Ep 137 James From Sailing Zingaro Visits Us In SXM
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- James has been friends with us now for several years, really since he bought his Oyster 485, a sister boat to Talisman. James is a character and has so much energy it makes you feel lazy. Through his podcasts, live streams, and CZcams Sailing Zingaro episodes, he has created an impressive following.
James is typical in some way of the CZcams influencers that have manage to make a living out of the cruising lifestyle. And to do that, you need loads of charisma and creativity. James is a machine when it comes to reaching out and keeping multiple chainsaws in the air as he juggles his life and business interests.
James had just arrived with his girlfriend Anna when this episode starts, and despite a rough passage from Aruba, they made it in fine style. But drama stalks James, and they were immediately turned away by the Dutch Sint Maarten officials over paperwork issues. But we gave them the secret sauce for clearing into the French side (St Martin is an island shared by the Dutch on the east half, and the French on the west). Soon, they were laying at anchor in Marigot Bay, under the now silent guns of Fort Louis.
James had managed to destroy his new furler, and even damage the headstay during his epic trip to the island, and Marigot was not in a kind mood while we were there. The winds were blowing 20 knots and the anchorage was rolley. I had offered to go up the mast, but when I saw what I suspected to see I knew that even if I did go up, James would need to go as well, so decided to play cameraman instead. Wendy did the winch operator honors, as it’s a job she does well when I’m in the bosun’s chair.
Anyway, it’s a good episode, with a nice shopping tour of the marine support operations in Cole Bay, Sint Maarten.
sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing channels, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, BVI, BVI chartering, BEYC, furler, furler fail, james, zingaro, sxm, Sint Maarten, Saint Martin
nice video, that was fun.
Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing ! I think that broken mast may have been the one from the boat Bobby White of "sailing doodles" was crewing in the regatta .
We met Bobby in Greece in 2019, crewing with a guy who did tiny house videos. It was nice to meet him. As for the mast, during our time in SXM this last season, which was really two separate visits, we saw probably 6 dismasted boats. Rigging is a mysterious science, and most cruisers assume the best and figure that the sun rises each day. For us, our next video shows a small rigging failure, and one that accelerated our upcoming full standing rigging replacement. Bobby's had his fair share of disasters during his run, but when you're doing the transfer skipper thing, the best you can get is asking how things are on the boat before you leave. Other than that, the transfer skippers take almost no responsibility for what happens on passage, since nearly all of it is out of their control.
@@SailingTalisman the boat Bobby was on was a privately owned and the owner was the skipper , Bobby was only crew . The boat won a heat on the first day and was leading their class on the final day when the mast broke. Bobby didn't have any responsibility.
@@zzzxxzzz3248 Cool. Not sure why I thought he might be transferring the boat. The wind for those races was perfect, but quite strong. We were out sailing to and from Philipsberg during two of the races, and during both we were seeing 23-27 knots of wind.
Thanks Kevin and Wendy! What a treat to see you with James. So fun to watch you diagnose and repair stuff.
Thank you so much Beth. It was a good time (better for us as our boat was generally problem free), but James got it all together before he left the island.
That's better than a james video. He needs you to be his personal videographer. Nice and calm! James always bringing the energy
We love James. Oh to have that energy. I guess I used to have it when I was in my 20's and 30's, but never to his level.
That marine store looks better stocked than most of the Canadian ones I've shopped in!
Sint Maarten is probably the epicenter of boat repair in the Leeward Islands. I suspect a lot of this has to do with it being very easy to bring in parts (Customs not being jerks). If you order an alternator in Antigua, they'll say "It'll be in Sint Marten on Monday and here by Thursday." And both Budget Marine and Island Water World have similarly stocked stores perhaps 400 yards from each other. That section of Cole Bay that I took James on the tour of will have every part and installation contactor you could want.
fun video to enjoy. surprised you and james would somehow meet. james channel very good he's had many adventures to catch on video. looking forward to your next video kevin and wendy. hope james got his issues solved.
James got in touch when he bought his boat a few years ago (since both our boats are Oyster 485's), and we've talked every few weeks since then. We've done podcasts with him and were at the Annapolis Boat Show together last year. He's a good guy and fun to be around.
I found that the genoa had yard needs to be a little slack and the pressure on the sail needs to be low to avoid snarling. I agree that using the electric winch is dangerous but very quick. Great video very interesting.
Absolutely true. The halyard angle at the upper swivel is shown in the Harken manual as 8-10 degrees, and if you move materially off these numbers you'll either damage the swivel by putting too much lateral force on it, or get a halyard wrap. Our halyard passes through a deflector fastened to the mast and as it turned out we were at 9 degrees, so perfect right out of the box. The height of the swivel can be adjusted by using a dyneema loop as a pendent at the head of the sail (for moving the swivel upward). If it needs to be lower you could move the deflector down some. The new Harken swivel is unbelievable. I've had Wendy crank on the halyard while I was on the masthead, and no matter how tight the line, there was no discernable fall-off in its ability to rotate. This is the major difference between our old Hood Sea Furl swivel and this new one.
Really nice video! Enjoyed it.
Thanks Werner.
Brilllllliant Wendy & Kevin - good to see you connect with James.
Thanks Patrick. Talking and hanging with James is always a hoot.
Love your videos Kevin and Wendy!
Thanks TJ!
Very sad , its always the same , use a winch. You cannot feel a issue that you can with a rope in your hand ,
Winch by hand you still feel the pressure ,
To tight on the halyard increases friction and pressure , not letting enough wind out of the sail the electric wince will just keep pulling .
I'm of two minds on this. If you buy a new 50' monohull, an electric or hydraulic headsail furler will at least be an option. If you buy a new Oyster, it'll come standard with a hydraulic Reckman or similar furler, perhaps even two if it's a cutter rig. Hydraulic systems have two major benefits, the first being that there is no electric wiring or electric motors that need to be 100% waterproofed, and the second is that you can power hydraulic vangs and backstay tensioners off the same hydraulic pump. In either case (electric/hydraulic), you'll lose the "feel" that you describe. But it's not an insurmountable hurdle. Even using our electric primary winch, we've learned what proper furler line tension feels like, and as long as the drum is turning and the upper swivel isn't wrapped somehow, all will usually be fine. One indication that things aren't fine is when the furler drum is turning but the sail doesn't seem to want to come in. Here, you're going to be twisting the foils, and over the 60-65' length of them, you can probably get a full extra rotation at the bottom, and this is when things are likely to go bang. Also, with the sail furled, you still want 6-10 furler line wraps on the drum. I think James had a short furler line and had no wraps on the drum. This put the full power of the winch to pulling the lower half flange away from the drum, and the small tabs couldn't take that force.
@@SailingTalisman two totally different things , the big hydraulic or electric furlers happen at the bottom of the furlers, massively more engineered , hand furlers is a bit of plastic ,
With a line , my personal view on a 50 ft boat should furl by hand , I'm in my 60s , when you cannot , either to much wind , or not set correct , the halyard tension makes a massive difference, or a unseen issue , we turn to using a electric winch , with a few turning blocks , with a cutter rig , a smaller headsail and the inner sail reduces the pressure ,
The massive over lapping Genoa is heavy , I even find when the hand pulling in the sail gets to hard , I go forward sit down a pull from near the drum, yup you do need someone to tail for you , a lot less friction,
@@davidwarnes5158 Hi David. Harken and Selden compete head-to-head in this space. Using the Harken line of furlers for reference, our Harken MkIV, Mod 3 (3rd Gen) is rated for boats 50-60' LOA. The MkIII version is 40-50'. So given that we beat on things, I opted for the larger version. And both are available in hydraulic and electric versions. These motor or pump drives simply fit onto the bottom of the foil assembly the same as a furling drum. So essentially the same design except for how things get turned. As for plastic, I like it when it's used properly, as it is impervious to saltwater. Some plastics degrade in sunlight, but not all. I think once you get to 60' and above you'll see more furlers from companies that are dedicated to hydraulic designs, with Reckman being the best known. This is where hand furling becomes difficult or impossible due to sail size. Hope things are going well on your boat, and no big issues ahead.
James is a disaster waiting to happen. This isn't anything new. Look at the number of boats, boat parts, and dinghies he has destroyed. His videos are proof of his haphazardness. You shouldn't feel obligated for recommending the furler. The weak link is James.
I don't know what to say. The thing I like about James is his high energy. Our channel is diametrically opposed to Zingaro in that we strive to be low-drama, which is why we're the opposite. But drama sells and gets views. And James is funding his entire operation based on social media and Patrons. The guy is a machine when it comes to working side deals and doing the meet and greet things. Wendy and I took a different course, spending decades saving money to do the cruising life, and having it funded (more or less) by two (now one) rental houses. Yes, we have to dig into saving when the big upgrades and maintenance comes along, but generally we try to do as much labor ourselves as we can and keep the outlays reasonable. In other words, we don't chase after the Patron money and court drama like the young cruisers have to.
@@SailingTalismanI like your style and that's why I said don't sweat recommending that furler. It wouldn't matter. He could destroy an anvil with a rubber mallet. It's just his F'it attitude. Stick around and you'll witness his destructive behavior. Don't get me wrong. He's not a bad dude.
Any problems with the dinghy being bashed up when tied at the dock?
Not really. Simpson Bay Lagoon (SXM) is tough on dinghies because it's windier and has more swell action that you would imagine. Plus a lot of the dinghy docks are not well designed. But we do what we can. The plastic floating docks at Budget marine are probably the best one in the lagoon.
Have James plug your channel.
He has in the past. I sent him a WhatsApp and it still only shows one checkmark, so I don't think he knows about this episode yet. Thanks for watching and being with us!
@@SailingTalisman I don't think he watches CZcams much. He doesn't post that many videos either. I've been watching him since he had just purchased his catamaran in Florida. I think he mentioned you in one of his videos and then I checked out your channel and liked it as well.