macblaze.ca

One of the (sailing) skills I don’t yet have is good rope work. I like knots and love to fool around with rope but I don’t know any advanced sailing stuff. So I grabbed my old trusty length of nylon (she’s been with me since the Hole’s days and was once a covergirl) and tried to do an eye splice. It didn’t turn out completely horrible but it’s not pretty.

To try and tidy it up I also whipped the end. I used minty dental floss: mmmmm, minty fresh! The finished result is quite sturdy but in need of some reworking to truly be as strong as possible. Remember, every time you bend a rope, it loses some of its strength! I will either cut it off or try the other end next. I also could use a stiffer rope as this soft nylon unravels a bit too much. If you are interested in trying yourself,  Animated Knots is a great site to learn from.

Another knot I ‘learned’ recently was the water bottle knot (jug sling or bottle sling). It’s an ancient knot used to carry bottles or jugs by their necks. Handy!

How Johnny Depp carries his rum.

The thing about learning these knots — any knots —is it takes a lot of repetition to gain a mental understanding of the knot and build the muscle memory to be able to retain it even after extended periods of non-use. I’d say about half of my old climbing knots are still second nature to me and the others I have to think about first. There are even one or two more obscure ones that I just can’t remember. So ya, practice makes perfect…

There is this guy who is traveling from San Diego to the Caribbean. He is a certified ASA instructor and willing to take on crew for 1 and 2 week legs. I had looked at it earlier in the year but he filled up before I could seriously consider it. But now it looks like he has a spot from Puerto Vallarta to Zihuatenejo on Jan 1. Hmmmmmm…

His original ask:

Hi all, I’m an ASA sailing instructor, been a working captain for 15 years teaching and running charter boats. I’m moving my own boat for a change so I’m offering offshore sailing classes along the passage from San Diego to Panama, through the Canal, then up the Caribbean to New England. We leave early November 2014, the whole trip will be about 6 months. We have a few surfboards, fishing gear, a stand-up paddleboard, snorkle gear, etc, come along if you’re looking to have a great time and learn a lot, and are willing to help out with expenses (fuel/food/immigration). The trip is broken down into 1-2 week legs, and there will be a captain, one experienced crew, and room for 2 students on each leg. Couples welcome, all levels of experience. Several of my former students will be along at various times. I run a laid-back boat, no yelling, lots of learning and take time for fun whenever we can. Fair winds,

-Jesse

More here. It’s a Westsail 42

Speaking of sailing lessons and Zihuatenejo (that’s where Tim Melville’s condo is), Tim and Natural Pace Sailing are offering their Round Vancouver Island trip again this spring. We missed it last year as we decided to go to the Broughtons instead. This year he is doing it in conjunction with Nanaimo Yacht Charters Yachtsman course. I want to get some open water experience and do some work on my Coastal Skipper so it looks like a good idea. Tim’s boat is a Baltic 42.

Things to think about…

I think I am gearing up to another year of trying to post everyday. At the very least cross posting my other social media, using the blog as some sort of content aggregator. Otherwise it will likely all be about sailing.

I’ve been looking at canal boats again. For 50,000€ I could pick up a shallow draft motor cruiser and spend a season in the European canals. Apparently some of them are even sturdy enough for coastal cruising in the Med, so Spain, Italy and even Greece are not out of reach. The issue is, as it seems to be everywhere, what to do in the off season.

Another thread I have been following on Cruiserforums.com was about travelling from the Baltic to the Med entirely along canals and rivers. Also possible… who knew? Apparently you can enter in Poland, cruise past Berlin and enter the system along the Mosel where we were a few years back. Then it’s easy-peasy all across France.

A suggested route from http://www.jsea.ca/adventures-2012.html

Baltic Sea to Marseille France in the Mediterranean.

Depart  – Stattin ( Szczecin ), Poland  – April 29 th     –  90 miles
Arrive   – Oranienburg  Germany    – May 01st

Three days in Berlin

Depart – Oranienburg  Germany   – May 06 th            –   50 miles
Arrive  –  Brandenburg Germany   – May 10 th

Depart – Brandenburg Germany   – May  12th            –  40  miles
Arrive   – Wolmirstedt Germany    – may   14th

Depart – Wolmirstedt  Germany     – May   17 th          – 55  miles
Arrive  –  Braunschweig Germany   -May 21 St

Depart – Braunschweig Germany  – May 26th –          – 90 miles
Arrive  – Osnabruck  Germany       –  June 01st

Depart – Osnabruck  Germany      –  June  02             –  110 miles
Arrive   – Munster Germany            –  June 04

Depart – Munster Germany            – June 09th           –  55 miles
Arrive   – Duisburg  Germany         – June  11 th

Depart – Duisburg  Germany         – June 13 th           – 45 miles
Arrive   – Koln          Germany         – June 15 th

Depart – Koln          Germany         – June 17th            – 55 miles
Arrive   – Koblenz   Germany         –  June 19th

Depart  – Koblenz  Germany          – June  22nd          – 65 miles
Arrive    – Trier        Germany          – June  24th

Depart  – Trier         Germany          – June  25th         –  55 miles
Arrive    – Metz        FRANCE         –  June  28th

Depart – Metz        France              –  June 30 th         –  40 miles
Arrive   – Nancy     France              – July  02 ND

Depart – Nancy    France               –  July 03rd             –  50 miles
Arrive   – Epinal   France                – July 05th

Depart – Epinal   France                 – July 05 th            –  50 miles
Arrive  – Dampierre  France           – July  07th

Depart – Dampierre  France           – July 07th            – 75 miles
Arrive  – Chalon       France             – July 10th

Depart – Chalon      France              – July 11th            – 75  miles
Arrive   – Lyon          France              -July 14th

Depart – Lyon          France              – July 14th             –  75 miles
Arrive   – Valence    France              – July 16th

Depart – Valence    France               – July 17th             –  45 miles
Arrive   – Pierrelatte  France              – July 19th

Depart – Pierelatte   France              – July  20th            –  45 miles
Arrive   – Avignon     France                July   22nd

Depart – Avignon     France               – July  23rd            – 50 miles
Arrive  – Port St.Louis   France         – July  26th

Depart – Port St. Louis France         – July 30th               – 35 miles
Arrive   – Marseille      France           –  July 31st

Of course a shallow draft sailboat or one with a swing keel could do it as well and when you put the mast back up in Marseille you would have the whole of the Mediterranean at your doorstep. Here’s an excerpt from the Distant Shores web TV show where they did it in their Southerly 49.