Yesterday, the sky became crimson. A dense atmosphere enveloped us, casting a strange twilight that rendered the vista across the bay as a sepia tone. After several hours, everything was enveloped in fine sand. Everything.
The phenomenon of Saharan dust crossing the Mediterranean is not novel, yet here it typically arrives with rainfall. Countless times we have woken up on Skylax to discover the transom transformed from black to orange – once, it was so thick that her name was indistinguishable.
The problem is, our teak deck conceals the situation just long enough for you to stroll on it and carry red dust everywhere. Naturally, this tends to occur precisely when the boat is spotless, which is frustrating enough, but when it settles on a salty surface, it’s significantly worse! One time, our sails were marked by the dust as we traveled westward from the Cape Verde islands. No problem, we reasoned; just one good squall, and it will vanish. Wrong!
This time, however, the dust arrived sans rain – merely a hazy fog of dust. Of course, this occurred just days ahead of the unofficial start of the season in Greece, when boat owners and charter groups are occupied with the final touches of buffing and polishing before departure.
Cape Verde Islands. Photo: Thom D’Arcy
In Poros, it’s the East Med Multihull and Yacht Charter Show, while just around the corner in Navplion, the Med Yacht Show is taking place. That’s an overwhelming number of boats that will need cleaning of the red residue before the weekend.
Every spring, when we return to our boats, we expect them to be dust- and grime-covered after winter. After several washdowns and a polish, it’s all forgotten as we rush to get launched and out to sea.
Sometimes, however, the things that descend from the sky require considerable effort to eliminate. In Turkey, it was pine needles. The boat was stationed next to a grove of trees that provided valuable shade during our layup. The following spring, we swept the decks, and it appeared all was well, but do you have any idea how many places on a boat can conceal pine needles? Under the genoa sheet track was clever, but inside the sheet cars was sheer genius. We were literally discovering pine needles months later! In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t so dire, and it became a bit of a running joke.
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Worse was the morning we woke up in Syracuse, Sicily, to discover the entire boat covered in volcanic ash. Mount Etna had erupted overnight, leaving a sticky black mess. Since most hatches were open, there was also plenty inside. That required a proper cleanup.
Arguably the worst experience occurred after we left Skylax in a yard not far from a petrochemical facility. The fallout was truly dreadful and required a significant amount of effort to remove. Nowadays, she has a winter cover that protects her from the worst until we return.
Whether it’s salt, sand, or general grime, maintaining Skylax’s black hull can be challenging; however, a superyacht skipper friend once shared a secret. Vinegar. Specifically, white vinegar. A swipe of the hull with a solution of 5-10% vinegar serves as the magic potion to make it shine. Rinse with fresh water. Inexpensive and eco-friendly. You’re welcome!
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