to the control tower to pay the equivalent to $34US, take pictures of the locks below and chat with the lockmaster. Unlike Panama where a considerable amount of paperwork is involved, here they didn't even want to know the name or nationality of the yacht. We were told not to exceed 8 knots, that we could sail as long as we kept the engine running, and to make sure that we stayed well over to the side when large ships passed. The countryside was bucolic with grazing sheep and cows and dozens of swans gracing the shoreline. Amanda taught rig maintenance and our keen crew stripped the squeaking mainsheet winch to bits, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled it while I steered and Amanda helped.

There was a nice town we could have stopped for lunch or overnight, plus a lake that we could have anchored in, but we chose to push through past Brunsbuttel at the far end and 15 miles further to Cuxhaven,53.52N 8.42E. Located on the Elbe River entrance to the North Sea, Cuxhaven, with its distinctive architecture, large rolling grass sea walls, iron flood gates, tree-lined lined streets and friendly yacht club marina was an enjoyable stop. The harbormaster answered my myriad of questions on North Sea conditions and pointed out that the club provides free loaner bikes for visiting yachties. My preconceptions of Germany went out the window. Everywhere we met helpful, friendly people, the food was excellent (especially the bakeries) and the architecture was impressive.

Before deciding to sail the following day on the high tide we examined the weather. We'd been watching the procession of lows with gale force winds on the North Sea on the weatherfax charts for months. Detailed customized weather forecasts from Commanders' Weather, www.commandersweather.com as well as Leon Schulz (husband of Karolina (from Leg 4) relaying weather from the Dutch, German and Danish websites twice a day gave us highly accurate forecasts. Commanders' Weather (as usual) provided the most accurate and precise information. How they can consistently do a better job of forecasting than the official government forecasts when they are in Nashua, NH continually amazes
me!

We motorsailed down the Elbe River to where it meets the North Sea with a shallow river delta containing shifting sandbanks, dredged channels and breaking bar conditions with wind against the tide over Force 5 (according to the harbormaster). The German Bight of the North Sea is shallow with a high concentration of shipping, fishing, oilrigs and nasty weather on treacherous lee shores. The prevailing wind conditions are SW, which would mean headwinds for us en route to England. However, we learned that when a cold front passes, the wind shifts to NW or even North, usually of gale force, for a brief time.

We got lucky! A cold front with Force 7-8 gale warnings was due to pass the night of September 4th, with NW to N winds 20-30, gusts 35-40. Fortunately the winds hadn't piped up yet when we smoked down the Elbe with 2-3kts current carrying us along and at the entrance we had 7 knot winds and no breaking seas. By midnight the winds increased to 30, gusting 34 knots and the seas occasionally broke over Mahina Tiare, but our solid crew never complained. We navigated buoy to buoy, along the outside of the busy shipping lane and were thankful for our dependable Raytheon 24-mile radar. We had considered stopping at Ijmuiden, Holland to rest and explore, but with a forecast of another day of NW winds, followed by SW winds, we decided to push on for another night to England.

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Blue Water Rallies - Pre-departure Festivities for Round the World Fleet


(The report below from Peter Seymour, founder and managing director of Blue Water Rallies, was submitted just prior to the October 28 start of the 2001 - 2002 Blue Water Round the World Rally. The cruising rally, which starts and finishes in Gibraltar, will take the fleet of 23 yachts around the world in the trade winds, via Panama and Suez. CC will keep readers up to date with the progress of the fleet as the journey progresses.)

After a very busy first week Rally crews have now settled down to a more relaxed routine. With the departure day only 3 days away most crews have only minor adjustments to make to their yachts. Nonetheless Terry Phillips of "Tudor Rose" is still waiting for his new cooker to arrive by air!

Last weekend a group of 6 yachts (Aquarius, Dutch Link, Hecla, Sea Bunny, Sulmar and Tudor Rose) paid a visit to Marina Smir in Morocco. Despite cold and rainy conditions for the departure and a start time of 0630, the small fleet had an exciting sail across the Straits of Gibraltar. Once safely in Smir, Rally Director Tony Diment organized transport for the crews to travel to the local town of Tetouan where, despite the short distance from Gibraltar, participants were able to experience an enormous difference in cultures. With a local Moroccan guide they walked through the alleyways of the souk, visited a tannery, bought carpets and took mint tea in a local cafe. That evening a typical Moroccan meal was taken in the Marina restaurant - sadly the belly-dancer did not make an appearance on this occasion! In fair conditions the yachts returned safely to Marina Bay by mid-afternoon on the Sunday.

Crew members have been arriving throughout the week in time for the various Rally events. Highlights so far have been the owners' lunch chez Barry and Christiane at Sotogrande and the Rally Party at the Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club. After four Rallies the RGYC has become a home-from-home for Rally participants and a presentation of a Blue Water Rally plaque portraying the Rally route was made to the Commodore on Wednesday evening. Rally crews enjoyed beer, sangria and a paella meal before dancing till late to a local disco.

Tourism has also been on the program this week. One group has explored the natural caves below the man-made tunnels inside the Rock - an adventurous trip involving swinging on ropes and edging round an underground lake - a trip which is always a highlight for Rally crews. Others have visited the ancient town of Jerez to see the Spanish Riding School and to taste the world-renowned product - sherry wine.

The Blue Water fleet has been dressed overall with signal flags and the Blue Water Rally battleflag is being flown on every yacht - a impressive spectacle for the many visitors to Marina Bay. On Friday Minister of Tourism, The Honourable Joe Holliday, will be visiting the yachts and meeting the crews, before joining them for a group photograph with the famous Rock of Gibraltar as a backdrop. That evening he will be hosting a Farewell Reception for the crews, their families and friends in the spectacular setting of "The Mount" overlooking Gibraltar Bay.

Local advance weather forecasts suggest a favourable easterly wind for the start off Europa Point at 1600 hours on Sunday 28 October. Thanks to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment the start promises to be spectacular, with a field-gun signaling the departure. The Rally organizers are particularly grateful to previous Rally participants, Jim Holland and Joan Beaver - owners of the yacht "Galatea" - who have kindly agreed to mark the outer end of the start line.

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Fun in the Sun


St. Thomas' Rolex Regatta Attracts cruisers, charterers and the racing crowd

The 29th annual International Rolex Regatta has a new format as well as a new regatta director who has enthusiastically begun preparing for the 2002 event. An Easter-holiday
racing tradition going into its 29th year, the 2002 International Rolex Regatta will begin a day earlier, on Thursday, March 28, and continue through Sunday, March 31, for four days of Caribbean-style competition. Hosted by St. Thomas Yacht Club in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the event is famous for its constant trade winds, warm water, top-notch competition and unforgettable shore-side parties and activities. In keeping with tradition,
a stainless steel Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Chronometer will be awarded to the winner of every class.

Chuck Ollinger, the event's regatta director for 2002, says his position is an envious one. "Though I'm new, my committee chairs are a mix of old and new," he said. "They all are well qualified and have flooded me with ideas for doing things a bit different this time. It will be fun for everybody."

Ollinger, who has bare-boat chartered in the Virgin Islands for the last 30 years, currently splits his time between the Water Point community in St. Thomas and Duxbury, Mass. "With almost three decades of history to this event, I find myself in charge of one of the most famous and well-liked regattas in the Caribbean. We are working to make the 2002 event the best ever, and to that end we have incorporated major changes that we think will
keep the International Rolex Regatta at the head of its class.

"To begin with, the expanded schedule from three days of racing to four will appease the many who have asked for a longer event. On the water, we will be offering multiple courses to spread out the fleet. We are preparing for just over 100 boats, and to encourage one-design entries, we will be offering a start to any class that brings a minimum of 10 boats to the starting line."

Also different, two race circles will be run, with Peter Reggio of Essex, Conn., serving as the Principal Race Officer (PRO). Reggio, also new to the event, is respected around the world as one of the best professionals for on-water regatta organization. He was one of the PROs for the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series for the 2000 America's Cup in Auckland and is race management coordinator for the Sailing World NOOD regatta series held at
nine different venues around the country.

Honorary chair of the regatta is Walter Fischer, a long-time St. Thomas resident who co-founded the event and currently lives in New York, NY, serving as President and CEO of Rolex Watch U.S.A. Another "import" on the committee is Chief Judge Arthur Wullschleger of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., who has served at the regatta for 20 years and is branded as one of international sailing's top international judges and most interesting
characters.

"I wouldn't miss this regatta for the world," said Wullschleger. "In 28 years only two race days have been called off-one for too much wind and one for too little. So we have some of the best wind conditions of any regatta anywhere, and the international jury will work hard to make sure this regatta is first class."

For more information, contact St. Thomas Yacht Club at 340-775-6320, or
Chairman Chuck Ollinger at 340-774-0871 or [email protected]. The
regatta web page is www.rolexcupregatta.com.

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Cruising News


Proposal for five new marinas in Malaysia

As part of an effort to boost tourism, the government of Malaysia has proposed MYR5.4 million for construction of five new marinas in 2002, and it has identified 20 other locations for potential marina development.

To further promote yacht charters, the government will exempt charter companies from tax on this income for five years, according to a report in The Star. The report said that Tan Sin Chong, executive director of Admiral Cove Development Sdn Bhd, believed this move would encourage investment in more and better yachts for charter, and would be successful in bringing in more tourists.

Tan told the paper he would reinvest the savings from the tax emption into promotional activities, new facilities, staff training and improved e-commerce capabilities. Admiral Cove in Port Dickson is one of only three marinas on the peninsula.

There will also be an income tax exemption on organizers of international trade exhibitions that will attract at least 500 foreign investors, according to the report.

International yacht charter company Sunsail just announced the opening of its newest base at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in Malaysia with boats from Gib'Sea, Jenneau, Fountaine Pajot and Prout soon to be on charter.

Malaysia has become a favorite cruising destination for round-the-world sailors who seek a friendly place to lay over while waiting for the Northeast Monsoon to carry them across the Indian Ocean. Rebak Marina, Langkawi, which has been in operation for almost a decade, provides excellent protection, security and a full array of marine services. The new marinas will expand the country's facilities and will in time transform Malaysia into one of the best cruising grounds in Asia.

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