Killer Whales attacking sailboats near Portugal and Spain

More than 30 orca attacks on sailboats since July 2020 could have a devastating impact on thousands of yachts sailing through the Portuguese and Spanish coastline each year. 

The video below shows one of the first attacks. Courtesy of the Guardian. 

As far as I know, the first incident occurred on July 23, 2020. A sailor called Alfonso Gomez encountered four orcas that rammed his boat for over 50 minutes. "Once we had stopped, they came in faster at 10 to 15 knots, from a distance of about 25 m," he said. "The impact tipped the boat sideways."

On the previous night, at about 11:00 p.m., a few killer whales forced Beverly Harris and Kevin Large's 50-foot sailboat to a stop and spun it around several times for about 20 minutes. "I had this weird sensation," Harris said, "that they were trying to lift the boat." Earlier that very night, the whales struck Nick Giles' 34-foot sailboat with such force that he was left without steering. The killer whales then pushed the boat for 15 minutes before finally leaving.

Since that day, more than 30 similar incidents have been reported. On September 23, 2020, Spain's transport ministry even banned yachts less than 15 m long from sailing in the 60-mile area in the Atlantic coastline from Ferrol to the Estaca de Bares Cape, where the attacks were occurring.

However, the attacks have continued, now along the Portuguese coast, especially near Sines, a popular anchorage and marina for transients. It seems that 3 juvenile orcas (or the group to which they belong) have perpetrated all known attacks. And that makes sense since all attacks have occurred in only one area at any given time. The locations have changed because this group of orcas roam the coastline searching for the best hunting spots. Apparently they have settled in the Sines area for now.  

The last attack was reported a few days ago when the young delinquent orcas attacked an 8-m sailboat crewed by three French sailors on their way to Porto Santo, a small island near Madeira. The whales broke the boat's rudder and they had to be towed into the port of Sines. 

It seems that these young orcas are on a playful mission to destroy rudders and disable vessels. As far as I know, they have only attacked sailboats, likely due to the length and shape of their rudders. 

So far, authorities have issued recommendations on actions to take when being attacked: stop sailing and/or motoring; do not perform any avoidance maneuvers; and shut everything off, particularly the depth sounder. It is believed that they are more likely to get bored of biting and ramming rudders if the vessel stops moving. 

Have a look for yourself.

Below is an informative and well written summary by BBC about what's been going on:

BBC Article on Rogue Killer Whales

More samples of newspaper reports.

German sailor attacked near Sines

Guardian article and film clip

48 ft Scottish boat is attacked

If I get attacked, I'll be sure to film it or take photographs.

Performance Pocket Cruiser Review no. 1 - Etap 26i

Candidate no. 1 - Etap 26i

Downloadable Owner's manual (pdf)

Aesthetic appeal

The Etap 26i was love at first sight. I'm enamoured with its looks, layout, construction quality, and unsinkability. It can be sailed with a hole in the hull, but what I really like about this feature is that a leak will not sink it when docked or anchored (dealing with a sunken boat is a huge logistics headache).

Another thing I really like about the Etap 26i is its interior. The cabin is flooded with light, and you can look where you're going and up at the sails while making lunch. A small boat interior can't get much more cheerful than this.

The stern has a very inviting swim platform which also looks like a dream for stepping into and out of the dinghy. Although it's a modern production boat, it has the look of a serious cruiser (which it isn't).  

The interior plan is standard for an modern 8 m sailboat, which is good. I don't see how anyone could significantly improve the layout in this size of boat. Perfect for a solo sailor.

Hull, rig and engine

The Etap company has closed, but this is what they used to say about the Etap 26i

- The only unsinkable Yachts in the world

- Condensation free

- Highly thermal and acoustic insulation

- Double-skinned deck and hull give stable structure

- Interior in sound structural polyester

- High resale value

Etaps aren't merely unsinkable, they can still be sailed even when holed. Here's a report in a Yachting Monthly article about testing a flooded Etap 21i:

"Gert, the Etap representative onboard, has done this a few times, most notably in a 24-ft Etap, crossing the Channel twice in a day with the boat flooded. He estimated that flooding slows the boat down by 1 knot, not bad considering he reefs to reduce strain on the rig."

Note that the following photograph is of an Etap 21i.

The bunk locker lids were barely awash when the water ingress stopped (Etap 21i). ~ Courtesy of Yachting Monthly

I don't like the saildrive configuration, and the 10 hp power engine may be under-muscled for motoring against waves, wind and current on my way back north. Sailing solo between ports (with legs up to 60 miles), I don't have the luxury of tacking my way up the coast when the wind is on the nose. There is too much traffic to take naps and too many fishing net markets to motor at night. I've been trapped twice already, and diving in to cut the boat and prop free is no picnic.

I don't know what to think about Etap's that come with a shallow tandem keel. If the tandem keel works as well as the designer says, what's there not to like? If they don't perform as well, and I happen to buy one, a shallow draft has a number of advantages.

The tandem keel consists of two short keels joined by a bulb.

Etaps with a fin keel are, I presume, more efficient upwind, but the tandem keel would be great for anchoring closer to shore where it's less crowed and for exploring shallower areas in the coast of Algarve where I don't dare go with my current Corbin 39. It would also make it easier to careen the boat on a sand bank to scrub the bottom, scrape he prop, change the anode or just for fun!

My first impression is that the sail plan and rig seem to be more suitable to day-sailing than for my cruising trips along the Portuguese coast, which is known for its somewhat boisterous trade winds and severe conditions at various capes, particularly on hot afternoons.

I need a boat that sails well downwind (when I go south) and reasonably well upwind (when I return sailing north). I hate motoring unless there's no alternative, then I live with it.

Here is an Etap 26i sailing:

The Bergstrom rig on the Etap 26i has no backstay, which is compensated by its swept-back spreaders. This also explains its large main sail with a generous roach and small self-tacking genoa.

I've noticed, such as in the above film, that some owners upgraded to a larger genoa. I would suspect they were unhappy with the smaller sail's performance. But since the rig was designed for a small genoa, could a larger genoa pose a risk in stronger wind?

The boat's setup raises at least two key issues: its ability to sail downwind efficiently; and its capacity to cope with strong wind on a beam reach, particularly with its ballast  displacement ratio just shy of 30%.

When sailing downwind, the swept-back spreaders prevent easing the mainsail far enough for optimum performance. This problem could be overcome by employing a smallish and easy to handle asymmetrical spinnaker. After all, I'm not trying to break speed records, I merely want to sail from port to port fast enough to arrive before dark rather than having to motor and/or motorsail.

The problem of not being able to fully ease out and depower the main sail in strong beam-reach winds is more worrisome. And believe me, if you cruise Portugal's coast and its nasty capes where winds can escalate from a breeze to vicious storm-like winds in minutes, not being able to depower a large main could put a huge load on the rig and sails and even lead to a wind-and-wave induced broach. In this scenario, a solo sailor also has to struggle to maintain his balance in a steeply slanted and unstable cockpit at at time when he must act fast to bring the boat under control, especially since the autopilot will almost certainly be overpowered.

Reef, reef early and deeply, the experts say. I say it too, but sailing is not always that simple or logical. I don't always follow this advice on my current boat, a Corbin 39, but that's because it's built for hell and high water.

On the other hand, the small genoa combined with the battened mainsail may be great for upwind sailing...at least that's what I think and hope.

Price

Ads in February 2017:

Year of build       Asking prices in euros
1995                    21,570 / 24,000 / 26,000
1996                    25,000
1999                    26,000
2004                    33,000

And what are the forums saying about this boat:

"I have an Etap 26i (as opposed to the older 26) fixed keel (not tandem) and she's a great boat. The self-tacking jib makes for a stress free time in busy waters and as an etap owner already you'll know the benefits of the double skin and buoyancy (although ok, storage can be less). The only thing I would say is that due to the Bergstrom rig with swept back spreaders, you have to gybe a bit more as a straight down-wind jaunt puts the main onto the spreaders... my next step is to look into a spinnaker to sort that out."

"I owned one for 5 years after upgrading from a 22 Etap. Great sailing boat. Can't think of any negative aspects. I sailed with our family of 4 kids , later bought a 30 Etap so sailed etaps for 15 years. Couldn't afford a 35 so switched brands."

More information may be added to this post. In the meantime, It's a boat to take seriously in my quest to be a happy sailor.

Owning a Sailboat that Makes you Happy

This is my current sailboat, a Corbin 39.

Jakatar sailing upwind along the Portuguese coast.

I bought the unfinished Jakatar in Canada 18 years ago and sailed it to Europe in 2002. It's ridiculously overbuilt and has never let me down in nearly 10,000 ocean miles, including a nasty mid-ocean storm.

Now that Jakatar is almost finished, this solo sailor is dreaming of a smaller boat. Jakatar was designed for a larger and perhaps younger crew dreaming of going places - maybe crossing oceans - or even living aboard.

I began this blog solely as a process for deciding which boat I want to buy - the best sailboat for coastal cruising on a budget. It's also a way to commit myself to the process, to create momentum, excitement and to set the dream on fire again. Without commitment and momentum, nothing is going to happen.

Future posts will deal with topics such as:

Why do I want a smaller boat

Where will I be sailing it

Why size is crucial

Hull type

New, used, classic or in need of repair

Budget
Equipment

etc.

More information about Jakatar, my misadventures and musings can be found on my other blog zentozero.

Any comments, suggestions, confessions, opinions or even rants are welcome.  

Avoiding Ships and Obstacles

After 13 years of part-time ocean cruising, ships still make me nervous - but mainly at night.

But I'm no hero like the skipper in the clip below.

During the day in open water, I assume ships will respect a sailboat's right of way - if sailing - and I also have a clearer picture of where they're heading. If I'm motoring, I assume I can avoid them fairly easy. 

On my way home this year, when I first saw this ship, prior to this picture, I thought it was going to pass in front of me.

In the end, after a few course changes, it steamed past my stern. To think of it, the exact same thing happened last year.

Imagine if this had happened at nigh. I'd be a little nervous to say the least. It makes sense to assume that ships will monitor their radar screens more carefully near land. But then it also makes sense to trust a pit-bull's owner when he tells you that his snarling dog doesn't bite...at least not yet! 

The truth is, just about anything makes me nervous at night, especially when sailing the Portuguese coast which, except for pirates, is mined with a variety of hazards: ships, fishing boats, many lobster pot markers, debris and sleeping skippers on automatic pilot. I'm not kidding. Some years ago while sailing with another 3 boats, we had to dodge a large sailboat that sailed right through us without a soul on deck, nobody, and all sail up.

Then there's a fishing system called "palangre". You see it only when it's right in front of you, if the ocean is calm. Otherwise you don't see it at all. It looks something like the diagram below, except the floats are cork rings about the size of a big doughnut.

The floats fishermen use around here are tiny and laid out at about 20-meter intervals. I don't know how long the surface line is because I never see where they start or end.

Although it's just fishing lines, hooks and small floats, you'd have a hell of a mess if you ever got one rolling in your propeller. Last year I dove down in open water to cut myself free from a thick line leading to a bottom net, but I don't think I'd be too enthusiastic about diving down into a mess of hooks. They're called hooks for a good reason. But you could always sail to the next anchorage, careen the boat on a sand bank and sell the fish.

That's enough pessimism for today. I guess next year I'll be sailing to the Algarve solo again.

Sailing North Along the Portuguese Coast

The title should read "motoring north...." Everybody knows that sailors motor a lot.

In Sagres we hauled anchor and left before sunrise.

That's me delivering a Bavaria 32, photo taken by a buddy boat.

You need to get up early to motor 65 miles to Sines and to arrive on time for dinner at the "Adega de Sines" taverna.

Photograph kindly stolen from Iberimage. Taking pictures everywhere I go isn't my thing.

Manuel actually sailed part of the way, tacking back forth just for fun.

Manuel on "Mil Milhas" which means One Thousand Miles, since he likes to log at least 1,000 miles per season. Notice how he straps his RIB on the transom. Very handy.

I unfurled the genoa (as I said in the last post, the furling mainsail sucks) to get a bit of pull. According to my calculations, I didn't have enough diesel to reach Sines. Even when bearing off 10 degrees the genoa mostly fluttered in the headwind, so I furled it tight and swore not to play with it again until the wind changed direction or I ran out of fuel.

These modern boats kill me; they come with such tiny fuel tanks. When I fill up Jakatar, I have enough diesel for a year.

Anyway, I opened the lazaret and sure enough I saw a 20-liter jug the owner had failed to mention. I also found a funky manual fuel transfer pump that sort of worked but splattered diesel all over the place. So now I had enough diesel and didn't have to worry about arriving at midnight after a long series of tacks.

A large dolphin pod swam with me for a long time. No matter how hard I tried, I could never photograph more than 3 or 4 surfacing at a time.

We hit the marina in Sines (only about 14 euros per nigh for the Bavaria), checked in, showered and hurried up the steps on the cliff-side stairway but were too late to eat at our favorite taverna. They were dousing the coals as we arrived; we went to another place that was even better and almost as cheap.

Leaving Sines before lunch time with the anchorage in the background. Next stop: a 30-mile hop to Sesimbra where Jakatar and I battled the devil not long ago.

Once in Sesimbra, the plan was to anchor, sleep, get up fairly early and search for my Rocna and chain with both dinghies by dragging small hook anchors back and forth. Nothing came of it. But I'm planning on going back with a better drag hook.

Arriving in Sesimbra as the sun sets.

In the morning we also had breakfast in town: a huge plate of toast floating in melted butter plus coffee.
Then we went for more diesel. Oh yeah I forgot, I already ranted about small diesel tanks.

Manuel loading his diesel jug. Notice the freshly baked bread on the dinghy seat. 

After all these tasks - that make cruising so much fun - we motored 22 miles to Cascais where we anchored.

Cascais anchorage, another night, another taverna (real restaurant here).

Bought more diesel and the next day we MOTORED to Peniche, and that's it. Delivery accomplished.

Sort of felt strange motoring by Jakatar into the marina. A thought occurred to me, "Jakatar, you've got the best fuel tanks in town."