My first experience in sailing "bigger boats"...

Allow me to share a story I have not shared before...

Back in 2022, I was looking for a "bigger" boat to sail across the Atlantic, trying to gain experience in sailing and "managing" a yacht beyond the usual 46-49ft sizes I sailed before.

Via Facebook, back in 2021, i got in contact with Peter, the owner of Nerio, a 72ft Jongert aluminium racing cruiser, preparing to cross. At that time, our schedules did not work out, but we stayed in contact. A year later, Peter was ready to cross the Atlantic, and so was I. Not knowing the boat nor the skipper, we met up in Cartagena (Spain), where I stepped aboard "Nerio" for the first time. She was the largest sailing boat I ever stepped on, up to that moment.

Massive carbon mast and boom, 18 big winches, big sails, everything was big on this boat...

Peter and I had a long night, induced by many gin and tonics, talking about my plans and ambitions: I wanted to gain the experience in sailing and "managing" a big boat. So we came to an agreement: for the upcoming transatlantic, I would be the 1st mate, and Peter would let me "manage" the boat and the passage, staying +- in the background, "letting me do my thing", but being ready to intervene if i made a mistake.

But little did I know what I bargained for. Two months later, when Peter picked me up in Gibraltar, to sail to the Canaries, it was only "him and me" to sail the boat (there was one extra person on board, but he was not a sailor). So we would sail Nerio with 4 hours on and 4 hours off ,single watches, from Gibraltar to the Canaries...

Now, you need to understand: I had never sailed a boat with 2 people, on single watches before, leave alone a big boat like this, with massive sails.... Leave alone, while sailing through the Gibraltar Straight, notorious for its complex tides, currents and winds and very busy traffic. Leave alone on a boat I had never sailed before.

But Peter said (and I will always remember his words): "She is no different than any other yacht,.. Just a bit bigger, so bigger sails, bigger winches, bigger running rigging, and .. eh.. a bit more pressure on the running rigging. For the rest, it is the same. Forces are bigger, on a bigger boat, so think twice before you do anything. But for the rest, all is the same.."

Peter arrived with Nerio in Gibraltar to pick me up on the evening of Nov 22nd 2022. After mooring the boat, he asked: "so, are you ready? When do we leave? Did you make the passage plan?". And I had. I was ready. We'd leave 5 AM the next morning, with favourable tides. Little wind for the first few days, but once out of the Gibraltar Straight, we'd pick up wind.

Without double checking (for as far as I know, but maybe sneakingly, he did double check), he said "ok. 5 AM departure it is then"... So we left for the Canaries on Nov 23rd just before sunrise. Peter took her out of her berth, and out of the Gibraltar anchorage, and said "ok, according to the schedule you made, who has the first 4 hour watch?". I said: "i have"... So he said: "ok... the helm is yours, go for it. Your watch. See you in 4 hours!", and went to his cabine.

And there I stood, by myself at the helm of a 72ft yacht, taking her through the Gibraltar Straight, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. On a boat I did not know, apart from a one hour briefing on all navigation systems and rigging. I thought "this skipper must have a lot of confidence in me... More confidence than I have in myself, probably"...

My first 4 hour watch was pretty uneventful: tides and current were concurrent with what i had planned/predicted. We motored as we had no wind, negotiating the fishing pods, cargo traffic and fishing boats... Peter came up for his watch and motored further, and 4 hours later, up came my 2nd watch..

And wind came up. Time to get the sails up on this boat. But... I had never raised sails before on this boat... So I remembered Peter's wise words: "She is no different than any other yacht you sailed on before. Just a bit bigger.".. So, for a moment I wondered if i would wake up the skipper before I raised the sails, but then I thought: "Nah, let me give it a go"... So, as I do with smaller yachts, i put the boat into the wind, put her on autopilot into the wind, raised the massive mainsail with the electric winch, steered her on course, unfurled the genoa, and switched off the engine.... We were sailing...

And.. "sailing she did", this lovely boat. When Peter came on deck for his watch, he said: "Oh, you raised the sails by yourself, good on you!" 🙂 A vote of confidence I thought.

4 hours later, during my next shift, the wind fell, and i needed to drop the sails. I thought "shoot... I never dropped the sails on a big boat like this".. But as with a small yacht, i thought of cranking in the furling genoa. Now, Nerio has a massive genoa, with a car running all the way aft of the ship. So I cranked in the genoa manually, but with a big genoa like this (i think the foot of this genoa was something like 15-20 meters), it took me 45 minutes of cranking to furl the genoa. With the boat on auto pilot, amongst the cargo ships exiting/entering the Gib Straight.... And then I turned the boat into the wind, and dropped the main sail.

After my shift, Peter came on deck, looked up and said "oh you dropped the sails, good on you".. and showed me how to furl the genoa with one of the electric winches, for the next time.... 🙂

Once we came out of the Gibraltar Straight area, we went rhumbline to the Canaries, with good wind. Sails were up, and by jolly, this boat was sailing so fast and smoothly. With her big laminated mainsail, and massive genoa, she just... sailed. We had pretty smooth seas, and Nerio sailed without any noise. If there was a noise, from her ploughing thru the waves, it was only a noise... like a hand rushing through a set of silk scarfs. She was sooo fast and smooth, and sailed sooo.. silently.

In the next days, I was able to experiment with her, learning how she liked to be trimmed, the wind angles she liked, and I utterly fell in love with this thorough-bred stallion. She sailed so well. For every boat i sail on, I try to establish a bond with the boat, but with Nerio, I did not just establish "a bond". It was a love affair. A true love affair. Love at first sight (or at first sail). And I felt, Nerio loved me back. She loved the right trim, and loved to sail fast.

As we approached Gran Canaria's Las Palmas port, it was my watch and Peter said: "ok, when you are one mile off the harbour, wake me up".. And I go like "wait, this is a complex harbour, and a complex approach... You want me to drop sails by myself, and navigate the approach, but it is complex". And he goes "you'll be fine, you know this boat by now, and you know the approach. You have been here before. Just wake me up 1 mile off the entrance".

And so we did. And docked safely at 3 AM on 13 Nov in Las Palmas...

We left Las Palmas for Barbados (via Cabo Verde) on 21 Nov, with 4 extra crew, of which 2 were an utter pain in the b*tt, who never settled their financial common crew accounts, but that is a different story.

As of then, boats I sailed on, just kept on getting bigger and faster, but I will never forget Peter's advice: "She is a bit bigger, but for the rest, it is all the same"...

Kudos to you, skipper Peter ! 🙂

Picture: Me on the bow of Nerio - which gives you an impression of the dimensions of this boat. Picture taken from the center cockpit by Saoirse