Equipment list for Pacific crossing

[bumpman]

I'm glad that someone brought up an Alberg design (Ariel). They're older boats now and in your price range (even perhaps a 28' Triton), and if the boat and standing rigging is still sturdy, they're boats that are reliable. I haven't done the Pacific but the Atlantic, and in any case if singlehanded and on a tight budget I would want the security of a stout (fiberglass thickness) and stable (full keel) vessel esp. if it was a small one. Not that fast but they'll get you there. Remember the old adage, "Prepare for the worst and the best will take of itself." Good luck.

[Tidjian]

Originally Posted by Don C L

It's not the temperature of the water so much as the kind of weather and sea conditions you can find between Washington and Northern California can be some of the most challenging around.. along with the relatively few harbors along the way. It is not a good stretch of coast to cut your teeth on. I think it was Paul who mentioned the gale area off the Mendocino Coast. But really gales are not uncommon along there, especially in spring. Certainly I have read accounts of folks travelling south where it was very calm and they had to motor much of the way. And then others where things did not go well. Now take it all with a grain of salt from me since I have not sailed down that stretch but I grew up in the SF bay area, learned to sail there, and the conditions are pretty well known. There are a couple folks on here who have done that trip up and back a number of times, perhaps they'll chime in. Often the northern westerly trades come across the north Pacific and hit at about the Calif. Oregon border, splitting off north and south. To go to Hawaii or the western Pacific most folks slide down the coast and then drop down into the northeast tradewinds which take you straight to Hawaii. You might get the windyty app for your phone or other wind apps to see the circulation to see why it would be very difficult to go straight from Vancouver to the Philippines. Trailer your boat down here to Santa Barbara and I'll show you around the islands here... it would be a great primer! You may also have better luck shopping around here and then you won't need to trailer a boat down.

I may very well take you up on that offer. I was told if I'm leaving from the California coast or Mexico for Hawaii to depart around November? Would you say that is accurate? If I leave from Vancouver to head down I should depart here in late August. I just want to get timelines established in my head so I can have a base plan. Whether I drive down there with a pocket of cash and buy a boat or trailer whichever boat I have up here down. I'm intrigued to take the coastline down for the experience but not if the waters are going to be so rough I might not make it down. I would value the experience but if it's added risk to an all ready lengthy journey of risk it might not be wise. It's a lot to take in.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by bumpman

I'm glad that someone brought up an Alberg design (Ariel). They're older boats now and in your price range (even perhaps a 28' Triton), and if the boat and standing rigging is still sturdy, they're boats that are reliable. I haven't done the Pacific but the Atlantic, and in any case if singlehanded and on a tight budget I would want the security of a stout (fiberglass thickness) and stable (full keel) vessel esp. if it was a small one. Not that fast but they'll get you there. Remember the old adage, "Prepare for the worst and the best will take of itself." Good luck.

Maybe he can email this young lady who is now sailing/motoring south on a Pearson Ariel on a very tight budget

http://www.dinghydreams.com/

I sent her an email when she was near here and she responded.

Maybe she can clue him in on some things.

She motored/sailed down from Canada on the ICW ...........and is now below Oriental, NC

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

I may very well take you up on that offer. I was told if I'm leaving from the California coast or Mexico for Hawaii to depart around November? Would you say that is accurate? If I leave from Vancouver to head down I should depart here in late August. I just want to get timelines established in my head so I can have a base plan. Whether I drive down there with a pocket of cash and buy a boat or trailer whichever boat I have up here down. I'm intrigued to take the coastline down for the experience but not if the waters are going to be so rough I might not make it down. I would value the experience but if it's added risk to an all ready lengthy journey of risk it might not be wise. It's a lot to take in.

You could buy a boat in SF or Monterey in June and sail down in June or July or August and that is the usual nice time to do it. There is plenty of coast to explore on the way down and the islands could keep you busy for years IMO. If you keep going to the Sea of Cortez you may not want to leave. But I am very reticent to say you'll be ready then to head across next year in a really small boat alone. Maybe. This past November was good and December is shaping up fine as well... but don't get the cart before the horse. I am still curious about the rush to head out.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

Thank you for that! Very helpful.

It probably seems like a profoundly dumb question but please understand I don't have my guides yet on ocean currents or wind for the Pacific. So I'm unfamiliar with it. I understand now after looking at those.

I am glad you appreciate that input. That said, it's not anything you yourself could not have found via a google search, although I know you're waiting for your books.

I have been sailing for 40+ years. I had a Catalina 22 for a few years, a Catalina 25 for 13 and this C34 for 20. I sailed the 34 up the coast from SF to Vancouver Island, summer of 2016. The "plan" was to motor, harbor hop. We used many sources of weather input. The first "go to" was noaa weather. Do you know what that is? It also has historical data. I timed the trip, after extensive research, for August. We still got stuck for a full week in one harbor because of weather/wind.

Compared to SF, the waters up here are challenging, big time.

I admire the skippers here who have sailed across oceans (you will learn who they are by continuing to read this forum). I will not be one, but I sure love my boat, have been "on" the ocean in conditions from calm to challenging, but never life threatening, because I planned where and when I would be out in conditions I knew I could handle, and some where I was wise enough to turn back home.

All of these posts have only ONE thing in common: they are concerned for your SAFETY.

All of us were beginner sailors at one time or another. We knew what we didn't know. Many, if not most of us, started sailing and learning the things you NEED to know well before the internet, so it was a bit harder to find out what you need to know.

Basically, your plan, as first stated, is foolhardy and WILL be damaging to health, if not your life.

It is essential, if you want to actually keep sailing in life, that you spend much more time investing in some more learning. For example, Electricity Basic 101 will tell you that a fridge draws 60 ah per day. To run it, you need a battery bank that is twice that size because you only get to use 1/2 of the installed battery capacity. Then anything else needs more.

Did you start driving long haul trucks before you started driving just around town? I don't think so.

So, take a deep breath, realize your plan as original stated was dangerous, and start revising your plans.

Good luck.

[Tidjian]

So on Atoms budget cruisers he has a Columbia 26. Can anyone tell me the difference between the Columbia 26 and the Mark II? Because the Mark II looks like a better boat from what I can see.

[Tidjian]

Originally Posted by Don C L

You could buy a boat in SF or Monterey in June and sail down in June or July or August and that is the usual nice time to do it. There is plenty of coast to explore on the way down and the islands could keep you busy for years IMO. If you keep going to the Sea of Cortez you may not want to leave. But I am very reticent to say you'll be ready then to head across next year in a really small boat alone. Maybe. This past November was good and December is shaping up fine as well... but don't get the cart before the horse. I am still curious about the rush to head out.

I was diagnosed with Huntingtons a while back. If you know anything about it you'll know it doesn't end well. In any event time is the one thing I am pressed for. Every year that passes is another roll of the dice on whether symptoms will become more severe. A wheelchair is a promise. It's just a matter of when. Before that happens I would like to do this.

[TrentePieds]

Can't tell you the difference twixt the two marks, but I can tell you that the Mark I is a boat I always enjoyed sailing and teaching on because it ALWAYS felt solid and safe, was responsive and handled well. It was, IMO, superior to any other 26 and 27 footers I sailed at the time, most notably superior to the Catalina 27. For these waters the Columbia 26 was even superior to the KingsCruiser29. However, I would think that in the open ocean the KC29 would require less actual "boat handling" than the Columbia 26. The reasons for that are to be found in the respective fundamental design features of the two boats.

Landsmen say "horses for courses". Back when King Arfur was a lad and I was employed in the shipping trade, a "boilerplate" clause of the contract terms printed on the reverse of every Bill of Lading was this: "Owner [meaning of the vessel] avers that the vessel is fit for her trade and in every respect ready for sea"

The G23 can never be fit for the "trade" you propose to employ her in, and because of that, she can never be "in every respect ready for sea". A well-found KC29, like a well-found Vancouver 27, COULD be considered "fit for [that] trade" because she was designed to sail in some fairly challenging conditions. Whether a boat is "ready for sea" in a "trade" for which she is "fit" is a function of the skipper's knowledge and care rather than of fundamental design.

TP

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

So on Atoms budget cruisers he has a Columbia 26. Can anyone tell me the difference between the Columbia 26 and the Mark II? Because the Mark II looks like a better boat from what I can see.

The Mark II has a bolt on keel and a spade rudder. It is very roomy and had a good reputation. But. At this point the hull to deck joint would likely need to be checked and beefed up and the keel bolts checked. It has the same liability of the spade rudder, but I've never heard of one falling off. It will be a faster boat for sure. There will be some "oil canning" (flexing of the hull) that may have popped loose a bulkhead by now. With the rudder the way it is, not sure about mounting a windvane. There is a well for an outboard but I don't think there is a way to modify it to tilt it up. My own opinion is a molded in keel with a keel hung rudder or skeg-hung is the way to go for you.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

I was diagnosed with Huntingtons a while back. If you know anything about it you'll know it doesn't end well. In any event time is the one thing I am pressed for. Every year that passes is another roll of the dice on whether symptoms will become more severe. A wheelchair is a promise. It's just a matter of when. Before that happens I would like to do this.

AHH, I see. I am really sorry to hear that and now I understand. You know, I feel you will find here many sympathetic and knowledgeable voices to help you get you where you want to go realistically, especially considering the symptoms you face. Now is it the Philippines for sure then? Could it be Hawaii? (easier) Does it have to be solo? I think we want to suggest a way and a boat that will take good care of you if you are determined to do this, if we can. What was the budget again?

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "I was diagnosed with Huntingtons a while back."

You have my deepest sympathy!

I am quite aware that I've sounded rather harsh in my posts. I hope you understand that I, like all the other people who have responded, have had your welfare and safety uppermost in mind.

I am scheduled for an eye operation in the spring. Toss of the coin whether I'll be my old eagle-eyed self after that, or whether I'll be legally blind. The latter will be a bloody nuisance, but nothing like what you are faced with, and it certainly won't stop me sailing. Friends have been razzing me for ages about my parking my car "by ear" :-0)! But MyBeloved can handle the boat and do the navigating - as long as I am there. I'm really only there for "back-up", and I can find my way around deck totally blindfolded. Like in the navy, skipper only takes his chair on the bridge when the fat is in the fire :-)!

Which brings me to this: Do you know that at Jericho Beach there is a sailing club for handicapped people? Quadruplegics - I'm not kidding! Quadruplegics! — sail custom-designed little keel-boats by puffing in a tube! I'm not sure how the mechanisms work, but work they do. I've seen them sailing. The person behind it all is Sam Sullivan who is a former mayor of Vancouver. Sam has spent his adult life in a wheelchair!

And here is the kicker: TP was owned by a man who had come to the point, so I have been told, where mental acuity had become very little indeed. His children were not interested in the boat, and the PO gave TP to Sam Sullivan's foundation against a receipt for taxation purposes. We bought her from that foundation for a very modest sum indeed. Win-win, eh? MyBeloved got a boat she absolutely LOVES, and the bux, few as they were in the scheme of things, went to give a little joy to people who otherwise might have had very little.

Now that you know that, I say as others have said: If your purpose is to see the Philippines, or other exotic places, fly there. It will be cheaper than going in your own boat and since your time is limited, for the money you'll get to see more, and more interesting, places. If your purpose is to test yourself against Poseidon's power, I bow out. That is not a sentiment I understand.

Years ago, many years ago, I was called to the office of the Vancouver Rowing Club and requested to leave and not come back :-) The back-story is this: I was leaning on the rail of the deck on the Coal Harbour side of the building on a balmy summer's night, chatting up a lovely young woman. A chap, totally unknown to me, comes up and sez "I hear you are a sailing instructor". "Uhm..., well, yes", sez I. "Whazit like?" sez he. "Is what like?" sez I. "Well, out there!" sez he. "I'm sorry", sez I, "can't you see I'm busy?" The guy trots off, but half an hour later he's back with three more beers in him. "I wanna know!" sez he. "Well", sez I, "if you really wanna know, as far as I'm concerned, there is nothing out there other than tired, cold, wet, hungry, dirty and seasick!". Guy turns around and walks away, and I get back to my task at hand. Fifteen minutes later, just as I'm making progress, the guy with yet more beer in him sticks his nose in my face and snarls "ARSEHOLE!". There was an - uhmm - an "altercation", and I was called to the office :-)!

Stick around my friend. There are people here with enormous experience that will be only too happy to help you in all your circumstances, however they may evolve. But your part of the deal will have to be that you do accept that when people here who have actually "seen the elephant", let alone the tiger, tell you that something is not advisable, you acknowledge their wisdom.

All the best :-)

TP

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

I was diagnosed with Huntingtons a while back. If you know anything about it you'll know it doesn't end well. In any event time is the one thing I am pressed for. Every year that passes is another roll of the dice on whether symptoms will become more severe. A wheelchair is a promise. It's just a matter of when. Before that happens I would like to do this.

Sorry to hear about your illness.

Time being a limitation as well as your financial situation have you thought about crowd funding?

Now I know zero about crowd funding but a nice guy i met a couple of years back was solo sailing missing one arm and one leg, crossed the Pacific. This guy has a great outlook on life. He set up a crowd funding site and raised 25k for another boat, it happened quote quickly.

Yes it's a form charity, but why not.

Food for thought.

[Drew13440]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

The Dana 24 has 6' 1" headroom, and is a tough little beast, sea-kindly, and easily capable of handling the conditions you are likely to encounter. If I wanted to do a long, slow, singlehanded passage on a small boat, I would happily do it in a Dana.

Unfortunately it is ridiculously expensive, and fairly slow.

This is wildly beyond the OP's financial means. I haven't read the entire thread here, but let's help him? There's an ad for an Islander 32 in Washington.

https://bellingham.craigslist.org/bo...375323403.html

The seller will take a smaller boat in trade as part of the asking price of $8,000.

I'd get in there, low, and offer up my Grampion 23 in trade. If the Islander checks out, good to go.

[Don C L]

We have some potential boats here locally (So Cal and Channel Islands area) and slips available. 29' is $365/mo where I am. Before all that though: I really think starting at a lower latitude would be a better idea, one to seriously consider. Boat shopping would follow from that I think. That IS one beautiful old Islander though.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Drew13440

This is wildly beyond the OP's financial means. I haven't read the entire thread here, but let's help him? There's an ad for an Islander 32 in Washington.

https://bellingham.craigslist.org/bo...375323403.html

The seller will take a smaller boat in trade as part of the asking price of $8,000.

I'd get in there, low, and offer up my Grampion 23 in trade. If the Islander checks out, good to go.

Nice find. That could work out for the OP.