Cat helps Coastal Cruiser become Blue Water Sailor

'Ann Waring - 2008 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show' Powerboat-World.com &copy

How a strictly coastal cruiser became a blue water sailor - with a lot of help from her cat.

Ann Waring strikes you as a gutsy sort of woman, good fun, take anything on - but blue water sailing wasn't one of the things she took on easily. She met with Sail-World's Rob Kothe last week, and told the story of her conversion.

'Even though I had sailed since a child - small trailer-sailers - when my husband Alec came home one day and said 'I don't want to do this any more ('this' being a pressured job in the Middle East), I want to go blue water cruising, I wasn't sure at all.'

'Okay,' I said to him, ' but you can sail it across any oceans you want, and I will fly across to enjoy the coastal cruising in the destinations - no going out of sight of land for me!' - we hadn't sailed anything except a single week charter holiday in the Mediterranean for 20 years, so it was a radical plan.

They had been living for some time in the Middle East, in Oman. 'In the early days, Alec had shipped out a Nolex 25, and we had sailed it along the coast, up the straits and into the Persian Gulf, and then back again. It was certainly the only Nolex 25 in the Middle East, and I was keen on the coastal cruising, but crossing oceans, out of the sight of land, was something I didn't warm to at all, specially after a 20 year gap.

Joining the Regatta in Pittwater helped - Chad Booth Click Here to view large photo

'Anyway, I found a boat that I thought would be suitable for us - I found it, and I'm proud of that - it was a Seawind 1160, an Australian-made catamaran. The Seawind people were great - I think they realised that we were green, and when we went to Australia in October last year to collect it, they were very helpful. I found the catamaran made me feel very comfortable and very confident. So we were introduced to the boat slowly, and then moved up to Pittwater, where we did a Seawind Rally and that helped too.

The Warings then did what they had been accustomed to doing in the Middle East, coastal cruising, spending a couple of months going north up the east coast of Australia to that most favoured stepping off point, Bundaberg.

But now it was time for the big step, and their first intended destination was New Zealand. The owner of Seawind had recommended an experienced delivery Skipper to travel with them, and they were awaiting his arrival in Bundaberg.

It was time to go blue water sailing - Anna Warr Click Here to view large photo

However, then something happened which was to change all their plans, and many a cruising sailor will be able to identify with the quandary.

'I remember I was at the markets buying fresh produce, when Alec phoned from the boat and said, 'We're going today.'
'Without the delivery skipper?'
'It'll be okay - there's a very good weather window that doesn't come along very often, and I've had strong recommendations that now is the time to leave.'

'Alec had been very thorough getting the boat ready, and watching the weather - he used to be a pilot, and was very meticulous about planning. We had good communications on board and lots of help with weather forecasting.'

So they went. 'Alec had planned it all very well for me. On the first day we set off across Hervey Bay, which is fairly enclosed, towards the tip of Fraser. The next morning, Fraser was still in sight, but fading fast in the distance.

'However, I then said to myself: 'Don't be stupid!' and I decided just not to look backwards any more. Well, we had a brilliant run - four days to Lord Howe, then five days on Lord Howe watching the weather all the time, then got a good window and left again.

'It was a good forecast that we left on, but the seas had not calmed down from a previous disturbance, so we left with a four metre swell. The catamaran handled it beautifully, and I discovered that when you get away from land and the seas get into a rhythm, we get into the rhythm too. I used to look ahead and tell myself 'North Cape is just over the horizon' and sure enough, six days later it appeared. It was a lovely run - we had a mixture of weather, from Lord Howe to New Zealand it averaged about 15-20 knots. In the previous leg, from Bundaberg to Lord Howe, we had a bit of everything, from becalmed to gusting to 35 knots, and she handled it all beautifully!

'Looking back, I think going up the coast of Australia in her had given me confidence - Alec was good at planing it as well. We would day sail, then stay for a few days in a good bay or harbour, then maybe have a day and overight sail, so I was used to the routine.

'We really enjoyed being at the boatshow in Auckland, taking people for test sails - we were having a ball. In fact, our plan now is to go back to New Zealand and move to the south island, enjoying some beautiful sunny days, then next year, we shall head for Darwin and the Darwin Kupang Rally, travel across the Indian Ocean and back to familiar territory in the Middle East. We love it there.'

Their eventual plan is to transit the Red Sea and end up in the Mediterranean. Big plans for someone who declared themselves to be only a coast cruiser!... and she vows she did it all with the help of her cat.

About Seawind Catamarans:

Seawind Catamarans is Australia's largest manufacturer of cruising sail and power catamarans producing catamarans which are both popular on the Australian market, but are also highly successful globally. Since 1982 the company has been owned and managed by Richard Ward,who has 'helmed' Seawind from strength to strength, now building over 25 boats a year and have built well over 200 catamarans.

by Rob Kothe/Sail-World Cruising