Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - March 2022

— Continued from previous page
Waypoints Yacht Charters Expands to St. Thomas
Waypoints Yacht Charters has acquired CYOA Yacht
Charters, a Virgin Islands charter company with nearly
40 years of operations, and will take over its
Frenchtown, St. Thomas base.
This latest acquisition follows Waypoints Yacht
Charters’ recent opening of its British Virgin Islands
base location in November 2021, located in Nanny
Cay on Tortola. Earlier in 2021, the company also
acquired Sailing Florida Charters & Sailing School,
operating in St. Petersburg, Florida. These locations
joined the existing Waypoints Yacht Charters
Annapolis base.
With the addition of a St. Thomas base, charter
guests and yacht owners can enjoy easy access and
direct flights from many US cities, a central location for
chartering throughout the US, British and Spanish Virgin
Islands, with the modern conveniences and
infrastructure of a US territory.
Visit www.waypoints.com for more information.
Outremer 55: Bluewater
Cruiser of 2022
As seen in all of the
recent transatlantic yacht
rallies, the popularity of
catamarans for bluewater
cruising is booming. This
year the Outremer 55 was
elected winner in the
bluewater cruiser category
of the European Yacht of
the Year awards.
The European Yacht of
the Year awards
benchmark quality and
performance across the
industry. Winners are
elected through an impartial jury of 12, each from key
sailing media across Europe. This year saw jury
members from the magazines Voiles et Voiliers
(France), Yacht (Germany), Yachting World (UK), and
Vela e Motore (Italy). The jury awards five trophies in
the following categories: family cruiser, fast cruiser,
luxury cruiser, and bluewater cruiser.
Visit catamaran-outremer.maglr.com/
outremer-55-en/index for more information.
Yacht Shipping from French Guiana
Davide Matelicani reports: I have some news of
interest to sailors. It is now possible to ship your yacht
via a Soreidom cargo vessel (one departure each
month) to Europe from St. Laurent du Maroni in French
Guiana. The cost is competitive at approximately
8,000 Euro for a 40-footer.
Visit www.soreidom.com for more information.
Navtech USSA: Marine Surveying is a Profession
Navtech USSA reports: Boaters might be confused
about what surveyor to hire to survey a vessel they are
interested in buying, or need to insure or finance.
There has been much discourse on organizations: i.e.,
who and what are the best, what are the only
“accepted” organizations, and what is accepted. This
discourse can be misleading. No single organization is
in charge, nor can any organization mandate
restrictions on surveyors.
Marine surveyors are generally self-employed. Some
may work together in syndicates or groups. However,
the survey report remains the responsibility of the
surveyor. Marine surveyors use many credentials,
letters, and terms such as Accredited, Certified, and
Qualified. It’s the surveyor’s choice to use these terms.
Nevertheless, marine surveying is a profession.
Navtech US Surveyors Association (Navtech USSA) has
a Code of Ethics and Conduct Guidelines embodying
standards of behavior to which members are
expected to conform. Navtech Marine Surveyor
training courses offer a method of accreditation,
meeting specified qualifications or standards.
Navtech USSA issues certification by way of member
numbers after completing required coursework.
For more information visit www.navsurvey.com.
Mount Edgecombe Plantation, Grenada
Elizabeth Warham reports: Having been neglected for
some years, Mount Edgecombe Plantation has been
re-established with organic management practices
adopted so the vegetables, fruit and cocoa grown are
certified as organic. Today, cocoa is the primary crop
for sale to the local cocoa farmers’ co-operative that
processes cocoa into chocolate with nutmeg and
ginger at the Diamond Chocolate Factory.
The original Nutmeg Storage House
features four guest rooms.
The former neglect and current management
practices of the plantation have protected the wildlife
on the estate. Grenada has over 160 recorded
species of birds — an outstanding number considering
the mainland is only 120 square miles. Some of the
exotic bird species recorded on the estate to-date
include: Spectacled Thrush, Bananaquit, Grenada
Flycatcher, Grey Kingbird, Antillean Crested
Hummingbird, Rufous Breasted Hermit, Tropical
Mockingbird, Black-Faced Grassquit, Lesser Antillean
Bullfinch, Orange-Winged Parrot, Yellow-Bellied
Seedeater, Lesser Antillean Tanager, House Wren,
Mangrove Cuckoo and Green-Throated Carib. The
rare endemic Grenada Dove has also been seen in
the vicinity on a few occasions.
Also, very recently established on the Plantation are
the boutique hotel and restaurant, which offers a
special farm-to-fork culinary experience for guests
using produce grown in the homestead vegetable
garden and fresh eggs from chickens kept on-site. A
guided tour of the spice trail provides the opportunity
to learn more about the native flowers, fruits and
crops, as well as enjoy the panoramic sea views.
The original Plantation House has been carefully
restored, keeping its original charm. It provides a
perfect home away from home for a family or
special group vacation with four bedrooms and
wrap-around veranda overlooking the estate and
sea. The four guest rooms in the original Nutmeg
Storage House, with the cocoa drying tray beneath,
have local handcrafted furniture and poster beds,
and roof insulation to keep the rooms cool, with
balcony sea views overlooking the cocoa groves.
Three additional rooms are now being fitted out
overlooking the shimmering turquoise Caribbean Sea
with cool sea breezes.
Visit www.mountedgecombegrenada.com
for more information.
Before Crossing an Ocean!
Duncan Sweet reports: After helping clients crossing the
Atlantic to Europe for many years a few things are clear:
Most mechanical defects and failures on cruising
yachts are due to poor and/or inadequate
maintenance of the main engine and associated
systems. Some engine troubles are fuel related; usually
dirty fuel tanks and/or dirty fuel filters are guilty. If you
have been cruising widely and have taken on fuel in
some far-off corners of the off-the-beaten-chart, it
would be shocking if your fuel tanks were clean.
Most yachts have a fuel pre-filter/water separator
with a clear or translucent bowl where you can check
the condition and cleanliness of the fuel coming from
the tank to your main engine. A particularly dirty prefilter
and bowl means your fuel tanks need cleaning,
or you should change the pre-filter more frequently, or
both. Before you cross another ocean change both
the pre-filter and the engine filter and make sure you
have spare filters for both applications.
Another area of cruising yachts that is often
overlooked is the mast and rigging. By far the most
common defect aloft is one or more strands of the
1x19 wire parting at the point where the wire exits (or
enters if you will) the swaged terminal. It is not
especially difficult to see one or a few broken strands
of wire if you know what you are looking for. In
essence, the stainless rigging wire is the same
diameter from top to bottom. If one or more of the
19 strands is broken at the end of the swage, you
should see it standing just slightly proud of the other
strands even though you cannot see the broken end
of that strand.
If you are crossing an ocean with supplemental
windvane steering you should also have it in good
condition and have any needed spares onboard;
ditto for an electric autopilot. If it hasn’t been
serviced recently, it could pay dividends to look it
over or have someone familiar with your pilot give it a
clean bill of health. Steering by hand across an
ocean can be arduous!
We look forward to seeing you here in the Azores at
Mid Atlantic Yacht Services in Horta, Faial, and hope you
have a safe, swift and uneventful crossing to Europe!
For more information contact mays@mail.telepac.pt
and see ad in the Market Place sections, pages 36
and 37.
MARCH 2022 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 7