AUGUST BAREBOAT SKIPPERS COURSE WITH THE U.S.NAVY

DAY 1 .   ATHENS TO POROS ISLAND

The start of august has brought a ray of sun shine into our school. For the third time this year we are running a bare-boat skippers course with US navy personnel as the students. In the previous 2 courses we have had Navy Seals, Navy medical personnel, and the US naval attache to the US embassy here in Athens. This course brings us a full 4 stripe Captain from Naples Italy with his son. The captain is a submariner, from the ranks of the 688's (Los Angeles Class) and the Nuclear boomers...so we are extremely proud that he chose our school for their training ...

Today was our routine kick off with everyone meeting on the dock in athens, for the usual introduction and orientation of the yacht. Once everyone was settled we slipped lines at 1200 and head out to the open water.
Forecast was for a strong NNE which would have been great for a first day, the best the weather could offer was a merger 17knts true for about 5 minutes before direction and velocity started playing there usual games of being all over the place..
By 1500 we had reached a bit further south of Agia Marina on Aegina before we turned on the engine and went motoring for the North Poros entrance...Once you turn the corner at the north entrance and come into the bay , the town of  Poros opens up before you, its still one of my favorite picture post card first views of a Greek island town....A quick motor by  our Whitbread 60, now swinging on her mooring waiting to go into dry dock for major spare part surgury on her shaft and welding on her boom, and then on to parking the yacht outside Vangelis taverna. As we come long side the low pier Vangelis is thier to meet us and collect lines. Once all lines are secure, Vangelis re-appears with cold beers and the latest news of the island. Its nice to be back with our friends and home on our island.

Tomorrow will bring a fresh day and time for our students to jump on our small yacht and show us how good there sailing techinque is and start there practice on the water with drills, Tacking Gybing, reaching and even get into a few MOB exercises. All good fun when you are sailing in Poros bay...
More to morrow with pictures and video....

 

DAY 2 SAILING PRACTICE IN POROS BAY

Day two of this adventure started with a little morning yacht maintenance. The teaching yacht is a 57 ft ketch, that means she has 2 masts. On the aft mast or what is called the mizzen we like to hoist stay-sails and mizzen genoas. One of our stay-sails needed to be put on a roller furling system. The students where tasked to do this more as an initiative test than anything else. In the process unfortunately a pair of the instructors favourite pliers went swimming. Amazingly we had a free diver amongst the students so off he went to retrieve them....

The rest of the day was spent sailing in Poros bay, practicing sailing manourves, looking to sail trim, doing MOB runs and then the instructor giving each student a unique task to do, finishing with bring the yacht to its mooring buoy under sail. The day finished at 5pm, when we came back alongside K3 our teaching yacht and hotel for this part of the Cruise.

The evening lay ahead, with the promise of excellent Greek food for dinner and lots of sight seeing to do and still explore on the island.

Day 3 Motor Handling in crowded Harbours.

Fact of life is that sailing is a reality easy sport, and the basics can be learnt well within a week of training. Once out in the open water away from other yachts you are unlikely to hit any one or hopefully any thing. Of course all this is dependent on how well you know the area you sail in and how well you have read your charts.

The problem with most skippers is their ability to handle a yacht under power in a crowded harbour. Then ask the skipper to perform a series of tasks such as coming along side or berthing the yacht with out doing any damage, and the less experienced skipper will have a certain amount of anxiety about it all. 

Today is going to be about practicing those skills over and over, until the drivers have an understanding of what to expect and how to make a safe and professional landing. Looking good while completing a perfect landing is as important as doing it safely.

After to day we will be free from Poros, it has been a wonderful stay, but tomorrow we will be off to the Cyclades and some real wind, real sailing, and new adventures... see you tomorrow :-)..

.GREEK STYLE MANEUVERING IN HARBOR...

DAY 4 TRANSIT TO THE CYCLADES.

Early morning rise, 0530, god it was like I was back in the navy again !! However it was for a purpose, beat the heat and get to Kithonos for lunch time Ahead of the charter yachts and hopefully the weekend Athenians. Coffee, nicotine, and a quick 
cold shower had by body awake and sort of functioning.. food was next on the agenda but first we had to extricate ourselves from the yachts around us. A fairly simple bow spring and kick the transom out before backing out got us under way...0600 and we where exiting the South Poros channel, 0630 and the main sail was hoisted, and then by 0700 we had food and a second cup of coffee, all at about the time the sun came over the horizon to mark another new day.. and what a sunrise it was..

The goal to day was to finish in Loutra for around 1300, the forecast was for calm lots of calm so we faced a motor over. 55 miles of drone..on went the auto pilot and every one relaxed into there routines some went back to thier bunks others stayed up and watched for shipping, I watched for wind. I wanted to pass the island of  St.George to the north in hope of getting some offshore sea breeze from the main land. By the time we got there is was mid morning and sure enough we hooked in to a 10 knt NNE, rolled out the Genoa cut back on the engine and quietly motor sailed at  8 knts. Soon we had the south tip of Kea island in sight and the Kea Channel. By noon the breeze we had picked up was stating to die off and once in the Kea channel we where back to full engine and no Genoa...things continued that way for the rest of the trip until we finally tied along side in Loutra harbor on the outside finger pier. After cleaning up the lines and stowing every thing we all went for lunch and a cold draft beer , 'Yannis" at SOFRANO'S was happy to see us. The first cold draft tasted like mothers milk and went down quite quickly, as they say the first is for your self the second is for the sea....Really happy to be in LOUTRA, KITHONOS ISLAND. 

tomorrow... WIND LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL WIND, 15-20 AND A 25NM BEAM REACH TO SYROS  ISLAND, TIME TO SEE WHAT THIS OLD LADY CAN DO !! SEE YOU LATER... I SEE 'SOFRANOS'  FAMOUS 'OCTOPUS IN HONEY SAUCE' IN MY FUTURE FOR DINNER...HMMM

DAY 5 POWER REACHING TO SYROS ISLAND

Departure time is 1030, wind starting to pick up out of the North, should be a healthy breeze for a quick reach over to Syros island.
So out the starting gate we go slip lines and off to some clear water to hoist themain. Once she is up a short Motor to get around a small reef, and we are clear forthe open Aegean.
Wind speed starts to increase slowly, 13,15, 17 and there it is a nice 15-17 northly, out comes the No#2 genoa and K3 is off to the races, boat speed jumps into the high 8's , we drop the main traveller to its leeward end ease a little main sheet and take up some vang, and she settles into the low 9 knts...The students take turns on trimming the Genoa and watch as there trimming helps speed and the helmsman weather helm..

Life is good, beautiful sunny day, perfect wind, great yacht, blue sea and some outstanding students....Syros here we come...

1330, enter the main harbor of Syros, 3 hours to cover 24.5 NM, not bad going, Main down and looking for a spot to med moor, by 1400 we are all secure engine off. Time to explore and discover the delights of Syros Island...

DAY 6          RUNNING DOWN WIND TO PAROS

Todays start was a slow waking to calm winds in Syros harbour..The students had  disappeared for an early morning swim, the kettle was put on the boil, and coffee was soon forth coming.
The mornings routine began, check the weather on the internet, check our next  destination work out course, distance, review the harbour plan. It was originally planned to go to Naxos about 32 miles further south. However after reviewing the 
over route, it meant that the crew would have to long passages back to back... a 65 mile trip from Naxos to the port of Kamares followed by a long 70 nm transit across the south Aegean to Ermoni town.
It was decided to change destination and sail to Paros island closer and made the next to trips more manageable.

We slipped lines and set of for todays sail to Paros, a realtive downwind leg with wind off the port at 120 -140 degrees. Wind speed a steady 18 knts with gusts to 24 knts. A new experience for the students steering in moderate winds with rolling seas on the quarter.Almost every one had some problems anticipating rolls with the gusts and the tendancy for K3 to want to pick her skirts up and surf off on the occasional wave... all in all every one had fun and we made the 24 nm in 4 hours flat.

Entering the harbour there was only one place left to park. A relative small slot, but with patience we got in stern too, only to discover that we had lost all transmission control... better now then out at sea... Lex went to inspect and came back smiling say no problem the nut holding the transmission wire on the to the selector arm had broken and the wire was now free in the air...phew... oh well a little maintenance later in the day, a good way for the students to learn about how to fix things at sea... you just can not get this in the classroom, valuable experince..

The crew has taken to Paros quickly, exploring the old city and hitting the beaches....tomorrow sail to Serifos before we head back to the Saronic islands and Athens..
See you tomorrow

DAY 7 TRANSIT TO SERIFOS ISLAND

Today we have to head off to Serifos Island, before we transit back to the Saronic Gulf. First things first we have to extracate ourselves from the hole we but our self into orginally. The cross wind and the tight conditions of the marina make this morning manouvre somewhat complicated.

We made ready for sea and slowly left the marina slot without any problems out inot the bay of Paros hoisted the main and set up for 30 miles of some pretty rough seas and not quite close hauled.

The trip its self was not that bad, sea state was moderate with 2-3 meter seas running and winds gusting to 25 with a constant 18-20 breeze. We approached Serifos from the south and the closer we got the usual winds increased as it comes racing off the island down from the mountains, funneling though the entrance to the main bay in Livadhai.

As a result the wind in the entrance can register up to 35 knots +. We droped the main sail and rolled up the Genoa and started to Motor into the bay, what was there to greet us was a full harbor and no where to get to the dock, so we anchored out and talked about our options. Staying the night and transiting over to the Saronic during the day, or staying a short while letting the students ashore by dropping them at the dock and picking them up later, having dinner on board and then doing a night sail across to the Saronic. The Crew opted for the second option, so it was down to the galley to get dinner ready before we continued sailing.

DAY/NIGHT 8 NIGHT SAIL TO POROS

Antigua Sailing Week 2012. Wrap up film.

HYDRA RACE 2012 with "Spirit of Poros "

The Hydra race is the opening yacht race for the 2012 Greek Offshore racing series. This year the fleet consisted of 60 yachts in 3 classes. It also had a Whitbread 60 competing in the ORC International Class, it was our opening race for "Spirit of Poros ".

12 crew which included 6 ASA students and 2 instructors meet in the port of Mikrolimano on Friday morning. The plan was to spend the day sail training and to be ready for the start of the race at 1600hrs the same day.
After a yacht briefing from JC, and talking though crew positions and responsibilities, "Spirit of Poros " slipped lines and headed out to clear water to hoist the mainsail. This huge sail has a luff hoist of 25m and is fully battened. Despite being on a roller ball bearing system it takes 3 crew to sweat it up and the aid of an electric winch to get the last 2-3 meters finished.
With the main sail up, it was time for the small genoa or No#3 Jib. A smaller easier sail to hoist and not as heavy. Its a self tacking sail which is nice when going up wind and you are engaged in a tacking duel with a competitor.

Both sails up and drawing we set off on a reach and immediately hit 12-13 knots in 12 knots of true wind speed. The first set of practice drills would be for the runner crews and the jib trimmer. The yacht has no permanent back stay, and the rig is held up by a series of runners and check stays that brace and bend the mast on each tack. So it is important to time the easing and take of each runner as the yacht tacks.
Meanwhile the jib trimmer is easing the genoa to power up the yacht out of the tacks and slowly trim in the genoa as the yachts picks up momentum..
So what is the rest of the crew doing while these simple tasks are being completed ? Hopefully getting their behinds out on the rail to help keep the yacht level. As the afternoon passed we practiced tacking and gybing the yacht, mean time the below deck crew where busy packing and tieing up the spinnakers  we planned on having ready.

When your sails are this big , it's nice to give the crew a little help when hoisting, in particular the enormous spinnakers that can fill by mistake on the way up which makes their job miserable.
So while packing the spinnakers the crew will tie up the sail in to a sausage star shape using wool thread that will break when it reaches the top of the mast and the wind catches the sail... well that's the theory , it does work providing that you have enough wind and that you do not put the woollies to close to each other....

Race time arrived and we watched as the fleet came out of their respective marinas. Spirit was hove too and the crew where taking a break, eating and talking, it seemed we where quite the attraction, as most yachts took time to sail by us and 'check us out'...

It was time to get the show on the road, half an hour to the 10 minute gun, hoisted the No3, and started our pre-start manouerves. The committee boat was a small sailing yacht about 36 ft long crowded with people, some spectators and some trying to act as committee personnel...
The course had been set  with a short windward leg before letting the fleet hoist spinnakers and head for Hydra Island.... The 10 minute warning was given, no gun, no horn... just a woman screaming on VHF channel 72 count down to the 10 minute warning... hmm..seems the Greek crisis has even hit the yacht racing fleet when they are unable to afford an audible signal, the 5 minute warning followed in the same light....it was not until the 1 minute pre-warning that things on the start line became a little more than crazy... With 30 seconds to go the cruising class yachts still had no cleared the start line area and where now mixed in with the starting 1st class who where looking for position on an ever shrinking line. Meantime the greek race committee was scream her count down to the start and all of a sudden we where racing.. some how we had ended up in the middle of the line with good speed but definatley a strong possibility of being over early.... Murphy's rule no43 you continue racing until you are called back by the committee or they announce a general recall...which they did... well sort of... the race committee announced a general recall with a 3 minute warning to the one minute warning... basically that meant that the lead yachts in the first start did not have time to return to the line and restart with the rest of the fleet....well in racing you deal with what you are dealt, and this is never more true than when racing in Greece. We re-started at the back of the fleet along with Optimum and Astapadia, it was not long before we had tacked our way though the fleet ducked a few starboard tackers and rounded the top mark.

Now is the time to make hay, up went the A2 and Spirit of Poros shifted into over drive. The whitbread 60 loves to run before the wind and is designed just for that, plus waterline length never hurt either. We hugged the coast and enjoyed a solid 15 knts from the NE, boat speed was playing in the high teens, fast enough that we quickly started to roll over the whole fleet to leeward. By the time we had cleared the Old airport nearly all the fleet was behind us, 3 yachts remained in front and we where quickly catching them. Unfortunately we had to start to move off shore away from the land mass and into ever decreasing wind pressure. The sun was starting to go down, and with it the wind... with 3 yachts to catch and now the race fleet at our heels we found our selves in a situation where the wind was decreasing the further off shore we went and our lead was slowly being whittled down...

It was about 2230 when we retired from the race, with the sea state oily and no wind it did not make sense to sit in the middle of a traffic zone any longer. On went the iron genoa and off to Hydra we motored. We arrived in Hydra at 0200 about half an hour before the first finishing yacht, a light weight Farr45, that ghosted over the finish line in 3 knots of true wind....

So what is the moral of our little story,.. wind and more wind will win races for Spirit of Poros, ghosting along in zephyrs and oily seas are not for this yacht, she needs the Meltemi and racing in the Cyclades and Dodecanese islands.
So come and join us this summer as we blast around the islands in real wind on a really fast racing yacht..

GREECE'S REALITY WHEN IT COMES TO TOURISM THIS SUMMER

Travel dilemmas: Greece's reality 
 By CATHARINE HAMM
 Los Angeles Times Published:
Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 - 5:12 am
Q: What is the anticipated effect of the financial problems in Greece on tourists this summer?
 -M. Lowry, Los Angeles

A: That's not an easy question to answer, because negotiations over Greece's financial fate continued last week, and the outcome will determine how uncomfortable - or not - life there will be. What has happened to Greece is a bit like what happens to many of us: It borrowed too much money. But here's the infuriating part: When a new government took power in late 2009, it was discovered that there had been some creative accounting, which made the financial situation look much better than it actually was. Whether you're doing this with a country or with your spouse, it's a bad idea. Although a little spousal deception generally won't destroy your union, when a country like Greece does it, it does jeopardize a different kind of union - the European Union, of which there are 27 members and of which Greece has been a part since 1981.

 Greece has played a big role in destabilizing the union. It has tried to cut its debt by imposing austerity measures, which have led to public outrage, violent rioting and even deaths. The situation there is unhappy. But Greece needs tourist dollars now more than ever to find its way out from under lest it default on its loans.

Tourism is one of its leading industries, and that means you are apt to find bargains. "Greece is a perfect example of how, until they can show the world complete stability and control, it's going to have to generate some substantial value as a way to reel in ... vacation dollars," said Gabe Saglie, senior editor with TravelZoo, a deals site. TravelZoo recently offered an eight-night vacation package in Greece with air from New York for $1,499 a person, he said. It included two nights in Athens, three in Mykonos and three nights in Santorini, plus ferry service and breakfast. (The deal was posted Jan. 25 and may no longer be available.)

 "Is this a package that we'd see if the current situation was much different and much better? Probably not," he said. Will you get caught up in the insanity of a riot or a strike? It's possible, said Nicholas Hadgis, dean of the School of Hospitality Management at Widener University in Chester, Pa.
 "Be prepared to be patient when there are random strikes," he said. "Greece for years - even before the crisis - had random strikes." Being away from Athens also may be a good idea if you're looking to bask in the sun without the overlay of tension. Greece will need to outsmart its competition, Hadgis said, especially to attract Europeans "who just want to get away from the snow and the cold."

Greece has more than 2,000 islands and gorgeous beaches, but it also has competition from the rest of the Mediterranean - Spain also is in a terrible financial situation - for the euros of those who want to shake off the chill, so it might have further incentive to discount. Those nice, warm beaches need your cold, hard cash. So read the news, and keep your eyes peeled for bargains. In 2012, Greece very well could be the word.