LAND LOCKED

Cornelius, North Carolina

For the past two years, October has been a month packed with boat projects as we readied Berkeley East to make the passage south for the winter. While we had decided to take BE to the British Virgin Islands with the Caribbean 1500 boat rally again this year, and then sail across the Atlantic in May, we very sadly had to drop out of the Caribbean 1500. As simple and carefree as our lives may appear, we do have responsibilities and right now, our life on land has to take precedence over life at sea. So we will be spending the winter taking care of business and spending time with family, and Berkeley East will stay put at Bluewater Marina in Hampton, VA. While we will winterize BE, we are still concerned about how she will fair in the cold temperatures, as she has always been a fair-weather, warm-weather boat.

The good news is that Berkeley East is ready to sail anywhere and everywhere. Throughout the summer, we wrapped up lingering warranty issues (see Bamboo Boat below) and successfully made necessary repairs (see Bull’s Eye), so Berkeley East is once again in exceptional condition. We are looking forward to taking her to the Mediterranean to visit many new and exciting places. The current plan is to sail with the ARC Europe boat rally in May so we can meet other cruisers and have the support of the organized rally crossing. While the first leg of the rally leaves from Tortola, BVI, we will have to meet up with the other boats in Bermuda and sail the second leg to the Azores, and then onto Portugal. After that, we are on our own and will go through the Straits of Gibraltar, along the coast of Spain, the Balearic Islands and into Barcelona, where we will leave BE in a marina for the winter. If all goes well, we expect to cruise the Med for several years, through France, Italy, Greece and Croatia. Since the Med has reverse cruising seasons to the Caribbean, we will be on the boat throughout the summer and at home during the winter months. In addition to all of our winter land projects, we have the daunting task of preparing BE and finding the perfect crew for the Atlantic crossing. Mary also has to make the decision if she is making the trip by sea or air.
We will continue to make periodic updates on our plans to this blog.

LOOKING FOR CREW

If anyone is interested in sailing across the Atlantic, please drop us a line. FYI – here are a few non-negotiable rules for anyone aboard Berkeley East. 1) We only stop for fish so everyone must wear harnesses and tethers. While we have the most sophisticated man overboard equipment available, we prefer that anyone who does something stupid enough to fall overboard remain attached to the boat. This way, we will always arrive in port with the same number of bodies that we departed with. 2) The Captain is always right, unless he disagrees with the Admiral. 3) Everyone works – no first-class passengers.

THE BAMBOO BOAT

We took delivery of our Hylas 54 in January 2007 and are pleased to say that we have finally completed the last of our warranty repairs. You may think that nearly three years is an unthinkable time period for warranty work, but in our case, there have been extenuating circumstances. And how do you repair a boat that is almost always in motion?

So many people that we have met know about our cabin sole woes (we are affectionately known as “the bamboo boat”), that we thought we would give an update on the situation. Here is a quick synopsis:

We discovered a problem with our cabin sole during our first year of ownership. It appeared that small areas of the bamboo were separating from the sub floor. We contacted Hylas, the manufacturer of our boat, about the problem and they asked us to bring the boat back to the US for repair after we were done cruising for the season. We took the boat to Annapolis, where the problem was diagnosed: the glue that held the sole to the sub floor had failed to adhere some of the bamboo in place. Queen Long Marine, the Hylas boat builder, sent a team from Taiwan to make the repairs. Three men, including Queen Long Marine’s president, came to the states and began chipping away our cabin sole. The assumption was that once they repaired the delaminated sections, and coated the sole with penetrating epoxy, all would be good. Structurally it was great, but with the original bamboo and new bamboo, there was a color difference. Everyone assumed the new bamboo would age to the same color as the original bamboo, but bamboo can be processed in a number of different ways, so unless it is the exact same bamboo, the color can be different. We needed to give the new bamboo time to age so we went to the Caribbean again. Unfortunately, it did not age to the same color as the original bamboo, so Hylas brought in Maggie and her magic tints. She did a beautiful job and now our cabin sole is really better than new.

While this warranty issue took time to resolve, we appreciate the fact that Hylas and Queen Long Marine continued to work towards a satisfactory result. Special thanks to Kyle Jachney, Diane, and Carol of Hylas Yachts, Miles and Anne of MRP Refit, Tony’s Marine Refinishing Services and Maggie Fabbro of Avalon Yacht Refinishers.

The question everyone keeps asking us is “Would you do it again? Buy the same boat, choose the same floor?” The answer is “yes”. We love our boat. It is fast, comfortable and safe. And we love the bamboo sole. It is unique, light and durable. Just like the last bad passage, when you thought you would never want to sail again, the pain of our cabin sole problem seems to lessen with the perfect beam reach, another beautiful sunset, or the next enchanting port.

BULL’S EYE

When we were hit by another boat last February, some friends told us that Berkeley East was so big and so pretty that she was a target, thus the nickname “Bull’s Eye”. The other boat was an 82-foot Spanish flagged charter boat that sailed into the anchorage in Bequia, failed to turn soon enough and hit Berkeley East while she was at anchor, collapsing the stainless push pit. Accidents happen and as the Spanish captain so aptly put it “What’s the problem? No one is dead.” Despite his crude expression, he was right – the boat was repairable and no one got hurt.

In the days and weeks after the accident, we filed reports, made calls and got temporary repairs. We practiced our limited Spanish skills on the other boat’s insurance company. We consulted with the best stainless companies in Grenada who felt they could make temporary repairs but advised us to have a new push pit made and shipped from the yard in Taiwan. In the following months, we continued to work with the Spanish insurance company, measured and ordered a new push pit from the manufacturer, and continued on our voyage. As time passed we learned that our push pit had been finished and placed under the cradle of a new Hylas 49 that was on a freighter bound for the US. Our negotiations with the insurance company deteriorated, due to the language barrier, so they found a translator. The freighter was diverted to Chile and the Hylas 49 (and our push pit) was off loaded in San Diego, put on a truck and driven across the US to Florida. Miraculously, by the time Berkeley East arrived in Ft. Lauderdale in May, our new push pit was there and ready to be installed. The install went perfectly, the stanchions slid into place with only minor encouragement. We felt lucky and happy until we tried to put the life raft in the cradle. Who would have thought that a simple change from a welded corner joint to a molded one would make the cradle too small? Ah, but Winslow had a smaller life raft canister and it was time to recertify our life raft, so we just had to have the raft repacked into the smaller canister.

We were back on track and now we just needed to submit the receipts to the Spanish insurance company so they could pay us. Yeah right. But they did pay us. So eight months later, we have a brand new push pit, a new life raft and our money is back in the bank.

THE ANNAPOLIS BOAT SHOW, CARIBBEAN 1500 REUNION

We don’t have many rituals, but for the past few years, we have attended the Annapolis Boat Show in October. First we went to look at boats to buy. Now we go to buy stuff for Berkeley East. It is also a great time to catch up with Hylas and other Hylas owners.

And an added bonus is the Caribbean 1500 Reunion, which is held during the boat show. Past and present Caribbean 1500 Boat Rally participants spend an evening to meet or get reacquainted. We had a great time catching up with our cruising friends.