‘Billy-no-mates’

I am no stranger to sailing in the Mediterranean. I based my previous yacht in Mallorca and Barcelona for over 12 years and enjoyed it there exploring the western Med extensively. The actual exploring was inevitably restricted to ā€˜chapsā€™ trips which tended to be more adventurous and with the family joining the cruise in the various destinations. Apart from the vagaries of Mediterranean winds which tend to blow too strong or hardly at all, the issue that lingers with me more than anything else is the imperative to be somewhere because of crew flight bookings. This was a particular pressure when most of the crew had jobs to sustain and their limited budgets were helped by early booking on a pre-arranged notional itinerary. I donā€™t think I found myself making passages that were unsafe but there were certainly occasions when prudence would have recommended a delay, if only for the comfort of the crew. More usual however were the times that we had to reluctantly run the engine in light airs to make a rendezvous when slow sailing would otherwise have been delightfully serene but could not be accommodated within the time constraints. Then there have been the times when we have ā€˜kicked our heelsā€™ for a crew departure or arrival when we could have made more of our location and continued to explore, possibly discovering hidden treasures. How wonderful it would be to be free to just ghost slowly along under sail with no deadline to keep, going with the wind and accepting whatever it delivers ā€“ bliss!

So, my planning for this summer has had several black clouds associated with it. Apart from some extraordinary and distressing personal and business ā€˜cloudsā€™, the primary yachting cloud has been the state of Hejira with the enormous ā€˜tank replacement jobā€™ which frustratingly dragged on and on – see my previous blogs and ā€˜technicalā€™ postings. This was followed by other gear issues and general maintenance which has had unfortunate collateral ā€˜mission creepā€™. Preparation is nearly complete now and it only remains to anchor between the Lerin Islands off Cannes and dive under (not sensible on my own) to check the anodes and fouling before casting off at the beginning of June. The fouling issue will be interesting as it has been well over a year since my launch in Portsmouth and I have continuously run the new ā€˜Ultrasonic anti foulingā€™ system since then. It will be a major result if this combined with my ā€˜copper coatā€™ has significantly reduced the fouling problem as I have struggled to book a local ā€˜liftā€™ and scrub before June.

Once again, I have been under a certain amount of pressure to identify when I will be where for the inevitable early flight booking discounts and, so far, I have resisted being drawn and I have continued to prevaricateā€¦ā€¦ā€¦.

So, I can now disclose that ā€“ I donā€™t know where I will be and I wonā€™t know when until I get there!

This seemingly flippant attitude will hopefully gather some understanding and sympathy when I explain my position.

The various joys of sailing are experienced in different ways and on different levels for different people. For me, the liberating experience of being largely in charge of oneā€™s own destiny and making passage in the last great wilderness using none of the earthā€™s resources is only part of it. There is also my powerful imperative for adventure which is rewarded by a subsequent sense of achievement. In my early days, this was fulfilled by making ambitious passages in a small yacht to places I had never visited before using basic navigational skills. These pleasures have been somewhat compromised as the navigation element of the equation has been all but removed by new technologies. It is also very true that, over the years, as local cruising grounds have been repeatedly visited, horizons have had to expand. There has been a necessity to travel further afield to satisfy the ā€˜fixā€™ and this has necessitated longer and longer passages. Over recent years, I have discovered the joys of single handed sailing and I have found that the adventuring ā€˜buzzā€™ can actually be refreshed by visiting familiar destinations alone for the first time when previously I had visited with a full crew.

It is no secret that I have harboured (pun not initially intended) more extensive single handing aspirations. This is not because of a ā€˜Billy-no-matesā€™ persona (or maybe it isā€¦) but because I really want to do it. I find it extremely satisfying and I have sailed single handed for longish passages but I have always sought an anchorage overnight so single handing through the night remains untried. On the face of it, ā€˜cat nappingā€™ for 20 minutes at a time would appear to contravene the ā€˜Collision Regulationsā€™ which stipulate that a ā€˜constant watch should be kept at all timesā€™ but with modern electronics using early warning alarms and guard zones on both AIS and Radar, it must be safer than in the past. After all, single handed Round the World races have been universally accepted since the 1960s. It is also significant that my insurers have agreed to cover me for overnight single handing ā€“ and I have it in writing!

One of the downsides of single handing is the imprudence of flying the big downwind sails, particularly my excellent and powerful Parasailor (it is a huge ā€˜monsterā€™ but we shall seeā€¦) which is such a boon in light airs behind the beam. All the other lines are led back to the cockpit with the third reef tack now also lead back so conventional white sail handling should be safe and no problem alone.

I intend to push off from Nice on my own and see how it goes. Overnight for the first night then play it by ear. I will be heading south with the target of hopefully getting to the Adriatic. Maybe I wonā€™t be able to sustain it night after night but my route will enable me to ā€˜cop outā€™ if it gets too tiring and put into various destinations – Corsica, Elba, Rome, Naples are all on the route and who knows, that may be as far as I get and, hey, not bad places to be if that happensā€¦ā€¦ Venice is 1400 miles away if I go round the outside of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily and that is a VERY long way.

So, I hope you will understand why I am resisting undertaking to be in certain places at certain times and, if you are one of those looking to join the cruise, it may be that you have to pay a little more for a last minute flight and I am sorry about that. You can follow my location on the Hejira web site once I push off and you can gauge the probabilities for my landfall which will help and I will try to give some indication as to my thinking and state of mind in my blog postings. I will re-subscribe to the Satellite connections so I should be communicating even when seriously offshore.

I have confirmed a booking to return to Baie des Anges Marina near Nice for the winter of 2019/20 so, hopefully with a yacht that isnā€™t (like this winter) out of commission, I will be able to do some off season, light duty cruising along the stunning Riviera coast with the delights of Antibes, Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez and Monaco only day sails apart if that grabs your fancy.

Should you be finding my postings overly technical and somewhat anodyne, I totally understand and beg forgiveness. However, please try to ā€˜stick with itā€™ as, when the crew do finally catch up with me, the content should improve with their input and could even be entertaining which has been the experience of regular readers ā€“ or so I am told.

I might however be delighted to discover a stowaway along the way with similar patience and aspirationsā€¦ā€¦ā€¦.

6 thoughts on “‘Billy-no-mates’

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  1. So` Billy` is off on his own
    The crew overboard he has thrown
    We will track him from space
    With that grin on his face
    As he basks on his fiberglass throne

    Don`t let the `Night King` win !

  2. Glad the tank ā€˜issuesā€™ seem to be coming to a conclusion Nick. I look forward to keeping up with your blog as and when we have interweb. We have been very pleased with our Iridium Go for sat coms, but donā€™t think it would support blog posting ( 2.4kbs ! ) but the email is excellent, and the tracking feature is good too.

  3. Perhaps your new mode of cruising will suit a new type of cruise/touring where your crew pops in and out to share and assist with longer runs then carries on ashore touring the country side for a time, to then rejoin later at another port or location. That sounds ideal to me.

    I am keen to read your posts on solo sailing. Thinking about it now I must see if my Raymarine system has wind strength alarm capability, and surely being hove-to under the right circumstances with AIS and radar alarms active for a few hours has to be a safe-ish option when tiredness becomes too much.

    Looking up Hove-to safety lighting in blogs (hot topic) some one said flashing two white flashes every 10 seconds would keep most ships alert, some one else said flash coding the letter D was the appropriate safety action. There are a number of circumstances that are similar such as a boat with divers down or boats stationary while fishing. There may be rules for boats not under command (NUC), I am not that knowledgable. But for me the take away thought is to to have a mast head light that can flash with decent power and have a controller that can make that work.

    A Naval Architect friend in Perth is currently making up a Raspberry Pi based navigation and auto helm system for his yacht (he and his wife are permanent live aboards) so I will put the whole subject to him for his reaction.

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