Hi
I'm looking for two or three crew to help me sail Octopus, my 2007
Lagoon 420 Hybrid, from Figueira Da Foz,
Portugal to Isle of Arran,
Scotland in July/August/September 2014.
Dates (TBC)
Dates flexible within following constraints. One week (two weekends) commencing any Thursday/Friday through to following Sunday/Monday, from now until the end of September
Passage Plans
The voyage is expected to take about a week and include at least one overnight stop at either Bayona or La Corunna (to top up with fuel). Ideally I will only be taking one week off
work, so I'm hoping the
passage can be completed within 9 days (i.e. two weekends). I plan to fly out on a Thursday or Friday evening to Porto or Lisbon (probably Ryanair Liverpool to Porto), expecting to arrive at the
boat between 11pm and 1am). Stock up with fresh produce in the morning and set-off at about noon.
From Figueira Da Foz to Bayona/La Corunna is likely to be against the prevailing Northerlies, so is likely to mean motoring against
wind, swell and
current at about 4 to 5 knots for 160 miles. Once we
head North from NW
Spain we can expect the winds to be more favourable.
From Bayona or La Corunna, we will
head for Wexford, SE
Ireland (winds permitting), a distance of about 550 nautical miles at an expected average of 5 knots.
About Octopus
Octopus is a well-proven 42ft (11.6m)
catamaran that I have owned since new in 2007. I sailed across the Atlantic to the
Caribbean in 2007 with my wife, our six
children and two crew. Then spent five idyllic months in the
Caribbean before returning across the Atlantic to our home in
Scotland. In 2009, we sailed from Scotland to the Algarve in
Portugal and in 2010 spent a couple of months in the
Med. before sailing back to Figueira Da Foz in Portugal, where she has been used as floating apartment for
family holidays ever since.
We have just spent two weeks getting Octopus ready for the trip home, but ran out of time for the
passage home owing to a couple of minor problems with the hybrid diesel/electric
propulsion system, which have now been resolved.
Family and
work commitments prevented us staying on to complete the passage. Everything works and the hulls have been cleaned.
Octopus is a very spacious and comfortable
catamaran with four separate double cabins and all modern conveniences. Most of the sailing
gear is standard factory-fitted
gear. Octopus is no greyhound, as she is a heavy
boat filled with accumulated family clutter, and weight kills the performance of a catamaran. When planning a voyage we expect to achieve an average speed of 5 knots, but Octopus needs a stiff
wind (12 to 25 knots) to sail well. She's not good sailing close to the wind, but
sails pretty well at other points of sail.
Crew
Myself, possibly plus one or two of my brothers (depending on dates), possibly plus one or two of my older
children (depending on dates and inclination), plus two or three volunteers.
Crew Duties
As you would expect, Octopus has an
autopilot and
chartplotter, so
navigation and watch-keeping are simple. Keeping watch usually just means that - keeping an eye out for
shipping and watching for a change in the
weather. All lines lead to the
helm, so raising, adjusting and changing sail can be done safely, without going on the foredeck. The rig is tolerant and forgiving, so we tend to set the
sails roughly right for the conditions and leave them. The sails can be tweaked to improve performance, but we don't tend to do this much. You sail a cat by numbers, i.e. wind speed and direction, not by feel (as feel can be deceptive). We reef early and often.
Obviously, any crew would take turns with preparing and
cooking meals,
washing up and keeping the boat clean and tidy.
About Me- 54 year old sedentary male
- Moderately fit, without having done a day's 'exercise' since leaving school
- 15,000 sea miles, but wouldn't consider myself an expert sailor (no formal sailing qualifications)
- Competant at electrics, electronics, navigation, mechanics and practical matters
- Caring and considerate skipper
- Socially, a bit on the shy side, but friendly and good humoured
About You
You will be:
- moderately fit and active (although no hard physical effort required)
- reasonably practical (no need to be an expert in sailing or anything else)
- moderately healthy (i.e. not chronically seasick or suffering from a recurrent serious illness)
- conscientious
- considerate
- willing to turn your hand to anything
- good humoured
- Male or female (i.e. no preference)
- English speaking (fluency not required)
- Non-smoker (ideally)
- Meat-eating (ideally - otherwise you will have to prepare your own food)
Safety
Unless you are reckless, you will want to know the
safety equipment Octopus carries. This includes the following:
- Top quality 10 Person Liferaft (3 years overdue for a service - I don't consider this an issue, but you may)
- Full set of (in-date) Offshore flares and distress signals
- 4.2m RIB (preferable to a liferaft in some circumstances)
- Main DSC VHF Radio
- AIS & GPS
- Two portable waterproof VHF handsets
- Two fully equipped grab-bags
- Two EPIRBS (batteries overdue for replacement, but should still be good for 87% of rated 48 hour transmission)
- One new PLB (24 hour transmission)
- One Satphone
- Fully equipped first aid bag
- Five or six adult automatic Personal Floatation Devices (150N), with crutch strap and harness, but you may prefer to bring your own
- 4 sets of adult waterproofs (foulies), but you may prefer to bring your own
Comfort and Entertainment- Plenty of bedding and bed linen available, but you may want to bring your own sleeping bag
- Towels/flannels available
- Various books, films (circa 1,000), audiobooks and music
- Practically anything else you could wish for is available
Costs
All
food,
provisioning and boat costs will be met by me. Flight and travel costs will be met by you unless a decision made by me leaves you out of pocket, in which case I will reimburse you. The voyage will be at your own risk. You will be expected to have taken out appropriate travel
insurance that covers you for
offshore sailing, but I will not check that you have done so.
Rules
For
safety reasons the following rules must be followed:
- Life jacket must be worn and you must be clipped-on at all times on when on-deck
- At night and in wind speeds above 25 knots, life jacket must be worn and you must be clipped-on when at the helm or in the cockpit
- The skippers instructions must be followed promptly and cheerfully, even when he's being an arse (which my eldest daughter tells me does happen occasionally)
- No drugs or alcohol to be consumed when at sea
- No drugs (other than alcohol) allowed on board
Contact Me
In the first instance, please contact me by PM (Private Message) - click on my name [Octopus] at the start of this post and select the Send Private Message option. Please provide as much relevant information as possible.
Thanks
Chris
Octopus,
Lagoon 420 Hybrid (2007),
Hull 52
Figueira Da Foz, Portugal
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