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Welcome to the December, 2000 edition of the Sailing and Cruising New Discoveries page.
November, 2000
October, 2000
September 2000
July, 2000
5/28/00
4/29/00
(2/25/00)
This concept comes from Bobby Schenk, a German sailor. I want to bring some of the ideas to those who may not read German. Mr. Schenk put together a concept of a comfortable cruising yacht set up for a couple. He assumes that you have the dollars to do it right, but part of doing it right is not to be spending all of those dollars.
The basis behind this concept is that someone who has worked long and hard to be able to afford to cruise the world should be able to go in style. The idea is that most comforts of civilization can be provided by using reliable systems, and the diesel inboard engine is used to power most of the systems on the boat.
Bobby says that in order to prevent interior corrosion in a diesel motor, it should be run under load daily to bring it up to operating temperature. If the motor is to be run daily, it can provide both 12V charging to batteries and 120V/220V power to household systems by using a separate 12V alternator and 120V or 220V generator. The 120V/220V power can be used to run a standard voltage (not 12V) microwave, power tools, household appliances, and in particular, a 120V/220V electric fridge and freezer setup with a deep cooling holding plate system which provides enough cooling in one hour to last the entire day. The heat from the engine will heat up hot water in a heat exchanger system. Running the engine on a daily basis will provide far more charging capacity than solar cells or wind generators could provide. The household voltage generator (120V or 220V, depending on your area) allows you to use standard electrical appliances while the motor is running. Bobby Schenk's page can be found at: Bobby Schenk's Konzept einer Langfahrtyacht
Some of the characeristics of the Long Distance Sailing Yacht include:
Other than recommending roller furling, Bobby doesn't really have much to say about the type of sailing rig, he leaves that up to the owner or builder. The focus here is on how to get the comforts of home in a wilderness or island paradise anchorage using the most reliable systems possible.
Post your Comment on this concept design.
(2/6/00)
Over the next few months I will focus on boats with a reputation of being able to handle big water, but with a small price tag, under US$ 20,000 and preferably under $10,000. For the most part, this means looking at boats with a length of 25 to 30 feet, built in the 60's and 70's and usually with a full or long keel hull. I will also list coastal cruisers which have stood the test of time. The focus will mainly be on non-trailerable displacement hulls, although I will definitely include links to trailer-sailer sites. Stop in at Cruising Sites often and check out the additions!
(1/15/00)
Cruisenews' 1999 New Discoveries (Lots of interesting links here)
I recently received an email from a Mr. Scholtes asking for help in researching encounters with whales while cruising. Please email him if you can help him out.
From: michiel scholtes
L.S.
In the month of may '99, I sailed my 30 footer Eenhoorn from the Azores to Falmouth, England, and on to my homeport in Holland: the end of an eleven-month cruise around the North-Atlantic. A week after having sailed from Horta on a northerly course we began spotting humpbacks spouting on the horizon and nearby. On calm night my mate was scared out of his boots byj a whale suddenly surfacing and blowing right beside the boat. The next days we had several encounters with humpbacks clearly changing course to intercept us, encircling our becalmed boat, blowing impressively, diving under it and showing all signs of what we could only interpret as curiosity. They were about 50 foot and massive though agile and fast. Both scared and excited we kept asking ourselves if we were in any danger or not. We closed all hatches and attached ourselves as in heavy weather, just in case. Nothing happened, the humpbacks drifted along with us at a boatlength, lost interest after a while and swam on leisurely, often staying in the surroundings for hours. The animals didn't behave agressive in any way but their sheer size and power would have been enough to do extensive damage should one of them accidentaly hit the boat. Eventually none of them did.
An American naturalist E-mailed that, although some risk is involved in these encounters I should be happy and content that such a wonderful occasion of whale-whatching had befallen me. He also wrote that the interpretation of whale behaviour as curiosity is pure human projection. No research sustains as yet such suppositions. My questions still are: What then makes them approach a yacht so deliberately? What are the risks to small yachts?
Of course any whale would inverse the question, stating whales for ages have been hunted and slaughtered by man in small vessels and still are frequently wounded or killed by collisions with fast sailing yachts and cargo's. Who's a risk to whom?
Yet, there are rare stories about whales deliberately attacking yachts. For instance, there is the famous account by the Robertson's who's small schooner was sunk by killerwhales in the Pacific, supposedly after the schooner collided with or posed a threat to one of their young. And what to think of the extraordinary story of David Sellings in Hyccup who claimes to be deliberately sunk by a gathering of about 60 whales in the Ostar transatlantic? What sort of whales was he talking about? Humpbacks? Sperms? Wasn't it just bad luck to be sailing amongst so many, like a cyclist amidst trucks on a freeway, hence unable to avoid the fatal but undeliberate collision?
I'd like to get reactions from other cruising yachsmen having had encounters with different sorts of whales in order to assess the danger involved. My aim is to write about these reflections and experiences in the Dutch sailing magazine Zeilen of which I am a contributor.
Thanks,
Michiel Scholtes
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New contributions and suggestions are always welcome.
http://cruisenews.net
To: guide@cruisenews.net
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2000 12:13 PM
Subject: encounter with humpbacks
Naarden
The Netherlands
