Areneys de Mar, Spain to Puerto Rico..

[boatman61]

For those who may be interested in the progress of a Bali 4.5 on a Transat here's my link

SPOT Shared Page

Appreciate if someone could let me know if its working..
Catching the Midnight Express to Madrid tonight then on to Barcelona and Areneys de Mar in the morning.. should be there by evening.
Will update you all on sailing date after I get there..

[SV DestinyAscen]

Seems to be working - you're by the A31?

[neilpride]

You cant miss if you have some free time the Mussels with marinara sauce in Spanish / Mejillones a la marinera/ supp food.... Enjoy the trip.

[boatman61]

Thanks Neil.. only problem is I don't eat seafood..
Is the link working..??? should show me just up the road from the rail station.

Nice one SV Destiny.. that's it.. Thanks.

[neilpride]

ESN :
0-2441613
Tipo :
TRACK

Latitud :
40.22857

Longitud :
-8.43624

Altitude :
98

Hora :
‎19‎/‎01‎/‎2017‎ ‎18‎:‎48‎:‎05

Battery State :
GOOD


Working!!!!

[SV Bacchus]

Just wondering what you were doing in the middle of the field?

[Prairie Chicken]

Still sailing overland, is he?

(Following)

[JPA Cate]

Boatie, link works. Looks like a nice great circle route through the air.

Good sailing.........

Ann

[boatman61]

Got here Friday evening and its windy and wet.. typical Golfe de Lyons winter weather.
Strong ENE winds kicking up a short and nasty 4-5metre sea and most all ports closed down the coast to Cartagena according to the Port Captain.. so we are spending the days sat in front of a log fire in the clubhouse.. nice.
Crazy weather.. they had a foot of snow almost in Tavira on and along the Algarve.. Benidorm in Spain and all along the Spanish coast and its cold..
Looks good for tomorrow onwards though.. winds going N and sea's going down to 1.5 metres.. so with luck its up and about early for a run to the market then away by 1300hrs..

[JPA Cate]

Bon voyage.

Ann

[boatman61]

Well here I am back in Portugal on standby till the owner makes up his mind on his next moves.. continue.. or ship by Seven Stars or deck cargo on a freighter.
We set of from Arneys del Mar on Monday 23rd and had some decent sailing till near midnight when the wind shifted forcing us to switch on one of the engines.. motored till NE of Denia where the wind shifted enough for us to start a beat and got a fast sail S to Cartagena where I tacked into land as the sea's had built and she was starting to slam to much.. once past the point I motored her East past Cartagena to keep in the lee of the land as we headed down to Cabo de Gato which we reached around noon to near windless conditions and slight sea.
From there to Almerimar we motored to top with a little diesel.. sufficient to make Gib where the owner was planning on topping his tanks with cheap fuel.. we'd started with around 1/3rd of a tank for each engine.
On arrival at Almerimar Thursday evening I advised the owner we stop for a couple of days as the Spanish CG forecast was for F7 coming up through the night and lasting a couple of days..
However after consulting his AccuWeather app and considering the flat sea he opted to continue for Estaponte where he had a part waiting for collection for the past 5 weeks.. from my view point Monday would have been as good as the Friday but.. its his boat and his risk.. I'd given warning.
So away we went him happy as Larry making 6kts on 1 engine.. around 2100 he went below for a sleep and by the time he came back up at 0200 the wind had picked up to 15kts and maybe 1metre sea's on the nose.
After briefing him I went to get my head down.. about an hour later he shouted for me.. the wind had gone to 30kts, it was pitch black and lightening flashing all over.. he said he'd never been in anything like it before and did not know what to do.. and just before he'd called me the bboat had been lifted to 45degrees on her beam by the sea.. just then the DSC went off and (as had been happening all the way down.. knocked out the B&G all link setup.. including the AP.. so the boat started circling while we turned it all off then rebooted and got things back under control).. once settled back on course roughly and checking all was in order.. much to the owners consternation.. I turned the boat so the stern quartered the wind.. locked the helm and switched off the engines.. the effect was near instant.. she stopped bucking and heaving and rode comfortably with zero slamming.. I then told him to settle down and just watch out for ships.. and give me another shout if anything changed or at daylight.. whichever came first and went back to bed.
I woke to the sound of him starting the engines as the sun was coming up.. with the ability to see that the waves were not monsters but only 2-2.5 metres short sharp chop he felt much happier.. I advised he hang toward Malaga around 45degrees off the wind and seek a lee shore we could work our way down.. wind had eased to around 25kts.. he'd been worried we were blowing onto shore when in fact we were 20+ miles clear.. he has yet to gain distance perspectives at sea.. but he'll get there.
Eventually we made Estapona around 2230 Friday night battling winds up to 30kts all the way.. collected the part the next morning and continued on to Gib 30miles further down the coast.
Highly embarrassed on leaving Estapona.. I made a real rookie mistake.. did not confirm ALL lines had been released and zoomed the main up with the electric winch.. and popped the uphaul trying to tighten the luff.. the mainsheet traveller was cranked down really tight.. DUHH..!!
Apart from that however it a good trip with no real threat or danger.. just some uncomfortable and very noisy slamming..
This I put down to the fact that the Bali 4.5 is fully decked from bow to stern like the old Catalac's of the 70's.. basically to my eye's its just an updated 2016 version of a Catalac with deck seating where the foredeck used to be.. this greatly affects windward work where when the bow lifts with the sea the wind acts as a further braking force when it hits 12metres of solid deck and then as she drops the contact with the sea starts right up at the bow with a solid bang.
A great party boat but in my opinion limited to sea conditions by the expanse of deck space..
Up till that bad night the owner was happily looking forward to the crossing however.. understandably he's reconsidering this after discovering some of the boats flaws and limitations.. also his inexperience of this kind of sailing.. previous history being restricted to Caribe Charters and day sailing to charter schedules.
Does he want to risk his $500-600K investment by sea.. or ship it.. most likely the latter..

[boatman61]

Thread was closed so my response is here..

Originally Posted by Suijin

Either this is a poorly written sentence or you're agreeing with Kenomac, I can't tell which. You appear to be stating that additional coverage is required to cover a paid captain.

But I do agree with his other point. If you're accepting payment for services, you're a business, at least as far as the law is concerned. You may be a sole proprietor, a consultant, a whatever, but you're a business. You don't need a business license or accreditation of any sort for the law to view you as a business.

Of course, if you're getting paid "under the table", I suppose you then are just a "friend" on a client's boat. Until the insurance company finds out that you were hired to captain the boat, at which point whether you pay taxes or not is irrelevant.

I started doing this when I helped someone out getting their boat back to the UK from the Med in the late 90's.. he told someone about me etc etc..
I've never considered myself a business.. just a retired guy who helps folk out by moving their boats from A to B when they cannot find a Yacht Master prepared to take the chance on it without a major refit that the cannot afford.. not the Keno's of the world who wave their Oyster's and Ferrari's under everyone's nose every chance they get..
I had to put myself up as a 'Marine Service Provider' on here as a result of the Professional Skippers bitching about my talking about the odd job I did/do to the Mod's or stop posting about my experiences.. so I pay the 'Sub's'..
I take on maybe 2 jobs a year and turn down around 10+.. or pass them on to folks on here like Atoll etc if I think they're interested or its in their area of operations.. were I what I call a 'Business' I would have skippers on my books, take on ALL jobs and contract out the work.. in which case I would take out max insurance needed to cover my ass.. and theirs.
As for the Insurance company.. which bit is so frickin hard for you guys to grasp..
I tell ALL owners they must notify and get approval for my service before I will send a contract out.. some have in the past even changed their companies to take out a Pantaenius policy because I'm the guy they want and they're prepared to go through the hassle to get me..
The Insurers decide if I do.. or do not take the mission.. if they say 'Go'.. I do the trip.. if they say 'No'.. I don't.
As for me insuring your boat for example for a trip.. let me ask you this..
When you buy a boat and want it insured full cover.. does the company say to you.. no worries mate.. its been insured by X for the last 10 years with no claims so your good to go.. here's your premium..
Or.. do they ask for a full survey with all faults found fixed and inspected/verified before issuing cover for the boat..
Yet somehow you lot seem of the opinion that my Insurer should take on blind faith your boats cover and seaworthiness.. and we all know what can happen to boats that have been grounded (undeclared) or other problems that have built up with wear and tear over the years..
Dream on all you Me Me's... it aint going to happen.. Insurers don't stay in business long if they were as stupid as you lot seem to want them to be..
Think beyond yourselves a little...

[boatman61]

Back to the Bali 4.5..
This is the 'Self Tacking Foresail' version of the boat.. the owner had opted out of the 'Code Zero' version as to expensive at $10K+ extra..
It gives good upwind sailing performance as when we were beating 55-50degrees of the wind we were making 9-10kts with just 5degrees leeway.. could have maybe gone faster without the 1 metre chop..
Bad point is.. it won't go downwind efficiently without greatly increasing ones tacking angles beyond acceptability.. it needs an Asymetrical spinnaker for downwind work.
So.. another one of the things for the owner to decide is whether to fit a single line furler set-up in Gib with spinnaker made to order for the crossing.. or ship it and put that money toward the shipping fee..
I doubt he'll need one much for poodling around Puerto Rice.. and he feels a better deals available in the States..

[neilpride]

He come from the Factory with the 2 pad eyes in both hulls and the short boom fittin in the crossbeam? Otherwise maybe its cheaper in Las Palmas... and worth the money, i remember doing a Las Palmas Martinique in a L380 with no downwind sail at all, quite funy trimig the jib with the deck cleats.. Lol.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by neilpride

He come from the Factory with the 2 pad eyes in both hulls and the short boom fittin in the crossbeam? Otherwise maybe its cheaper in Las Palmas... and worth the money, i remember doing a Las Palmas Martinique in a L380 with no downwind sail at all, quite funy trimig the jib with the deck cleats.. Lol.

The problem with the jib is its limited to the width of the saloon.. so the leech starts flapping once you get 130 aft of the beam.. its around 1.5 metres from the end of the track to where your jib sheets would normally go on each side... as for blocks on the padeyes right aft.. its a much longer line to a small fractional high cut jib as opposed to a nice size genoa.. about 9metres+ from the furler.. it'd work but not that well.