Book or Guide on Sailing in Remote Areas for Extended Time Frames

[NaClyDog]

Is anyone aware of a book or guide on sailing in more remote areas for extended periods of time? We are thinking 6 months plus as the time frame. Also, we are thinking of going somewhere which isn't too cold... we can get enough of that in our home country!



I have some actual time on my hands now and would like to investigate this idea of ours further.

[dougweibel]

Its not really clear what you are after.

There are numerous cruising guides for all the popular cruising grounds around the planet. An example of a few:
https://www.cruisingguides.com/produ...ising%20guides

There is not much inherently different between cruising for a few weeks or many months but there are books that can help with the differences. For example, how to provision and store foods for long time periods, or how to be more self sufficient and repair your diesel engine.

There are general books on seamanship covering topics such as sailing, anchoring, weather, etc. They will have little to say about long cruising trips.

There may be a single book that touches all this but it is such a broad topic that I doubt there is one that does it well.

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by dougweibel

Its not really clear what you are after.

Yes, my apologies for that.

Originally Posted by dougweibel

There is not much inherently different between cruising for a few weeks or many months but there are books that can help with the differences. For example, how to provision and store foods for long time periods, or how to be more self sufficient and repair your diesel engine.

This, in a nutshell, is what I was thinking.


I would look into the cruising guides for specific areas once we've decided if this is something we are going to do.



Thanks!

[El Pinguino]

I'm set up for extended periods of autonomy....
Cool climate, 2 months ... with the yacht stored for three.. no food resupply in that time... and limited chance of getting spare parts for anything of note. Time away from anywhere meanful has been up to five months.

Enginewise you especially need stuff like spare head gasket(s), 'drop in ' replacements for water pumps, fuel lift pumps, and so on. Depends on largely on the age of the engine.... and its complexity. In remote areas it is easier to find someone with the skills you may lack to fix something than to find the parts you need.

Other mechanical.... 'drop in' replacement pressure pumps and the like.

Food wise.... as I say I favour a cool climate and only have a 'fridge not a freezer.... in a warm climate a freezer would be nice. What I do for meat is buy vacuum packed.... if possible freeze it and then place it at bottom of fridge. Its typically good for a month after it thaws. Vege? Spuds ( can be supplanted with pasta or rice when all gone ) and onions.... are the long life staples..... for the rest of the fresh fruit and vege.... when its gone its gone... canned beans, peas, corn, beetroot, tomatoes etc. Cabbage is a keeper.. peel it rather chop it.... Tinned fish.
Bread making kit..... UHT milk.... which I think has a life of 6 months plus straight out of the shop.

We sail ( sailed??) in a place where the getting of fresh water was no problem... if in the tropics I think a watermaker would be essential but I have no experience of these.
Fuel on the other hand .... the ship's tanks hold 200 litres.... I carry an extra 300 litres .... that is enough for 1000 miles motoring...
Propane? There was a survey here recently... I think our consumption was average ... 4.5 kg is enough for 3 months... so for your plans say 10 kg.

Thats about it....

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

I'm set up for extended periods of autonomy....
Cool climate, 2 months ... with the yacht stored for three.. no food resupply in that time... and limited chance of getting spare parts for anything of note. Time away from anywhere meanful has been up to five months.

Enginewise you especially need stuff like spare head gasket(s), 'drop in ' replacements for water pumps, fuel lift pumps, and so on. Depends on largely on the age of the engine.... and its complexity. In remote areas it is easier to find someone with the skills you may lack to fix something than to find the parts you need.

Other mechanical.... 'drop in' replacement pressure pumps and the like.

Food wise.... as I say I favour a cool climate and only have a 'fridge not a freezer.... in a warm climate a freezer would be nice. What I do for meat is buy vacuum packed.... if possible freeze it and then place it at bottom of fridge. Its typically good for a month after it thaws. Vege? Spuds ( can be supplanted with pasta or rice when all gone ) and onions.... are the long life staples..... for the rest of the fresh fruit and vege.... when its gone its gone... canned beans, peas, corn, beetroot, tomatoes etc. Cabbage is a keeper.. peel it rather chop it.... Tinned fish.
Bread making kit..... UHT milk.... which I think has a life of 6 months plus straight out of the shop.

We sail ( sailed??) in a place where the getting of fresh water was no problem... if in the tropics I think a watermaker would be essential but I have no experience of these.
Fuel on the other hand .... the ship's tanks hold 200 litres.... I carry an extra 300 litres .... that is enough for 1000 miles motoring...
Propane? There was a survey here recently... I think our consumption was average ... 4.5 kg is enough for 3 months... so for your plans say 10 kg.

Thats about it....

Thank you. The goal would be an electric galley which is being planned with currently.


I think we can carry enough fuel for ~500nm but I'm not sure how accurate that is at the moment.

[Paul Howard]

'Remote areas' is subjective.
How far/long are you willing to sail to get there?
We sailed to Pitcairn Island, but only managed to stay for a week before a gale made us leave.
Iceland is remote, little visited and not too cold during the summer. We sailed from (remote)Labrador to Iceland and stayed a month, but could have stayed longer but for a niece's wedding date.
We spent 11months on the Beagle Channel, between Argentina and Chile and loved it, but had snow on the decks during their winter. Several sailing guides available.
We sailed to the Falkland Islands and spent about six weeks there, several guides available. Windy, remote and interesting.
Brazil is very populous though not on the usual cruising routes, we sailed there four times and spent a few months there each time. It is not remote, but not many north American boats sail there, mostly European boats. There are several sailing guides for Brazil.
The same for the Atlantic coasts of Uruguay and Argentina, including going up the River Plate to Buenos Aires, Colonia, Montevideo, etc. Guides available.
We sailed to Senegal on the west coast of Africa, very interesting, not cold, populous but little visited by sailors except Europeans.
We sailed to Madagascar, remote, not too populous, spent a couple months there.
We sailed to Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and spent months there, remote, visited mostly by Australian and New Zealand sailors, guides available.
The area north of Vancouver Island to southeast Alaska is quite remote, little population, good fishing and crabbing, plenty of guides, not too cold in the summer.
You do not say where you will be starting from or how far you are willing to sail to get to a 'remote area.'
Or what 'remote' means to you.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

Is anyone aware of a book or guide on sailing in more remote areas for extended periods of time? We are thinking 6 months plus as the time frame. Also, we are thinking of going somewhere which isn't too cold... we can get enough of that in our home country!



I have some actual time on my hands now and would like to investigate this idea of ours further.

For general cruising, Jimmy Cornel's World Cruising Routes (about $70 US) seems to be the standard. It'll give the basic cruising routes based on currents and typical weather conditions. What you should consider is that while the land masses stay pretty much constant the bottom can change. No published cruising guide will be updated enough to overcome this. In which case a low end fish finder might be a handy item for reference. All you need is to see the bottom up to 40' deep for anchoring purposes and such a unit would tell you if a sand bank becomes too shallow for transit.

[captmikem]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

Is anyone aware of a book or guide on sailing in more remote areas for extended periods of time? .

The Long Way by Bernard Moitessier is an excellent read. It is truly sailing in remote areas for extended periods of time.

M

[redhead]

For areas that are remote there may be medical issues: We carry a book "Where There Is No Doctor" that covers everything from dehydration to broken bones to delivering a baby! It also covers what supplies to have on hand for most common emergencies.

Written for Peace Corps types stationed far away from any first world help it's well written and assumes no medical knowledge on the reader's part. It comes as a pdf or soft cover book. I haven't had to use it yet, but it gives me some peace of mind.

Not exactly boat related but good to think about.

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by redhead

For areas that are remote there may be medical issues: We carry a book "Where There Is No Doctor" that covers everything from dehydration to broken bones to delivering a baby! It also covers what supplies to have on hand for most common emergencies.

Written for Peace Corps types stationed far away from any first world help it's well written and assumes no medical knowledge on the reader's part. It comes as a pdf or soft cover book. I haven't had to use it yet, but it gives me some peace of mind.

Not exactly boat related but good to think about.

Even though the baby days are way back in the rear view mirror, this is a great idea. Thank you.