Sailing Alone

[deckofficer]

I went back to college in my 40's, California Maritime Academy, and also joined their sailing program. You have to be careful picking extra-curricular activities as your time is at a premium, besides formation every morning you might also be pulling watch duty for 4 hours and of course still have classes and study time. My thesis was on minimum wetted surface vessels, hence my choice of going the catamaran route. If you have any questions on your upcoming Kingspoint experience, I'm sure there are some grads on this forum. I can tell you about CMA. I also share the dream of world cruising on my schedule and choice of ports rather than the shipping company. Doing break bulk did allow for some interesting destinations such as Easter Island and other ports that aren't set up for containers, which I've sailed on also. Good luck in your studies, as the Maritime Academies have a high minimum GPA requirement. As a 43 year old incoming freshman, CMA told me to retake at another college of my choice a number of courses that I had a "C" in from the time I was in college in 1971, and informed me that a "C" is not a passing grade in their eyes. At times it was a humbling experience, being in my mid 40's and having some 20 year old upperclassman give me demerits for a belt buckle that wasn't shiny enough. Also my home was only 65 miles away, but as a midshipmen I had to live in the dorms on campus.

[evantica]

Originally Posted by guysnell

I have every interest in sailing the world and never looking back. I am looking to go to kingspoint marine maritime and from there ill make myself enough and buy my boat and off i go. However i would like to sail alone, but on a vessel large enough to do what i want i have some doubts. I will do it and ill find a way because i want to do this more than anything else. I remember scanning the internet for catamarans and i came across something that said it had a type of rigging that you could control completely from the helm. Has anybody heard of this, or another possibility? My heart is set on a catamaran or trimaran but mostly catamarans.

Hi There. I will not judge you. I'm also a solo sailer. and planning at this very moment my offshore voyage. When I first set sail I had never ever been on a sailboat. A little Hurley 18. But I learned to sail close in my home waters for a couple of years. And I will call my self more of an adventurer than a sailer I guess?! And my advise is, Do not buy a too big boat, It's harder to reduce sail and so in bad wheater. The Flicka 20 would be Ideal, just my oppinion. read everything about the subject, and build up confidence with your partner, the boat. and then live your dream, the same as I will. Sincer... Hakan in Swe

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by downunder

Raku the post on Ellen Mcarthur is simply a red herring and off Topic. Sure it can be done but it is racing not cruising.

Then let the moderator pull it. Why can't a cruiser decide to sail around the world and get sponsors? What in the world would be wrong with that? It's how Amelia Earhart got the shot to fly around the world.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Hardly, it showed that a larger than 50fter can be sailed single handed.


of course it is, but cruising at your own pace would be easier don't you think?

If cruising a boat like that single handed, you could probably be running a blade jib and a double reefed main generating little load and still be reeling off impressive mileage.

Not everyone likes to sail on smaller, some like having extra waterline length just because they can.

Especially if you're going to be living within that waterline for maybe a year or more.

MY point was that there are lots of ways to equip a boat to sail safely and in reasonable comfort around the world -- but that it won't be cheap.

Just writing a good blog might be enough to get the OP a sponsor or two, or at least some ads.

A one-man deployable spinnaker MIGHT be a great addition, but it needs to be SAFELY dousable by ONE person IN A BLOW or I wouldn't go within a whale's length of it.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by downunder

Your joking - the Slapdash site is all spam/commercial distractions etc.

The Gemini link is buried somewhere perhaps.

Overtly commercial. Would not recommend a visit, good place to pick up a virus.

To you it's "overly commercial." To those writing the blog, it's helping to pay for their trip. They do not owe me what I prefer in a blog.

[boatman61]

+A1....... Ellen Rocks.....

Originally Posted by cat man do

And then you get little girls sailing a 75ft powerhouse single handed around the world

[guysnell]

Single handedly racing a large sailboat is really different than cruising wherever you feel like going with no rush, am i right? Now granted you cant always miss a storm and they can bloom up out of nowhere and you sometimes have no control, but if you really dont have a time schedule or a place you need to be then why not wait it out or go around it if its small enough? What im getting at is if im out there alone and i dont have the need to be anywhere at anytime which would be the case, why would i thrown myself and boat into a storm for no reason? I for the most part wouldnt even be in a situation where you have to worry about a demasting or another problem. Unless i dont realize something?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by guysnell

Single handedly racing a large sailboat is really different than cruising wherever you feel like going with no rush, am i right? Now granted you cant always miss a storm and they can bloom up out of nowhere and you sometimes have no control, but if you really dont have a time schedule or a place you need to be then why not wait it out or go around it if its small enough? What im getting at is if im out there alone and i dont have the need to be anywhere at anytime which would be the case, why would i thrown myself and boat into a storm for no reason? I for the most part wouldnt even be in a situation where you have to worry about a demasting or another problem. Unless i dont realize something?

You've got the idea mate....

[guysnell]

ok great, im glad i finally got something

[Hudson Force]

Guysnell, Sure, the big 75' trimaran is an exciting picture, but as you recognize, it is irrelevant to your question. 30' to 35' could likely do you well. Some cross oceans with less; however, much of the concern is the space and weight of water and other provisions. I think most will agree that a monohull will do better for weight capacity per length and better for expense of the vessel too. I would not discourage you from the multihull if it suits your dreams, but it might be a more difficult reach.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by guysnell

Thanks everybody, i never expected to get this kind of feed back and its great. I checked out all the books and found some great ones and am ordering them. The comments about the painting is something i thought about but never came up with a good application for on the boat, but now i have some great ones. But another question i have that may be obvious but i dont know is what size boat would you need to go travel the globe?

The variation in boats out there is unimaginable to most everyone here. Everyone has their own thoughts about "how" it should be done. Now that the deal is done I can tell you my brother just bought Alethea Ann for around $21k. He will have an additional $4-5k in haulout, survey and two new sails.

AA has wind, solar, 100hp lehman, 3000 watt genny. She has plotter, radar, autopilot, depth and speed log, dink, life raft, EPIRB, vhf. She has aircon, heater, shore power, stove oven and television.

She is ready to go and the best part is that I am flying to phuket to join her for the next 4 days! My brother (pop on cf) could have limited his search to Australia. He didn't. He found a boat with a pedigree and went to the boat. AA has 3 transatlantics, a pnama canal, a pacific crossing to Sydney and has been in Asia for 2 years. I reckon once he gets a bit of exoerience AA will take he and his wife safely back to Oz. Pop aint rich. He just decided to go now. From concept to now living aboard was probably 5 months.

For anyone serious about going. You really can go quick and safe.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by guysnell

I have every interest in sailing the world and never looking back. I am looking to go to kingspoint marine maritime and from there ill make myself enough and buy my boat and off i go. However i would like to sail alone, but on a vessel large enough to do what i want i have some doubts. I will do it and ill find a way because i want to do this more than anything else. I remember scanning the internet for catamarans and i came across something that said it had a type of rigging that you could control completely from the helm. Has anybody heard of this, or another possibility? My heart is set on a catamaran or trimaran but mostly catamarans.

Have you Googled up some prices? Tends to be that boat selects itself from budget. Budget to buy and a budget to run / maintain - and (most importantly) leaving a Budget for fun! and if looking a few years ahead, something that is also fun to use from your home port.

FWIW I would avoid spending money on an old mans boat (onboard stairlift etc etc etc etc ) until you have to - you are young enough to cope with things that in 30 years you won't want to, and not neccessarily "roughing it". You don't really need all the space and mod cons that a similar sized cat can provide (unless you have a middle aged woman in tow ).

In your shoes (and with a decent budget) - I would consider a Trimaran, something in the 35 to 40' bracket. Mainly for the fun

At least with your skills applying anti-fouling should be a quick job

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by guysnell

ok great, im glad i finally got something

Well, you WILL get caught in storms, probably some of them quite bad, sailing around the world. We deliberately take our Sea Scouts out in storms, with highly experienced adults along, so they can start learning storm skills.

I've only been in one. I was with two other people -- one who had never been on a sailboat and one who was completely self-taught.

The self-taught guy wanted me to get "closer to shore" because there was deeper water there. Well, there was -- until it gets shallow.

The storm was building right over us and the wind direction could have shifted at any time, and the LAST place I wanted me, my boat and my crew (not to mention my cats) was near a shore under those circumstances. You do NOT want to be in shallow water in a storm. But if you're in a bunch of lush, tropical islands you aren't familiar with, how are you going to know where the deep water is?

In those circumstances I would find deep water and anchor (sails down, of course). If I were already in deep waters with PLENTY of deep water around me, I personally would take my sails down and turn on the motor.

The guy next to me was in such a situation and decided to reef. He sailed WITH a really bad storm -- for 4 1/2 hours. When the storm finally collapsed and died away, he had traveled 100 miles on a boat that typically only does about 6 knots/hr on a good day. It's a good thing he knew where the deep water was ...That's a VERY risky thing to do, imo, off the southwest coast of Florida, where very shallow water can extend a mile or more out to sea, even at high tide ...

You NEED to be in some storms before you go on this trip.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

Guysnell, Sure, the big 75' trimaran is an exciting picture, but as you recognize, it is irrelevant to your question. 30' to 35' could likely do you well. Some cross oceans with less; however, much of the concern is the space and weight of water and other provisions. I think most will agree that a monohull will do better for weight capacity per length and better for expense of the vessel too. I would not discourage you from the multihull if it suits your dreams, but it might be a more difficult reach.

Yes, and frankly, since the OP is just learning about sailing, I think it's too soon to have a firm opinion about mono vs. multi. Sail on some first. He might REALLY love the exhileration of a good heel on a great tack.

I just talked to someone who sailed from Puerto Rico to Tampa Bay on a 51' trimaran. I don't know if the sipper didn't know what he was doing or what, but they averaged ...



7 knots. WTH?

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by downunder

Your joking - the Slapdash site is all spam/commercial distractions etc.

The Gemini link is buried somewhere perhaps.

Overtly commercial. Would not recommend a visit, good place to pick up a virus.

www.slapdash.com = commercial

www.theslapdash.com = sailing blog