Our yacht is getting to small

[OldBawley]

Our yacht is getting to small.

The boat is a 1946 build wooden one off, 27 feet waterline, ten feet beam. Five feet draft, long keel, eight ton. Build to the lines of a small Bawley. Yawl rigged, four sails.
The yacht has a history with that age, has sailed many miles. I am owner ( caretaker ) number three, liveaboard for 25 years, cruising the Med for 13 years. We have no log, so the mileage is unknown, in 2005 we had a hand-held gps with mileage on it, then we sailed 1200 miles. Only sailing miles recorded. North Sea and Med, that boat has done some sea time. Small heavy boat, low waterline speed, we sail two times longer over a distance than a average modern 54 feet yacht.
In all those years no problems, now it starts.
We now sail the Saronic – sw Aegean area and that is a beloved playing ground for the big super yachts. On a Saturday sail we counted 54 mega-yachts over twenty-five meter, the amount under 25 meter must have been hundreds. ( Greek austerity ) They all go full power, creating a sea state that is unknown to nature, that only can be generated by thousands of horsepower in the hands of mentally retarded.
The boat is old, but looks good so a lot of these big ***** take a detour to come and have a look from there 20 meter high flybridge. At full speed of course. Some even make a victory round, creating a wave – wake hell. Nice to make a video of that little yacht bouncing in there wake.
The boat has only two feet of free board ( fishing boat – hauling the nets ) and that giant keel is forced to follow these ultra short steep waves. With a fin keeled yacht the wave rolls under the boat having almost no lateral resistance, with our long keeled boat, we have to take the roll. Fabulous to sail, steers itself, a pain in man created waves.
Today anchored in the Poros lake. Ten feet of water, so not much under the keel. At 03 pm, by coincidence, the Aegean glory, flyingcat 1, Apollon hellas, Platitera Tonouranon and a flying dolpfin ferry pass the lake in less than 17 minutes. Together 23000 hp. All of them at max speed, they are commercial craft.
That rocks the boat. Some of them super mega yachts even more.
The boat gets to small, is from a past era. Have to change to something whitout keel and six feet freeboard. Any ideas ?

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Our yacht is getting to small.

The boat is a 1946 build wooden one off, 27 feet waterline, ten feet beam. Five feet draft, long keel, eight ton. Build to the lines of a small Bawley. Yawl rigged, four sails.
The yacht has a history with that age, has sailed many miles. I am owner ( caretaker ) number three, liveaboard for 25 years, cruising the Med for 13 years. We have no log, so the mileage is unknown, in 2005 we had a hand-held gps with mileage on it, then we sailed 1200 miles. Only sailing miles recorded. North Sea and Med, that boat has done some sea time. Small heavy boat, low waterline speed, we sail two times longer over a distance than a average modern 54 feet yacht.
In all those years no problems, now it starts.
We now sail the Saronic – sw Aegean area and that is a beloved playing ground for the big super yachts. On a Saturday sail we counted 54 mega-yachts over twenty-five meter, the amount under 25 meter must have been hundreds. ( Greek austerity ) They all go full power, creating a sea state that is unknown to nature, that only can be generated by thousands of horsepower in the hands of mentally retarded.
The boat is old, but looks good so a lot of these big ***** take a detour to come and have a look from there 20 meter high flybridge. At full speed of course. Some even make a victory round, creating a wave – wake hell. Nice to make a video of that little yacht bouncing in there wake.
The boat has only two feet of free board ( fishing boat – hauling the nets ) and that giant keel is forced to follow these ultra short steep waves. With a fin keeled yacht the wave rolls under the boat having almost no lateral resistance, with our long keeled boat, we have to take the roll. Fabulous to sail, steers itself, a pain in man created waves.
Today anchored in the Poros lake. Ten feet of water, so not much under the keel. At 03 pm, by coincidence, the Aegean glory, flying cat 1, Apollon hellas, Platytera Ton Ouranon and a flying dolphin ferry pass the lake in less than 17 minutes. Together 23000 hp. All of them at max speed, they are commercial craft.
That rocks the boat. Some of them super mega yachts even more.
The boat gets to small, is from a past era. Have to change to something without keel and six feet freeboard. Any ideas ?

The yellow gullet is for sale on the Galitas side.
As always a delightful post

 

[Mrnotming]

Rock the boat

Hi Old Bawley,

I can really sympathise with the effect of this behaviour.
We were passed far to closely by fast pleasure craft several times this season in the area from San Remo to Marseilles.
I am thinking now of utilising a porridge gun similar to that used by "Wallace and Grommit" to retaliate.
Perhaps I will use Golden syrup capsules delivered by catapult as a backup.
I did notice that the incidence of trying to swamp other vessels receded when West of Marseilles and in the Camargue, where sailboats are in the majority and those with practical mobos appear to have good manners as well.

Sorry for your troubles, its not the boat, its just plain inconsiderate behaviour on the part of less sea educated persons acquiring ownership of vessels without any appreciation of the damage they can cause.
I hope things improved for you Old Bawley

 

[OldBawley]

Rtboss1, thanks for the hint but no, a gullet is nothing for me.
Seen a lot of them, some nice, some ugly, have even encountered some who actually could sail.
There was a charter company who had 3 or 4 with wishbone mainsails. There masters were proud to use the sails. One evening three of them came sailing into Gumusluk Turkey, a tiny bay with narrow entrance. Anchoring under sail. Left the same way. Bravo ! Not a sound, except for the chain running out.
Know the gullet you mean, that one looks nice, well maintained. Still, the work involved in maintaining a craft like that, not me.
Paulclan, indeed, the Italian mobo mob is even worse. Once I made the mistake to approach a marina ( wanted to buy water ) at five in the afternoon. All the sudden we ware caught in a stream of bypassing mobo´s who turned the sea into a milky white substance consisting of some water, a lot of air, exhaust gasses, emulsified diesel oil and not burned diesel. That was the only time a swap of water came into the cockpit. All that with less than one Bf. Must have been about 30 of them all passing at less then 10 yards.
Little did I know that Italian mobo´s all come back from there afternoon spinn to there berth at the same time. That is the only time they can be sure to been seen by other mobo owners.

 

[Mino]

Hi Old Bawley,


I am thinking now of utilising a porridge gun similar to that used by "Wallace and Grommit" to retaliate.

LMAO!

Let me know where you found yours 'cause I want one too!

 

[OldBawley]

I do not think violence is an answer to the behaviour of others. Violence provokes more violence.
If someone damages the yacht just for the fun of seen you bounce all over the place, there is nothing you can do. First of all, you have to hold on or go over the side, me in my case have to hold the mainscheet and try to prevent the whipping of the mainsail. Short steep waves, even from behind, makes the boat roll violently, the mast whipping, trying to destroy the sails. Such waves are non existing in nature, can only be made by excessive horsepower. Our rigid dingy is been thrown onto the back of the boat, imagine a 30 kilo hammer been thrown from three meters at your boat. When the waves hit you, the jokers are far away and most important, the big mobo´s have a lot of people on board, among them the guys working for the boss.
I have never understood why personnel is so loyal to the boss, even when that is a pig. Personnel is to start with, underpaid, been rude at, despised, and the fact of been a servant to someone else must be bad for man’s spirit. Have seen ( In St Tropez and in Turkey ) that personnel is not allowed to look at the boss, never look the boss or his ?????? in the eyes, has to stand behind the corner, hands folded over their private parts, waiting for a bark.
And yet, those would kill at command of the boss.
Anchored in the little south corner of Deep bay, Göcek, Turkey. Some mega-yacht comes in, moors so that the two inch mooring ropes closes of the bay, prevent us from leaving. I say nothing, are not planning on leaving for the night. The mega has a sort of disco build at the back, some technicians come from Göcek in a 900 HP dingy to tune the sound and light installation. My son is visiting me, we prepare for a free evening of music. The 900 hp ( 3 X 300 ) dingy brings a bunch of guests, a sexy female singer starts some rehearsing. Wow, fun.
Jet ski´s are undocked, big ones. In the evening the fun starts. The lady gives a concert, we are not sure if all is real or most is tape. Then, the “Boss” squeaks a Russian song. At 300 decibel, drunk already. Karaoke. Drunk Russian karaoke, mating squeaks, giggling, braking glass. I go to bed, the 2inch of wood and fibreglass dampens the sound, tired, so I can sleep. My son sleeps in the cockpit, getting more and more annoyed. At midnight, the bay is flooded with light, the drunks start playing with the jet skis, while others squeak their Russian or Turkish tearjerker.
To provoke, some topless “Lady” jets circles so close to our little boat that my sons sleeping bag gets soaked. He wants to leave, I know we can not. Calling the coastguard ? No way, one of these pricks probably owns the coastguard.
I do have a sling on board. Mounted with black tubes, for anyone who knows about weapons. Have a kilo of 10 mm roller baring balls. Been robbed by gipsys in Rhodes. They promised me to come back, did not. I do not tell my son, he is angry.
The fun went on till 6 in the morning. At seven one of the crew smoked a cigarette at the bow. I rowed over, me sitting maybe six meters lower asked the guy if he would slacken the rope so we could slip over it. He put his finger over his lips and nodded. Off we where.
Imagine you shoot some paint balls over to that multi multi million yacht. What would the reaction be ? One word of the boss and ten man come over, blood in there eyes and foam on there lips.

 

[Mrnotming]

Our yacht is getting too small

Yes Old Bawley,
The disco boat phenomenon is growing in S France too, some Dutch Company rents them out by the day about €3000.per diem I think.
Met the lovely guy Jones and his wife who service them from St. Laurent du Var near Nice.
So we really have little control over party boats, especially if a professional skipper is along for the "ride".
Your experience is to be deplored.
Perhaps its back to inland waterways?

Good sailing and boating to all.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

I do not think violence is an answer to the behaviour of others. Violence provokes more violence.
If someone damages the yacht just for the fun of seen you bounce all over the place, there is nothing you can do. First of all, you have to hold on or go over the side, me in my case have to hold the mainsheet and try to prevent the whipping of the mainsail. Short steep waves, even from behind, makes the boat roll violently, the mast whipping, trying to destroy the sails. Such waves are non existing in nature, can only be made by excessive horsepower. Our rigid dingy is been thrown onto the back of the boat, imagine a 30 kilo hammer been thrown from three meters at your boat. When the waves hit you, the jokers are far away and most important, the big mobos have a lot of people on board, among them the guys working for the boss.
I have never understood why personnel is so loyal to the boss, even when that is a pig. Personnel is to start with, underpaid, been rude at, despised, and the fact of been a servant to someone else must be bad for man’s spirit. Have seen ( In St Tropez and in Turkey ) that personnel is not allowed to look at the boss, never look the boss or his ?????? in the eyes, has to stand behind the corner, hands folded over their private parts, waiting for a bark.
And yet, those would kill at command of the boss.
Anchored in the little south corner of Deep bay, Göcek, Turkey. Some mega-yacht comes in, moors so that the two inch mooring ropes closes of the bay, prevent us from leaving. I say nothing, are not planning on leaving for the night. The mega has a sort of disco build at the back, some technicians come from Göcek in a 900 HP dingy to tune the sound and light installation. My son is visiting me, we prepare for a free evening of music. The 900 hp ( 3 X 300 ) dingy brings a bunch of guests, a sexy female singer starts some rehearsing. Wow, fun.
Jet ski´s are undocked, big ones. In the evening the fun starts. The lady gives a concert, we are not sure if all is real or most is tape. Then, the “Boss” squeaks a Russian song. At 300 decibel, drunk already. Karaoke. Drunk Russian karaoke, mating squeaks, giggling, braking glass. I go to bed, the 2inch of wood and fibreglass dampens the sound, tired, so I can sleep. My son sleeps in the cockpit, getting more and more annoyed. At midnight, the bay is flooded with light, the drunks start playing with the jet skis, while others squeak their Russian or Turkish tearjerker.
To provoke, some topless “Lady” jets circles so close to our little boat that my sons sleeping bag gets soaked. He wants to leave, I know we can not. Calling the coastguard ? No way, one of these pricks probably owns the coastguard.
I do have a sling on board. Mounted with black tubes, for anyone who knows about weapons. Have a kilo of 10 mm roller baring balls. Been robbed by gypsies in Rhodes. They promised me to come back, did not. I do not tell my son, he is angry.
The fun went on till 6 in the morning. At seven one of the crew smoked a cigarette at the bow. I rowed over, me sitting maybe six meters lower asked the guy if he would slacken the rope so we could slip over it. He put his finger over his lips and nodded. Off we where.
Imagine you shoot some paint balls over to that multi multi million yacht. What would the reaction be ? One word of the boss and ten man come over, blood in there eyes and foam on there lips.

A 22 high power air gun will not be heard over the sound of the disco nor the pellets hitting the water line of boat or tender
Not that I would condone it

 

[Frankie-H]

Sorry for your troubles, its not the boat, its just plain inconsiderate behaviour on the part of less sea educated persons acquiring ownership of vessels without any appreciation of the damage they can cause.
I hope things improved for you Old Bawley[/QUOTE]


Put me on the list too Paul. Otherwise I will carry on working on my invisibility cloak. Then I can use my silenced kalachnikov.

Failing that a dark wet suite and a sharp knife might make their night more interesting.

Not that I am in any way an agressive person.

 

[dunmor]

just came back from taking the boat to the solent for a week. our first stop was the hamble where we had the same trouble, huge power boats doing
25+ knots and all crossing in front of you. the huge bow wave some of these put out was like suddenly hitting a force 10. why dont they cross behind.!

 

[OldBawley]

I know our boat is not the problem. He ( Yes, it is definitive a He ) will be coastal sailing for a long time after I will be dust.
Violence is not an option, I can tell. Served with the maritime military police, one of the best jobs to learn about beating up and been beaten up. Have been arrested and shown the inside of a Turkish interrogation room after a one blow dispute with a fellow yachtsman. Four machine-gun gendarme in a dingy came to collect me, since it is me who is leaving at the least problem, fists deep in the pockets and mouth shut. Some time ago.
So what can one do ? Just read about the “volunteers “ in GB. Out here in the Med a joke, what would they do against a 30 knots speeding yacht the size of a shoolbuilding? Anyway, at sea, they can speed, do not break laws.
Exposing the owners in Internet? Nope, the guy you think is the owner is just some bloke renting the yacht ( and some lady’s)
He does not have to pay for it, same as for his leased car, it is all a tax game. Maybe it is your boss having a good time at your expenses. Guess 90% of those big super yachts are rental.
And then there is the captain. Have learned a lot about Turkish and Greece mobo captains.
These big yachts are maintained and crewed 24/ 24 by ( Almost always ) Filipinos. Cheep and very reliable. The captan is hired just for the trips. To expensive.
Now, 40 years ago Marcos was a row boat ferry owner at ???. His son takes over the job, motorises the little boat. Many others like the job, playing boat and earning money, buy steadily bigger taxi boats. All those boso´s doing the 200 meter taxi ride to the other side of the water have papers. They have to, they are transporting people. Some can´t even read, they obtain the papers on the traditional way. I am not going to write down how, everybody knows.
And that guy is standing at the bridge of those super yachts. Just paid for the duration of the trip, he leaves his taxi or fishing boat, and plays captan. White costume and a lot of mayonnaise on his shoulders.
Mind you, they know how to manoeuvre a motor yacht, after all it is a lot easier than there own boats. Big twin screws and bowtruster. Greeks are born seamen. If the charterer or his 5 year old grandson cries “ faster...... lets see that little boat “ then that is what he does. Otherwise next trip Dimitrios will be captain. The little boy may even steer.
I had a friend, he sailed the world in a 10m old scruffy yacht. He ( and I ) did some charter skippering. Turkey ten years ago. No papers, who wanted them. He needed the cash, wanted to move up. Told me that with the boom in mega yachting he wanted part of it. The insurance companies wanted to see papers for big yachts so he bought for 3000 dollar a licence. Some Marmaris sailing school. Handed over the cash, got his paper. That is what he told me, I have never seen the licence.
An English high posh paper. No sailing, no proofs, nothing. Mind, he was an excellent sailor. No doubt would have been an excellent captan.
He never used his licence. Met the women of his dreams ( Nr 4 ) sold his boat and now lives in a dessert on an extremely big island.
What I want to say, some skippers of those giants sure know how to manoeuvre with engines, for the rest they are no sailors. There are others to. As always it is that one bad one that ruins the reputation of all.
Talking papers, Conny Van Rietschoten sailed his Whitbread winning yacht the Flyer back to Holland. At entering he was given a fine for not having a Vaarbewijs. ( licence to steer ) This man who just won the round the world race refused to go to school and spend his time learning nonsense from a kid. He was almost as rich as the queen, never gave in. Papers, pha.
I could move, there are lots of places where no big wave makers are. North East Aegean, nobody there, we ware a week in Samotraki, not one yacht. Then the coastguard came in the harbour. Guess what.