The Port Tavern

The Sailing Blog

[theporttavern]

Mono60 Edmond de Rothschild, first spectacular tacks

Launched on August, 7th in Vannes, after an eleven-month build at the Multiplast yard, le Mono60 Edmond de Rothschild was able to put in her first tacks just ten days later offshore of the team’s base in Lorient. However, on Monday of this week, thanks to a boisterous low off the north-west tip of Brittany, Sébastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier (his co-skipper for the Transat Jacques Vabre) opted to trial the machine in some blustery conditions. It proved to be a rather bracing sail which cameraman Christophe Castagne captured in full for Gitana Team.

[theporttavern]

Bavaria New Yard Video.

The new yard video of Bavaria sailing yachts. Unfortunately it’s in German so you’ll have to rely on YouTube’s translation to get a jist of what they’re saying. If I find an English version, I’ll update this video.

[theporttavern]

Sailing Around the World (Sailing La Vagabonde).

Ep. 5 - Mending Sails.

Sailing the Canary Islands to Cape Verde. An unexplainable tear in our main sail. Riley was taught how to mend sails. Meet Jack. His first encounter with whales. A few more adventures on land. And a bit of spearfishing! Cape Verde is what we have flown out of the Med for, and we are finally here. The warmth of the sunshine is back. The bikini's/boardies are out AND OUR WINTER GEAR HAS GONE INTO STORAGE. Words cannot explain how happy we are for that. And there's enough fish in these waters to feed the all relatives/future relatives of the Brady Bunch. Stay tuned for Cape Verde Adventures.

[theporttavern]

Sailing Around the World (Sailing La Vagabonde).

Ep. 4 - Sailors on a Becalmed Sea.

Explored a bit of beautiful (but crazily windy) Gibraltar, but couldn't wait to get back out on the water again.. We couldn't have asked for a better exit out the Gib Strait, with the wind and waves behind us we sat on an average of 7 knots with just the head sail out (plus catching two tuna..). Apart from being becalmed for two days and Riley mentioning how he 'wished he had an asymmetrical spinnaker' over 452,899 times, the 6 day passage went rather well. Now to island hop the Canary Islands, and then make our way down to Cape Verde!

[theporttavern]

Sailing Around the World (Sailing La Vagabonde).

Ep. 3 - Follow the Sun.

Sailing Malta to Gibraltar. Shredded headsail, engine troubles and the expected hecticness of the Gibraltar strait.. 1100nm from Malta, stopping in at Sicily, Sardinia, Balearic islands, down the coast of Spain and finally making it too Gibraltar.

[theporttavern]

Sailing Around the World (Sailing La Vagabonde).

Ep. 2 - Water Spouts in the Mediterranean.

A little video put together from our 5 day sail from Crete to Malta. Some bad weather for the first 24 hours, first encounter with water spouts (we ran into 4 in one day..)! Finally caught some Tuna trawling.. after 3 months worth of trawling in the Med.. Arrived in in beautiful Malta, and discovered a few problems: -The bilge was pumping more than usual.. turns out the 'stuffing box' is taking in water. -The auto pilot was also making strange creaking noises.. Riley climbed into the TINY stern cabin (which I believe an octopus would struggle to squeeze into) and the rudder has broken free of its casing.. we believe when we ran aground in Turkey this is what has caused it.. better we have discovered this now rather than half way across the Atlantic.. -Also the wind speed indicator has given up on life. Need's to be looked at.

[theporttavern]

Sailing Around the World (Sailing La Vagabonde).

Ep. 1 Intro & Sailing Turkey.

Having zero knowledge or experience with sailing, or even how to furl in the head sail, we bought a yacht in Italy... we plan to circumnavigate the globe eventually, or just get the boat back to Australia. Documenting the voyage as we go. Turns out sailing isn't always as relaxing or easy as it looks and we are forever learning new things (seems to be not always the easy way).. Enjoy the video & subscribe to follow the voyage! 

[theporttavern]

Skip Novak’s Storm Sailing Techniques.

Part 4: Heaving to.

Heaving to is an ideal technique for riding out a storm, but there's an art to it in heavy seas. Skip Novak explains how to go about it.

More information in Yachting World

[theporttavern]

Skip Novak’s Storm Sailing Techniques.

Part 3: Using storm sails.

Skip Novak explains the easiest and safest way to reduce sail and carry on in a gale in the latest Storm Sailing video.

More information in Yachting World

[theporttavern]

Skip Novak’s Storm Sailing Techniques.

Part 2: A tour of Skip Novak's two Pelagic expedition yachts.

Skip Novak takes us on a tour of his two intrepid expedition yachts, specifically designed for high latitudes, heavy weather and ice cruising.

More information in Yachting World

[theporttavern]

Skip Novak's Storm Sailing Techniques.

Part 1 - The Pelagic Philosophy.

An introductory film on the making of the series.

More information in Yachting World

[theporttavern]

Fairlie 55 - Video Diary.

A short video of the entire build process, from lofting to launch, of the Fairlie 55. It's the culmination of 13 months filming at Fairlie Restorations in Hamble