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[sailingmistress]

Update time : Happy New Year

Six months have passed since our last post and lots has happened since then. Our final posts appear to have sat unpublished in drafts, or disappeared completely, so we were not even up to date when we packed up and left Mistress in Luperon five and a half months ago. We had expected to return by October but stuff happened, plans change and so two or three months turned into almost six. That’s a…

[sailingmistress]

This too shall pass

Everything passes, things break, decay and die. Our mainsail ripped in two during our beat to windward, leaving us reefed and underpowered for much of our journey. It can be repaired or replaced, at some point. My phone died when I foolishly tried to take photos of the insanely beautiful water while sailing across the Caicos banks. I failed to save it or recover any data. Kate’s phone had…

[sailingmistress]

Laid up in Luperon

For two and a half years I’ve avoided it, but no longer. The pandemic finally caught up with me, dispite my four jabs, in a country that officially has no reported cases. Dysentry got my first and my covid test was negative. However this morning I woke with a cought and the test came positive for covid. My friend Dave tested positive too, having felt under the weather the last few days. He’d…

[sailingmistress]

Holed-up in Luperon

Mistress is safely tucked away in Luperon, the Dominican Republic’s renowned hurricane hole. The long slog to windward from the Bahamas. It took us a lot longer than expected, but the dreaded final passage from Sand Cay in Turks and Caicos turned out to be a glorious single tack, better than anyone could have hoped for. We arrived at sunrise and dealt with the various requirements of officialdom…

[sailingmistress]

A bit of a prick

Foraging to expand your dietary options can be a bit of a pain, at least when cactus is on the menu. However, starved of fresh green stuff in our diet, we decided to give nopales a chance. I’d tried these once or twice before in my first year of cruising, recently enough to recall having painful spikes stuck in my fingers, and long enough ago that I couldn’t quite remember if the end product was…

[sailingmistress]

A whale of a time

“Whale!” I shouted. It was our first whale sighting since arriving in the Bahamas almost three months ago. We’d been thrilled by a pod of small Dolphins in Eleuthera shortly after we arrived but this was our first whale sighting, a group of three or four small whales we identified as pilot whales from their bulbous heads and curvey dorsal fins. Stock photo of pilot whales and their…

[sailingmistress]

Sea Beans

Given the extortionate and rising cost of fresh vegetables in the few grocery stores we have found during these last few months in the Bahamas, we’ve been keen to expand our foraging repertoire. Sea beans, otherwise known as sea asparagus and pickleweed, belong to the genus Salicornia, marsh plants that thrive in salty areas such as the salt ponds found on island in the Bahamas, as well as…

[sailingmistress]

yet another blog

SV.Mistress launches yet another online presence in a futile attempt to cast off Facebook’s treacherous waters.

[sailingmistress]

Mistress is currently anchored in Abraham's Bay in Mayaguana, our last stop in the Bahamas. We are taking a brief break in the upwind slog on route to Luperon in the Dominican Republic. Next stops will be somewhere in Turks and Caicos.

[sailingmistress]

Selling Mistress (updated May 2020)

I’ve been sailing Mistress for seven years. Last year during a bout of depression  I decided the time had come for me to move on to other things and I should sell her. I was hoping for a quick sale as I was going to Africa during the hurricane season and preferred not to have to worry about her. I didn't sell, and although now not 100% sure I should, hurricane season approaches and circumstances suggest I should be more proactive in trying to sell her.

Mistress is currently in a shabby state. Although a fine blue water cruiser, I’d not recommended her for anyone planning on making any ambitious ocean passages in the near future. However, with moderate effort, she would certainly suite somebody seeking a low budget liveaboard for cruising the Carribbean, or with no significant investment, a cheap floating home in paradise.

She’s a 1972 Allied Mistress, a glassfiber 39ft centre cockpit ketch (some more details in posts below). With her moderate displacement of 22,000 pounds and long keel, she is sea kindly and comfortable under sail. Far from a racing boat, she makes adequate speed and draws only 4.5ft, perfect for Bahamas for example, and other shallow cruising grounds.

She has two double cabins, two heads, and a shower. There is masses of headroom throughout, apart from the walkway between saloon and rear cabin which is made for midgets or people with hard heads.

Her previous owner bought her from a boat yard in the virgin islands where she had stood neglected for many years. I bought her soon after - engine not working, steering broken, and no mizzen sail.

I spent six months working on her, fixing the engine, the steering, getting a mizzen sail, along with many other repairs and additions. Since then, I’ve cruised continuously up and down the Lesser Antilles, fixing stuff when it breaks, and adding a few improvements such as a windlass, self steering and a fridge.

Three years ago I was in Saint Martin when hurricane Irma hit. Mistress was one of the few boats to survive, but not without sustaining battle scars. She lost her mizzen mast and was holed in three places, but she remained afloat and I had her fixed up and sailing again a few months later.

Irma set me back a lot. Although I replaced the mizzen mast, repaired the holes, and reglassed bulkheads etc. there remains a lot of cosmetic damage I’ve yet to address. Her topsides are scarred with gouges that need filling and faring. Her ancient gelcoat is never going to be restored to looking nice so she should probably be painted.

There’s also scratches below the waterline. She could really do with some time on the hard, and have the area around the scratches ground back and allowed to dry, before filling, faring and painting with an epoxy based coating.

If I were hauling out, I’d take the opportunity to apply a long overdue lick of anti fouling and check or replace replace through-hull fittings. I’d also unstep the mast, replace the chainplates and probably cut a few inches off the bottom of the mast, and glass in a chunky hardwood mast step in order to remove corrosion.

The biggest issue when I put her on the market last year was the engine which was dead so I priced accordingly. Since then however, I've purchased a new engine and am in the process of fitting it. As a result, I've put the price up a bit but it's still a low priced boat.

People ask, why so cheap, what’s wrong with her, what needs doing? Aside from completing the engine installation, she’s an old boat with an almost endless list of stuff that needs doing. I’ve mentioned some stuff I’d consider priority jobs, such as replacing the chain plates, and cutting a few inches off the bottom of the mast.

Less urgent would be jobs like re-wiring. The mostly has all her original 47 year old wiring, and needless to say, it often causes problems. I’d also suggest resealing the entire hull deck join, especially at the bow, either by glassing over the join inside and out, or just an obscene amount of sikaflex under the rubbing strake. Many deck fittings would benefit from being rebedded to reduce leaks.

You might want to consider adding a compression post under the mizzen mast, a modification many Mistress owner’s have made in order to reduce stress and flexing.

I will happily point out all the issues, faults and problems I can think off, to anyone viewing the boat, and I’ll be adding stuff here as I think of anything I think should be prioritized.

Anyhow, I’m asking €9,500. The boat is in Martinique. Obviously corona virus might limit travel options for many.

The boats inventory is listed in separate post below and subject to change.

You can find some photos of Mistress sailing and at anchor on http://flickr.com/photos/sailingmistress

For general info about Allied Mistress boats, try these links: https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/mistress-39-allied

https://web.archive.org/web/20110707114037/http://www.alliedboatowners.com/mistress.html

[sailingmistress]

Inventory

Sails: Roller furling foresail, plus spare Fully battened main sail (many repairs but serviceable) Mizzen sail (poor condition) Storm and tri-sail (very good condition) Spinnaker (I've never tried it) Mainsail cover stackpack (needs repairs) Mizzen sailcover stackpack (needs repairs) Lazy jack's for main and mizzen. Whisker pole, plus track on mast Rigging Main mast standing rigging replaced 4 years ago with 7mm 316 stainless Mizzen rigging upgraded one size Stalock or Norseman terminals use for all mizzen rigging and much of main rigging. New cap shroud tangs fitted last year. Mizzen chain plates replaced six years ago. (Main chainplates need replacing) Ground Tackle: twin stainless steel bow rollers Brittany anchor ~20kg 25kg folding fishermans anchor 80 meters of 10mm chain Additional three strand nylon anchor warp Tigres 1500w windlass (+spares inc motor) Other deck gear: Stainless steel Barient winches: Two #22 sheet winches One #10 mainsheet winch Two #16 plus one #9 halyard winches Stainless steel pushpit/pullpit Stainless steel stanchion posts and lifelines. Stainless steel swim ladder Stainless steel sprayhood frame and canvas Stainless steel Bimini plus canvas Canvas cockpit awning out of date six person life raft Electrical system and instruments: Over 400w of solar panels solar regulator, batteries, deep cycle ~320 Ah Invertors for both 110v and 220v LED lighting throughout LED tricolor nav and anchor lights Depth sounder DSC enabled VHF radio EPIRB (needs reregistering) Ancient flares Two fire extinguishers Engine compartment: Volvo Penta MD22L (dead) Twindisc technodrive gearbox Water heater 90 liter stainless steel fuel tank 160 amp hour battery Saloon and Galley area: 12v fridge approx 65 liter (works great but needs gas recharge occasionally) Twin burner gas stove and oven, gimbled (one thermocouple not working) (Two glassfiber 22lb gas bottles on deck) Fire blanket Smoke detector (needs bats) Carbon Monoxide detector (needs bats) Two 200 liter stainless steel water tanks pressurised water system Independent fresh water footpump twin stainless steel dishwashing sinks Hot and cold mixer tap Engine and shore power water heater (in engine room) Car stereo system, speakers throughout boat Misc: Edison steering pedistal and wheel Two manual pump toilets Two handwash basins Shower in aft heads Two opening lewmar hatches, fore and aft Boat hooks Life jackets Harnesses 20 liter blue water jug 20 liter yellow diesel jug 30 liter green gasoline jug Folding hand trolley Four or five fenders Negotiable additions: SuperWind wind generator Double kayak 9.5ft aluminium AB ridged inflatable dinghy 3.3hp outboard motor Not included: Watermaker Sewing machine Soda stream Bread maker Binoculars WiFi router Ships bell Personal effects

[sailingmistress]

Want to come sailing?

If adventures in the Caribbean appeal to you, and you are interested in joining Mistress (either now or in the future), please read the rest of the posts here and then if still interested, send me an email. I’m obviously not going to pick crew based on one line messages so please be comprehensive - describe yourself, your motives, hopes, expectations, experiences and timeframes. If you’ve written before (perhaps via crewbay or some other web based system) please email again if you are still interested, I am terrible with keeping track.

If you have online profiles such as couchsurfing, or a personal blog then please include links when you write to me. If you are on OkCupid, even better to establish whether we might match or clash. If you are on facebook then I'll add you so you can read old updates to get a feel for what to expect from me, the boat, and the places we visit. 

Please do take the time to find out more about me, the boat and what you can expect. Feel free to ask questions! You are also welcome and encouraged to correspond with my previous travel companions to check me out.

Photos of Mistress, myself, previous crew and past adventures can be found on http://flickr.com/photos/sailingmistress/sets

More useful info can be found on the boat facebook page http://facebook.com/sv.mistress and my personal profile /gringo.ben

thanks, ben (gringoben@gmail.com)

[sailingmistress]

Introducing the boat

Mistress is an old boat, a plastic classic apparently. She was built in 1972 in New York. She’s a 12 meter centre cockpit ketch with traditional long keel hull and shallow draft. She is not a fast boat but sea-kindly and generally easy to handle.  

With two cabins, two heads and one shower (cold), she is reasonably comfortable. Don’t expect air-con or satellite phones but there’s wind and solar power, a fridge, a stereo, onboard wifi, windvane self steering, electric windlass, inflatable kayak, snorkeling gear, rowing dinghy with outboard and sailing rig etc.

Mistress has been neglected over the years, and I don’t have the resources to install lots of new stuff. Being old, things break. Fortunately I am pretty good at improvising and fixing stuff. 

[sailingmistress]

Sharing adventures

You don’t need sailing experience to join the boat but obviously it would help if you actually enjoy life afloat! You should work well as part of a team; be considerate, good humored, easy going, tolerant, emotional stable and ideally without too much baggage! 

Any gender, young or old, assuming you are relatively fit. I don’t care about race or nationality but sadly, visa issues make it impractical for certain passport holders to sail these waters. 

Wherever you come from, you need to be a good communicator with adequate spoken English as I don’t speak anything else (bonus points for Latin American Spanish speakers who can teach me ;-).

Compatibility is most important to me - racists, sexists, homophobes etc. need not apply. If you preferred exploring nature, hiking, waterfalls etc rather than partying and drinking then that would great (I’m not saying that I don’t like drinking and partying occasionally). Non smokers preferred (420 friendly). 

Also note, I’m vegetarian and while you don’t need to be veggie or vegan to join the boat I would certainly prefer it. I have not interest in daily conflicts over food. All meals on board will be vegetarian, and there’ll be no fishing! If you have special dietary preferences, or allergies, please let me know.

I’m on a low budget and ideally you’d be operating on a similar low budget (I’d guess about 10US$ per day on average) and you need to be able to cover your share. Low budget means not eating out at restaurants every day or hanging out in bars all night. Also, don’t expect the convenience and comfort of a marina when we stop - we’ll be at anchor. On shore you should be at ease with lots of walking, hitching or taking buses rather than hoping in a taxi.

If you think you might like to stay longer than two or three months and will need to earn money while travelling to do so, that’s an option. I also need to earn some cash to keep going. It is potential possible to work online occasionally, if just a few hours every now and then, with no inflexible deadlines. If you make art, crafts, jewelry etc, it should be possible to find a market (I’m trying to sell paintings). If all else fails we can clean boat hulls together.

Travelling with me would best suite flexible, down to earth people who are used to getting by with little money, and who have a love of nature and adventure. I’m unlikely to take couples as couples are couples and three’s usually a crowd, but I’m open minded. I’m also unlikely to consider multiple travel partners at the same time as group dynamics and logistics can become complicated - but I am open to persuasion. 

If interested, please read all the other posts and get in touch.

[sailingmistress]

Some background...

Towards the end of 2012, I hitch-hiked across the Atlantic from Spain to the Caribbean. To cut a long story short, I ended up buying an old boat, called Mistress. After six months of work, Mistress and I set sail, island hoping up and down the Eastern Caribbean, leisurely covering four thousand miles in the last four years. In that time I have visited Anguilla, Saint Martin, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Guadeloupe (including Petit Terre, Les Deserada and Les Saints), Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the much of the Grenadines, Grenada, both Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela (and Colombia by land).

Sailing alone has no appeal for me so I’ve taken people along to share the adventure. Those who have accompanied me at various times include: Thomas and Susanne; Vee, Marion and Allan; Laura, Marina and Michel; Pia and Maria, Meg and Renie, Dabura and Javia, Joana; Christine twice; Lucy, Taylor and Tony.

I’ve generally taken on new crew in Saint Martin, around July/August (for the sail south during August, September and October) - and then again in Trinidad, in the new year (for the sail back up north). People usually join the boat for the entire voyage either up or down the chain, which usually takes around three months.

I’m always interested to hear from people who might like to join the boat at some time. Read the other posts to learn more.

[sailingmistress]

Some useful info...

This document is an attempt at producing a list of regular task and other useful info for crew. It’s far from comprehensive and likely to remain a work in progress for some time to come. 

General small boat considerations:

Be aware of, and help facilitate, other people's need to move around the boat.

Avoiding standing or sitting in the companion way (generally considered a big no no for all but the captain on any boat).

Morning tasks:

Fill any empty bottles in the sink and place in fridge.

Check fridge is set to chill at between zero and -10 degres.

Wash any dishes etc left from day before.

If sailing overnight, check navigation lights have been switched off.

Other regular tasks:

When a water bottle from the fridge is emptied, fill and replace it if practical, or leave in sink for morning.

The watermaker should be run at least every four days, if only for a few minutes. Best avoid doing this in polluted anchorages!

Fruit and veg nets, plus contents of fridge, need to be checked for spoilage.

Water tanks need to be regularly topped up, either by running the water maker when there is sufficient power, or by collecting water ashore at every opportunity.

The cockpit sole needs to be cleaned regularly to ensure that the drains don’t get blocked.

The drip tray in the fridge needs to be emptied every few days and always before sailing.

Galley work-surfaces, sinks, and the floor always need cleaning.

Conserving Power:

Switch off lights in parts of the boat you are not occupying.

Close the fridge door as soon as possible after taking something out. Don't leave it open while you spread butter or something.

Switch off water pressure when leaving the boat or sailing. In fact, ideally, switch it off whenever you are not using it.

As much a possible, use power when it is nice an sunny.

Avoid charging things during the night and try to time extended use of high power items to the sunniest part of the day - eg. use of invertor for powertools, food blender, anchor windlass, water maker.

Ideally even use of the bilge and water presure pump should be avoided after sunset.

Turn fridge down (+10 to +20 ) in the evening and back up again in the morning (0 to -10).

Conserving Water:

Avoid leaving taps running unnecessarily.

Learn to have short 'boat showers' - get yourself wet (perhaps having had a dip in the ocean), lather yourself up and have a good scrub, now rinse off starting with your head and using the minimum amount of water necessary.

If galley footpump is working, it probably uses less water than the electric pump.

When doing washing up, try to reuse rinse water from each item and use it to wash the next.

If the sea is clean, use salt water to wash the dishes. It's not ideal as the soap does not lather up but it can at least be used to soak dried crud etc.

In the event of rain:

Stop whatever you are doing and run around checking nothing is outside getting wet that should not be.

Close all the hatches and portholes etc. even though the chances are that the rain will stop before you finish.

If it is raining heavily, take advantage of the opportunity and have a shower on deck.

When it has stopped raining, get up and reopen the hatches.

If it has rained during the night and the dinghy is full of water, use the opportunity to do some laundry or at least rinse out some stinky salt encrusted towels before bailing out.

Cleaning and tidying

Used a mug, class or bowl? Rinse it out directly after use to prevent a pile of dirty dishes growing in the sink.

Please don't use metal scouring pads with non-stick pans (and avoid using any metal impliments when cook and serving from non-stick pans).

Finished a jar of something? Wash it out and put it with the empties or in the bin bag.

Taken something out of the food storage? Put it back after use.

Having a swim to cool off? Take a spong or scrapper and clean some of the hull. Keep on top of it this way and perhaps there'll be no need for an exhausting  dedicated session.

Leaving the boat:

Put any valuables away or out of sight.

Switch off water pressure pump (and any lights apart from anchor light)

Bail out dinghy if necessary.

Put any full bin bags in the dinghy to dispose of ashore.

If water is available on shore, take water containers to fill.

Take anything out of the dinghy that would best not be left there.

Check you have shoes ;-)

Close and lock all hatches - even if it isn't supposed to rain.

Keys stay in safe place and should not come to shore.

Arriving at shore:

If arriving at a dock - person at front hold dock. First person out takes line ashore and secures it.

Don't climb in or out of dinghy with any bags.

Bags etc should be passed up and placed securely on dock.

Double check dinghy is appropriately secured.

If outboard is being used, it should be locked and so should the dinghy.

If arriving on beach - person not rowing or operating outboard should jump out immediately dinghy hits the beach and take hold of the bow to prevent dinghy turning side on to waves. Second person jumps out having secured oars or dealt with outboard, and dinghy is pulled up beach above high water line.

Returning to boat:

Person toward front of dinghy should hold boat when dinghy pulls along side.

First person out takes line and secures to boat.

Assist in unloading the dinghy before doing anything else.

Don't climb in or out of dinghy with any bags.

Cardboard boxes and wooded crates should not be bought onto boat as they may house cockroaches.

Double check dinghy is properly secured to boat!

Stow any shopping. Anything in inappropriate packaging should be repackaged.

Plastic bags should be kept for use as bin bags

If water was collected from shore, pour into tanks and put away jugs or place back in dinghy.

Before sailing:

Water pressure pump should be switched off.

All loose pots, pans, kettles, cutlery, bottles etc should be put away or secured.

Particular attention should be paid to putting phones, tablets, laptops etc in a safe place.

All drawers and cupboard doors etc should be secured.

Fridge door should be firmly locked.

Since it is unlikely that the fridge can safely be openned while sailing, place water and food somewhere for the passage.

Safety while sailing

Portlights and skylights should be closed while sailing.

Cockpit drains should be unblocked.

VHF radio should be on (it should always be on) and tuned to channel 16

If listening to music on headphones (on or off watch), do it at low volume and using only one headphone so you don't miss somebody calling you or a noise you should be aware of.

New noises should be investigated.

Occasionally check water level in bilge and use bilge pump when necessary.

Avoid leaving the cockpit without a harness and without somebody being aware of what you are doing, especially at night!

Raise your voice to be heard over wind, rain, engine etc. Don't be upset about shouting - urgency and safetly trumps politeness.

When sailing at night, try to conserve night vision by avoiding switching on lights (the red ones are fine). Phones, tablets and laptops will also effect night vision and should be dimmed as much as possible.

After sailing:

Safely anchoring is the priority.

Sails should be put away and sail covers put on. If arriving at night and too tired to put sail covers on immediately, they can be left till morning.

Check navigation lights are off and switch on anchor light if appropriate.

Check bilge and pump out if needed.

Switch radio to cruisers hailing channel if applicable.

Checking for wifi and getting online should only be done once other tasks are complete ;-)

Dinghy may need to be launched if stowed on foredeck.

Misc safety:

If something breaks or is lost overboard, tell the captain immediately.