Episode 23 Sailing Solo France to Shetland Islands
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- Опубликовано: 26 апр 2018
- (I realize this should have been published before the episode crossing the Channel. Internet logistics issue.)
I launch my 2018 sailing adventure: sailing solo to the Shetland Islands. This first phase (La Rochelle to Brest, France) is the core of this video, with 4 dockings at ports enroute, and discussion of various miscellaneous subjects such as digital chart presentation, sleeping during coastal passages, and preparing for 'tidal gates'.
You often allude to some of your own history,... You have enough subscribers/fans of your videos now, I think it's time you produced a bit of an autobiography video telling us all about how an young American fighter pilot ends up one day producing sailing videos while living in France (and even speaking English with a bit of a French accent!)!! Great work with your videos, I really appreciate the advice!
All I can say is thank you, you are undertaking what some us dream of doing in the future... And if you ain't dreaming, well your just sleeping.......
I I stunned you prefered the cold waters. I sailed the northsea and baltic. We were never warm. I think you are really tough. I so admire your knowledge. Much more knowledge and special technoligy and devices than 25-30 years ago. I loved the medit. sea...Calif coast and off Rhode island. Warm but very crowded harbors in the meds even in the beginning 90's. Thank you so much.
Thumbs up for all the extra work: planning, prepping, filming, editing...etc. Great job on doing everything by yourself and thanks for sharing.
Hi Patrick, thank you for another video - I always look forward to them. As others have said, you combine an earthy, approachable manner with the nitty-gritty details of sailing and life on a passage. Including the highs and lows of basic seamanship makes your videos very appealing. Perhaps also the fact you're solo gives us, your audience, a heightened sense that we're there with you - an odd sort of intimacy. You're speaking to us, not to a bikini clad shipmate, though that may have it's place.
I appreciated your reference last year to Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald. Any Canadian is pleased when a foreigner refers to such an iconic song. A haunting, melancholic treatise that speaks to a fundamental aspect of the sea. And maybe life in general.
Fair winds, Patrick.
Thanks Gregory. I have been a Gordon fan since I was a teen-ager. One of the great song-writers of our generation. Thanks for watching.
I was up to White Fish Point about five years ago and seen the Light house and museum. I have a painting of the Light House hanging on the wall in my living room. Born and raised on the south end of Lake Michigan. My grandfather worked for American Shipbuilding for his life's work on the lake boats before the St Lawrence opened. One of my favorite songs too.
Love the single handed docking. Just did my first single with my new CC121 40ft. Blowing 18knots from starboard with a starboard berth. Got it on the 2nd try. Thanks for sharing.
Patrick - thank you - now i understand your synchronicity with France with your posting to Brest - the circle is closed lovely story and very defining for you - great tip about course up versus north up - i wll change my habits as it makes sense..regards
It sounds like you found a little place in your heart for France. My father was in Europe during WWII. Looks like your off on another summer sailing adventure. Happy sailing.
Hello Patrick, loved this one, I've watched all your vlogs, i find them extremely informative, i appreciate your honesty, candor and professionalism, looking forward to this series. Fair winds 👍
Much appreciated Capt Crusty. Thanks for watching.
Captain you and the fellow who sails the wooden boat with no engine are 2 of the best sailors I’ve ever seen cheers mate and keep up with the great videos
That's Kevin Boothby with no engine. He has much more experience than I do -- I love watching how he does it. Thanks much Slipstream.
Absolutely love your videos (sailing, sailing techniques, practical advice, personal history, and honesty).
Well done again!
You made my day John. Thanks for watching.
What a beautiful tribute for the 1917 American soldiers and what a nice memory of your exchange. I did, about 5 years prior to your exchange, mon service militaire dans la marine nationale sur l’ escorteur d’escadre Jaureguiberry, who was decommissioned in 1977. Le film “Le Crabe Tambour” was filmed on it whilst I was serving.
I served with great pride on the Clem and the Foch. A la chasse!
Another magic video Patrick keep them coming.
Thank you for another informative, well put together video! My family and I enjoyed watching the docking maneuver and all the helpful bystanders.
Many thanks Silas.
Another top quality video, Patrick. So inspiring! Keep them coming!!
Very kind of you Alex. Thanks
I simply love your Vlogs due to the simple no nonsense manner you explain and express what you are about to undertake and do.
Which makes your vlog easy and enjoyable to watch.
Thankyou for sharing safe winds Chris :)
Much appreciated Chris. (I had no volunteers in bikinis.) :-)
Hi Patrick,
As usual, a very informative video.Specially the docking of your vessel.It was always a nightmare for me.Sitting at the southern point of South Africa, it is also great to see places in the UK and France.Thanks so much for your videos.
Hello again Louis. Thanks for coming back again this season. I have filmed most of my daylight dockings on this passage, and will continue to show them (the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). Good to hear from you again.
Thankyou for sharing your experience , I admire your tenacity and courage Patrick .
You are too kind Bea. That said, if I am making it look courageous, I am over-acting. Lessons with a professional, and then some coastal experience in a group will well-prepare you for the fun of solo sailing. Many thanks for watching.
Thank you for taking us a long again. I love your tips and tricks and you story telling 🙂
Cheers Peter. Thanks for commenting.
Appreciate your detailed descriptions Patrick. Smooth sailing sir, thank you for your service.
Thanks Colin. Much appreciated.
You are one hell of a guy!! Thank you for showing me that we can do everything if we put our mind to it! Thank you so very much Sir Patrick! Best of winds kind man!
Very kind Tiago. Thanks
It's allways a pleasure to see your dockings - and not only this ;-) Thank you for all the hints an tips, sailing the canal and the Frech westcoast. I start towards Bordeaux from the Baltic sea on 1st of May. Too sad we coud not meet in your homeport. Enjoy your trip and allways fair winds!
You have quite a trip ahead of you too SBF. Have a great adventure. Fair winds.
As a fellow aviator, yes, track up all the time. Love this channel, one of the best sailing ones. Thank you. If you ever make across the Atlantic to Newfoundland, I’ll fly home and buy you a pint or two.
Excellent video, Patrick. Your insight into sailing solo is much appreciated. Have a gret trip to the Shetlands
Many thanks MrRaychs. Too kind.
Excellent Patrick, J’apprécie chaque video que vous faites. Les instructions sont riches et pratiques. Je souhaite que vous continuez sans arrêt. Merci pour votre générosité. Bon vent de Montréal.
Je vous remercie See Sea. Trop gentil.
Love your channel. Glad I ran into you. It’s great seeing true, authentic sailing life, including the not glorious parts.
Thanks for the kind feedback. Fair winds to you.
This season looks fantastic. For the last 4 years I've been designing in my mind the exact same hook you just used for the mooring, so I think I can forget all about it hahahahahaa. Have a safe trip!!!!!
I think it is a Wichard brand Jorge (but I'll double check that). It works VERY well. I have tried several, and I really like this one for hooking up, as well as unhooking.
Thank you for showing your visit te Brest! I was in Brest as a young lieutenant in the Royal Netherlands Navy on board the cruiser "De Zeven Provincien" in 1965 or so and we were invited to visit a huge French aircraftcarrier, I think it was the "Richelieu" or so. We were very impressed, because the French carrier had carpets in the passages.
I'm looking forward to more video's of your cruise!
I served on two French carriers Jan -- the Foch and Clemenceau. I absolutely loved it --and when flight ops were done for the day, we went to bar on board for a drink. Wonderful memories.
Hi Patrick, you're a fantastic sailor and gentleman. I look forward to every one of your videos
You made my day Roger. Thanks for watching.
I appreciate these videos, they are great for an aspiring sailor like myself. The mooring clips have been great in this one, useful to get an idea of some of the techniques used by a single handed sailor!
Thanks for the kind feedback Britzy. Best wishes for your future adventures!
Ah really enjoyed this one as Brest was a port of call when bringing my boat from La Roche Bernard back to Ireland. Another great video, thank you.
Very kind of you. Thanks. Brest is a special place.
Wonderful video Patrick! Always look forward to your adventures! Thanks for sharing the history of your cpl years in the French Navy! And I must confess that I would find it hard to rely solely on electronic plots, I have drawers full of maps as well! Cheers!
I think we are among the last of the 'paper charters' Michael. To tell the truth, I could probably do without them as I have 3 or 4 electronic systems....... I just enjoy quickly looking at 'the big picture' and fully understanding everything in a glimpse. I find it slightly more informative than digital, but then I'm a dinosaur. Best regards
Thank you for your always instructive videos , also for the simple but very useful tips . Buen Viento y Buena Mar !!
Muchas gracias Sailing Hotai. :-)
Always enjoy your blend of information and positive energy! Thank you for sharing. And yes, Brest is a special place. When I was Commodore of the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth UK about 20 years ago we had a warm relationship with the Ecole Navale in Brest. My counterpart and I exchanged visits and shared professional ideas. We instigated some mutual exchanges for Cadets. As you note, each of those is a career development opportunity for the folk involved, while enriching the relationship between countries and navies. Sail well. Here’s to your voyages! ⛵️👍🎉
Many thanks Roy. Unfortunately, the Ecole Navale is located in a sensitive zone (as you are well aware) so not open to public visits. I would have loved to pop in. I completely agree that these exchange opportunities are great for both countries, and invaluable for the individuals concerned --- and I speak with authority on that! Best regards
Thank you Patrick, you are on my dream voyage to the Shetlands and then to Norway. I look forward to your journey as it will probably, for me anyway, be an unfulfilled dream.
Well, let's hope you find a way to get out to sea Phillip, even if only local sailing. Thanks for watching again this season.
Wonderful, as always, P. Especially appreciate you GoPro-ing in bad weather, or middle of night when the easiest thing to do would be to get some shut-eye. "Course-up" navigation, mais ouis ! Like most things nautical, the analogy to life is, of course, inescapable. Boy, you nailed that mooring buoy perfectly ! Tres bon, mon capitain!
Many thanks Will.
Another great vid Patrick, full of hints and tips for us wanna be sailors, your way of speaking and explaining things is excellent, you'd be a great teacher, really looking forward to the rest of your journey 👍👍
Thanks Phil. I'm 3/4 of the way up the English coast --- about to jump to the Shetland Islands. Great fun.
Patrick Laine excellent, hope there's lots of footage, stay safe and fair winds👍
Patrick. Thank you again for your informative and educational videos. We are in London for a few day stopover to visit family enroute to our cat in New Bern, NC. I replayed your mooring hookup repeatedly to see how you held the carabiner to the boat hook, as we received a similar carabiner when we purchased our Mantus anchor bridle and chain hook, and I hadn’t thought to instruct the Admiral (my very supportive wife and foreward hand) to utilise it in that manner. I also wholeheartedly support your advice regarding course/track/heading up. Having just retired from helicopter instructing, it doesn’t matter how many miles/min (aviation) or min/mile (yachting) you are travelling, clock-map-ground will always work, and removing another point of error by correctly orientating your chart to your real world follows the KISS principle. Fair winds and safe travels.
Thanks Adventurous. I have tried a couple of different versions of the mooring hook, and this is by far my favorite. It come undone very easily as well. The only 'problem' with it is that if the tide or current is blowing hard, I can't pull it in to replace the hook with a line (unless I winch it in). That said, I sat 5 hours in 30 knots with nothing but the metal hook holding me to the mooring ball, and it did not break. Thanks for the aviation confirmation that having the map in the same orientation as the direction of travel is the best way to maintain situational awareness. I have some friends who are very experienced sailors, and they keep their plotters in North up. ????? My mind is not fast enough to sort out the mental gymnastics required to navigate like that. (We flew our low levels at 420 kts -- 7 miles per minute. I held the stick in one hand, and the chart, course up, in the other. I'll never change. :-)
Working my way through your video's loving them
I teach Coastal Nav for kayakers, as well as land nav. EVERYONE should be using Track up/Heading up - You nailed it, it is situational awareness and your brain doesn't have to convert a direction. What you see is what you get! In land nav with paper maps it is called "orienting the map" super important. Love your videos as I am an aspiring sailor!
Yeah --- seems like such an obvious thing to do…...and all aviators work like this. That said, some very good sailing friends who have 10x more sailing experience than I do only use 'North Up', and they seem very happy with it. I'd never teach that method to a beginner, but if it works for them, I'm not going to criticize! :-) Thanks for commenting.
I love your videos, cant wait for the next one Cheers from Australia
Many thanks down under. Much appreciated.
thanks for sharing your experience Master
Good to see you back Patrick. Great video.
And welcome back to you as well Andy.
Another excellent video Patrick. I use Garmin bike computer a lot.....always 'route up'! France is very respectful of it's war(s) history. Was humbled during my visit to Bayeux and Normandy beaches two years ago. But many, many monuments to the impact of war exist across France. Respect.
Yes Peter --- I was quite touched by the monument to the Americans of 1917. When I passed by there 35 years earlier, I was too young to appreciate something like that. ;-) Thanks for watching.
Nice sailing and dockings! Thanks for sharing! Good history too, cheers!
Thanks for the feedback Jayme. Much appreciated.
Patrick Laine always worth watching! You can learn a lot.
I am one of the guys who prefer "North Up" on maps. The advantage is you can't get lost on your true direction.
Thanks Christoph. The important thing is that it works for you. If I were teaching beginners, I'd start with track up, but for established sailors comfortable with North up…..no problem at all with that. Happy New Year.
Another great video Patrick, informative & your easy narration makes the watching very chilled 😀. Must be very difficult filming & editing solo, but we appreciate your hard work. Keep the videos coming I say😀. Stay safe & fair seas, regards, Simon.
Much appreciated Simon.
Cool. Looking forward to sailing to Brest one day too. I hope you know that you share an experience with singer Renaud. Listen to the "Trois Matelots" for his take on his time on the Clemenceau! Makes for a great sailing song as well.
that story at the end is a good story. thanks for that story and the rest of this nice video.
greetings,, Kitty.
Hello again Kitty. Thanks for the kind remark. Lots of memories for me in that place.
Isabelle, being a speedy lady, obviously exceeded the speed of light up the west coast of France and across the channel. Minor temporal effects caused by this may manifest in out-of-sequence videos ;) Thanks for bringing us along Patrick!
Thanks Mikael. The problem is that wifi in ports is often very weak/slow, so I uploaded one video (in the wrong order) and then was unable to upload the other for posting in the right order. I have been moving quickly up the coast -- and then I made one long leap up the North Sea. I am currently sitting in the Shetland Islands in the port of Lerwick. :-) I'll try to get another video or two up over the next couple of days.
When you mentioned that you once were an aviator I thought of this analogy: Airplanes are made to fly and stay away from the ground and that is why landing is always tricky. Boats are meant to be in the ocean and that is why coastal navigation can also be tricky. As to the position of the chart while navigating, maybe if we look at the old ways, there is a reason for pointing the chart North and not in the direction of the vessel. I remember we used to put the chart in the boat's dining table, hold it in place with 4 cans of beans, and place a pocket compass where the compass rose drawing of the chart is, and point it North so we could calculate compass direction for the boat. So, the chart would point North and we could read on the compass our intended heading for the boat.
Ha! I like your old school explanation Broker. Why not! Thanks for commenting.
Patrick I love the way you approach sailing. I’m also an ex aviator. 38 years flying all over the globe. The personality types I encounter in sailing, seem to me, identical to aviation.
The big difference is we in aviation have embraced modern technology. We have learned to make life easy for ourselves when the world outside is rushing past at 550kts. Track up on the chart plotter (HSI 😉) is a no brainer. I struggle to understand why there is any discussion within the sailing community about it.
Fair winds and calm sea’s my friend. I’m following your lead.
Descend and maintain 9 feet, slow to 6 knots, monitor channel 16, and have a great time. :-)
5:10 - great advice. I used to drive a bus in San Francisco. I would do the same thing - never trust anyone else unless you really don't trust your own skills and knowledge. And even then, do so very carefully! Thanks for another great video, Patrick.
Very well said BAB. Thanks.
Great video Patrick ( yet again ) , Looking forward to following your adventure , I'm in Grimsby (River Humber) and would love to sail your route one day. I'll certainly be taking notes
Thanks Les. Just crossed your home grounds yesterday. Am in Blyth for the night. :-) Thanks for watching.
Hi Patrick, we had the same problem with a Raymarine autopilot, it turned out to be a firmware problem that happens if the pilot gets an out of sync GPS message (in our case this was from having two different GPS sources active (chartplotter and VHF) even though the Raymarine devices should be able to prioritise one over the other. In addition the default is that the pilot is set to constantly “learn” the compass deviation rather than setting that in the commissioning process. The problem is that when the out of sync GPS message comes in, the pilot trusts this over the compass heading, and increases the deviation, until eventually the deviation gets to a huge number (we had 47 degrees) and the pilot either shuts down or changes course dramatically - for us this happened in the middle of the North Sea at night, in the Deep Water Separation zone shipping channel! The workaround was to switch off the auto learn feature for deviation on the autopilot once the initial deviation has been set, and we also reconfigured the VHF to stop those GPS messages too just in case. The fix was to upgrade the Raymarine EV1 and p70 firmware. I think this is a really dangerous problem with Raymarine autopilots, especially singlehanded or short handed, as we were. If a similar problem existed in the automotive environment there would be a safety recall, but even though Raymarine know about this firmware problem they have not published it, instead only informing their dealers.
Louise, where were you when I needed you? This is great info to know. Many thanks for sharing it with us. Much appreciated.
It’s a real pleasure to watch your videos, thanks a lot for the great work on them. I have a motorboat at the moment, but undeniably sailing is of great interest. Who knows..
Many thanks FF. You made my (confined) day. :-) Fair winds to you.
@@patricklaine6958 Tapio Lehtinen, has been lately publish a book about Golden Globe 2018. It´s a shame that so far only for finnish. He´s a really awesome person and tells stories of how he adapted to life at sea. The biggest loss in the history of racing because of barnacle at the same time one of the few people in the world who have survived the competition. In Finland, there is a term called Sisu means you don’t give up, you do what you have to do. I recommend to follow, he will participate in the Golden Globe Race 2022 and 2023 Ocean Globe races. I've met him a couple of times and a true Gentleman and a Legend and i can easily see some in common with you with a thoughtful and relaxed, friendly attitude to life.
@@FishermansFriend72 Yeah, those guys are very impressive. I briefly met the winner (Jean-Luc Van den Heed) this year. Inspiring. :-) Especially in that he is in his 70s! Fair winds.
Fascinating. Thank you, sir!
Many thanks Igor. Thanks for watching.
J'apprécie vos conseils Patrick. Bonne chance pour votre voyage aux îles Shetland. Bon vent et ciel bleu. J'ai étudié le français pendant 5 ans à l'Université, mais maintenant j'ai oublié beaucoup. J'aime parler la langue française quand j'ai l'occasion.
Je vous en remercie Tim. Très gentil de votre part.
Really enjoying your great Vlogs. I'm ex airline and Helicopter pilot looking to get into bluewater sailing. Your content is like finding gold. Many thanks. ( I also can only navigate with charts orientated to direction of travel )
Yeah, I don't think I've ever mer a pilot who used 'North up' Mark. Thanks for watching.
Great videos. Looks quite familiar to me. I like your ideas about navigation.
Many thanks Blue Alligator.
Nice video. I single handed for six months in the Caribbean. You picked up that morning fine! I’m used to mooring balls with pennants. Easier. I do it just like you did. Leave the cockpit below it. If you are a little fast just walk the pennant back until you can walk it forward as you fall back but the more you misgauged the speed the faster you will be falling back so you need to get the pennant over the cleat expeditiously unlessyou want to play tug of war getting the boat to stop falling back and bring it forward again. My boat was 46. It wasn’t so easy. But I ran into much older sailors who used to do it with NO MOTOR! They’d just approach on as pointing a course they could, drop the sails and turn the rudder and run to the bow! I never tried to recreate that! I also used to sleep at night if I was at sea. I had radar and alarms and I just out my self in God’s arms.
I used to try to take them off the bow Robert, but the slightest gust of wind or wave would put it out of reach. I now aim to take them at mid ships (like in the video). When I learned on little sailboats many, many years ago, we had no motor, and the process you describe is how we did it. Come in at an angle; drop the sail and turn directly into the wind at the mooring ball. You were considered good if the boat stopped just as the ball touched the bow. :-) I can't do that anymore.
Docking like a boss! Let me know if you ever want some crew 🙂 I love your videos. I'm preparing to sail from Canada to Ireland via Greenland and Iceland. You're an inspiration!
Sounds like quite an adventure ahead of you Darren. Most people take the southern route via the Azores. I salute those who go off the beaten path. Fair winds.
Hi Patrick, fair winds to the Shetlands! And don't miss Fair Isle if you can, it's an amazing place.
Pandorak can't thank you enough my friend. You, James from Samingo Sailing, and Erik the Viking were the inspiration for this adventure. (Really!) I am in Scarborough now, but am tiring of coastal navigation, ports and tides. I will soon take a page from your book and just sail into the North Sea and then to whichever destination the wind carries me to. Bien amicalement, Patrick
Merci beaucoup Patrick. On se croisera peut-être en Norvège ;-)
Bonjour M. Pandorak. Votre ancienne vidéo tournée dans ce coin du monde est l’une des plus belles que j’aie vues. Est-ce que vous avez l’intention d’en refaire? J’apprécierais beaucoup. Salutations.
Vous êtes le meilleur!
Trop gentil Jeff. Thanks
Hi Patrick, welcome to the UK. I enjoyed your video as always great preparation and planning. It is a shame you chose Brighton as your first port. We have a boat in Gosport and I would have loved to meet you. I have crossed the channel many times to Alderney and Cherbourg, we too always us the method you used regarding the tide. Looking forward to the next episode. Sail safe. David.
Many thanks David. A shame about missing the Solent, but I really wanted to get heading North (either via east or west coast). Maybe on the way back I'll take some extra time and sail around Cowes. Thanks for the confirmation that I am not being strange by using Course To Steer to cross the Channel. :-)
Excellent advice on course up instead of north up when navigating.
Yeah, you'll never find a pilot who does other than Track Up ---- though I know some VERY experienced sailors who always leave it in N Up. I guess I would encourage beginners to simplify things concerning spatial awareness ---- but those with more experience should do whatever they are comfortable with. Thanks for watching.
Thank you, it is allways a plasure wach yours videos.
Many thanks Jose. Much appreciated.
Wow Patrick you are a true cool guy. Proud to be an American after watching you!
Very kind of you RS. Thanks
Another fantastic sail, thanks for the education. You are a pleasure to watch. ,,,,,,,,,,,/),,,,,,,,,, fair winds.
Much appreciated Dan. Thanks for commenting.
Well done on a safe and informative passage. Please elaborate more on your aviation career. Both sailing and aviation are my passions.
There are lots of overlaps in those two passions Aspergo. Weather, navigation, airfoils, etc. Great fun. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll see what I can come up with.
Looking forward ....Thanks Patrick
Many thanks Darryl. Thanks for stopping by.
It's always great to see solo docking techniques. I have a few different ones depending on conditions. But like you, I do like to get the middle of the boat tied off as soon as possible. - And it can be a real pain when a 'well meaning' helper grabs a line at the bow and gives it a pull. I look forward to the rest of your journey. - I hope the entrance and exit to Dover isn't too rolly when you enter/exit if you go that way. - Ramsgate is a good alternative.
Ha Just About Sailing! I did both Dover and Ramsgate (video coming soon). I commented on the video as I entered Dover, "I've never seen current this strong." It really was quite disconcerting. Once safely tied up in Dover, an expert sailor told me that the best place to cross the Thames Estuary from is Ramsgate --- so off I went. (He was right, by the way. Too much tide to make it across the Estuary leaving from Dover.) I missed the conclusion to your fascinating rudder rebuild marathon due to my travels. I hope that is now successfully concluded. I'll catch up in the near future. Best regards
I won't spoil the ending of the rudder saga. Just to say I am now happy. Both Dover entrances can be a bit harsh in some tide/wind conditions. My old harbour of Watchet had a tidal stream of up to 3.5 knots across the entrance - I am now very good at ferry gliding. Really interested in your next steps as I am thinking about turning left and doing the rest of the UK before I head off for the Med. Baltic is quite tempting too. Keep the excellent videos coming.
"North up" is difficult to handle at first, but it is beneficial in terms of situation awareness. As you know the course of a boat may suddenly change (lack of attention, swell, currents, etc.) When a course change causes the map to rotate on your plotter, you will eventually have difficulties recognising the dangers. I think it's important that the map not change so that people have a good representation of it in their heads. They also need to be aware of course changes, which they will better see on a "north up" plotter. Also, North up makes it easier to become aware of slight shifts in the wind. Whether you use North up or Course up, you'll have to transpose directions. I only think the benefits are greater in North up in terms of awareness and security.
[Edit] And GREAT channel, by the way. Been watching 3 to 5 of your videos every day.
Many thanks Clidiere. If North UP works for you, that is all that matters. I'm not sure I understand your comment about improved situational awareness if the boat changes course suddenly. In Heading or Track Up, if you suddenly change course towards an obstacle --- you will instantly see that the boat is heading toward that obstacle. In North UP --- nothing has changed in the plotter presentation except a small change in course of the boat that may not be immediately perceptible --- everything else looks the same. Anyway, it's really a matter of preference. In aviation, we always use Track Up (or some variation on that theme) and I find that very easy on my limited mental capacity on the boat as well. :-) If North Up works for you, I certainly would not change. Thanks for commenting.
Great video. You got me thinking about naps while sailing. The horizon is about 3 miles from the deck of a boat. At a closing rate of 20 knots that's 9-10 minutes. If you wanted to take a 20 minute nap the max closiing rate would have to be 10 knots or less. Scary in busy seas.
For sure, taking naps while solo is always a calculated risk. When I was a pilot, one of our key 'collision avoidance' mantras was, "Big sky, little airplane." No one is too happy with that, life is full of such risks.
Yes, coastal navigation eats it for the solo sailor. There is no real comfort until I am at least 100 nm out. No using wind pilots either unless one enjoys the prospect running up on the beach. Constant watching of the heading even below decks doing coastal work. The traffic eats the tidal currents eat it, and beach proximity eats it and all to frequently the depth eats it too. Coastal sailing is real work, blue water is where the pleasure is at. Yes, our U.S. Navy frigate put into Brest in the latter 70s. It was a totally wonderful town and the people were quite exquisite.
I have made it about 3/4 of the way up the English coast Spencer, and I'm exhausted from the coastal sailing, constant tide calculations, worries about arriving at the port too late to cross the cill, constant fishing pot crossings, etc. I'm heading for blue water and direct to the Shetland Islands as soon as the wx is appropriate. :-)
Excellent Patrick, never underestimate the amount of detail you ay think we want to hear, it's all useful. I see that all the money you spent on Pilot books and Charts and they still didn't inform you of the harbourmasters lunch hour in Brest, very funny. I hope you're writing all this down including all the prep lists you must have, it'll make a great manual. I'm sure as an ex fighter pilot, checklists are second nature for you and a real help for those hoping to 'go it alone".
Yeah, Anthony......I was surprised no one was there. I'll look again in the Pilot Book to see if they have published hours. That said, I have friends that purposely don't call the marina on the radio. They look in the book where the visitor's section is, and then go there and pick the spot that best suits them (for the wind conditions), rather than being assigned a berth that may be difficult to get into. Not a bad thought process actually, though I doubt the marina people appreciate it. Thanks for watching.
Patrick Laine By the way, I’ve noticed you come into a pontoon on both sides. When I’m singlehanded I always request Port side as that’s the way the stern kicks when put in reverse. The Harboutmaster usually obliges, espesciallly if you tell them your singlehanded.
Oh, and I would never not contact the marina, upsetting the harbourmaster rarely ends well, and very unseamanlike. Fair winds Patrick.
Thanks for another nice video.
That was a very sad looking IMOCA in Brest.
Yes. I told the marina staff, 'I'm berthed next to that abandoned boat." They seemed to take offense at that description, but it was indeed in sad shape. Thanks for watching Shiny.
RUclips asked me if I wanted to write the spanish subtitles for this video, and I did it. Maybe in the future they are published. Cheers!!!!!
Thanks Jorge. I don't recall the request for doing the Spanish subtitles, but am delighted you did it. I'll see if I can figure out how to turn them on. Best regards
Maybe is something automatic. The best part was searching on the map the names of the places you were. Raz de Sein was the toughest, but your clear pronunciation in English and French was a great help. Glad you like it, looking forward to watching the next video.
I think I 'approved' it. Apologies if it does not show up correctly. I'm not very good at these things.
Just watched it with the subs and they're great! thanks!!
Patrick, if you head back via the Irish Sea and stop off in Conwy (N Wales) I will buy you some beers and a dinner. My boat is in Conwy, a Bavaria 36 and I am planning to head south this summer. Great channel, I really enjoy your videos and I now use your "crash" docking technique.
I should have called that method the 'bump' method instead of the 'crash' method. I have taken some real heat on other websites for ''wrecklessly endangering others', etc. Oh well. I haven't broken anything, anywhere using this method for several years now. I'll continue to film 'arrivals' (day only due to camera light) as I continue the adventure. Some of them are not pretty, but none are dangerous.
Patrick Laine sometimes it is the not so pretty ones that are the most instructive as we see how the mess is retrieved to something passable or a go around when nothing else is possible. Lets folk see that it is ok not to be perfect on every docking. It is how you handle the mess ups that really matter not the fact that it didnt work first time. Thanks Patrick. Great vids and fasvinating story telling. Fair winds.
Wow you put her into the marina real nice.
As usual a wonderful video. I recently took two ASA sailing classes and in July will embark on a key west to Tortuga trip with some more experienced friends. I hope to “park it like Patrick.” When we return the boat. Hoping for less rain though.
Great Cliff. Getting experience on a boat with an experienced crew is a great way to accelerate learning. I made several week long passages with a pro instructor and crew of several of us. Greta fun and great learning. My only problem was that the instructors don't spend much time answering the question, 'How would you do that if you were alone?' Press him/her for these insights.
Good point. During our training it was just me and the wife and the instructor so it was pretty free form.
I have actually considered buying my boat (next yearish after my last kid goes to school) remotely so I can spend two weeks or so with a delivery captain getting it home to FL. I figure that’s long enough to see most of the quirks and break everything that was cobbled together for the sale.
Nice video Patrick you spoke briefly about your flying years, should tell us a little bit more about your aviation career. The little information about the exchange with the french navy was interesting. I always wondered how you ended living in france, very nice sailing video happy sails sir.
Thanks George. I'll add a bit more to my background in future videos. Thanks for coming back this season.
Nice stuff Patrick - refreshing to watch your work - must be the pilot in me that appreciates your perspectives.
just greatful to your videos
Thanks for the kind feedback Klaus.
Another fantastic video, if you do end up heading down the west coast of the UK, call into Liverpool 👍
Got it Mark. (Love Liverpool by the way.) Take care.
Hooray --- audio is back to normal volume now.
great video Patrick.... If you're doing a poll, i'm a north up.... but many thanks for the content, really well made and really just about sailing.... as a sailing vlog should be.
As I said in the video, a number of other very experienced sailors I know (whom I respect greatly), also use North up Garry. Fair enough. That said, my personal advice to BEGINNERS, based on my 40+ years of using these kind of systems, remains, 'Simplify things for yourself, use Heading Up.' :-) Thanks for watching.
Another terrific video ..
And a big thanks to one of the great inspirations of this trip. I filmed myself docking in your old berth James. I'll put it up on the next video. I didn't break anything! Best to you my friend.
Of course you didn't! I'm so envious of you getting away so early. I'm unable to leave until end May. Fair winds and stay safe. Make sure you take time to smell the flowers!! Hope to catch up with you somewhere soon.
Of course you did not! How did they manage to put you there when they have so many berths!! I'm just arrived Oostende after an over night sail from Suffolk in very light airs. It was a good exercise coaxing her along and maintaining just under 5 knots through the water. Loads of traffic but wonderful visibility. I'll be probably be heading north again towards the end of May. Fair winds and stay safe.
Good Tube! Thanks for posting. I enjoy learning from your experienced viewpoint. I am curious about what exact model boat you have and reasons behind your deciding on this one., as well as build quality, layout etc,.
OK Nixon. I'll give a description of my boat in an upcoming episode. It is a Bavaria 40 Cruiser. Sadly, Bavaria declared bankrupcy last week. It is a very large company, so I imagine something will survive from that. Thanks for watching.
I agree with your map orientation of track up. Flew RF-4C's in Europe and we made strip maps that way.
That's how I learned to do low levels also. I imagine it's all electronic now.
Nice use of "knackered"!
Hi Patrick, your movies are great stuff, I learn a lot from your solo experiences. I was wondering what is the brand of your watertight iPod case ? Seems to be quelity stuff. Good winds, Jean
It is called aiShell. It works very well (waterproof), but it is very expensive (more than €200). My only complaint is that the hole for power cable does not align correctly with the iPad, so I have to open it to recharge the battery. Not a big deal. I bought a much less expensive one for my Samsung, but I quickly discovered that it is not waterproof.
I'm Army trained and we always orient the map to the way you are facing.
I find it amazing Robert, that some people prefer North up. Anyway, if it works for them, that's all that matters. In fast jets, we don't have time for even a few seconds of confusion -- so I guess that is why they teach us Heading Up.
Continuing to go through all of your excellent videos. I'd be interested to see more about your moorings. Maybe you don't use many of them, but any variances due to tides, winds, currents, etc that need to be thought about while on a mooring? Just a thought that popped into my head as I haven't seen a video of you mooring before this episode!
I do moor from time to time DialedN, but it's not much different than in the video: approach facing wind or tide; try to stop with ball just forward of abeam; hook the ball with my special gaff attachment. The instructor that taught me mooring also made me learn to do it by reversing in to the ball (which is sometimes easier in high winds/currents) and hook it from the helm/throttle position (very easy) and let the boat then fall away naturally (with the line attached to the bow cleat). I'll try to film one of those in tough conditions; it really is quite easy.
I love your videos, you're the sailer i'd love to become the day i'll be retired
Good luck on that approaching retirement Bruce. It's great fun when every day is Saturday. :-)
still a good amount of years waiting, but this will give me time to increase my knowledge in sailing, (i just started few years ago)
Bonjour Patrick, Comme toujours tes vidéos sont toujours intéressants. Je t'encourage à continuer. Est-ce que le tonnerre de Brest du capitaine Haddock est toujours actif? salutations, Richard
Ahhh Tintin. Trop bon. J'adore. Merci pour le souvenir Tartan Sailor.
I always use North Up. It can require some mental gymnastics, but I'm used to it. Had to laugh at all the dreary weather, the eastern north Atlantic staying in character. I'm rooting for westerlies up north, I wanna see Norway...
There you go everyone. A very experienced sailor who uses North Up. I know several others as well. I suppose it depends on how you learned. That said, I would encourage beginners to use Course Up to ease spatial orientation. After a bit of experience, you may wish to try North up as Kevin does. Thanks for stopping by Kevin.
Funny - I can hear my Father's approach to sailing in Patrick's delivery and he was an airforce pilot for many years before sailing. There is a deliberately measured way of looking at things and planning - presumably because once off the ground getting out and putting it right is somewhat tricky.
Thanks -- there probably is some similarity as to the way all professional pilots manage risk James. Hadn''t thought of that before, but it makes sense to me. Thanks for watching.
@@patricklaine6958 I really enjoy it - and having started to sail again on my own - very interested in your choices. The decision to go 90 miles south intereted me
Pretty interesting voyage for us. One of us comes from just inland from La Rochelle, somewhere we love. What makes it interesting is that we also lived in Shetland for a decade and still have a house there. Currently on the east coast of Scotland, so may even see you sail by. Will you be stopping off on the east coast on the way? If so let us know, we'll give you a waive. Really enjoying the trip and your explanations.
Well hello Foob, neighbor. I'm writing this note from Lerwick, Shetland Islands, here I arrived this morning. :-) Lovely place. I look forward to exploring it.
Patrick..... thanks again for another FABULOUS video.
I too am an old fashioned navigator and I ALWAYS like to keep paper charts along with the electronic ones as well.
I think they are physically beautiful and any plotting or charting I make on them serve as lovely personal historical reminders of our passages and sailing adventures for years to come.
I had been meaning to ask you watching your previous videos, but you reminded me here.............. can you recommend a good source for those paper charts, Pilot Guides, and Tidal Charts that might be available on line...... as we are planning sailing next year in the Bay of Biscay, Spain, France, and hopefully the UK as well. (the USA chandlery sources seem rather pricey and harder to source).
I thank you in advance for any recommendations and for your time and efforts!
I don't have a low cost source Stefano. I find them all quite expensive. That said, I have fallen in love with the NV Atlas charts. Those books of charts cover a geographic area from small to large scale --- really excellent. Instead of paying 30€ per chart, you pay 49€ and get an entire book of charts for the desired area. I bought them at a boat show and got a 10% discount on top of that. Fair winds to you my friend.
MERCI BEAUCOUP !!! I do know that NV Atlas series and I like them very much as well....... encore. MERCI!@@patricklaine6958