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We Sailed to Spain! - DrakeParagon Sailing
May 25, 2024 · 28 min · 5K views · Spain
What this video covers
Drake and Monique sail their Westsail 42, Paragon, into Gijón, Spain after five days at sea, arriving at Yates Marina where their friend Hazel has already secured a berth.1:18 The final approach covers roughly 19 miles upwind at 5–6 knots, with the engine running to maintain speed ahead of an approaching weather front carrying 35-knot winds.1:09 A ship named Fiona passes at a closest point of approach of 0.1 miles, close enough that Monique wakes Drake; the ship later alters course toward port.3:20 Running the engine for two days to gain an extra knot over sailing speed proved the decisive call — it pushed Paragon north of the front before it arrived.6:17 Drake explains the boat's docking system: three light lines plus a red midships spring line attached to a Genoa track cleat, which causes the boat to hug the dock when motoring forward and away.13:16 He also describes choosing the electric autopilot over the newly installed hydrovane in rough conditions because the hydrovane's tiller-line controls were not yet intuitive under fatigue.9:23 The crew toasts the arrival with limoncello in memory of Eric Forsyth, who sailed a Westsail 42 and whose daily rum ration at 1700 is recounted.24:26 The extra engine speed to outrun a front is confirmed as the right call.6:17
Boats in this video
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