Light Houses

Light houses are a beacon of civilization on a dark and lonely ocean. They make great tourist attractions and are often listed in tour guides, but this is only when they are viewed from land.

At sea, light houses carry a different meaning. They are a beacon of danger. They are usually perched on the edge of a cliff signaling the presence of dangerous rocks.

The color of a light house light can vary as well. White simply means that you are being warned of the danger where they are located. Yellow and Red indicate danger, and when you see that color, it means you are in harms way and need to move out to sea in a hurry!

While they stand to identify danger, they also signify the presence of human civilization. When you have been out at sea for weeks on end, seeing the flashing light of a light house will tell you that you have found your new land, and which direction to go to get to shore. You have been alone for so long, and suddenly, you are being guided towards humanity. You will no longer be alone, you will no longer be tossed around, you will soon arrive!

What is the Purpose of a Stern Overhang

Long overhangs are a common design characteristic of CCA (Cruising Club of America) boats that were very popular back in the 1950s and 60s. These yachts sported short water lines for their length overall and had significantly long overhangs. Wisdom, as pictured when I bought her in 2012 is 45 feet long with a 32 foot waterline. Simple arrhythmic will tell you that we have 13 feet of overhang, most of which is located in the stern.

The idea behind this design is simple, at rest, the yacht has some lovely overhangs that look timeless and classic, but also help cheat the racing rules at the time. The rules measured the boats waterline for its handicap rating, since waterline length directly correlates to maximum speed through the water. A 45 foot yacht has a hull speed of 8.98 knots while a 32 foot yacht has a hull speed of only 7.58 knots.

So, the large yacht with long overhangs gets rated as a smaller yacht with a lower top speed. Then when the wind comes, it heels over and that long overhang goes into the water, giving the speed boost because of the longer waterline.

The stern overhang is the most effective area for this cheating to take place, as it can quickly fall into the water with very little heeling.

We sailed most of the time heeled over to 10 degrees, and the fouling scum on our topside paint is evidence of what parts of the overhang spent the most time underwater. The blue line demarcates the resting (vertical) waterline while the green line demarcates the heeled waterline. The yellow area between the lines is the added wetted surface.

After spending close to a month sailing from Bermuda to the Azores, the fouling growth is very evident on our topside paint. It is plain to see that the bow overhang doesn’t contribute to the added waterline length while the stern adds a considerable amount of length.

Next time you see a yacht with a long stern overhang, imagine how the waterline changes as they sail and that long stern overhang splashes into the sea!

Taping Off for Spraying

With the topsides sanded away, it is time to mask off the areas that are not going to be sprayed. In the United States, this would typically occur inside a tent, where everything is covered in plastic.

In the Azores, regulations are severely more relaxed.

Newspaper taped to the waterline seems to be sufficient for the local workers, and no tent required, even when painting next to a dark blue yacht.

Yes, with some pages of the local newspaper, we are ready to be sprayed with primer. When I asked about the boat next to us, his reply was simple yet honest: “We wait for a day with no wind".

It is refreshing to step outside of the United States where people are so hung up on every little detail that they forget about reality and practicality. The cost to have work done in the Azores is approximately 1/10th of what the cost is in the United States. This may be because of the lower cost of doing business thanks to the relaxed restrictions. They don’t need tents, tarps, or collectors, they simply wait for the weather to cooperate and take it from there.

The painter doesn’t want to get paint on the next yacht, so he is extra careful to make sure that his over spray doesn’t travel in that direction. Believing in a workers skill allows them to work without all this red tape that we have in the states.

Horta, Azores

Our first landfall in the Azores was Horta, Faial, Azores. This tiny harbor is actually the 4th busiest marina in the world! 

We passed through after peak season and were amazed at how packed the place still was. Yachts tie up to the piers rafted up to 4 deep, but luckily we were only 2 deep when we first arrived, and shortly thereafter, we were the ones up alongside the pier.   

The pier is a massive concrete sea wall which is murder on your hull, so be sure you have plenty of really strong fenders. We deployed our rope fenders and were safely protected from the rough concrete, but a few air fenders did pop on other yachts while we were there. 

An important point to ponder when you tie up is that your mooring warps will not only need to support your yacht, but the weight of three additional yachts that are tied up to you. As yachts come and go, a dockline shuffle will take place where the yacht up at the sea wall wil leave and all the other yachts will move around it to let it slip out. 

While we were there, mini-transat yachts arrived from mainland Europe and were going to be leaving in a few days for the start of their race. 

If you are concerned about costs, it is worth tying up because they charge you to anchor at a similar rate as tying up. The holding is less than ideal, so you might as well tie up and have the convenience.

After we tied up, Maddie and I went for a hike up into the mountains around the town, and at one point, we had this great view of the marina.

A Woman’s Guide to Cruising on a Sailboat

Ok ladies, this one is for you, however, if you are a guy, I recommend that you read this too, because you may sail with women now or in your future, and this is all useful information for you to know or pass over to them.There aren’t many people who write about the more intimate topics of being a woman while cruising, so I thought I would share some tidbits from my experiences.

We’ll start out strong with the most frequently asked question: What do you do on your period?

As we all know, depending on birth controls and body types, women have a lot of variance on this topic.  Some only experience periods once or twice a year and some not at all, but the majority of premenopausal cruisers still have their periods once a month and it can be a pain to deal with while cruising. 

The biggest problem is that of waste.  Pads are bulky and shouldn’t be thrown overboard, but they can smell and take up lots of space in the trash.  I tend to avoid those.  Tampax tampons now come with large plastic tube applicators wrapped in a plastic sleeve: all detrimental to the concept of minimal waste.  If you have to change your tampon every four hours for two to seven days, it adds up very quickly.  Many women and girls have adopted the use of a menstrual cup.  This is great for reducing waste, but needs to be washed frequently with fresh water.  If you are in a situation where you need to be saving your water, this can be inconvenient or even dangerous.  Otherwise, a menstrual cup is a very good option...unless you lose it. 

Personally, I have found OB brand tampons to be the best option.  They can be found in almost every supermarket or drugstore in the US.  I haven’t searched in Europe yet because I have yet to run out.  40 come in a very small package, so they take up very little space, which is great for the boat.  They do not have any applicators and are wrapped in very thin plastic, so there is minimal waste, and you simply dispose of it in a trash can in the head lined with a plastic bag.  This has been the option that I have found of the least inconvenience to both myself and the environment.  I recommend them even if you live full time on land since it uses such a small amount of plastic.  If you do not have access to them, try and find the Tampax tampons wrapped in paper with cardboard applicators.  They still take up a lot more space and are more costly, but you will at least be more environmentally friendly. 

Ok, now on to peeing.  Isn’t this fun? Ladies, we really got the short straw with this one...(literally).  Where men have the option to pee off the side of the boat, we do not have it so easy.  I’ve met women who squat over the side, but that just doesn’t seem like a viable option for me, so I am bound to going below in the head, which is in the bow of our boat.  This was a huge problem when I would get seasick every time I went below.  I tried those funnels, but here’s the reality: they are dirty and get very disgusting very fast.  If you are in a situation where you can’t go down below to pee, then you also can’t go down below to rinse out your pee funnel.  You can imagine how gross that gets.  There is always the option of pulling up a bucket of salt water to rinse it out, but then when you go to use it next, it’s salty.  For some, that might not be a problem.  I personally don’t love being all salty down there when shaving isn’t a realistic option.  So, conclusion? When possible, pee down below in the head.  When that’s not possible, pee in a bucket.  I had a designated bucket for peeing and puking.  It stayed pretty clean because every time I used it, we just tied a line to it and dropped it over the side to let the salt water flush it out.  And an extra plus is that your quads will get some exercise from squatting!

Shaving: Don’t bother.  You could slip up and cut yourself with the razor or the hair could plug the drain. 

Showering: Cut your hair as short as you are willing to.  Less hair = less shampoo, less water waste, less knotty hair blowing in the wind, and less worry about it catching in lines.

Shower as infrequently as you can without feeling horrible.  If you are a couple, you will get used to each other’s stench, but it is still important to give your lady bits a little splash with fresh water and soap every couple days. 

Makeup: Why? Just...why? I was reading a “Woman’s Guide to Cruising” and it mentioned putting on a bit of makeup every day to “feel pretty.”  That made zero sense to me.  You are out in the ocean.  But, if it makes you feel good, I guess go ahead? It’s a personal thing. 

Ok, I think I’ve covered all the questions that I have ever been asked about being a woman aboard a sailboat for an extended period of time.  Please feel free to email us or start up a conversation in the comments.  I’d love to hear from other cruising women about their experiences and what has worked for them!