Sailing

Dehler Varianta VA18 Day Cruiser Sail Boat + Trailer / Built 2011 + 2015

english, Küstenwache, reisen

As living space meanwhile turned out to be too small in our beloved expedition sail boat called MILVA, a Varianta 18 (VA18) by Dehler Yachts built in 2011, we decided to sell it. The sail boat is actually a weekender or day cruiser, the perfect boat for beginners, with aftswept spreaders, that allows an uncomplicated rig without backstay and makes sailing even more simple. The VA18 pretty fast for racing, especially at downwind (run). We used it however once for a sabbatical of 2 months in the Netherlands, and equipped the 18feet boat accordingly.
The boat is currently located in Stockholm archipelago, but can be brought anywhere in Europe with its trailer, that is built especially for fitting the VA18.

The boat (hull-no. #131) is in good shape, as it has only been used for 1-2 seasons of racing, the sabbatical in 2015, and two weeks at its current Location in Sweden. MILVA VA18 was fully equipped in 2015, including gennaker kit, extra comfortable matrasses, sprayhood, main Drop system, covers and the trailer. Due to theft of the outboard engine, a new Mercury 5HP engine was acquired in 2017, but only used in 2019.

The FACTS

Model: Varianta 18
Manufacturer: Dehler Yachts GmbH
Category: Day Cruiser
Year of construction: 2011
Full Equipment of boat: 2015 / 2017 / 2019
Material: GRP
Rig: Sloop
Cabins / Berths : 1 / 2

Length: 5,75m
Length Waterline: 4,78
Beam: 2,40m
Draft: 1,15m standard T-shaped keel
Sails area: 21,5 sqm
Mast Length over waterline: 9,15m
Deck Stepped 7/8 fractional aluminium mast Z-Spars
Weight: 910kg (empty)

VA18 original sails:
Main sail with VA18 logo: 14,5 sqm
Headsail/ Jib 106%: 7,5 sqm + furler Furlex 50S
Gennaker (red): 29 sqm
Rectracable Aluminium gennaker pole

Sunbrella Covers (grey)
– Jib Cover
– Mainsail Cover + Main Drop System
– Sprayhood
– Frog Sails ‘Poppy’ Soft deck

Outboard Engine: Mercury F5 MLH Sailpower 5 HP (2017)

Outboard bracket, Swim Ladder, bow fender, 4 fenders, mooring lines with Shock absorber, boat hook, anchor with chain, 2 paddles, storage bags and boxes inside

Original VA18 red colored upholstery (extra comfortable, 6 pieces)

NASA Clipper Tactical Wind System
NASA Clipper Duet – combine Speed/distance log and echo sounder
Allround light Mast top white

Philippi LAE 220 Shore power connection
plug socket, 25m shore power cable, Switching Unit 12V,
CTEK battery charger, new battery (2019)

Trailer with 100 km/h approval (constructed in 2015, inspection certificate until 8/2020


VA18 mast fall down

english, Küstenwache, techie, TEXT

Ever had a mast fall down? My friend having sailed out my Dehler Varianta 18 in Stockholms archipelago in my absence recently. Something, that must never happen, happened. I couldn’t almost believe what he was telling me the other day, luckily he is a very experienced sailor who had dealt with worse things than this one, but if it happened to me I guess I would have issued a PAN PAN to all stations (if I had a radio though…).

The boat, built in 2011 while the Dehler wharf was still building the VA18, is equipped with a Seldén Furlex 50 furling system, that according to the previous owner of my boat was already attached with the forestay. To be honest, it never came to my mind to read the manual (that I did not have) of the Furlex, as all I needed to know was how to attach the Furlex to the boat and set up the mast. Well, according to the manual, the screw to the terminal is supposed to be permantly locked by having applied some drops of locking adhesive before screwing it to the terminal and tighten it securly. Either this step has been missed in the wharf, or the locking adhesive my get old with a few years.

So, sailors – watch out and check the screws that you may not even have known they exist.

Doldrums & Rå-bocken bränning

english, Küstenwache

N 59° 18′ 2.5″ E 018° 43′ 54.1″ Rå-Bocken + Bränning 6.5 nm

Bullandö Marina – Djuröbron – Runö – Marskär
Weather: cloudy, 5 – 9 m/s (wind gusts) wind force North East, outside temperature around 15 – 18 °C , water temperature ~ 11°C

With

Mit dem Schiff aufs Schiff

Küstenwache, reisen, TEXT

MILVAs ursprüngliche Bestimmung war von Beginn an, auch mal bei Allsång på Skansen mitzusingen. Daher bewarben wir uns im Januar 2017 beim Eurovision Song Contest in Schweden für einen Auftritt im Stockholmer Schärengarten. Die Konkurrenz war groß. Bei anfänglichem Wartelistenplatz # 787 rückte MILVA binnen einem Jahr in die 600er Zone auf, und da hatte ein Hafenmeister Mitleid mit den 18 Fuß Oberweite und 1,15 Tiefgang, dass sie in die Finalauswahl aufrückte.

Nach einigen notwendigen Vorbereitungen, wie dem TÜV für den bereits drei Jahre alten Trailer, (bei dem wir durchaus etwas dazulernten und halsbrecherische Manöver fuhren, die bei nicht festgezurrten Spanngurten das Überfliegen der MILVA über den blauen Herrn OVLOV, unseren gebliebten blauen Rebellen Volvo V60, zur Folge gehabt hätte), gings am 12.August, einem Sonntag zwecks der Verkehrslage Richtung Norden, los Richtung Bullandö.

Segelidylle Mannheimer Altrhein

Im Himmel, Küstenwache, photography, RETREAT, URBAN TURBAN

Decksidylle – Dehler Varianta
Seglervereinigung Mannheim e.V. – aufgereiht
SCA Chimney from a sailor’s perspective
Ausflug zur Industrieromantik Lagune – mit Sitzgelegenheit

In Erinnerung an Martin†  Im Himmel.

( Absegeln der Seglervereinigung Mannheim e.V. im Oktober 2015 )

Let your sports gear speak

english, felgenLyrik, Küstenwache

boat logo
The ocean is everything I want to be. Beautiful, mysterious, wild and free [SUP surfboard]]
cycling photoexhibition [bicycle ART]
boat name

felgenLYRIK pimps up your sportsgear! In need of stating a message? Get in contact with felgenlyrik!

Ice Age 2017 | Mannheim Harbour

Küstenwache, TEXT

„If there’s more than one possible outcome of not getting your boat out of the water before onset of winter, and one of those outcomes will result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then someway it will end up that way.“

An example of applied Murphys Law. Personal circumstances and some kind of procrastination were leading to the fact that my little sailyacht MILVA18 – who definitely is not built for an expedition to Antarctica – had to stay all winter long in her berth. Due to very low water level already in beginning of December, there was no way to get her with 1,15m draught into the wharf for craning at level 0,5m. Surely, exactly this winter is supposed to become a tought one.

Any ideas to prevent her from damage are more than welcome.

 

The old can and the sea

english, Küstenwache, techie, TEXT

Recently I voluntarily payed double prize for a bottle of dishwashing detergent of the same environment-friendly pretending Belgium based company just because of nicely designed bottle and a label attached that was saying ‘This bottle is produced from plastic waste found in the canals of Amsterdam before it could reach the North Sea’. The limited edition bottle is the eye catcher for the company’s Ocean Plastic Project and attracted me even more after having read the truth about the bio-degradable potential of different kinds of waste that is continuously thrown into the sea, check out the oceancrusaders.org article about Aluminiumcans in the ocean! What I did not know – waste_DKNorthseaCoast1hence not playing the environmentalist on board and rebuking my captain and friend for throwing beer cans into the North Sea – that these metal cans are not just oxidising quickly and decomposed after a short while lying on the sea ground, but taking around 200 years for that process! The reason is a plastic layer put onto the Aluminium to keep the beer from turning into a foul taste due to its metal turbidity character when canned. After that I hope my GFK boat will never sink, and That I can still use the content of the ocean-waste-recycled bottle for washing up onboard and from board with a quiet conscience.

Ich werde Hafenmeisterin!

Küstenwache, TEXT

Unsere heutige MILVA Tour brachte die zwei alten Zungen nach drei-Nächte-bezahlen-vier-bleiben im Süßwasserhafen zu Oude Tonge per Freddy le Vibrateur durch zwei Schleusen ins 6 Seemeilen entfernte Bruinisse ins Grevelingen Meer. Nach fast eineinhalbstündigem Warten an der laut Wateralmanak #2 fernbedienten Schleuse mit einem alten Motorboot und einem Plattbodenbodenschiff mit Riesenhund an Bord liefen wir mit Bug voraus in den Meldesteg im kleinen Vereinshafen der Watersportvereningen Bruinisse ein. Die bei diesem Manöver hilflos am Vant stehende Kapitänin wollte eigentlich einen Aufschießer in den Wind, aber wenn sie das der Steuerfrau nicht vorher erklärt, kann das ja nichts werden. Der neue Bugfender kam so gleich mal zum Einsatz 🙂

Im Gegensatz zum WSV Noord Beveland Hafen zu Colijnsplaat, wo man am ‘Meldesteiger’ per Sprechanlage dem Hafenmeister den Liegeplatzwunsch mitteilen kann, ist das in Bruinisse am Nachmittag so gedacht, dass man zum Havenkantoor latscht, dort die Mitteilung liest, dass das Büro dann um vier wieder besetzt ist und man sich einfach einen freien Platz aussuchen kann. Neben einem vor Bewuchs bald mit dem Meeresgrund verbundenen, sofagelben Segelboot ward Platz #99 für die kleine MILVA frei. Während eine große Yacht ihr Anlegemanöver in den einzig freien größeren Liegeplatz im kleinen und mit 1.70€/Meter Länge um 50 Cent billigeren Hafen als die nebenanliegende Marina aufgab, legten wir MILVA in den kleinen Platz mit Aussicht ins Hafenbüro.

Während meine Crew zum Klo rannte, kam eine an die langhaarigen blonden Mädels vom Volvo Ocean Race Team erinnernde Frau an den Steg und fragt was freundlich klingendes auf niederländisch. Ah, you are the harbour master?! kommts mir und damit auch die Antwort, was ich denn tun könnte, wenn mir das Softwareberaterdasein und Lagerprozessieren zu langweilig wird: ich werde Hafenmeisterin! Wohlgemerkt keine wie das Mädchen, das sie in Sint Annaland in den Tower gesetzt haben, die zwar Liegeplätze im Natoalphabet aufsagen kann (Foxtrott Six), aber sonst nur auf Bootslänge die Liegeplatzgebühr einkassiert und unmotiviert lächelt, sondern so eine wie die hier in Bruinisse. Die über die Stege läuft, kuckt, ob noch alles gut vertäut ist, Wettervorhersagen für Gäste raussucht, Tipps für die Umgebung hat und nebenbei noch ein gut laufendes kleines Café betreibt. Jawohl!

Wie wird man denn Hafenmeisterin? frage ich sie gleich und erwarte so etwas wie “ja also ich bin schon mit acht mit meiner Mama in einer Jolle über den Ärmelkanal und mit 14 allein um die Welt und bin die segelnde Holländerin vom für Hygieneartikel werbendem Volvo Ocean Race Team” Sie lächelt und antwortet: Indem man sich bewirbt. Der Verein hat jemanden gesucht und ich habs letzte Saison mal probiert und es hat mit gefallen. Also bin ich diese Saison wieder hier. Zum Segeln komme ich nicht, da ich parallel noch einen anderen Job habe.  

Trotzdem: Bruinisse hat uns gefallen. Gleich nach der Schleuse backbord in den Meldesteg reinrauschen, trotz notwendiger 50 Cent Münzen wenigstens lange genug heißes Wasser, nicht so ein lauwarmes Getröpfel für 5 Minuten wie in Sint Annaland, wo man sich fragt, wie jemand Langhaariges damit das Shampoo aus den Haaren waschen will ! 😉

The Oosterschelde and its underestimated tidal streams

english, Küstenwache, leibesertüchtigung, TEXT

N 51° 36.173  E 003° 50.686′  | Marina WSV Noord Beveland . Colijnsplaat

After a month hanging around at Delta Marina on the Veerse Meer, MILVA is excited to enter new seas. The weather forecast looked reasonable to go out at 3 Beaufort with less wind expected towards the evening. MILVAs former owner Jogi joined me on the trip, as i didn’t dare to mess up the manoeuvre alone in Zandkreeksluis lock, and felt enough challenged after having again touched the ground two days before and being unable to reef the main sail. So, this time more preparation.oosterschelde 1 Beaufort

My last night’s lecture about reefing in Steve Sleight’s Complete Sailing Manual gave me some idea, that the yellow rope coming out of the boom’s end might be the solution. For the first time I prepared life jackets and life buoy to be at hands immediately in case of an emergency situation, the line bound to the bath ladder (just to avoid the crew searching for it, and finally found – throw it out without having tied the rescue line somewhere on the boat) and the main sail prepared to hoist in a reefed state. The black cloud over Kortgene made me asking the harbour master for any weather warnings, which he assured being no problem, so finally we left Kortgene at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, two hours already after low tide at the lock, which I knew would be suboptimal, but having enough wind should work out, as I only saw a difference of half a knot in speed going out the Zandkreekpassage one week before at a similar point of time. This however turned out to be a misconception. 

It is always a question in front of the locks to decide to berth on the available berths, or to make some turnarounds until the bridge and lock are going to open. As the comfortable berth was already occupied by three boats, and four more boats more or less optimally bound to the dolphins plus a big tank vessel waiting in front of the lock, the decision was easy to make, but cost in the end 20 minutes of waiting and 25 minutes to get inside and out of the lock.

It is always a good advice to keep some distance to big vessels, as the water masses moved by a starting ship’s engine make quite some turbulence, thus difficult to hold a small boat and its spreader away from the lock’s wall.

ZeelandsbrugWe left the lock and set sails to get out of the small passage with the wind coming from behind in run and broad reach direction. The maximum speed of 5.2 knots over ground we made just during this short trip, competing against bigger yachts and regretting that we had reefed the main sail. At green buoy #Z1 we turned to beam reach towards Zeelandbrug, intending to take the path on the left side of the channel along the green buoys. Zeelandsbrug zeelandbrug-8462Until a red buoy appeared and wind and boat speed decreased rapidly. After a while we reached the green buoy again but still didn’t make any progress into the intended direction towards Zeelandbrug. Checking the Navionics app on the IPad showed 2.5 knots less speed over ground than what the log instrument displayed, and revealed to us having sailed a big circle instead keeping a straight course  towards the final destination. As Freddy – le vibrateur is meanwhile running without any issue, that was finally the solution to reach Colijnsplaat harbour within the expected time around 7 p.m.