The new boat

After losing the first boat in a storm 240 miles off the coast of New Brunswick, I once again approached Pat Sturgeon of Pat Sturgeon Yachts. We went through the options of looking for another used boat. There was an almost new Hanse 505 in Abu Dabi that was fully loaded and looked beautiful. Ileana and I talked of flying there to have a look but before we had booked our flight, the boat got sold.

There was another Hanse 505 just outside of Boston in Providence that looked promising. I flew to Boston on a cold Saturday in January 2019 and had a look at the boat. It was definitely well used with over 8000 engine hours, and needed a lot of work. If I decided to buy it, I figured out I could get a brand new one for almost the same price, (but I would have to add all of the extra equipment… another $100,000)

Pat and I went over the process of buying a brand new boat. The Hanse factory is in Dussledorf Germany. If we put the order in by February 2019, it could be built and then delivered by September. After looking at the video on YouTube, I was was convinced this was for me.

This time the boat was shipped on a contained ship and arrived in Hamilton in September 2019. Pat Sturgeon organized the process through customs an the boat was put on a transport truck and sent to Port Credit in 3 pieces, the keel, the mast, and the hull.

This keel was attached to the boat, the rigging was done by Robert Rayfield. The boat was launched and ready to go on its maiden voyage. The plan was to take the boat from Port Credit Marina to Port Credit yacht club. It was about a 4 mile voyage.

 I met Pat Sturgeon on September 7, 2019 with Will Shubat, who often races with me and mans the foredeck. Pat showed me some of the great features of this magnificent boat. There were electronic winches. There was a bow thruster to help with docking. The boat was equipped with all the modern navigation, radar, and other sensors on a touchscreen monitor in front of the two carbon fibre wheels. It was pure sailing engineering genius. The fuel tanks indicated about 6% fuel which was more than enough to get us to Port Credit yacht club where we could refuel. It was a brand-new boat, so nothing could possibly go wrong……

The lines were untied, the engine started, and we motored out onto Lake Ontario. The wind was strong at 22 kn. Pat explained that the Hanse 508 loved a heavy wind, and these conditions were ideal. The mainsail weighs about 200 pounds and so electronic winches were the way to go. Pat explained that the electronic winches would get the mainsail up in 15 seconds or less. The autohelm was deployed, and the mainsail was raised. Halfway up however, the electronic winch stopped working, the monitors all went black, and the auto helm disengaged. The boat started oscillating madly. Pat Sturgeon leapt into action and started the engine. The jamcleat for the mainsail halyard was released and the sail folded nicely into the sail cover on the boom. Pat disappeared into the cabin and tore up the floorboards to see why the electronic had failed. All the electronic wires were in the correct position. It was not clear what the problem was.

The mainsail was hoisted again and as Pat predicted, it took less than 15 seconds using the electric winch. The jib was unfurled and the sails caught the wind and pulled us 9 kn in the 22 kn wind. It was as if the boat was saying she was made for this as she gracefully healed over and effortlessly and smoothly sliced through the waters. It was one of those moments in life where everything made sense and seemed worthwhile. It was one of those moments where it felt great to be alive. I was overcome with bliss and happiness. It is the same feeling that you get when you received that letter saying you have passed your exams, or when your daughter introduces you to your new grandson for the first time, or when as a child you see your first rainbow. The feeling of such happiness is indescribable. It was as I was wallowing in these delightful sensations when the electronic monitors went blank, and the auto helm disengaged. The bow started oscillating like crazy. Pat leaped in the action and press the start button for the engine. Nothing happened. He ran to the main cabin and tore up the floorboards again and once again, the wires seemed all intact.

Pat, Will, and I had a quick conference on the deck. This was serious but not fatal. We formulated a plan to sail into the gas dock at Port credit yacht club. We would use only the jib. I had full confidence in Pat, as he was an excellent sailor. My only hesitation was that I have tried this on one occasion many years earlier when the engine did not work. Things did not work out well. This was back in my younger days. We were sailing off the Scarborough Bluffs when the engine died. One of my not so savoury friends had spent the day plying me with tequila which pretty much eliminated any possibility of critical thinking. We ended up on the rocks……but that is another story.

As we approach the entrance of the Port credit yacht club, we release the mainsail. Pat suggested that to be safe we should have the anchor ready to be deployed. I was the man for the job. I went to the bow and released the pin holding the anchor in place and to my horror, the anchor dropped into the water with 10 feet of chain. We were screaming along at 6 kn and if the anchor caught hold of the bottom, it would cause serious damage to the boat. The wind was howling and so neither Pat nor Will could hear my cries for help so I was on my own. Using Herculean strength, I was able to pull the 75 pound anchor along with the heavy chain back onto the deck and avert disaster. As I walked back to the cockpit, I could tell that both Pat and Will were in deep conversation planning how we were going to pull this off without tearing out the gas dock from its mooring. Now was not the time to regale them with tales of heroism about how I averted disaster by getting the anchor back on board.

The plan was to sail in with just the jib. We would approach the dock downwind and just before contact, luff the jib and allow the momentum of the 34,000 pound sailboat to float against the side of the dock before the wind pushed us away. We had called the gas jockey on the VHF to give us a hand and he agreed. As we approached the dock, we could see the gas jockey in his little cabin watching something on TV to avoid the unpleasant weather. The docking, as good fortune would have it, went just as planned. As we approached, Will leapt off and tied up the bow, I leapt off the stern and tied the stern lines.

We filled the tanks with diesel. We had realized what had happened was that when the boat was healed over, the engine sucked air into the gas line as the tanks were nearly empty. We were able to bleed this air out of the gas line and pump the fuel into the engine. The engine started. We later determine that the ground terminal of the battery was loose and this is what led to the electrical problem. Once this was tightened, there have not been any further problems.

When we got to the dock and tied up, Pat and Will had a well-deserved beer. We sat at the table and told sailing stories and we all agreed that it had been a great experience. To this day, I will always remember that feeling of indescribable happiness that occurred the first time that the sails filled with wind and I felt as one with the elements.