Anton Puttemans fotografie video web (Latest news) http://antonputtemans.com Web platform van Anton Puttemans, waar hij foto's, videos en nieuws publiceerd en deelt over zijn passies: technologie, fotografie, video, web ontwikkeling, reizen, lifestyle, actie sport, surfen, zeilen, .. nl-NL Mon, 20 May 2013 05:14:23 +0200 Mon, 20 May 2013 05:14:23 +0200 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Zenpage - A CMS plugin for ZenPhoto GoPro waterfootage featured in Pro Surfer Video Marlon Lipke's manager who had seen a GoPro video I put on YouTube, shot on 17 december at Varazze. Just when I swam out Marlon screamed by but I managed to shoot him riding a tube.

Quirin asked me if they could use my shot for their "Weekend Warrior" series and so I uploaded him the clip under CC license.
He let me know the video was ready a few days ago, so here it goes :-)
It's the first clip after the intro.


Check out Marlon Lipke, Gony Zubizarreta and Frederico Morais score along the coast of Italy.
Filmed by Carlos Pinto, water footage: Anton Puttemans, edited by Rod "Lego Man" Caetano.]]> Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:11:06 +0200 Varazze, finally another surf session
I am charging my batteries and preparing my gear.
Got a nice pair of pro bodyboard flippers as well thanks to the guys at Varazze Surf Shop that I am eager to try out tomorrow.

I actually thought I would get some surf the whole winter when I was here for my job, but it turned out NADA. Now that I am preparing the boat to hit the water and sail to Portofino again here it comes again... Doh!

Anyway, a few things happened with my GoPro surf videos during the winter that I will talk about later. Now I will get some rest for tomorrow.

Here is the live forecast from MagicSeaWeed.

]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 22:54:53 +0200 Oude nieuws artikelen herwonnen (website) Deze artikelen / Blog berichten werden geschreven tussen 2005 en 2007 toen ik aan reizen en wedstrijdzeilen was.

Je kunt ze geïndexeerd vinden onder de Nieuws categorie "Hervonden" of van de Archief pagina

Veel plezier met het lezen van enkele van mijn avonturen!]]> website Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:37:21 +0100 Website online en openbaar (website) Eindelijk heb ik mijn website overgezet naar een Italiaanse host.
Ik heb nog veel werk, maar hoop de index pagina te openen in een paar dagen, waarna ik kan beginnen met het plaatsen van foto's, video's en nieuws.


EDIT: OK tot nu toe is alles goed gegaan, ik heb de index pagina in staat gesteld zodat de website nu openbaar is. De crawlers en robots kunnen hun werk doen met het indexeren van de pagina's, zelfs als ik nog veel te optimaliseren in dat deel..
Nog steeds een heleboel dingen te verbeteren:. Vertalingen, datum problemen, cross browser compatibiliteit, meer optimalisaties, SEO, cosmetische aanpassingen, goede zoekresultaten, contactpagina's, geotagging, automatisering, het vinden van de juiste workflow en last but not least... INHOUD]]> website Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Work contract and residence in Italy (recovered)
It's been a long way over the last couple of years in Italy. A lot of patience indeed. Gaining trust with people, taking chances, trying and learning. Efforts in my relationship too. But I made the right choices and now I can start constructing. I realize each day more and more that I always manage to find what I am looking for.

I have my residence in Santa Margherita too now. I live officially with my girlfriend Maria and her 8 year old daughter Caterina in Via Anton Maria Maragliano, no kidding. The last weeks we finally found the time to go through all the details, fill in the documents and pass the medical visits. But I made it, with an Italian seaman book I can start my career here now. A big thanks to my girlfriend, for the support. For always believing in me. For being a real woman. There where some difficult times, with one step forward and two steps back, but now the only way is up. Downwind sailing with the kite up.

At the moment it's high season. That means working every day, also weekends. In August the top month cruising. It's a bit like the ants who work in the summer. In the winter, from november on, the owner doesn't come sailing anymore and the boat goes to shipyard. From then it's low season, with a more free time. I am already planning a vacation with my girlfriend. In the weekends citytrips and outdoor sport activities. More time to visit my family in Belgium too.]]> recovered Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0200 Job on Atalanta II (recovered) start working on "Il Moro di Venezia" her owner turned me down because of a crew change on another yacht. Not very gentleman..
So there was a job opportunity on that yacht, "Capricorno", which broke the record during the last ARC, but that would have been taking me away from my objectives, living and racing in Italy. I would have to leave my girlfriend as the boat has a 4 year around the world cruising program.
After some stressful days I had the chance to sail with Elio Petracchi and talk with him about job. Yesterday I had an interview with him an suggested a trial period of one month, starting from.. today.
After the trial period I want to be contracted as first mate on the yacht.

"Atalanta II" is a custom 70ft fast cruiser/racer yacht designed by Farr, constructed by Goetz, on a David Lake project management. She provides well known Italian businessman and yachtsman Mr. Carlo Puri Negri (Pirelli) fast Mediterranean cruising and IMS racing trophies. She is striking with her mat gray racing hull finish and large 3 spreader IMS Hall spar.
drawings: Atalanta II Farr 70

Key features of the design:
  • Carbon and nomex for the hull and deck vacuum bagged and oven cured.
  • Top quality winch, sail, spar and electronic packages.
  • Custom interior styling to suit the owner's requirements.
  • Removable interior components for racing.
  • Flush hatches.
  • Galley equipped with oven and freezer.
  • Owners and guest's heads including showers with hot and cold pressurized water.
racing calendar: In the summer, months july and august, "Atalanta II" goes cruising with the owner and his family in Turkey and Greece. A busy program with a lot of miles to log.

Very happy :)]]> recovered Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0100 Maximus dismasted, 5 crew taken off (recovered) Five of the 23 crew aboard Maximus sustained more serious injuries when allegedly the forestay fitting let go, sending the mast crashing back on the deck at approximately 0300am this morning according to one of the injured crewman, Ian Treleaven.

It must have been the forestay fitting at the top of the mast that let go because the mast just came straight down the boat, down the cockpit, out the back, boom and all, said Treleaven as he was receiving medical attention in Batemans Bay.

We were just getting ready to do a tack. We had to tack inshore, because we just had to sort out a problem to allow us to put reef in the main and that is why we were all in our positions. It was all the guys at the back of the boat who got injured.

Of those injured, three have been air-lifted to Moruya Hospital including Glen Attrill from Sydney who has lower back injuries, George Hendy from New Zealand who has head and rib injuries and David Mundy who has a broken leg, chest, rib and pelvis injuries.

A police launch took two other crewman, Ian Treleaven from Sydney, with head injuries, and Martin Hannon from New Zealand, who has concussion, shoulder and back injuries, to Bateman's Bay where they are currently being treated.

Maximus had a sail wrapped around the prop and two damaged wheels and there was talk of the boat having to be towed ashore but latest reports have the boat motoring under her own steam to Jervis Bay.

A total of five yachts have now retired from the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Endorfin with steering gear failure, ABN AMRO ONE and Maximus have both been dismasted, Michael Hiatt's "Living Doll" which has retired with radio problems and David Pescud's "Sailors with Disabilities" which has rudder problems and is returning to Sydney.]]> recovered Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Galewarning for Rolex Sydney Hobart Race (recovered) gale warnings for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race and one day before the start I downloaded this gribfile from windfinder.com

Barry Hanstrum, director Bureau Of Meteorology:
It is still possible at this range that the low pressure system will be closer to the New South Wales coast, and if that eventuality unfolds then there would be a period of gale force winds on Boxing Day for the start of the race.
]]> recovered Sun, 24 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Delivery ends up in nightmare (recovered) Yesterday in the afternoon I left of Lavagna delivering a classic yacht with her owner to Piombino.
We first followed the coastline heading East to La Spezia. There where strong gusts from the mountains, but when we passed La Spezia by night the sky cleared open and the wind was back to a steady 20 knots in open sea. We had a good run for a few hours under engine and unfurled jib. When the Gorgona island doomed up in the night at around 01.00 the wind and waves started to build.
At the point we had the island to our starboard we saw more than 40 knots on the windmeter, peaking 50's with nasty waves hitting the underwatership and seawater getting into the yacht. With a handheld GPS I could estimate the distances to Piombo, 45 miles or Livorno, 15 miles beating. The waves where getting bigger and with more water getting in the boat we decided it was safer to head upwind to Livorno.
Making little progress with me on the helm and the owner pumping the bilges, at a certain stage, the seawater infiltrated the yacht very quickly and we couldn't find where it was coming from. When the owners boots full of water and the floorboards floating around in the boat we called for help on the radio.

We prepared everything to abandon the ship, sending our position over the radio and shot off 2 flares. About 20 minutes later we where taken of the yacht by the Guardia Costiera. By this time the boat was already very unstable with the water mass in her hull. The fire department was called to try keep her floating and tow her to port. We were transported to the shore where we got into an ambulance to the hospital. The owner suffered Hypothermia and needed to be checked up.

About an hour and a half after we abandoned the ship, she lost all stability and eventually sunk.
An ugly experience. A sad owner. A confused me.
The yacht was lost, but both of us made it without any injuries.
I would like to stress that the owner of the boat and me made our decisions together and that there was never at any point any panic. Regarding the meteo, we both saw forcasts reading no more than 25 knots of wind.
The owner thinks of a structural default. Hopefully insurance will at least cover some of the expenses, I know the emotional value is the biggest lost.
I am sorry for him.]]> recovered Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Job interview in Lavagna (recovered)
The yacht is build in 1976. Being the first one (I) in the "Moro di Venezia" history, she is of special value. Although you can't notice from the outside she is build in wood and just spend 2 years in the shipyard for a complete refit.
The owner has a house in Portofino and uses his yacht for weekends and cruises in the Mediterranean in the summer. From the spring she will be moored in Portofino, just next door to where I live.
What's interesting is that while this is a regular job, there is still the opportunity to do my races.
I start a trial period working on the boat begin january.]]> recovered Sun, 17 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Dayworking on My Song (recovered) On the job list: removing all gear and sails from the boat, including packing the main sail and the furling genoa. Transport of the dinghy and replacing the forstay and Tuff Luff.

Next week we'll sail the boat to La Spezia with probably a week more work in the shed there. Nice to be working with my buddy Brian again.]]> recovered Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Windsurfing in Hyres, France (recovered) Davide, also a windsurf enthusiast, tipped me Hyres in France. When I saw I good +25 knots of wind in the Golfe du Lion on the windmaps it didn't took long to rent a car and leave a few hours later. We stopped over to sleep in Antibes. Luckily the Tai restaurant was more successful than the hotel..

Hyres is a peninsula, with two beaches on the East and West side of the island. Peninsula's are great, you have one side to go wave surfing and the other side, downwind with flat water, great for slalom. I am more like the last. I love flat water and speed.
When we arrived saturday morning all the action was all on the wave side, after asking information on the beaches, we found a great surfshop "Welcome". Unfortunately the biggest size sail they had for rent was 5.7m, but they forwarded me to a club in the North West part, where they promised me also flat water. On spot I was advised to wait for the wind direction to turn more East the next morning. I am all exited. Patience..

Anyway back to the "Welcome" surfshop checking out material and prices to get my own gear. Second hand you can find a board for 200 - 400 euro, sails are in the range of 300 euro. I don't want to break my head anymore on the kiteboard vs. windsurf dilemma.. After having talked to some people, they are two different things with both advantages and disadvantages.

One thing is sure. To go windsurfing you need a big car, something I need to work for first.

[UPDATE] Sunday morning I was flying along the West beach, had some great rides, but need to work on my Spin Out problem.]]> recovered Fri, 24 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Middle Sea Race, retired due to engine problems (recovered) website:

The 45-footer Pasaya has already pulled out of the race due to engine problems which the crew has been trying to solve for the past three days. Schle Wood, the first owner from Thailand ever to enter the race, was very upset not to be able to race the full course but was determined to cross the start line before retiring.
We don't have the engine, so to continue would be too risky. It's very sad, very sad, we could have made it this year. I have wanted to do this race for many, many years. But these things happen in sailing, sometimes this is what sport is like. We'll be back next year, and we want to finish this race.î


Yes, here I am the second year in a row now having to retire Middle Sea Race.
It all happened about 2 days ago when the engine refused to start. After closer inspection we found water in the filters. We changed those, but still nothing. In the afternoon I found a mechanic to have a look at it, and after a few hours working together we had to come to the conclusion that someone must have filled the fueltanks with water!! To blame is the guy who delivered the boat from Italy to Malta. At the end of the day he admitted that he had problems with water in the filter and than later he let us know that his girlfriend might have filled the tanks with water. The thing which is unaceptable is not the fact that he, or even his girlfriend, made a mistake, but that he never let anybody know about this upon arrival, more than a week before the race. He was just trying to hide.
The verdict the night before the start was that water had corroded the fuelpump and with the engine being a Volkswagen Marine it was impossible to find a spare one here in Malta.

Our owner was very sad indeed, especially because he had some friends over from Thailand to do this race. In the morning we decided just to make the start and after the last inshore mark we retired and returned back to port, beaten like a dog.

The new pump needs to be DHL'ed from Italy. This will take a few days. Than we need to clean out the fueltanks and all pipes. If the engine is running again, I expect before friday, I will deliver the boat back to La Spezia, Italy.]]> recovered Sun, 22 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Preparation for Middle Sea Race in Malta (recovered) "Pasaya" for Middle Sea Race I Arrived day before yesterday now and from then have been preparing the boat.

Yesterday when going through the safety checklist I realized we would have to work hard to get the boat on the start line. After I made and inventory of all the things missing and a few safety talks with the owner, today we are almost ready.
There is still a decent TO DO list and we really need to go out tomorrow to check the sails and the rigg. Than there is customs and provisioning. Briefings, meetings and paperwork. Makes me almost forget that tomorrow night is the famous crewparty..

In the afternoon 2 more crew will arrive, we are with 4 now. Friday we will be total with 9 people. I will also go and check out if their is a way to report positions from my website or Google Earth. I doubt if I will find the time though. When traveling I was looking into a function to publish to my website by email and geo tag the post with coordinates, but I haven't made it.
Anyway whenever there will be mobile phone range I will publish a small report with my Sony Ericsson. Positions can be found on the Middle Sea Race website

I have also bookmarked some URL's for the gribfiles on my phone:
http://www.navcenter.com/grb/Mediterranean.grb.bz2 http://gribs.ocens.net/Mediterranean.wind.grb.bz2 http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/grib3day/Mediterranean.grb

That's it for now folks.]]> recovered Wed, 18 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Middle Sea Race confirmed (recovered) Rolex Middle Sea Race

The 45ft boat is the first Sleeker design, inspired by seaplanes from the 30's. She's got an aluminum hull, carbon rigg and a North 3DL race set. The owner is Thai and her name "Pasaya" means something like maitresse if I can remember. I dayworked a few days in the spring to step the rigg in La Spezia. Very nice interior and the navstation comes with a lot of toys to play with.
Last summer they did Rolex Giraglia and the designer told me the boat showed of superior performances, especially upwind. For more information visite the website: sleekerboats.com

Tomorrow I fly to Belgium with my girlfriend for a family visit and 15 october I return to Italia to get my racing gear and fly to Malta.
I am looking forward to sail this race with her Thai crew.]]> recovered Tue, 10 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Regattes Royalles, Cannes (part 2) (recovered)
Nice racing today in about 18 knots wind. After 2 general recalls our start was nothing special, somewhere half fleet, but we had a good downwind run and the second beat we made good way on the other side of the fleet. Things got very nervous on the windward marks and we all had our part in swearing and yelling. After this race with a result in the 40's we felt better than the last couple of days.

Tuesday there was no racing because of no wind and Wednesday very light airs where we completely got lost. Our starts where terrible. Our helmsman, who was a navigator on America's Cup boats in the '80's, just never seemed to find the holes to position the boat on the line. Or we where under everyone, or we got squeezed out. I had the impression that we missed the boathandling to stop or accelerate the boat in these moments. Also tactic-wise, one race we decided it was favorable to start on the left side of the line, but we ended up all to the right. That race we finished in the 90's! Mamma mia.

Anyway, it was a very interesting week, not only with the endless discussions and analyses in the restaurant or at the house, but on the water. I brushed up a whole lot and also realize that it's on small boats that you learn to race. I remember I learned the most in my career on a Mumm 30, and that's not even a dinghy. I started to quickly doing the bow on yachts and Maxi's without even understanding the basics. It is so important to understand what is going on. To see the big picture. Not just the tricks any monkey could do.
I saw a French guy who is a famous helmsman on "Orange" and he was just sitting there in that Dragon, trimming the genoa. I should do this more often. I though it's only on big boats you make money, but I had a good deal for this week.

I am happy about this season. I sailed supermaxi's, "Viriella", a 118ft Maxi Dolphin, "Maximus" a 100ft canting ballast rotating mast blah blah, but also boats like "Kipawa" a classic Marconi and now the dragon "Tramontana". A good sailor is an all-round sailor I think.]]> recovered Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Bye Bye old Flash website (recovered)
I know, I know. me too, I liked the Flash site a lot, but things have changed and after analyzing my old website I realized that a real Blog with all the fancy web 2.0 features and services is what I need.
My old site all started around a calendar and photo's. Than came comments and articles. Than I started to play with Google Earth and recently with Google Maps.
If Google Maps had came up with a Flash API I might have kept the Flash site, but on the other hand I haven't had the chance to keep up with Actionscript v2, let alone v3. I am just not a Flasher anymore. I lost my Certified Macromedia Flash Professional title I guess..
Anyway, the features:
  • Photo's: Soon I will integrate an advanced photo album
  • Google maps: Articles are geographically tagged and displayed on a map. I will also use the Map to dynamically load tracks and trips. A dream for a sailor.
  • Articles: Time structured and archived in a web-friendly way, with commenting.
  • Posting whenever and wherever: I could publish articles and update tracks and positions at sea. No need for a computer, no need to open a webbrowser. Just need to buy that new phone now.
  • Linking, fancy URI's, RSS, trackbacks, pinging,..: The way the web works and the way search engines and robots like.
So be warned: THIS WEBSITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION]]> recovered Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Regattes Royalles, Cannes on Tramontana (recovered) Dragons who will race a whole week here in France. A Dragon is a small keelboat sailed with 3 persons. Very interesting boat. A lot of trim toys to play with. The mast for example has 5 different regulations. The racing level is very high. Competitors are mainly EU, with the majority North Europeans, but also the States, Canada, Brazil, Hong Kong etc. are present. A lot of champions and respected oldtimers.

The first days we prepared the boat and where training in the gulf. As a bowman, the spinnaker sets and drops are moments of high octane action. Everything has to be done fast, at the very last moment. There is no room for mistakes. On the upwind legs I trim the genoa and hike my ass out when there is wind, or sit on lee on the keel in light air. During the start I measure the line, distances, angles. The nice thing about such a small boat is that you do tactics with the 3 of you. There is a stream of information and communication and than usually the helmsman takes the decision on the tiller.

Today there was no racing due to the nasty weather. It took the organization until 2 o'clock in the afternoon to decide to cancel for today.
So yesterday was our first race. A starting line with 114 equal boats is impressionant to say the least. You can feel the heat rising up on the water moments before the start. There is a lot of adrenaline during the start, testosterone, yelling, collisions. After one general recall we where off not bad at all. Until the second upwind leg we had a somewhat 30th position, but lost a lot of places in the last downwind leg where we went extremely to the right. We dropped down to about middle fleet.
We can do better for sure, but you have to realize that the first 20 boats are pro's who do nothing else that racing Dragons and come here only to win.

Anyway, tomorrow a better result.]]> recovered Mon, 25 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Vele d'Epoca di Imperia on Kipawa (recovered) Vele d'Epoca di Imperia, the biggest event for classic boats in Europe. Earlier this year I dayworked on "Kipawa" and I wanted to take the chance to race on one of these classics.
A beautifull scenery in the morning on arrival. Wood, varnish, copper and canvas. I know a few people who are into classics and they all have a very good time. Everything seems much more relaxed, whith the absense of high tech and performance. I think there is also less competition amongs crew and positions, but I could be wrong. I lot more girls anyway. That doesn't mean there is no winning spirit though! I saw guys from the America's Cup and a few guru's like Dennis Conner on the docks. Crew tuning masts, optimazing there boats etc.

In the afternoon after prepared the bow to sail her kite, we went out with quit a bit of wind. It was the first time I sailed on a classic and let me tell you, doing the bow on one of those is quite different. There are no railguards, no antislip on the decks. A wave will get you wet guarantied, maybe even wash you overboard. I don't know what I have to thing about all the wood and classic running rigging either. I am so used to sail on boats where trust in the material is something very basic. Anyway, all went well, we made a couple of gybes with the kite and a lot of us just needed to learn how she moves a boat like this.

At this moment I am in Hotel Corallo and it is raining cats and dogs! I think we can forget about our training day. It's a shame because we could realy use it. The boat has been build for 4 years, sailed from Rome to here and this is her first race with a whole new crew.
Maybe in the afternoon.]]> recovered Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Trials in Portisco on a Swan 45 (recovered)
Me, Francesco and Lucas where invited to go sailing a Swan 45 in Porto Rotondo. It didn't look to good in the morning, but later on a thermal breeze kicked in and we went out for some tuning. After the last days on 118ft "Viriella", it was good to do some boathandling on the 45. We even did a peel from a symmetric to an asymmetric kite. I always love those kind of peels.
Out on the water there was this mega yacht with an extravagant looking sailplan. Some people doesn't seem to don't know how to spend their money..

The owner of the 45 has a cruising maxi and is here to do Swan Cup next week. He was very pleased about my performance. Unfortunately I have already planned Vele d'Epoca di Imperia on "Kipawa", a classic Marconi, but I gave him my business card. Always good to meet new owners.]]> recovered Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Maxi Worlds, Porto Cervo on Viriella (recovered)
All the maxi's are here. Head turners like "Wild Oats", "Alpha Romeo", "Maximus" and "Morning Glory". Most of the Wally's. Not only the latest, but also the legends like "New Zealand Endeavor" and "Steinlager". Plus all the powerboats and megayachts. A LOT of money here this week.

I arrived saturday on "Viriella", a 118ft Maxi Dolphin from the Moretti family. I did Capri on "Viriella" in the spring as the second bowman, but Luca went racing on "Roma", so I am in charge now! I don't know how to describe racing on those big boats. It's another way of thinking. More conservative, but always with the power of the beast in mind.

The kites are huge and come with a snuffer. Those snuffers can be unpredictable at times. And you really want a kite the size of a footbalfield down when you need to. Sunday during training we had to find out the hard way what's the best technique to get the freakin thing down. Basically you have two halyards. One for the head of the sail, one to pull the hoop up. Than one more line to pull the hoop down, yes on a winch. Very important to keep those halyards free from eachother during the hoist. Than keep the foot of the sail closed and under tension as long as possible. The sail is very heavy. Six big guys are needed to move it around on the deck.

We are fortunate to have 7 America's Cup guys on the boat. All BIG muscle guys. It's a pleasure not to have to brake my back working with the sails. When the genoa comes down on her softhanks, it's a mountain of sail. More than 2 meters high. I need to climb up on it sometimes to clear the spinnaker sheet. When we gybe, when I am on the tackline on the nose of the boat, in front of that mountain of Spectra, nobody can see me anymore. I know though that Paletta, the bowman of the +39 AC team, always keeps an eye on me. I am grateful he let's me do the bow, guess he's just on vacation. Great guy.

So today was our first day racing. Light airs though. A bit boring those courses here. I call them camel-courses. All went really well. I feel very sure with the big guys on the bow. We have good fun. Try to make the maneuvers as interesting as possible.
Very nice working like this. In the evening we can eat what we want in the restaurant, the hotel is perfect and so is the dayrate!]]> recovered Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Onne van der Wal photos during Newport - Bermuda Race (recovered) Onne van der Wal send me some low resolution pictures from during Newport - Bermuda Race on "Maximus".

UPDATE Jan 2012: photos on Google Plus

Thanks Onne!]]> recovered Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0200 A quik post from Newport (recovered)
The first days we were out on the water, training and looking to sails etc. Last 2 days were intensive packing the containers and doing the last jobs. What a circus!!

Weather forcast is light airs. There is some gale activity North, but that will eventually die. It will be difficult to break the record of this 100th Newport - Bermuda Race.. so we are going to have to fight for every second.
Anyway, start is tommorrow.

Laters]]> recovered Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Arrived in the States (recovered) From there I'll take the bus to Newport RI where Max will pick me up and bring me to "Maximus" I stay about a week in Newport to help prepare the boat.

The Start of Newport - Bermuda is 16th. Really looking forward to this race as it is a very interesting one with the currents etc. Also sail into warmer climate is always nice. In Bermuda we stay about a week, preparing the boat for the delivery back to Europe. That can be either the UK or Italy. I hope the later.. The delivery will be awsome! The +30 knots boatspeed barrier is high on my priority list. I hit 29.something a couple of times, but never saw a 30. Anyway it will be the fastest Atlantic ride back for me, for sure. But please no tropical storms, hurricanes this time!

I flew to New York from Brussels, where I have been staying with my family for a few days. Always nice to see my brothers, sisters and parents. My mum spoiled me with a lot of vegetable soup and chocolate mouse, my favorites. I wanted to sleep a lot, but instead spend a lot of time online, first catching up with all the latest gadgets and technololgies, than exploring the NOAA website to learn more about their forcast model and the grib format and later to look for techniques to parse grib files, serverside to XML.
The last day I was downloading music from various musicstores and at this moment I am enjoying and rating tunes from Paul van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Deep Dish,... on my iPod.

Forgot to tell, the last 2 races I sailed in Italy before I flew to Belgium where Trofeo Zegna in Santa Margherita and Capri Sailing Week in Capri. Zegna on "Capricorno". We didn't do better than the previous event, 6th. Capri Sailing week on "Viriella", a 118ft Maxi Dolphin. BIG cruising boat, everything hydraulic. Aperitif with champagne after racing, restaurants, hotel. Not really my style, but a job is a job and it was a good experience to sail such a big boat, also because I could do #2 for Luca, a bit of a veteran bowman in Italy.

When I was preparing this photo update, I just went over the 1000th photo! That can count, no? I switched back to taking pictures with my Nikon Coolpix because I lost my Sony Ericsson. I was very sad because I loved this phone so much. I just had it always with me, everything together you know.
On the other hand taking pics with the Coolpix will result in higher quality pics, so that's good too. I need to wait a few months for Sony's new K800 model, with a 3.2 Megapixel cam. And than the Macbook Pro 12 inch, I hope Apple releases an ultraportable, road warrior in the next months.

Now Maximus! I see what I can do to update my position and the tracks in Google Earth, maybe in realtime.. If it's possible to broadcast those from the boat, we'll see.]]> recovered Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Racing in Tigulio on Capricorno (recovered) Trofeo Pirelli here in Santa Margherita.

Thursdaynight there was a 60 mile offshore race to La Spezia and back. It was all reaching under Genoa on 90 apparent windangle. Tactic-wise not very exciting but there was a nice 20 knots landbreeze with gusts up to 30 and it was all about triming the sails and riding those gusts. We made a superstart, reaching at about 14-15 knots boatspeed. After a few minutes "Wild Oats XI" catched up on us on lee roaring by at what seemed twice our speed! Incredible. The nighttrain express. We arrived at about 5 in the morning just behind "My Song" and "Fantasticaaa". We where first overal.
Saturday there was one upwind-downwind race on which we where second and still first overal.
Sunday seemed a nice sunny day, but not such good news.. there was a protest against us because we where flying masthead kites and our certificate didn't say so! After racing the provisional result showed us still 1ste overall, but a few hours later after the hearing we dropped down to a final 3the place Not too bad anyway for an older 'cruising' Maxi.

Last week I delivered a Spanish Grand Soleille 42 from Rome to Valencia. We lost some time because we had to make a stopover in Bonifacio to buy a new fuelfilter. Typically racingboat problem: nobody cares about the engine, plus the fuel was very dirty. Anyway, from Corsica to Mallorca was pretty windy, 25-30 knots with gusts +35. We had to pull the main down because there where no reefs in the sail, another typically racingboat problem. The boat was leaking everywhere but all was under control. No pictures, no battery and nothing to charge. Anyway, from Ibiza no more wind and we engined our way to Valencia where I wanted to see something of the America's Cup. Actually there was not much too see, so I went in shopping mode instead.

Next weekend Trofeo Zegna in Portofino.

End of may I'll probably do Capri Sailing week too.]]> recovered Mon, 08 May 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Things start to move (recovered) "Maximus" a hand.

I supplied them with crew during the seatrials while tuning the rigg in Genoa. Unfortunately there are no full time positions open at the moment, but I earned a place on the bow for the next race, Newport - Bermuda. Later on I will also deliver the boat back to the Med. Maybe there is even a possibility to break the 24h record!

This month has been quite workwise, but I have been enjoying some citytrips with my girlfriend here in Italy, something pretty valuable as a sailor. The last weeks I have been preparing the upcoming raceseason with going to the gym, cycling, running and rowing. Eat, sleep, train and gain!

I found a job as bowman on "Capricorno", a 80ft ILC Maxi, ex "Morning Glory". This weekend we have our last training, than 2 races: Trofeo Pirelli and Trofeo Zegna, beginning of may. End of may I fly to Newport to sail "Maximus".

Today I went to the North Sails loft in Carasco to see if they have some daywork in between the races. They seemed pretty interested.
Monday I'll go talk with a company who might want a website for there project.

Finally things start to move!]]> recovered Mon, 10 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0200 Seatrials in Genoa on Maximus (recovered) "Maximus"

An important day for the crew, after almost 6 months in Genoa repairing the wingmast they where all pretty nervous I think.
After greasing the mastfoot, rotating the mast was all okay again. Than we hoisted the huge mainsail and the genoa 4 to tune the rotating rigg with her PBO shrouds. In very light conditions the boat showed enormous power. True wind was 10 to 15 knots true and after canting the keel to windward boatspeed hit +19 knots! Upwind she does 12.5 knots, easily. Reaching she starts to lift her bow, sizzling like a dinghy. Looking aft at the stern it feels like you're on a powerboat as the water rushes underneath. This boat is incredible, a machine build with only thing in mind. SPEED.

The whole next week I will sail on Maximus, so I am very excited.
It's to early to tell something about her program and if there is anything in there for me but Charles Brown, the owner, told me he was happy with me and that he probably has work for me.

Fingers crossed!]]> recovered Fri, 17 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0100 After one month in Italy (recovered)
Beginning of the week I went 3 days to France to visit some racing boats over there. I am happy I went to La Ciotat, where I had some good chats. Nothing concrete, but my folder with hardcopy CV's is getting lighter. I have almost done the most important Maxi's and Wally's now.

At the end of the week I had a few interviews with boat captains and project managers, talking about their racing programs and conditions. Options are starting to form now and soon I will decide what the season here in the Med has to offer.

Tomorrow I go to Genoa where I can give the guys on "Maximus" a hand to rigg their wingmast. Than the boat will be ready to start tuning on the water..
End of the upcoming week I have a job delivering a 40ft. from Rapallo to Alassio where I will do the bow during Alassio Week for Elio, captain of "Atalante II".

Spring is coming now! Can you feel it?
I will be so happy when on the water again.]]> recovered Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0100 First cappuccino in Italy (recovered)
Begin February I flew home to Belgium to visit my family. Finally I could catch up with my parents and brothers and sisters! So much to talk about, so good to be home. A lot of relaxing too, hanging in the sofa, watching TV with my mum and sis, something really valuable when you travel a lot.
I visted my friend Annick, who bought a cloud of a son. Congrads girl!
Not to forget the visit of Maria to Antwerp, finally an Italian to judge Belgian food

About a week ago I flew to Nice, from where I crossed the Italian border again. Aah, you can't imagine how good my first cappuccino was. I am staying with my friends in Santa Margherita Liguria at the moment. Last weekend we went to Torino where there are the winter Olympics.

At the moment I am sending CV's, printing business cards and e-mailing my contacts to find a new job/ boat for this season. There was a place as first mate on "My Song" a very sexy Maxi based in Rapallo, but unfortunately their program is not what I am looking for. Only 4 races this season and a lot of cruising with the owner.
Anyway, there are quite a few Maxi's here in Italy I am eyeballing.
A few days ago I had contact with the director of "Maximus" which wingmast is being repaired in Genua. They are going to race the whole Italian circuit this season. It's too early to hope for a job on this super Maxi, but the contact is there.

Another thing, I have been playing around with Google Earth when I was in Belgium and plotted my last 2 crossings on a network file. I can also update my current position, waypoints etc. It's pretty cool.

Ciao]]> recovered Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Arrived in Cape Town after 6000 miles (recovered)
It feels like a kid in a candystore here at Cape Town, SA, there is so much to do, so much to see. I don't know where to start.. This place is so beautiful, so pure and wild, it's a shame I can't really afford to stay here for the winter.

I'll upload some pictures and some newsfeeds later. There is much more to slip in. One moment I will sit down and finish my notes from during the crossing.
Thanks to all the people who e-mailed me for X-mas and N-year!
I just downloaded 57 new massages, please let me reply to ya asap.]]> recovered Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0100 New Year at Fernando de Noronha, Brazil (recovered)
When we saw the island dooming in the early morning with all the rocks and roughness we thought, this is going to be nothing. No people are living here. We felt a bit like discovery adventurers when we sailed around the island with no charts, eyes on the depthsounder. Than I spotted a big radar on top of a mountain scanning for us in the East, but attempts to call port control or anybody else where unsuccessful. When I switched on my mobile phone surprisingly it picked up 3 networks and even GPRS coverage! Apart from a bird colony and rocks we didn't see any sign of life on the South coast. After turning around the corner there where some amazing beaches blasted with Atlantic swell.
Further to the North West we saw houses and than a huge windmill, probably producing electricity for the whole island. In the North behind the reefs we anchored the boat in between what seemed like spectator or tourist boats, with the Brazilian flag and dolphins painted on the hulls.

A cruiseship anchored behind us dropping Brazilians on the island to celebrate New Year. Fernando de Noronha turns out to be "the Caribbean of Brasil". The Archipel was former Dutch and in the old days a pirate hole. So I have been told, there is probably a website?
Anyway, we had a great New Years eve!
After salmon and champagne Benjamin and me fired off a flare each at 00.00 and than we rushed to the shore. There was a big posh party somewhere but we went to the beachclub instead were we where dancing under the palmtrees on Brazilian reggae, drinking Rhum, smoking reefers and having fun with da girls until the sunrise. It was just superb!

After some sleep we rented surfboards and went to the same beach from the party, a good spot for newbies like us. On Fernando de Noronha everybody is surfing. After school or work they walk with their board straight to the beach, where you can also play volley or football. On the water, the waves where bigger and rougher than they looked like, heh. They roll and brake with rainbows in their spray. Birds diving for fish just next to you, popping up looking at you "Fish? Fish!" Some of them birds flew in formations of 3 or 4 and where surfing on the vortex of those waves too. Just for the fun of it, I swear. What a life!

Off course no-one made a real ride but I had two good body rides and a lot of fun crashing off and getting beaten up. No wonder those surfers, also the little boys, where all looking muscled and healthy. I saw some nice tattoos on a few local man, with fishes, birds, the sun, breaking waves and even that rock they where surfing under.
The Brazilian beach girls where just as expected, we didn't know where to look first!! Such beauties. With their long dark hair in the wind, the sandy salsa asses, tropical skin and green eyes, make you wanna stay here forever.

With love from Brazil.]]> recovered Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0100 Crossing the equator (recovered)
Yesterday me and Pieter did all we could to convince Benjamin it was a good idea to stop over at Fernando de Noronha, an island about 200 miles off the Brazilian coast. We have some good excuses to do that. First of all, it really breaks the trip, so good for moral. Pieter can buy fresh fruit and vegetables, which will save us from eating can food, something Benjamin has bad experience with haha.
We don't know much about the place but have all the the time of the world and heard only positive things about it in the Canaries and Cabo Verde, so no reason not to pass..
The island would be special and beautiful. We don't know how many people live there, but there is a lighthouse, which would most unlikely be operated by imported monkeys. We are all dreaming about Brazilians in yellow bikinis anyway!
Another bonus is that we will arrive there just before New Years eve, so even if there is nobody there, we could just crack open our bottle of champagne on the beach and throw a tuna or even some lobsters on a barby.

Cabo Verde was special too. When we arrived there with a 24 hour Visa from customs we were so excited. After landing in a wooden boat rowed by two locals, we headed straight to the bar for beer and cigarettes, socializing with everybody who crossed our path. People are very nice and friendly on the islands. They speak Creole, a mixture of Portuguese and probably African. It's funny how they use a lot of "ksch" in between. You can speak any language there, English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, it's one big mix. CafÈ au Lait. A gene pool. I love it.
I wish Cabo Verdo good luck in the future, there is a lot of poverty, but people have their heart at the right place.

The Doldrums? Right, I think it's just a myth. No, but thinking about the stories of days and days with no wind, mirrored water and burning sunshine, we just didn't have anything of it all. We had wind, sometimes squalls, which we can track nicely on the radar, and mostly a covered sky. Only since last night the sky broke open again, steady now, with an amazing view on the Milky Way making you feel really small.

We are sailing in perfect conditions with white puffy clouds during daytime now, top. Things have been different upon departure.. The first days we had to engine our way South with clouded skies. Everybody was a bit grumpy, struggling with bioritms and getting used to each others habbits. Personally, after all the sailing on racing boats, I was frustrated about the performance of "Geronimo". Stuffed with diesel, water and food, she's just heavy causing a big lag in her reaction when driving her. Fact accepted now.
Benjamin is also more relaxed now with more trust in our crew.

So in a few hours we'll pass the equator! Traditionally this event is celebrated with a visit from Neptunus. I am sneakily gathering together the ingredients for the baptism now: handheld GPS for countdown, Absolut Vodka and sharkteeth for offering, water and flower just to make a mess, shaving soap and the broom as trident to dress up like Neptunus, it will be fun!!]]> recovered Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Preparing to leave to South Africa (recovered)
I am still licking my wounds from the ARC crossing. Finally everything is dry and I have a real bed here on the boat with real food. Sleep is something I like as icecream now.
Thinking about South Africa, after arrival, for sure I'll take some time off. A mini safari, need to take some more pictures, but also about doing more courses. I want to do more with electronics, instruments, telecom on board and navigation and weather routing. I see things.
For that I need a PC laptop though.. I am seriously thinking about betraying my sweet 15' Apple Powerbook for a Sony Vaio. The TX model looks perfect for me, featherlight with amazing battery life and it has a carbon fiber casing, waauw. Pricetag is bit heavy though. But maybe with the money from the delivery I can find a good deal.

Yesterday I spend almost the whole day one the internet looking for a way to plot my position and travels on a map. It would be cute to host this on my website init? With different tracks, waypoints and GPS positions. I checked out two mapping webservices on the net. Google and Yahoo.
Yahoo Maps taking the lead with a Flash API, but than I realized their maps only cover North America and Canada so far. Hopefully they update this in the near future.
Google Maps covers the whole world with satellite images, this is so cool.
Looks a lot more difficult to control their maps in a Flash interface, although some pioneer developers showing amazing stuff

Anyway, lemme think about this more on the trip.]]> recovered Sun, 11 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0100 ARC Arrival in St. Lucia (recovered)
We had our couple of Rhum Punches at the bar, smelling like animals, drooling over women. Arrived at the hotel, crashed into our beds, black. After eating triple breakfast I headed to the travel agent to check for Flights to Tenerife, where Benjamin is waiting for me on 'Geronimo'. I Found me a flight to London with British Airways tonight and I just got a taxi arranged to bring me to the airport. Got a rendez-vous in Londen! One day and a night, than fly to Tenerife.

Honestly, I am glad the trip is over. It's been one of the hardest crossings I did so far. Can't say I enjoyed it overall, but there where some great moments and especially hitting TRS (Tropical Revolving Storm) 'Delta' was an important experience. I seem to have made some good credits with the crew for my seamanship and driving during the storm and I am sure it will lift me up to the next thing.

Really gotta run now, I need to buy some clothes for on the airplane, cause everything smells and no time to wash. Pff.]]> recovered Wed, 07 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Tradewinds all the way to the Caribbean (recovered)
Yesterday I was on watch with Frank reaching under the A1 and the wind went over the VMG so we decided to throw in a gybe. Double handed style, nice one! For the first time after 10 days at sea we where sailing on starboard tack. Everybody disorientated, our little heeled world of cooking, eating, sleeping, working and sailing haha.

We are happy again. Joop made pancakes yesterday night when Frank was singing under the shower outside in another squall.
The days after TS 'Delta' where hard, with all the pain of cuts on our hands and feet. I got some nasty blisters on my hands from driving. Frank and I got beaten up in the rigg a few times, fixing broken halyards. I was crawling over the deck like a cripple when we where fixing the damage because of a cut in my footsole. I had a salt rash on my bum, all my clothes got wet from salt water, no way to dry. It's possible that on arrival they will all be rotten. It goes better with the injuries now. Going through the Medic kit I found some anti-infection cream. Frank got a nasty one on his ankle as well. I washed 3 pair of underwear in my daily Liter of drinking water and am pampering my bum with babywhipes and talc powder.

I just downloaded new gribfiles and everybody is smiling at the tradewinds all over the screen. Yesterday we already headed more South to cross a small patch with very light wind and now she is building and coming from the East. According to the GPS, the ETA should be december 6.

We smell the Rhum and hear the steelbands of St. Lucia already!]]> recovered Sat, 03 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0100 After Tropical Storm Delta (recovered) Last night we hit something else..

Earlier we put our reef in the 3DL main and had the G4 up. The wind got more furious, and by the time we realized it was more than what the gribfiles showed it was already too late to get the whole main down. We needed all attention to control the boat on her course to steer, but eventually had to follow the eye of the storm, sailing more and more downwind going North.
One moment the helmsman lost control luffing up with the boom in the water and almost upwind we saw the True Wind Speed over 50 knots.

When I took over the wheel to get the boat out of her position, there was nothing else to do than sail her down on a deep windangle of the waves.
First there was a lot of fresh adrenaline when we were looking at the boatspeed, tilting over 25 knots in the surfs, but after a few hours I was just sending her (DHL-ing her ;-)) on apparent windangle on endless surfs and didn't look at the log anymore.
Sometimes we drove in a tunnel of spray for minutes with minimum speeds of over 20 knots. When looking aft I saw big white foam patches flattening out the water on long waves and knew the wind was over 60 knots.

The danger in a storm is not the wind though, but the waves. One wave hit the windward steering pedestal earlier, we heard the sound of splintering carbon and the windward wheel was total loss. Cambio! Helming on lee was actually safer anyway..
One moment there was this huge wave that hit the sailstack and the boys had to haul in a genoa back onboard. Lashed on their lifelines I saw them flying around in the air, washed by the waves. I will always remember that image, with their LED headlights, spooking in diagonal showers and lightning strobes.

to be continued]]> recovered Sat, 26 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Day 3 ARC on Formidable 3 (recovered)
The ARC notice of race obliged us to leave Gran Canaria to starboard, meaning we had to pass the South of the island, pitty because there was a good breeze on the North. After Gran Canaria, MaxSea send us North, passing El Hierro. We lost some ground there tacking our way up.
Yesterday morning we saw "Renaissance", a Corel 45 with her windseeker up, so that made us having more confidence in the weather router again. And "Solune" went North with us too.
From what I can see on the gribs is that there is a nice big Low Pressure system forming a few degrees more to the North-West That's where we need to go. Not South. This thing is like sucking up all the air where most of the fleet is hehe.

All goes pretty well on board, except for the generator, which we use for charging our batteries. It's broken, with no success yet to fix it. No batteries means no lights at night, no instruments, no GPS, no navigation software, no communication, no weatherfiles and no watermaker. That last thing can become a rather nasty one..
What we do for now is switch everything off during day, at 1200 we take our position, send our report and download a new gribfile and at night, if it's very dark or in a squall, switch on the instruments.

Still a few days to go to the half trip party.]]> recovered Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0100 30 on Fuertaventura (recovered)
Had my 30th birthday on Fuerteventura, whoooohooo!!! Feels like I am 20 again!
I was hoping to go windsurfing there for a week or so but after a few days with no wind went to Stockholm for 2 nights and a day. Great vacation with a special girl!

Right now I am looking at meteo and weather files for the ARC. The arrival is in St. Lucia from where I will fly straight back to Gran Canaria for a delivery job on "Geronimo" to bring her to Cape Town, South Africa.

Not sure yet what the winter season will look like. "Formidable3" has a nice program racing in the States and Carribean, but I am also thinking about New-Zealand again now.

First things first, get to the other side of the Atlantic.
You can check out our positions at the ARC website or position updates at Formidable3's website

Addios!]]> recovered Sat, 19 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0100 SailMaxiOne, the end (recovered)
Last month I went windsurfing in Sardinia and I lost my mobile there.
So here's the comeback with my Sony Ericsson k750i.
I love this phone so much. It's got a Memory Stick Duo slot and I stuff it with MP3's, MP4 video's and shoot LOT's of photo's. And I am very pleased with the quality and settings. Okay it's still a phone, but for my blog it's perfect. Always by hand, slide open the cover, shoot and enjoy.

What's next? Since SailMaxiOne disappointed me at Maxi Worlds I decided to quit at the end of this month and break my contract. There are no more races and I don't see any future or progress for me in this company.
All I want now is to remember the good times and nourish the friends I made this season in Italy. I am thankful for all the joy and fun and for those special people who touched my heart.

Plans? Friday I'll leave to St. Tropez where Piet Vroon's brandnew "Formidable3" is waiting for a bowman, yeah! It will be good to sail with Piet and Co. again, I am really looking forward to it!
First there is Voiles de St. Tropez than Rolex Middle Sea Race. In the next month I will decide where to go for the winter season. My plan is to fly down under end of november to do the Sydney - Hobart race.
Afterwards to go to Auckland, New Zealand. Formidable3's program is to go to the Caribbean this winter, so that's an option too.

Time will tell.]]> recovered Wed, 28 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0200 Working at SailMaxiOne as skipper (recovered)
Well nothing in particular. I am still working for SailMaxiOne with my job upgraded to 'commandante' or skipper. There have been some changes in the structure of the company and the more interesting the experience is for me now. We are improving the sailing level on the Maxi's and with a crew of over 20 persons on each boat this is a very challenging job.

In the last 3 months I am here now, apart from the incentives for companies like Volvo and TIM we have been racing too. Last month we sailed the Roma - Tunesia.
The last one was more like a cruising race, but it served well for our crew selection program. We went with 2 boats to Tunesia and have been match racing all the time, constantly pushing the boat and the crew. For example we arrived from the offshore race, about 400 nm, with a difference of less than 10 minutes!

Italy has been great so far, I am having a blast. Hard working, but serious fun and parties too. I love Italia more and more! We have one week vacation now and tomorrow or day after I plan to go windsurfing in Sardinia. I wanted to go to Estonia first, but can't help the thought of riding a board on indigo blue water with a fluo sail.

Pictures.. yeah I don't know why I didn't take them anymore. Maybe I got a bit lazy on that? It's just feels like a hassle taking the camera with me. The battery, transferring the images,.. Plus also the fact the I have a lot more stuff on my mind now as a skipper, blah blah, lousy excuse, yah.
You know I am thinking about a cellphone with a good camera now. That would rock. Right now the cams are in the 2 megapixel generation and I saw some good pictures on the net. At the moment I have a Sony Ericsson T610 and the new model, the Sony Ericsson K750 looks so cool!
I hope it will be available somewhere soon, I need to get this.

Keep faith, I promise a comeback!]]> recovered Sun, 14 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0200 Job at SailMaxiOne (recovered)
This weekend I did the mainsail with Lode skippering one of the Grand Mistrals here in Lavagna. It was an incentive for Volvo. They invited all there clients. Each boat has 6 SailMaxiOne crew + about 10 guests. Saturday training, sunday racing.
I have to say it is pretty impressionant to sail against 5 other one design Maxi's. Sunday they even rented a helicopter to film the whole thing, and cameraman running around the boats the whole time.

Working here for a while would be a good thing to speed up on learning Italian!
It's not your dreamjob, and a lot of work during the week, with almost no spare time, but there are some interesting races and I heard that next week 2 boats will be sailed up to Barcelona (Spain).
If the interview tomorrow is positive I'll go for it!

A presto.]]> recovered Tue, 03 May 2005 00:00:00 +0200 Yachts, yachting and yachties in Antibes (recovered)
First day I walked around the marina and I didn't see any racing boat - mmm..
Powerboats that's what they have here, some big ones too. I talked to some people and with the crew agents and they told me that more than 80% of the jobs are on powerboats. Jobs like steward, engineer or chef are not what I am looking for...
Anyway, Antibes is bigger than I thought and the city is very nice. Around the marina it's all yachts, yachting and yachties. Full of Brits as usual, drunk in the bars making a lot of noise at 22.OO. I stayed in a crewhouse with 8 people cramped in one room for 25 eur a night. 2 showers and 2 toilets for about 30 people, crazy.

Luckily sending some emails to my contacts was a bigger success. I send an email to the SailMaxiOne organization with my CV and references and got a positive reply. What's even more, yesterday Lode called me up asking if I could join him this weekend to sail on the Grand Mistrals! A perfect start.

So this afternoon I take the train to Italy :-)
Time to do the Italian language exercises I downloaded on my iPod.]]> recovered Fri, 29 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0200 Summer season started in Nice (recovered)
I have been working on my Flash website too much. Building a slideshow, improved usability, faster sorting and loading different albums from comboboxes. Sometimes it was like I needed to learn Actionscript all over again, especially with all the Array stuff going on. But it feels almost like iPhoto now. Unfortunately I didn't make it to glue all the parts together before I left and I still have some performance issues to cope with. Anyway there is no rush, so I will only pull out my laptop to work on it in my spare time. Thanks for rating the photo's already. The rates will be transferred with the next update.

Summer season started for me, at last. Exciting because I don't know anything yet and so everything is possible :-)
The next month will be a search for opportunities. This afternoon I go to Antibes. I want to check it out there. Pass the crew agencies and visit the Yachtmaster school to see what I can do to get my YM Ocean later on. Hopefully there is some work in the marina too because I can use some fresh cash.

btw Temperature here in Nice is pretty mild, 18C - so don't be jealous.]]> recovered Wed, 27 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0200 1 year anniversary Flash website (recovered) Today when I browse through all the months, it's like - HI memory.
Today it's also a year ago I decided to go back sailing. A good decision indeed. I am soooo happy I don't spend my life behind a computerscreen anymore. Okay I know, I'm still a bit of a nerd hehe, but you gotta free your devils, right?

THANK YOU people for all the support!
Thanks for all the e-mails, the messages in my guestbook, the compliments about my photo's. It's been a real motivation! Keep visiting my page. At the moment I am building some more features.. for more photo's. This weekend I implemented a photoBrowser so you can scan through the lot. I am working on a cool rating system now to vote for your favorites. A slideShow feature is in my head too and I did some tests with deeplinking to different application states and thus being able to bookmark dynamic URL's.
Hey! I got to do -something- while waiting for my freakin 'machine readable' passport and Visa. Passport will be ready day after tomorrow btw.
And mum, thanks so much for 'feeling home' for a while!]]> recovered Sun, 10 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0200 No US Visa, I fly back home (recovered)
Made my decisions. Basically I fly back to Europe on Thursday 24. That's it. No Visa for the States, no Antigua Race Week, no delivery to Europe. Because april is almost there, time is the main issue, I want to be in the Med in the spring.

At first I really thought I could get my Visa for the US in Barbados. Made an appointment for the interview on the embassy and all, but after further investigation and expensive telephonecalls, they told me that from the date you enter the US, you need an extra 6 months on your passports expiry date. Mine expires 2005-08 + Plus adding the fact that I don't have a freakin 'machine readable' passport which is a new requirement for the 'Land of Freedom'. Than I hear about those Yanks taking your fingerprints and scanning your iris.. Thanks but no thanks. Maybe next year.

If I had that Visa for the US, I would have stayed a bit longer. Most of the boats go to Antigua, do Race week the end of april and than go up North to Newport, Rhode Island or go to the Med.
I hear there are a lot of racing boats there in the US and also Piet Vroon's new "Formidable 3" is being build there, but again, it takes to much time.

Nah, I go to Belgium, sort out my stuff, and I beleve there is much of that to sort out, than to Italy. So right now vacation for a few days, than home sweet home :-)]]> recovered Mon, 21 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Heineken Regatta, St. Martin on Carrera (recovered) Heineken Regatta is over... and all the beer finished.

We didn't win on "Carrera", damn. Zero issues, we screwed up on one race with the code 0. We lost the first 2 races from 'Titan' and won the next 2, but the first race was the one around the island with more points. Anyway, is was super racing with 'the big boys' and it is a great reference. The crewdinner with limbo dancers and the "Carrera" sailing gear where a nice bonus for this weekend on the pedestals too. Thanks guys!

After the racing madness I helped Benjamin and Katrien preparing "Geronimo" for their charter. Dayworking on a friends boat, what more can you ask for? Benjamin told me that "Geronimo" is going to be sold soon. Next week after their charter he wants to get the boat in a top condition for the potential buyer. I could work for him for a week or so because the Yachtmaster Ocean course I still wanted to do that week is cancelled.. bummer. The next course at MSWI is only in may, so that's no option. The closest school would be Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but I need to find out what's up having no digital passport or Visa for the States. Maybe I need to get that Visa (B1, B2) whilst I am here. I hear you need to go to the embassy on Barbados for that. I will make it a mission this week.

Hey tonight I have a job for Sunsails! My first job as an official skipper now with my Yachtmaster hehe. It's just delivering a boat to Tortola, but it will be fun and the money is pretty good. I hope they have more jobs like that, would be cool to drive boats around with some friends.]]> recovered Tue, 08 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Fast bowman looking for fast boat (recovered)
Yesterday I went out with "Carrera", a Reichel Pugh 81, to test some new asymetric kites. Simon, the skipper, couldn't guaranty me a place because the forecast for the race is light air, but tonight I passed the boat again in the dinghy of Benjamin and Katrien and now I am on! And so is Benjamin. Hahaha.

Okay I can't play bowman (actually the bowman is Jerry Kirby!) and I will be put on the pedestals, grinding my ass off, but this ride will be such an experience! Most of the guys on "Carrera" are 'rockstars' from the America's Cup, world champions and round the world racers.
The boat is definitely one of the fastest in town and big time favorite.
Our competitor will be "Titan" a Reichel Pugh 75, also build at McConaghy.

Ladies & gentleman, place your bets!]]> recovered Thu, 03 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Yachtmaster Offshore done! (recovered) The weather was I bit nasty, with lotsa wind and squalls coming over. But no problem, I made the passage planning, briefed the crew, got out the marina, hoisted the sails and did al sorts of maneuvers and boat handling. After that the oral exam with over 100 questions about, well everything a captain is supposed to know.

Maybe the school plans a new Yachtmaster Ocean course in the next weeks, and if they do so I think I go for that as well. The Ocean course is basically just celestial navigation and sextant work, for about a week. Lotsa math's.

I should think about going to Belgium because my passport is almost expired and I would like to get a Visa for the States, just in case. But it's to early. I hear from friends and family the weather is terrible there, so I'll stick around a bit longer. Next weekend Heineken Regatta. Gotta make work of finding a fast boat because I didn't have time yet.

Oh and my dad is here at SXM! :-) He arrived 2 days ago. I meet him this afternoon. Catch up time. He rented a car so that will be a good chance to charge my camera's battery and make some shots.]]> recovered Sat, 26 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Yachtmaster theory (recovered)
This week has been a though one!
Every morning we had an exam. Than a new subject for the rest of the day, 1 hour in the gym after class clearing my head, than up to the crewhouse, study and make exercises the whole evening, sometimes even until after midnight. Anyone who tells those courses are a piece of cake and that everybody can pass as long as you pay for them... bullshit! Also, that crewhouse (Lagoonies) is not the right place for this week to say the least. Loud music, people running in and out, no desk, electricity goes whooo, only cold shower... rhaaaaa. But hey, I'll make it :-)

Sunday we board a 50 feet sailyacht, over at the French side, for the next week to do the Offshore Practical Course. We'll probably go South to St. Barth's and Antigua. It will be fun!! We will do all sorts of stuff, man overboard, blind navigation, anchoring, boat handling, meteorology, passage planning etc.

Hey, I learned so much stuff this week and I already feel a better sailor.
Harder, faster stronger!]]> recovered Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Passed the STCW 95 courses (recovered)
It was an interesting course. Topics where:
  • Basic Sea Survival
  • Basic First Aid
  • Social Responsibilities
  • Fire Fighting
The whole class passed for the first time in MSWI history! We where so happy we where already drinking Tequila at five o'clock and went through a night without many social responsibilities and lots of alcohol units.
Next goal: Yachtmaster Offshore, which starts monday 14th. I was planning to take the week off to go kitesurfing, but there seems to be something wrong with those damn tradewinds according to the meteo. So.. I am gonna work. For North Sails, as of tomorrow.

I really like St. Martin, might stick around after my courses for a little longer...
Would love to sail the Heineken Regatta

BIG THANKS to the people who made a donation for my courses!

Love ya :-)]]> recovered Mon, 07 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Arrived in St. Martin (recovered)
This morning I went to MSWI, (the Martitime School of the West Indies) where I met Veerle. She's a Belgian who first moved to Martinique, than to St. Martin. She was right, things seem to move here on SXM. It's full of boats and yachties in Simpson Lagoon! Gotta take some pics tomorrow.

Monday I start with the STCW 95, than one week free and than the Offshore course. There is a problem with the Ocean course.. apparently the teacher took off for a delivery job! To bad. At the moment I am looking for accommodation. Found a cheap crewhouse, but not sure how safe it is to keep my laptop and camera etc. there..

Anyway the courses and stay here will cost me quite a lot of money! I guess about 5.000. If any of my visitors would like to help me and make a donation, would be very appreciated! ]]> recovered Fri, 28 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100 From Antigua to St. Barths (recovered)
We left Antigua at 05.30 in the morning. It was a nice sail, we had 1 reef in the main and doing 9.5 knots upwind. Last few days where clouded with no sun and it seems this front wants to stay a little longer.

I don't know what I have to think from Antigua.. Every island is so different. Because I've never done the Lesser Antilles, I had these images in my head of like how it would be, but they are always different than expected. It's like with a lot of things I guess.
The other day I rented a scooter for the afternoon and drove around Antigua, 'the land of sun and sea' like every car-plate says. One moment I get really downtown St. John's, where all these Black people live packed in huts of rusty plates and old wood and than in the background of this panorama, an enormous cruise-ship full of American dollars. That gap, that was really impressive.
For some reason this island is very popular for mega sailing yachts. Probably has something to do with Nelson who had a base here. There where some big fookers out there. With all there spreaders and red lights in top at night, Christmas trees. And full of yachties. Lots of girls too, but all couples. Playing skipper and hostess, sweet.

Tonight we'll have dinner in some posh restaurant here at St. Barth's.
Hopefully tomorrow the clouds will pass and I can take some pictures again.]]> recovered Wed, 26 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Kiteboarding and diving in Martinique (recovered) Unfortunately to many guests booked on "Geronimo", but still I went to Les Trois Ilets, where Benjamin & Katrien where moored and stayed on board for a few days. We took 3 days kite board lessons and after that where all able to surf our first few 100 meters. It was a great time and I hope to learn more pretty soon.

Another thing, yesterday I went diving for the first time! We went out with Mickael and friends on a charter boat and anchored at St. Lucies where Fred took care of the newbie's with a crash course. After I finally figured out how to blow my ears we went all together for a 45 minute dive. It was superb! What a wonderful world. The coral, the colors, the fishes, I was feeling kinda euphoric, haha.

I will leave Martinique in a few days, thursday 20th to be exact, we sail up North with 'Lady in Red' to St. Martin. Stopovers are planned on Guadeloupe, Antigua and St. Barths. I am very happy to move again. I could have seen more things here on Martinique, but realize I am just a bad tourist and prefer to go and try another water sport or something.
Anyway I will see new things now, new impressions, new images.

Bye now.]]> recovered Mon, 17 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100 Happy New Year from Martinique (recovered)
I know have been in offline mode for a while, but first I have been sick for a few days, (a nasty virus) than there was X-mas and N-year, and than the rain.. It's been raining here on Martinique for more than a week now. Cats and Dogs. C'est la Bretagne on ce moment. This was not in my contract!! But the forecast says the sun wil shine again in a few. Allways :-)

Okay I decided to do my Yacht Master in St. Martin now. I was looking at other options to go to Durban, South Africa or Fort Lauderdale, USA, but the travel expenses are to high and since I am allready here in the Carib, St. Martin is the best option. Also Martnique is nice nature-wise, but in the North, more things will happen..

The plan for the next week... vacation! hehe. No, I would like to learn kite surfing. I did already some kite handling with Mickael's kite, a guy I met here, and it feels serious fun! Maybe I will take some real lessons in a few days when Benjamin and Katrien arrive here again after their charter. They are also very interested.
The next days I also want to play more tourist here and take pics etc. I hope to get a lift on Benjamin's "Geronimo" for their next charter. Do a bit of island hopping before I go North to St. Martin.

Let it shine!]]> recovered Sun, 09 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100