Aleria's Adventures

For some, the joy of sailing  has to do with the thrill of tacking and jibing around in circles for honours, fighting storms and powering through calms, then retiring to the bar to recount a victory at sea. For me, the joy of sailing comes with the thrill of sighting land and dropping anchor in a foreign harbour to find the lone stillness of remote places we have yet to explore, but not tonight. This night, our anchor grips firmly  to the sediment beneath our keel and we rock gently into deep slumber, when uncomparable peace descends, no worries about anything at all,  in the anchor we trust. 

After being on the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) Committee as the Chair of the PR & Digital Communications SubCommittee, I also took on environmental programmes or citizen science initiatives and an effort to create a series of papers on Best Practices in cruising. Things calmed down and we stopped hearing complaints daily. In fact, we started hearing praise. When the Chair of the Awards Subcommittee stepped down, I was asked to co-Chair the subcommittee with Jenny Crickmore-Thompson. There was too much on my plate and it wasn't fun, so I wasn't unhappy to give up a portion of it, though I still maintain the PR aspects today. An opening came up for a new flag officer, and I was convinced by several Board members to run for the office of Rear Commodore. I wasn't sure that was a good idea, but they convinced me that the OCC needed my level headed thinking. I fell for it. I won the seat uncontested. My first act was to write a paper to the Board proposing rationale why

Founding members of YOFS John, Alex, Sam (not qualified) and Toby When Hurricane Lorenzo passed through this past October, he made a direct landfall over Clew Bay. The eye passed right over our house. It was blowing pretty hard but not as hard as had been predicted. We had several sailors (Toby, John and Sam) sheltering at our house and we amused ourselves by establishing the Old Feckers Society. YOFS is now officially in service to yachtsmen the world over as they reach the age when everything becomes a struggle. We completed the objectives of YOFS when Toby returned to pick up Truant with two friends from the Lake District, Mike and Richard. Really interesting guys. The harder we laughed, the more seriously we took it. Do you qualify to join? Ye Olde Feckers Society (YOFS) Purpose:   A fellowship of grumpy old curmudgeons who suffer from CRS (Can’t Remember Shite) and wallow in self-pity. Clubhouse:  The Old Salt Gathering Place Events:   Once wee

I've been a volunteer with the OCC since about the time we returned from our Atlantic circuit in 2010. I joined OCC after our third Atlantic crossing, having finally met a member who could sponsor me. It would have been much better to have joined before we sailed off, as some of the difficulties we experienced might have been ameliorated. But that didn't happen. It wasn't as simple to join then as it is now, with online applications and global referrals. There were serious obstacles then, one secretary in particular. So I joined when we settled in Ireland, and Alex joined several years later when the joining fee was waived for joint membership applicants. Soon after I joined, I was co-opted by John Franklin onto the Strategy Team led by Beth Leonard. Our purpose was to determine how the OCC could alter the profile of the organisation from stagnation to growth. For years, the OCC had barely enough new members to make up for those resigning and passing. Beth and I wo

(photo: Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann)  Seago eBikes (c) D. Blackwell We've never seen so many innovative products at a boat show, or more accurately, a watersports show, as we did this year at boot Dusseldorf. Since so many watersports can work in concert, it makes sense to exhibit them in tandem. For example, we had dive tanks, snorkel gear, wet suits, a hookah, a dinghy, motors, paddles, fishing gear, and any number of other toys on board when we sailed to the Caribbean. We also had folding bicycles, rolling coolers, and various other paraphernalia. Friends had kayaks, others had SUPs. You would have found all of this and more at the show. A few things really stood out. The number of foiling gizmos was impressive, as were all the electric motorized vehicles, including boats, paddleboards, canoes, kayaks and bikes. One of the products that caught our eyes immediately were the  Seago folding electric bicycles.  Reasonably lightweight, folding into a small package, ye

(photo: Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann)  The final press release was issued yesterday reviewing the stats for attendance at boot. And it is impressive. They are hailing it as a brilliant start to a new decade in watersports. I must admit, that seeing all the innovation in products we saw there, I found myself wishing I was 18 again so I could try them all out. Even so, I saw a few products that I think will tempt me to 'invest' in some new equipment this coming year. I'll write about those tomorrow. Today, I'll focus on the stats. boot Düsseldorf was in all accounts a hugely successful event. Visitors were enthusiastic about the wide-ranging programme and the enormous selection of products and services provided by the more than 1,900 exhibitors in the 17 halls on the exhibition site. The international water sports community was delighted by nine unique days in Düsseldorf with a mix of stimulating networking, successful business and memorable experiences. More th

The Rhine in Dusseldorf We didn't really need the fourth day in Dusseldorf, but we had it. I woke up with a sore throat and my toe was still bothering me a bit. Neither one of us felt like going back to the show so we decided to take it easy and see the sights slowly. We checked out of the hotel but left our luggage in their storage area. As the hotel was en route to the airport, that was not a bad plan. We met a guy checking in who was trying to figure out how to get to the boat show. He was from Dublin, and lucky for him, we could explain the whole thing, with all the confusing aspects included. After a leisurely breakfast -- yep, no eggs until the last instant and I had to plead with the chef -- we took the train to Altstadt. We walked along the river promenade. It was a fine day, not too cold and no rain. We went to the museum of modern art  Kunstsammlung K20 which was having a Munch exhibition. It was very well curated and we enjoyed it. We then toured the entir