Aleria's Adventures

Is this the tipping point? The problem with models used to predict future events lies in the fact that “probabilities” are simply the odds that extreme events of a certain size will occur in the future, mostly calculated based on past occurrences. But as climate changes, the models become less accurate and less useful in predicting future probabilities.  As I watched the explosive cyclogenesis that made Tropical Storm Otis intensify into a Category 5 hurricane in 12 hours as it crossed a warm blob of water off the coast of Acapulco, I came to understand that there is no way to get out of such a storm's path. Acapulco was destroyed -- it looks like it was bombed out of existence. Not one of the models came close to predicting this development.  I believe that climate change will have a negative impact on distance cruising, and sailing in general. Many of the yacht captains who were told to stay onboard vessels at anchor to guard them have not been heard from since. Autho...

PredictWind Fleet tracker - some of the cruisers we helped Last month, Alex and I, along with several other OCC members, were recognised by two awards for the work we did in supporting sailors who were being threatened by border closures around the world as the pandemic spread. The first was the Royal Cruising Club which awarded the OCC their Medal for Services to Cruising. That was a very special bit of recognition coming from the RCC.   The second award was the OCC Award given to Alex, me, Moira, Tim, Fi and Guy. We all worked to help cruisers stuck in various places, being stopped from reprovisioning and taking on fuel and water, and facing hurricane and cyclone seasons in the wrong places. We basically helped people make their own decisions about what to do and supported them with safety back up when they did.  We were really honoured to be recognised for this work. It was really rewarding to be able to help so many people and it really did keep us so busy that we d...

A crowded USVI anchorage during the Covid-19 pandemic Bob of s/v Pandora wrote an excellent blog entry about whether cruisers should be planning to cruise the Caribbean next season.  His description of getting stuck in the Caribbean with his wife without being able to go ashore was typical of stories we'd heard all along. His plight of being with a relative non-sailor and making the decision to return home to the states without crew was also a familiar theme. These issues and others are making me wonder what the future of cruising will bring before the advent of an effective vaccine. There are already fears of a new H1N1 flu being able to jump from swine to humans and creating a new pandemic wave soon.  Methinks there will always be two schools of thought: people who believe the risks are high and those who deny any increase in risk. Those who deny any increase in risk will continue to take risks by sailing across oceans to see what's over the horizon. Those who believe the ...

I was interviewed yesterday by Fergal Keane Of the RTE radio programme Seascpaes about the OCC's efforts to help cruisers reach home or safe harbour.  My interview starts at about 18:50. Seascapes podcast On Seascapes tonight, Fergal Keane visits the popular Courtown beach, which disappeared in recent storms. Fergal meets Green Party MEP Grace O'Sullivan in Courtown. John Litchfield reports from France on the sad demise of the ship the Calypso, owned for nearly fifty years by the explorer & ecologist, Jacques Cousteau.  And Daria Blackwell of the Ocean Cruising Club tells how they are helping ocean going yachts reach their home ports during the pandemic.   http://www.oceancruisingclub.org https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/radio1/21787462

Well shiver me timbers, a few days ago, Alex and I were named Sailors of the Month (International) for May 2020 by Afloat magazine in Ireland. We are so honoured to be recognised for helping cruisers around the world reach home or at least safe harbour during the pandemic. And this in a month when we haven't done any sailing at all. Gosh! Blush. And many thanks to Afloat and to all the volunteers who have made this effort even remotely possible. "Daria and Alex Blackwell of  Mayo Sailing Club  are highly-experienced ocean voyagers, and they’re Vice Commodore and Rear Commodore respectively of the Ocean Cruising Club, the global body which currently has hundreds of members’ boats currently on long cruises. During the  COVID-19 pandemic , many of these boats have been caught out on long passages not knowing what kind of reception they will get when they reach their destination. From their base on the shores of Clew Bay, Daria and Alex have been providing assistanc...

Busy, busy. busy times. An article that cited me was published in the Guardian yesterday. Written by Susan Smillie, it documents the plight of cruisers stuck in paradise. The BBC World News editors got wind of the article and asked me to do an interview with them in the morning, which I did at 7:20 am. Now anyone who knows me, knows I don't do mornings very well. But somehow I think I managed to do okay. They've posted the clip online and are sharing via social media. It's 3 minutes long and answers a few questions about what people are facing out there. This afternoon I did an interview with a reporter from Bermuda who is writing a story for publication tomorrow. I also answered a query from a woman wanting to do a documentary about the cruisers. And I forwarded a request for crews to film their voyages for an adventure movie being made about the subject. It's been an interesting couple of days.

RUMINATING IN THE WEST OF IRELAND DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC The 2 km zone we are permitted to wander Just a very long month ago, the first cases of a novel Coronavirus began trickling into Ireland. China had experienced a severe outbreak beginning in January, and by February it had spread into several countries including Italy in the midst of ski season. Kids on holidays brought it back home while neighbours of China also had outbreaks. Having had several scares before, the Far Eastern nations reacted swiftly and decisively. The Europeans didn't, and Trump called it a Democratic hoax to divert attention from the US elections. Now the entire world -- 200 countries and several cruise ships -- is in the midst of a pandemic. Hitting a million confirmed cases and thousands of deaths today. As borders closed around the world, I was working on behalf of members of the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) to assist members getting stuck in places insurance wouldn't let them be duri...

Messing about in boats Today's Scuttlebutt sailing newsletter has a Guest Commentary that rings true to me. For decades, I've been writing about this idea that we teach sailing the wrong way. Our sailing programs teach racing not sailing. We need a 'messing about in boats' program for all the kids who just want to have fun. I last wrote about it for Yachting World  in 2015 and it was picked up by  Scuttlebutt  in the US, Scuttlebutt Europe  and by the far-away  Phuket Race Week . I had started writing about it in the early 2000s on our website  and as editorials in local sailing publications. Participation in sailing was declining at multiple levels, but at the level of junior sailing, it was particularly noticeable and so very sad. It's nice to know that I wasn't off the mark and that others are now jumping on the bandwagon. Sorry for the jargon. Scuttlebutt has recently been encouraging readers to write in on the subject and they have been. Even U...

Aleria 's Irish flag clearly visible in the marina We wanted to stop by to say goodbye temporarily to Carmella and Carmen at the RCN in Portosin. We heard in the meantime that RCC was going to be coming there for a stopover on a cruise in company. Peter Hayden, ICC and OCC, helped them organize it. At the last instant, we heard that Peter Whatley, OCC & RCC, was going to be in the day we were heading in. I worked closely with Peter when he was VC for OCC and really enjoyed it. It would be nice to see him again and the new Van de Stadt exploration vessel her had built.

There has been an explosion of sailing videos on YouTube in the last few years. It seems that all the young people who have gone sailing are documenting their voyaging with vlogs instead of blogs, which appear to be so passe nowadays. Some have hundreds of thousands of subscribers who watch these videos that can be half an hour long. The best ones for me are under 10 minutes long, any longer and I get bored. YouTube has even created a list of top 30 sailing video channels .

We have all made New Year's resolutions that we have more often than not given up on. But the best resolution for cruisers is to remind ourselves not to be complacent and to refresh our diligence about safety consciousness aboard. So here's my list of resolutions for cruising in 2019.  1. Adopt the 'astronaut training' mentality when underway. Always ask yourself 'what if' in preparation for the worst things that could happen. For example: What if someone falls overboard? What if the mainsail halyard jams while hoisting? What if the anchor drags on a dark and stormy night? What if the engine quits in a busy thoroughfare or crowded marina? What if a windward shroud snaps while beating? What if the backstay parts while sailing downwind? What if the spinnaker jams while dousing? What if we hit an object in the water?

The life of a cruiser is 'slightly' different from a landlubbers' Sarah Steenland, the Cruising Cartoonist, just released a comic for Christmas that accentuates the differences between living on a boat and living in a house. It made me think back to the time when we took a year to sail the Atlantic circuit. While sailing, we missed our home in Ireland. When back in Ireland, we missed being aboard our boat. Which of course made me reminisce about the differences between cruising and land dwelling. They are such different lifestyles. Both have their merits. I now find it very compatible and satisfying to live half and half. Here are some differences to think about if you're thinking about heading out there.

It's a question we are asked often. How many boats are circumnavigating or sailing the oceans at any given time? It's not an easy one to answer, because some go for a year and do an Atlantic circuit, others continue around Cape Horn or through the Panama Canal. They pass through various ports and are counted multiple times, but no one that we are aware of provides a count at a given point in time like a census. As the seasons are different north and south, you'd have to count a date in the summer in the Northern hemisphere and another in the Southern hemisphere.

Hosted by the Monte Real Club Nautico de Bayona Baiona, 27-29 October 2017 In attendance on behalf of OCC: Daria Blackwell, Rear Commodore Alex Blackwell, Regional Rear Commodore, Ireland Representatives from 24 yacht clubs and cruising associations from Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Spain took part in a 2½ day conference on cruising in Galicia, Spain. Several specialist media representatives also participated. Representatives from ten marina and service organisations were in attendance as were members of the regional tourism and harbour development authorities.

Every time I think I've got my apps all figured out and organized just the way I want them, new apps emerge from the depths of the oceans or sky or wherever. There seem to be apps for everything now. Apps for navigation, AIS, anchor alarms, marinas, anchorages, weather, tides, fishing, night sky, birding, whaling, cooking, reading and so much more. Tell me, how did we ever get along without apps. And what's app with this anyway?  They used to be called programs. Then they were web links accessed through browsers. Now they are apps. My laptop no longer has program files, it has apps. This has become the planet of the apps.

  Take the quiz.  What kind of sailor are you? “We were positioning ourselves for the start sequence, with 110 other boats vying for the pole position. My heart was racing, the adrenaline rush was astronomical. The countdown was on. There’s the start gun, go go go go go.” The club racer

There is a camaraderie in sailing that I have not found in many other pursuits. For example, it is rare to strike up a conversation with other skiers who are unknown to you on the mountain, even during lunch at large communal tables. Yet put two sailors in a room together and before you know they have become the best of friends.

So you made the decision to go cruising with your family to expose them to a richer life at the edge of nature and replete with cultural experience. You just buy a boat, pack up your kids, and shove off, right?  Oh no. How will you provide for their education, feed them in exotic places where the foods are all different, wash diapers and ensure their safety.  Until now, there has been no resource available for families afloat. Thanks to these authors, everything is now about to change.  

We did it!  Elation, exhaustion, amazement. To hold a book you have written in your own hands, to flip through the pages and see your treasured photos, and to read words that sound too good to be yours, but they can't be anyone else's, is just short of miraculous. I am very pleased with the outcome.

It's been a very busy month. Spring has sprung and we've been doing boat chores as quickly as we can. Fortunately, the weather has been relatively amazing here, with the Azores High reaching its tendrils up into our latitudes, and we are not complaining.  Perhaps climate change is favourable, for Ireland at least.