Hanging out with the fishermen in Cudillero, Spain
- I have a fisherman friendly boat! While the usual array of pleasure yachts are frowned upon by local working boats, it seems everyone loves a Yarmouth23! I’m told that the boat just looks right. I often get the thumbs up (literally) from fishermen as I enter local harbours, so it must be true. More importantly, they never seem to mind if I’m anchored or pick up a buoy among them. From conversations with other yachtsmen, this is quite rare.
- Small is not only beautiful, it’s inexpensive. Nothing puts a smile on your face like coming out of a marina office having paid six euro for the night while moderately sized boats (10m or so) have had to fork out four to five times my tariff. Their only option for reducing expenditure is to anchor out and frankly, while I’m all for it, you do tend to miss out on much of the yachting social life when you avoid marinas. Some marinas are inexpensive for larger yachts but more expensive for smaller ones, so I can never really trust the advice on costs provided by other yachtsmen.
Sailing or motoring? Both!
- I am a gaff rig convert! I didn’t know anything about gaffers until I bought Eileen of Avoca, but now that I have sailed her for several years I really appreciate what the sail configuration can offer. A sloop or Marconi rig will win hands down beating, but my shorter mast and longer boom have advantages, even when not sailing downwind. I have plenty of room in the push-pit because the boom reaches all the way to the stern (no ropes to get in the way), and if my mast were any longer, I’d probably have had trouble lowering it and carrying it on deck while motoring through the canals of France.
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Aries vane gear
My Aries Vane Gear is a true wonder and works flawlessly on my Yarmouth 23. Attaching one is a breeze (you’d think that it was specifically designed to accommodate one), and I strongly encourage anyone with long distance ambitions to install one on their boat.
- A Yarmouth23 is an excellent motor-sailor! The boat is by the same designers as the Fisher Series of boats, so I guess it’s in her pedigree. It amuses me no end to motor-sail past larger boats in light airs. I often see them unfurl extra sail to take advantage of the same sudden increase in wind that I’m apparently using. If I’m feeling especially cheeky, I pull out an oar and justify my burst of speed by paddling past…
