Cruising Group Day Sail

On Good Friday April 7th, the boat Lottie, a Beneteau Ocianis 361, part of SAMM’s Cruising Group enjoyed one of the regular day sails they organise. Regular crew Terry and Bob were joined by John and Carol, Nick and Mam for a trip from their home port, Marina Salinas San Pedro, south along the coast in a steady 11 knot breeze but with a swell of over 1 meter.

All the guests were given time on the helm and encouraged to be actively engaged in sailing the boat, although the ladies weren't keen on heaving on ropes.

Their course went the 6 nautical miles down to Isla Grossa and through the narrow channel between that and Islote el Farallon so the two ladies could see the tunnel worn through the later by the action of the sea.

They eat their lunches while circumnavigating Isla Grossa during which time they saw the road bridge over the Channel at Thomas Maestre open to let boats in and out of the Mar Menor. After a couple of tacks to clear the end of the mole it was a straight run back to San Pedro to put the boat away and have a well earned beer.

Balaton Bottoms all clean

With the start of the race season looming, members of the Balaton boat group worked hard to get their three Sailfish 18's race ready. Led by group chairman Julian, helped by Bob, Jurgen, Paddy, David, Jez, Willie and Rona, over the course of a week.

Starting with Sirocco, they sailed her to Los Urutias marina to be worked on. First task being to lift her from the water and remove the weed and barnacle growth from the bottom of the hull. This is excessive in the Mar Menor, probably due to the higher water temperature, and greatly reduces the hulls efficiency and boat speed.

The easiest way to remove it is by a hot water jet wash as soon as the boat is lifted before the encrustations dry out then, after being allowed to dry, a quick rub down and a fresh coat of anti-foul paint can be applied.

The upper hull and deck were then lightly sanded and repainted with epoxy marine paint and new decals applied. Finally a check was made off all the rigging and ropes before she was returned to the water.

She was followed by similar work on both Vision before the first race day and Ginetta soon afterwards. They should now all sail well and give the smaller dinghies a run for their money.

Parrot seeks permanent home

The Balaton group, one of the SAMM boat share groups, who operate four 6 meter keel boats on the Mar Menor have a pet parrot.

Unfortunately it keeps getting moved from home to home as it is awarded, from time to time, to a Balaton member who somehow messes up.

Up until recently it had a comfortable home with Dennis but then was claimed by Julian who caught the groups tender on the jetty while towing it, damaging the transom.

He only had it for a week before it was forced to move again, first to Keith for hitting the reef during the first race on a SAMM race day. Then an hour later on to Paddy, who hit the same reef in the second race the same day. Luckily, because of the very light wind no damage was caused to the boat.

These incidents are few and far between so, if you are interested in enjoying sailing and racing on the Mar Menor without having to home a parrot, contact Julian via https://www.facebook.com/thebalatongroup.

Paddy is now complaining that the parrot is driving him mad by asking, every time he walks past it’s perch “Who’s a silly boy then?”