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Aderyn Glas
Crew Notes
Your guide to a happy passage . . .
Welcome to Aderyn Glas, Blue
Bird, in English. If you’ve got these notes then it means you are helping Ann
and I sail her, maybe on an extended passage or perhaps a day trip to the
islands or bays of France, Corsica, Sardinia or the Balearics. We’ve written
these notes because we can never be sure that, when someone joins us, we’ve
remembered to tell them everything.
Aderyn Glas
is a Moody Eclipse 33 and is a sloop rigged motor-sailor. This, in order, means
she has a triangular mainsail and a large turbo-charged engine for when the
wind switches off. She was built in 1991 under the watchful eye of Lloyds and
has a hull construction certificate to prove it.
Both
her sails are fitted to roller reefing arrangements which enable the crew to
change the configurations with ease, and usually from the safety of the
cockpit. She is fitted with radar, VHF radios, two or three GPS units, one of
which will be linked to a laptop plotter, and an autopilot. She has wind
direction and speed indicators, depth indicators, and a log (speedometer), and
she’s steered by one of two wheels, one inside the saloon and one in the
cockpit.
She has a loo (called
‘heads’), a shower, a fridge, a cooker and clothes storage arranged around two
double cabins and a saloon.
If you read nothing
else, then please read the safety section which we make no apology for and
which follows right now, so you can find it easily . . .
Safety
Sailing boats are inherently dangerous places and you can guarantee that if an accident is going to happen it will happen far from land. So, accidents are banned.
Here are some of the favourite accidents that have happened to other sailors over the years, and how to prevent them happening to you; or me.
1) Scalding. There are two ways to get
scalded on Aderyn Glas,
you can spill water from the kettle as the boat rolls, or you can run water
from the hot tap onto your skin. Here’s how to avoid this injury: when you make
tea put the cups into a container such as a bowl or the sink (bowl is best) and
then pour the water. This means the water that inevitably spills goes into the
bowl. Then use the bowl as a tray to carry the drinks to their intended
victims.
WARNING This is a no-kidding
warning. The hot water on board is sufficiently hot to scald as it comes from
the tap. Not only that but it heats taps to the point where they can give a
nasty burn. Only add hot water into a sink or bowl that already has some cold,
and, in order to cool the tap, run some cold water through afterwards. The
reason the water is so hot is that it is heated by the engine or shore power
and has no temperature limiter.
2) Broken toes and heads. Simply done: there are many, many things on deck that will break your toes with ease. To avoid this embarrassment wear shoes. If you don’t believe this can happen to you, ask Ann . . . And trying to exit through a closed hatch is a favourite way to cut your head open. If you don’t believe this can happen to you either, ask David . . .
3) Amputated fingers. This too is as easy as catching a ring in a rope. It happened famously to a very experienced racing skipper some years ago, his finger was torn off because his ring caught in the rigging. To avoid this leave your ring at home . . . (although I’ve not heard of a case I can imagine getting earrings caught might have a similar effect and neckchains don’t bear thinking about).
4) Crushed bits. The obvious crush injury
occurs when a finger gets dragged into a winch. It’s quite possible for this to
happen as a result of easing a rope on a winch and having your hand too close
to the winch barrel. Never get a hand closer than a foot away, and if the wind
catches a sail and the rope snatches – let it go!
5) Boom battering. The boom can make a nasty ringing sound when it hits a head. Generally when standing on the cockpit floor it is well above the tallest of us, but if you stand on the cockpit seats (which you will do at some time) then be especially aware of what the boom is doing.
6) Falling in. This is probably the one
that worries people most, but it is actually rare. When you get on board you
will be shown what to do if it happens, and how to make a MAYDAY call for help. On board you will
have a lifejacket and harness. There are absolute
rules regarding these and some options. The absolute rules are that you wear
your lifejacket at all times when you are out of the cockpit on deck, and that,
at night you wear your lifejacket in the cockpit also, and are strapped in by
attaching your harness to the boat with a strop (we have plenty).
The options are to wear your lifejacket in the cockpit as well as on deck and
you will notice the skipper and mate do exactly that. This is not because we
are more than averagely nervous about falling overboard, but because we wonder
– if we fall in – who will come and get us? If you do
fall in it’s a good idea to scream something appropriate so that your absence
is noticed.
Aderyn Glas has a whole raft (sorry!) of safety gear. There are fire extinguishers in many locations and we ask that you familiarise yourself with their positions when you settle aboard. There is a liferaft, and a satellite emergency beacon, and you will be shown how to se them at the safety briefing. There are numerous torches, and if you are in the cockpit at night you must have a torch attached to you – if you fall in, turn it on, it might save your life. There is a Danbuoy and a ‘horseshoe’ and a rescue line, all of which play a part if you see someone has fallen in; and, of course, there is a rubber tender with an outboard motor. In the cockpit locker there is a grab-bag which contains flares and other survival kit which, in the event of abandoning ship, is grabbed and taken to the liferaft; it needs only the addition of mobile phones (not kidding) and portable marine radio to make it complete.
What to bring
We have food and drinks but feel free to bring anything you particularly fancy although space is limited so don’t go overboard ;-). If you have a particular dietary requirement then bring what you need, we cannot guarantee that you will meet your needs in the local supermarkets.
Bring your own sleeping gear – a sleeping bag or sheet and duvet, and pillow(s). If you are pushed we can provide sleeping bags but please bring a sheet to line it with. Your own toiletries (we share soap but not toothbrushes – yuk!). Bring a towel and shower kit, most marinas provide showers. Swimming kit.
Bring suntan cream and something to keep your skin soft after the effects of sun, wind and salt, if you wish.
Sunhat and sunglasses. The cockpit is where you will spend a large portion of the voyage and this is very exposed to the elements, so a sunhat is really useful and baseball caps worn backwards are good for shading the neck area.
Any daily personal medication.
Money.
Camera.
All you bring has to fit into a fairly small locker or two (think of a dressing table draw, two at most). Bring it all in a soft bag, not a suitcase, because we also have to store the bag.
What to wear
Clothes: on board you will get dirty and salty so don’t plan to wear your best kit. It’s quite feasible at sea to wear pretty much the same top clothing for a few days without smelling too much, which cuts down the amount of kit you have to bring. This leaves more space for your shore gear. We have one spare set of waterproofs (man sized) so if you can fit them in bring your own; otherwise be prepared to share.
At sea the air temperature is usually at least five degrees cooler than ashore. This is partly a result of wind chill and partly because the sea temperature stays moderate even in the height of summer. So bring clothing that you can apply in layers. I have left shore in just shorts only to end up shivering half an hour later in trousers, shirt, sweater and jacket – it probably won’t be that bad on your voyage, but please take the principle on board. Also, because the temperature is apparently low, you can be fooled into thinking you are not sunburning and not dehydrating; so be warned.
Shoes: Black soled shoes mark the decks and are banned. High heels puncture the decks and are equally banned (sorry guys). Best are proper deck shoes but these are really expensive for what they are so most people go for white soled gym shoes which seem adequate (but always bear in mind that they do not grip too well when wet and make allowances). You need a separate pair of shoes to go ashore in because we’re paranoid about walking tar and grease onto the boat. This is dreadfully difficult to remove and can take up a large part of your time on board if it happens, so, separate shoes for shore and boat are a must.
Seasickness
The very mention of the word makes me queasy . . . Most people get seasick, it’s just a question of where your threshold is. I knew a man who got seasick in drydock which suggests a lot of it is apprehension and association. In general if you think you are going to be seasick it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy so start with a positive attitude. It’s likely you will feel queasy for an hour or so and it’s likely this will pass. Things that make it worse are: greasy meals within 12 hours of sailing, keeping your head down for example reading or working; a hangover. We have pills on board (Stugeron) and you are welcome to take one if you feel you may be sick – these have to be taken well before you sail so plan ahead. If you know you really get ill, as I do, then get a Scopoderm TS patch from your doctor which will see you through three days. Other remedies are ginger beer and barley sugar and changing your position on the boat – Aderyn Glas moves around a point roughly at the inside helm position so sitting at the inside helm greatly reduces the motion and helps ease the discomfort. If you are actually sick please do it over the lee side (where the wind blows away from the boat) and try to miss the hull; and make sure you have a bottle of water to immediately replace the lost fluid. And don’t throw up in the sink – it has a strainer!
Toilet training
Oh boy – the best bit! Firstly nothing goes down the loo that you haven’t eaten and that includes toilet paper. We have an endless supply of nicely scented nappy sacks for all the things you would chuck in the pan at home, including the paper, so please use them. Believe me, the toilet will block up if you throw things down it, and you will be expected to clear it. This involves taking all the piping apart and blowing it through. People who have done this are readily distinguishable by the dark rims around their mouths.
There is a poo tank on board (holding tank) and while we are in port or within three miles of the coast this must be used (by turning a lever). Since the tank is not infinite (it actually meets the Spanish requirements of having sufficient volume for each crew member for two days) it is best to divert all pee straight into the sea by moving the lever the other way. If you have particular ethical problems with this we can provide a bucket, however, providing you are sensible and are aware of our position relative to bathing beaches and so on, everyone can be satisfied.
In marinas all your serious toilet requirements can (and must – by marina rules) be met using their facilities.
We’ll show you how to use the toilet when you get on board. Two notes for blokes: use the loo; a lot of washed up corpses have their flies undone (peed over the side and fell in), and if it’s rough sit down for your pee, washing urine out of the shower drain is a pig.
Water
Yep – that’s what it’s all about. But the particular thought is the water in our water tanks. This is definitely not an endless supply and must be conserved. Lovely, warm endless showers are wonderful for the person having one but must be paid for in days of water rationing for all. Water in marinas may or may not be drinkable, and may or may not be free.
. . . and finally
As crew you’ll be asked to perform certain tasks. These include steering under motor and sail, hauling on ropes and learning which rope does what, setting sails, casting off and tying up, deploying and retrieving fenders, navigating and anchoring. If you ever feel you don’t want to do a particular task then just say, you’re here to enjoy the trip, but it’s always rewarding to try and master these new skills; and you can be sure that we will never put you in a position where you can do damage to the ship.
Before you come, try to learn a few knots as this will save time on board. You need to know how to tie a bowline, a cleat-knot and a clove-hitch as a minimum; and a figure of eight knot is also useful.
All of this sounds daunting but most of it is common sense and something you quickly learn. Look forward to as much challenge as you want to take on and a happy and rewarding time on Aderyn Glas.
David and Ann Berry, March 2009
We filmed this pod of
common dolphin midway between
| David@seasolutions.co.uk | pdf Version download | Top of page | Go back | Home |
| Crewnotes issue C, March 2009 |