SCARY STUFF

[ITH]

Assuming the surveyor says ye....s, we should become the third owners of a sloop-rigged Nauticat 35 motorsailer, currently moored in the Netherlands. Many thanks for the previous advice and encouragement from forumites: if one of you could now volunteer to write to our grandchildren and explain why their inheritance floats - that would be really helpful.

It's scary stuff, setting of to join that august body of liveaboards in the Med, but we've already bought his and hers furry dice for the cockpit and I have a blue blazer - so I'm sure we'll fit in just fine.

Our previous sailing has been pretty much been of the 'getting to and from' variety - 4/5 day trips, so liveaboard cruising will be a new experience. We've read up on "Sail to Freedom," "Sell up and Sail," and the RYA book of "Mediterranean Cruising;" all very helpful, as is trawling through postings from this forum.

However we now have to decide on kit for the boat, and sail her round to her new home in the Med. Your practical comments would be welcome. Our intention is to sail direct(ish) - Holland to Gibraltar - with the assistance of a more experienced skipper. Once in the Med mainly to coastal hop, with occasional overnight passages:

Navigation: Is radar essential or wish list?
Charts: Can we get by with GPS, relevant pilot books (Rod Heikel et al) and relatively small scale charts for passage making?
Safety: Since we will have visiting children from time to time, we will have jack stays etc as appropriate, and we intend to have a liferaft. Are an EPIRB and SART also essential or wish list?

Any one thing you would not be without for the liveaboard life? (No medical answers please!)

 

[Strummer]

It will be cold when you winter in a marina - probably in Spain - so dont forget the fan heater and electric kettle!

 

[vyv_cox]

Congratulations and best of luck. Maybe see you down there sometime.

Answering your questions first - We used radar in fog while sailing down the Atlantic coast but have never switched it on since, two years in the Med now. For the past two years we have relied almost completely on electronic navigation. Last season we used no paper charts whatsoever, relied totally on a Garmin plotter with a laptop plus handheld as backup, never used. We could have bought French paper if needed, but resisted the temptation.

Our biggest 'don't go without' is heat protection. Even with a bimini and awning we were seeing temperatures in the cockpit of 45C in July last year. In marinas there is little wind and it does get excessive at times. A water cooled refrigerator, reflective screens on windows, a big awning, are all highly desirable. Leave the blazer behind - I wear a pair of beach shorts and nothing else for the majority of the time.

Conversely, solar panels are great - fit as many as you can afford.

An anchor windlass is nearly essential. Water is often deep and a big anchor helps you to sleep better, so hoisting it over and over is very hard going. We really felt for a Brit wooden ketch outside Alghero in August last year - they anchored and dragged at least 10 times in 15 metres of water, all with no windlass.

Set up for stern-to berthing. There are disadvantages for both stern and bow-to, but not having to climb over the bows and being able to communicate with the crew when going in astern have very strong advantages. Having persevered with bows-to for two years we have now set up for the other way around, following a couple of falls in which Jill did herself some damage.

 

[Appleyard]

Make ,or have made mossie nets for all the hatches. These are essential later on in the year in the med. Windscoops to fit at least one hatch are brilliant..Buy the type which work from all directions of wind..Go to a garden centre and get some of the netting stuff which is used to screen greenhouses..use this as a boom tent/awning when moored,it lets the breeze through but shades the cockpit..even a bimini is inadequate in hot weather. Take a very good tool kit.

 

[santelmo]

Congratulations on your choice of boat, it will not let you down, we have a nauticat 38, and I feel that a motorsailer is an ideal choice for the med. We were told many times that in the med you will motor more than you will sail, we didnt believe it but it is true. As far as the grandchildrens inheritance is concerned you spend your money on youself and let them fend for themselves. Be carefull of arranging to meet people something will probably prevent you from making the rendezvous usually the weather. Accept all invitations for drinks and make lots of friends and keep in touch with the ones that you get on well with. We are now in Sibari in southern Italy after 2 years with no regrets.

 

[Anonymous]

Congratulations and, may I say, a fine choice of boat? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[TigaWave]

Hopefully it won't be scary at all, it should be lots of fun. Nauticats are nice boats.

Kit wise I've only once felt the need for a radar, and in the event simply turned back. With a radar I may have pushed on in very poor visibility. What is really useful and can be quite an expense is a decent dinghy, best solution was a small rib and a 10hp, that would just fit deflated upturned on the fore deck of a Sweden 38.

after 6 Months you'll know waht you need, so in some ways best to take your time and see what type of sailing anchoring you enjoy. I know new boat owners who have changed plan halfway down the Portuguese coast and headed to the Caribbean.

Good luck

 

[wayneA]

I would like to echo all the great advice already posted - esp about Solar Panels; Sun Shade/protection (we spend most time avoiding the sun these days!) and the electric fan heater for those winter months.

I'd also like to add that a good, reliable self-steering system is high on my list as an essential. We left the UK with only wind-vane steering - which was great when sailing but not good when motoring. As already mentioned in this thread, you can be motoring quite often in the med. We did a season without an electronic autopilot and found it painful being stuck on the helm, hand steering hour-after-hour.

Wayne

 

[jimbaerselman]

[ QUOTE ]
Navigation: Is radar essential or wish list?


[/ QUOTE ] Wish list. Bad vis is only common north of Lisbon, and GPS means that you won't need it for navigation, only for traffic avoidance. You can keep out of heavy traffic everywhere except crossing the channel - choose your weather for that one.
[ QUOTE ]
Can we get by with GPS, relevant pilot books (Rod Heikel et al) and relatively small scale charts for passage making?

[/ QUOTE ] Yes, excepting Brittany and the Rias of Galicia. To get the best out of these, you need detail charts. Don't rely on anything except their own recently updated web sites for marina layouts (even their existence!). Get current corrections for any pilot books and expect omissions and errors about man made features - things change more quickly than they can keep up with.
[ QUOTE ]
Safety: Since we will have visiting children from time to time, we will have jack stays etc as appropriate, and we intend to have a liferaft. Are an EPIRB and SART also essential or wish list?

[/ QUOTE ] Your lives, your choice.

Good advice above about coping with heat.

Places not to miss en route - go to my web site.

 

[demonboy]

Congratulations! I'm not familiar with Nauticats but I frequently hear that they are super boats.

With regards to charts you probably can get by with what you suggest - sometimes even just the pilot guide is enough. However, err on the side of caution, back yourself up with paper charts and get into the habit of using them occasionally, even if it's after you've spent 20 minutes playing with the plotter. Peace of mind and all that.

 

[ITH]

Thanks Strummer - there's an Eberspacher fitted, but I'll take thick socks anyway.

 

[ITH]

Good wishes appreciated: and if we do come across you (or any other helpful forumites, I've put a bottle of 20 year old Scapa Flow in the locker).

Radar goes on the wish list, as others have also pointed out. Your recommendation for heat protection is well taken. Being a Northern waters boat until now, my new acquisition has no bimini, awnings, hatch covers etc. Quotes from UK/coastal EC yards to supply and fit them have scared the pants off the bank manager. Would I get better value by waiting until I get to the Med and having it done there? Ditto for solar panels?

I'm certainly having an electric windlass fitted (boat currently has no winch at all)

Boat currently has a bow ladder, so I guess that's OK for lunch-time mooring, but we're going to have to learn the black art of going backwards.

 

[ITH]

Thanks James -and for your previous helpful input regarding S&D Yachts.

We have measured all the hatches and will make up mossie nets. The windscoop looks easy enough to make - does anyone have a drawing/template for starters?

Once I work out exactly what's on board I will assemble a tool kit.

 

[ITH]

Cheers Santelmo; although telling a Scotsman to remember to accept all drinks invitations is probably redundant advice! However in case we do get a drinks invitation from a certain Nauticat 38, I will lay in a bulk stock of Alka Seltzer.

 

[ITH]

Thank you Lemain. If we see a Nauticat 42 with a swarm of bees around her, we will make ourselves known. I had the 35 out for a brief sail yesterday - really for an engine test, but she does have a nice easy motion, and we are greatly encouraged by the surveyor's findings.

 

[ITH]

Helpful stuff Tigawave: we do have to purchase a (2nd hand) tender and outboard, but I am undecided about what to get - and how to store it: on the deck, davits, tow it? Perhaps I'll try another question about this to the long-suffering Forum.

 

[ITH]

The new home has a Raytheon 6000 fitted Wayne, which should relieve the tedium of hours helming under engine.

 

[ITH]

Grateful for your input Jim; I'm familiar with your site and we'll certainly bone up on the places to visit.

My query on charts relates to the fact that I haven't used a plotter in the past. Despite my pensionable status, I'm not a Luddite, it's just that I have never really needed electronic navigation since previous sailing was was over relatively small distances: UK-Holland/Belgium/France etc., where a 1:200 000 scale chart was fine for passage planning and pilotage to offshore, when the pilot book took over. Most of the time I only needed two or three charts.

Now I'm facing much longer passages - and the expense of many more charts, if I continue with the same policy of using 1:200 000 for passage planning. So would it be better to invest in a plotter for electronic navigation, and the occasional larger scale charts for areas of particular interest where we would want to spend some time cruising?

 

[ITH]

Thank you Demonboy: I didn't make myself clear when I asked about the use of charts. My reply to Jim Baerselem enlarges upon the subject - if you have any further thoughts?

 

[Budgie]

Ian,

Seeing your remark about needing a tender, I have a second hand tender for sale. It is an Avon Typhoon 2.7 metre, slatted floor, inflatable seat. It is in good condition and could be yours for €100 BUT you will need to pay for shipping from Lagos, Portugal!

If interested send me a message.

Regards,
Jon