More About Hurricanes....Preparing for Tomas!

Well, just after the celebrations for the end of Hurricane Season (29th October) we have Hurricane Shary just leaving Bermuda, and Tropical Storm Tomas headed for the Windward Islands - including Grenada where I'm on IBIS - and with a 75% chance of becoming a hurricane over the next 48 hours!

After the weather forecast yesterday, there was a steady stream of yachts heading into Port Louis Marina (and others) here in Grenada and the previously busy St George's Bay is now a ghost town.  There's barely a space to be had in Port Louis and every berth is a cats cradle of mooring ropes.  The water this morning is like a millpond, with barely a breath of wind, but everyone knows it's the calm before the storm!  Winds are expected to reach 75 knots or more in Grenada, and waves of 12 feet, although the eye of the storm is predicted to pass about 100 miles North of us, with St Vincent & St Lucia in the firing line.  The effects of Tomas cover a diameter of around 200 nautical miles from the eye.

How Safe is Your Yacht’s Gas System? Part 1: Latest Standards

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is commonplace on board the modern yacht, for your stove, your barbeque and perhaps also your water heater.  I'll never forget walking down the pier in Penryn, Cornwall, past an old barge with the back end blown apart in a gas explosion.  The family with 2 children had all been killed in the blast.  Whilst instances remain relatively rare, do yourself a favour and run through your own system to make sure you have all the bases covered.

Types of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) & Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

LNG/LPG is most commonly supplied as Propane (orange bottles familiar to the US) or Butane (blue bottles familiar to the EU).  Both are gaseous at room temperature, but turn to liquid under pressure.

Propane turns into gas at a slightly lower temperature than Butane, and is therefore stored at a slightly higher pressure, however both can change from 1 volume of liquid into approximately 250 volumes of gas at room temperature.  LPG is considerably heavier than air and escaped gas therefore drops to the lowest part of a boat and spreads throughout the bilges for a considerable period of time.  It also known as a “searching” gas as it can find exits from spaces that would normally hold air or water.

In the Caribbean, LPG is simply sold as “Cooking Gas” and can be propane, butane (normal butane and/or iso-butane), or a mix of propane and butanes.

LPG is highly flammable at concentrations of 2 to 10% in air and, once ignited, flames can travel back along pipework to source before exploding.

How Safe is Your yacht's Gas System? Part 2: Bottles & Bottle Storage

From yachtandboat.co.au

Following on from Part 1 on Gas Installation standards, we start to look at practical installation pointers with a section on gas bottles and bottle storage.

Bottles & Bottle Storage

Boaters normally acquire their gas bottles from the gas supply companies.  Bottles tend to be of steel or aluminium construction and will have been manufactured to comply with national quality standards.  Overseas, it’s possible to buy gas bottles from local gas suppliers, or from chandlery shops.  Aluminium is a favourite in the chandlers due to its light weight, but the see-through fiberglass bottle is rapidly gaining popularity.  Fibreglass tanks have been approved by ABYC (check for the mark of approval) but, at the time of writing, have yet to be accepted by the European Union as ISO compliant.

If you're buying a new gas bottle, be sure to check it carries the necessary kite mark or other symbol indicating compliance with your required standard.

How Safe if Your Yacht's Gas System? Part 3: System Components & Fittings

From BSS Guide Chapter 7

Following on from Part 2, which looked at gas bottles and bottle storage, we continue with a look at the various gas system components and what to look for to ensure that your system is up to recommended manufacturing standards (Part 1).

Regulators

The gas discharge is controlled by a regulator which essentially controls the conversion from liquid to gas form. The regulator can be fixed directly to the bottle, as is often the case in Europe, or to the side of the gas locker where it may accommodate more than one tank and allow switching between the tanks.  The switch may be a manually operated valve or a very low voltage electrical switch (solenoid) that operates automatically.

How Safe is Your Yacht's Gas System? Part 4: Leak Detection & Management

Make Sure You Know What to Do!

In Part 3, we looked at the gas system components needed to comply with recommended manufacturing standards (Part 1).  This followed from a Part 2 post covering gas bottles and storage.  My final section looks at how you can detect a leak on board and what action to take.

 Leak Detection

Installing a bubble leak detector close to the gas bottles provides a quick, easy and safe way to check for any leaks in the system itself – from the pipes, hoses, joints, valves or appliances.  You can then use a solution of detergent in water to trace the exact place of the leak, the escaping gas will cause the liquid to bubble.

Other types of leak detectors link to a pressure gauge at the regulator.

It is also worth considering fitting a gas alarm on board – this is mandatory if you operate under a commercial licence.  Modern gas detectors can have more than one sensor location and will detect other gases such as carbon monoxide as well as LPG in low concentrations before they become a serious threat to life.  A gas alarm will emit a loud siren in the presence of dangerous gases.

Sam Loves.....my Dymo Letratag Plus Label Maker....a Top Teaching Tool

Dymo Letratag Label Maker

I've been using this as part of my teaching toolkit ever since I began teaching, over 10 years ago.  Whilst the first half day is usually spent settling onto the boat followed by a safety briefing, I bring out my Dymo at the beginning of the second session and hand it to one of the quieter crew members.

As part of my prep for this week's class I've already peeled off the carefully prepared labels from last week's team and the task now is for the new group to trace all of the lines (ropes) on deck and make new labels for the rope clutches, and anything else that students think might come in useful.  This is a great exercise for the following reasons:

• the group usually need to combine their knowledge to get all the answers right, so it starts to foster the need to work as a team.

Make the Best Bread & Pizza’s in the Galley

Home Baked Bread, courtesy of allrecipes.com

There’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh, home baked bread wafting from the galley, and it’s surprisingly cheap, quick and easy to do!  I’ve tried a few different bread recipes & techniques now and this one’s my favourite by far!  It takes about 2 hours in total, there’s no real kneading involved and you only use one bowl so mess is kept to a minimum.  The recipe is versatile enough to make flavoured breads using extras such as cheese & onion or olives, and to make pizza bases!

Here in the Caribbean, away from the famous French Boulangeries found on the French Islands, it’s surprisingly difficult to buy good quality crusty bread.  Supermarket bakers invariably produce a soft crusted bread, made worse by the fact that it’s stored and sold in a plastic bag!  We’re lucky enough to have temperatures very conducive to yeast fermentation & melting butter, but you might need assistance from a warm engine compartment or stove top depending on where you sail.

Put the SXM in Your Life!

Marigot Blue

St Maarten/St Martin, a wonderful sailing area in itself, provides an ideal sailing holiday base from which to explore the white sand beaches of Anguilla, protected snorkelling and dive spots, and the celebrity studded haunts of St Barths.

St Maarten/St Martin as a Cruising Base

The main things contributing to the island’s status as a yachting heaven are the fact that the whole island is duty free and, because of its European heritage, the number of excellent supermarkets and restaurants selling every type of provisioning ingredient.

It’s important to distinguish between the two different facets of this island as each offers a very different experience despite having no distinguishable border or passport control between the two.  St Maarten, to the South, is the Dutch side and has been under Dutch government since 1816.  Formally part of the Netherlands Antilles, it has just (October 2010) been declared a country in its own right as one of four that now make up the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean.  St Martin to the North is a French overseas collectivity (COM) having split from Guadeloupe on 2003; it remains part of France and under French government.

Sam Loves….My Karana Ocean Pack Dry Bag – Probably the Best Dry Bag in the World?

Iain with my dry bag in Hillsborough, Carriacou

I’ve had my bright yellow 15 litre Ocean Pack dry bag for about 3 years now, I use it every day, it gets chucked around recklessly and it still looks as good and performs as well as the first day I bought it to carry my purse & pack lunch on the Koh Samui Regatta Sports Boat!  So when I decided to feature a “Sam Loves…” section in the newsletter, it was the first thing that came to mind.

Living on the water, it’s inevitable that things get wet!  They fall in, get splashed, get rained on, or end up sitting in a puddle for a variety of reasons.  I don’t mean everywhere on board is wet; Ibis cabins and cupboards (and bilges for that matter) are lovely and dry; but things that you regularly use outside, or take ashore have an increased risk of waterlog and malfunction!

The Ocean Pack isn’t the first dry bag I’ve bought, but the others have been relegated to the back of a cupboard somewhere, so I’m taking a long hard look at this bag to identify the factors that make my one soooo good…

Not for Cruise Ship Enthusiasts

If you really love the idea of sharing your floating island with a thousand other people; if your idea of heaven is having 30 different restaurants to choose from each night; if island hopping bliss is another boardwalk of tourist shops, or if an active, healthy holiday to you means strolling along the deck while your meal goes down, then you’d better not bother reading any further!

Our epic sailing holiday from Grenada to St Martin is a full throttle, all action surf through a dozen countries and even more islands in as many days, and we won’t be stopping at any cruise liner haunts.

Living With Hurricanes

Hurricane Floyd

As a sailboat vagabond, life is inextricably linked to the elements; when your home is pinned in place by a pick on the end of a rope, you can’t help but develop a sensitivity to anything that has the potential to rock your equilibrium. Tidal flows & currents can create a resonance in the ocean surface that set the boat rolling from side to side for hours, heavy rain showers can fill the dinghy, and an impending hurricane means running for your life.

How to Choose the Caribbean Sailing Holiday That's Right for You; Part 1 - Why & When

About Sailing Holidays in the Caribbean

The Caribbean is one of the world’s most famous and idyllic cruising grounds, with 26 island nations and over 7,000 islands in 2,500 square miles of sparkling blue sea the possibilities for a sailing holiday are countless.  If you’re looking for sophistication, great restaurants and nightlife then St Barth’s, Anguilla and St Maarten should be high on your wish list, in contrast with the rugged, rain-forest covered mountains of Dominica which offer a true escape from the 21st century….each island has it’s own unique atmosphere and charm.  The beauty of a sailing holiday is the ability to hop from one island to the other and to have several different vacation experiences in one trip.

Sunset Over Grenada

As the sun dips below the horizon, I’m sitting in the cockpit, listening to Coldplay with a glass of wine and watching the colours of the sky change from smoky blue to dusty pink. The sea’s turning glassy and there’s a gentle swell that could just be the earth breathing.

From time to time the water’s surface splashes briefly with fish fins and tails and then a small dark head pokes through. It’s not the first time a turtle has been swimming close to the boat, and I welcome the familiar sight with a smile.  Just how chilled can a person be?

The ice cube in my glass melts too quickly and the sky turns a vivid orange as the darkness descends before the moon-rise. Ripples on the water are like a spider's web on silver, and Venus’ reflection is golden.

"God put a smile upon my face" indeed.  Life is simply enchanting, and I thank my lucky stars....

Put yourself here too