Bah Humbug!

Pylos, Greece
  
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 (USA, 2010).

Bahamas' in 2009 - early days

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.  (Who dared even consider what their own personal sailing stories were?)

Sines, Portugal 2011 after crossing the Atlantic

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, we say to them bah humbug!  WJ3 has 12,598 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 the Mediterranean.  What a gal!  And not bad for an allegedly “unseaworthy” Hunter!

A late insert.  We've now made it to Bodrum, Turkey (2013)

Now I’m not advocating setting out to sea in a pair of floating shoes (Mind, 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).  Check our Hunter460 blog for improvements/annual maintenance reports. 

If in doubt about your own boats seaworthiness, have it professionally surveyed and read how others have set up for ocean passages.  Beth Leonard's famous  book would make a good start.  We’ve seen expensive Beneteaus kept in marinas for Olympic triangle racing and home-made brutes only a mother could love, floating in out of the way places.  Doubting Thomas’s can check our map tracker here.

(Sorry, had to get that one off my chest!)