💾 Archived View for gemini.ctrl-c.club › ~Francois › nav_en.gmi captured on 2023-12-28 at 16:39:57. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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I love sailing.
I have sailed on different boats in Greece and Norway, simply because it was the normal means of transport.
But when I discovered sailing, it was a revelation.
I was sailing upwind on a lake in a small sailboat, and the feeling was amazing.
And above all the silence!
So I passed the coastal license in France (for various reasons too long to explain), and right after that the CEVNI (river).
There as I began to understand a bit about sailing, I realized that it was of little use, and I passed the "high sea" as well.
I did several trainings in the North Sea, and while trying to rent a sailboat I realized that the French license was useless, because it is an engine license - there is no specific license for sailboats in France ...
I also passed the VHF radio license (Short Range Certificate).
So I took the problem backwards and looked at what the rental companies wanted, in this case in general (Croatia and Greece) one person with the "day skipper" and another with the "competent crew" .
I found an RYA course and quickly took the relevant day skipper exam, which I passed, while my partner passed the competent crew.
I then took the long wave radio exam (Long Range Certificate).
The "day skipper" course made me appreciate the RYA method and I decided to follow it from beginning to end.
I found a 3 month training to go from zero to professional captain.
As I could not take 3 months leave, I divided the trainings into 1-month chunks.
During the first one, I started from zero: "competent crew" then "day skipper" and radio certificate.
Yes, you read that correctly, I therefore have 3 radio certificates and 2 "day skipper" :-)
The second training brought me to the level of "coastal skipper" - essentially the same as "day skipper", but without engine and at night!
I never did the third training.
On the one hand, I knew I could sail because I had rented sailboats and sailed, even solo.
On the other hand, on the advice of a fellow sailor, I had bought my own second hand sailboat.
Eolo is a 27 Jeanneau Aquila made in 1981.
It is moored in Povoa de Varzim (North of Porto, Portugal), but should soon move to Moaña, just across from Vigo, Spain.
This little boat is excellent. As I always say, it is a Jeanneau from the days when Jeanneau was still making good boats (I sailed on a 10yo 37 Jeanneau which was falling apart)
As soonas I'll be in(pre)retirement (2022 according to current plans), I intend to buy a bigger one.
A sailboat is essentially limited by the amount of water and food it carries. Usual count is 7l per day per person.
Eolo has a 90 liter tanks, which for 2 people gives a range of a small week.
It is not enough to safely sail a consequent trip. Lisbon-Funchal for example, is roughly 550NM.
A sailboat like Eolo does 5 knots, which gives a 5 day trip.
It is the limit to keep a safety margin in case of no wind zone or conversely, a big detour due to a storm.
I would like to do a longer trip (Cape Verde), I therefore will need something bigger.
However, I don't intend to buy, rather rent, probably a 40ft.
Even if the bigger, the more stable and therefore the more confortable, 40ft is the cut-off line above which prices explode.
A night in a marina is usually around €20 for a boat smaller than 40ft, more than €40 if above...
I want to continue to sail even more with Eolo, just for fun...
