Sitting on anchor in Pylos, our first Greek port of call after a whirlwind tour through the Med, I’m tempted to hurl a sharp missive to three soothsayers, visitors to the Deltaville Boatyard (Virginia, USA) in, 2010.
Let me set
the scene. There we were at the far end
of the boat yard, up on spindly legs getting ready to splash. Afternoon visitors to the yard were not
uncommon and three stopped by for a chat.
Actually, they stopped to highlight Hunter’s foibles, especially as they
saw it; "only built to suit coastal conditions," they said. Like Witches of Endor, they stirred the pot,
making even more outrageous dispersions against Hunter, ignoring our rebuttal.
Finally,
they left. “Rude,” we said in
unison. Had they bothered to listen, WJ3
had already done two laps of the Caribbean Islands, sailed to distant Turks
Caicos and managed a tour through remoter Bahamas Islands. All this before settling on the scenic route
to Chesapeake Bay (via the Atlantic ICW). We were on our way to explore Maine. Hardly dock candy, even then!
So, as we
sit on anchor in Greece, about to island hop to Turkey in 2013, we say to them, bah
humbug! WJ3 has 12598 nautical miles tucked
under her belt since we started sailing her in 2008. She has now crossed the Atlantic, comfortably
and safely, and this year crossed the Mediterranean. What a gal!
And not bad for an allegedly “unseaworthy” Hunter!
Now I’m not
advocating setting out to sea in a pair of floating shoes (it’s been done
before) but boat builders must comply with certain standards. We’ve also added modifications to make WJ3
more comfortable (eg. a storm trysail) and to improve her safety (eg a sea
anchor). If in doubt, have your craft
surveyed and read how others have set up for ocean passages. We’ve seen expensive Beneteaus kept in
marinas for Olympic triangle racing and home-made brutes only a mother could
love, floating in far-flung, out of the way places.
Doubting Thomas’s can check our map tracker here.)
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| Sharing Keci Buku in Turkey with some real bunnies... |
