Yacht delivery - Phase 1; Malta to France

 
The task was to crew a Hallberg Rassy 42' called Trompeta initially from Malta, to Tunisia, joining the 79 year old captain who was on the last leg of a circumnavigation. The predominantly night passage to Port Hammamet was uneventful and due to light winds, meant motoring most of the way, standing solo 2 hour watches.
After assisting with removing the sails and preparing the boat for winter storage, I returned to the UK.
Several days later, the owner had also returned due to ill health, but now wanted the boat moved immediately to Marseilles, France, and "could I find a crew?"
Due to insurance restrictions, the boat had to have a Yachtmaster on board, so once that was sorted, I made up a total crew of 4, and Trompeta was sailed up the coasts of Corsica & Sardina to arrive 2 weeks later in Marseilles.  Most of the time it was day sailing and while weather conditions were good, the frequent marina berthing in crowded ports probably presented the biggest challenge to the crew. The final 8 hours presented the best winds, and we managed to see 8.1 Knots (SOG) with fully trimmed sails.
I logged 180 Nm from Malta to Tunisia, and a further 632 on the passage to Marseilles.

Taking my boat to Guernsey

 
After purchasing my Fairline Targa 34, Fairplay, and a number of forays across the Solent in the past 12 months, the time had come to give her a decent blast.  So, with 2 other powerboats, and a motley crew of Welsh lads, we planned a trip to St. Peter Port in Guernsey.
To spice things up a bit, the first night was spent at Poole Marina, then we met up with the other boats mid-channel, before tackling the Alderney race, and arriving Victoria Marina early afternoon.
Practising my passage planning, we departed the following day, leaving as late as clearance over the sill would allow, and for some variation, the return leg took us through the Swinge, then directly to the Needles.  A brief stop in Yarmouth for lunch, before the last blast up the Solent and into Southampton.
The weather was calm on both days, and I logged the weekend at 217 Nm.

Aboard an Indonesian Pinisi

   

After answering an ad on  retiredbackpackers.com  I flew out to the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, to help skipper a genuine wooden Pinisi, from Bira, to Kendari (being the initial 3 week leg of a passage back to the Philippines).  The boat KLM Rima, was built locally on the beach, rolled into the sea, was completely crafted from local materials, and powered by an Isuzu lorry engine ! Even the sails were stitched by hand and run in leather clad hoops on the mast.

Although we had the benefit of a 3 local crew for helming, anchoring & sail duties, course planning was my domain and I carried out all chart work using a simple GPS, large scale charts, and simple plotting tools.
The voyage was a mix of all conditions, with about 3 nights spent under way. We encountered many people on the way ranging from corrupt harbourmasters in the big cities, to poor fishermen on some isolated islands that would trade you a days catch for half a gallon of petrol.
This log is not the place for a detailed account of the adventure, but suffice to say I learned a lot about sailing in Indonesia, albeit maybe not relevant to Western boating practices.
All told, the journey took 3 weeks, logging 390 Nm on the way.