Small Boats & Atlantic Crossing

[bensolomon]

Joshua Slocum had his 28 foot Osprey and Lin and Larry Pardey had their 28 foot Seraffyn. Certainly they are exceptional people and sailors, with well built boats, but we all have that same potential if we choose to realize it.

[Scubaseas]

Robert Manry in Tinkerbelle? 13.5'. Takes a set to go across the Atlantic in basically an Old Town canoe. I guess it depends on how you define "comfort".

[xxxxx]

Originally Posted by cooper1991

I'm following youtube episodes of a single handed crossing of Atlantic by a guy with a 26ft Contessa with a 5HP outboard.

Is this an exceptional sailor, exceptional boat of exceptional luck?

I know 26ft means no comfort and getting wet, but how small can you go to stay dry(ish) and have low/medium comfort?

This sounds like SV Wave Rover.


What you'll notice about Alan is that he took EVERY precaution and preparation before leaving shore. Everything had its place and there was a place for everything.


He beefed up his rigging. His wife made pre-made meals for him. He even sewed his own series drogue, which he did deploy.


He kept it simple and strong and had a backup for everything from bilge pump to navigation.


You'll notice he had nothing electronic except his tablet, his inReach, and his AIS. Everything else was manual, even a hanked on foresail. Water was kept in jugs. He made his own self-steering wind vane. He made his own dinghy that fit perfectly on Wave Rover.

He even made a custom "dog house" over the companionway so he could do 360deg watches from inside Wave Rover.


Nonetheless he kept everything simple and robust. I'd say he is in the school of "go small, go simple, go now"


Alan is an exceptional man. Nonetheless, I think it's doable by any sailor with the humility to take the necessary precautions and be ready for the worst.


It's a great channel to watch. A sailing channel for sailors.

[jim King]

I don't think it is so much the size of the boat as the comfort level. If you can do without hot water, air-conditioning, spacious quarters, refrigeration, a nice galley, then go for it. Of course there is the competency in sailing you will need before you try to cross an ocean no mater the size.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Ant Stewart out of South Africa circumnavigated in an open boat, a 20 footer. He lost his charts after something like the 5th day, but he had a compass and a map of the world! Kept going and eventually completed the trip.

It's quite the story and the video in only just over 20 minutes if I recall correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QkZN35RZfU

[ArmyDaveNY]

The Pacific Seacraft 24 is a noted blue water small boat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6nkFYpFuMU

[jannw]

Lots have circumnavigated in 26 foot folkboats (basically the same as a Countessa 26)

Someone reportedly circumnavigated in a 19 foot dinghy - which is kinda crazy. See: https://dixdesign.com/steward.htm

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by bensolomon

Joshua Slocum had his 28 foot Osprey and Lin and Larry Pardey had their 28 foot Seraffyn. Certainly they are exceptional people and sailors, with well built boats, but we all have that same potential if we choose to realize it.

Maybe but be sure and get a boat as stout as the Pardey's Seraffyn 24 with it's 14,000 lb displacement or their next "small" boat Taleisin 29 which displaced a whooping 17,400 lbs

[Standbly]

big boat, big problems

small boat, small problems

[Paul Howard]

We met a British guy in the Caribbean, a single-hander, on a 15ft British built, cuddy cabin boat. He had sailed there via the Canary Islands. I went onboard and saw he had decked over most of the cockpit, only leaving enough footwell for him to sit behind a canvas dodger and filled the area with gerry cans of water and waterproof food containers. The interior (tiny) was chock-a-block with net bags and shelving, only room for a single bunk.
He was not trying to prove anything, he was in his late 20's and wanted to do the Atlantic Circuit and that was the boat he had and could afford.

[4eyes]

Originally Posted by cooper1991

I'm following youtube episodes of a single handed crossing of Atlantic by a guy with a 26ft Contessa with a 5HP outboard.

Is this an exceptional sailor, exceptional boat of exceptional luck?

I know 26ft means no comfort and getting wet, but how small can you go to stay dry(ish) and have low/medium comfort?

Kevin Boothby seems to be pretty comfortable on his 31' with no engine.
He has sailed across quite a few oceans with it.

https://youtu.be/G0LEqpmx3tI

[CarinaPDX]

There is nothing particularly special about crossing the Atlantic in a Contessa 26 - many have done it. When we get to the sub-20 foot range things do get a bit more interesting. I knew a Swede who crossed the Atlantic in a 19 foot boat - it looked a bit like a modern submarine, with no real deck. The hatch could be slid open and he could sit on the edge but I suspect he spent most time below as the weather was pretty bad that winter. It was just a plywood sheet down below, with storage under. He had a sleeping bag and a single-burner camp stove, and IIRC a bucket. He made it across but then returned home. It wasn't a cruising boat, but certainly seaworthy in some sense. He was following in the wake of another sailor from Göteborg (Sven?) who was well known for building little boats and sailing them across the Atlantic. The last one that I remember was made of aluminum and was 18' IIRC - a bit of a work of art. So 26' isn't really a big deal.

Greg

[adjo]

And don't forget Serge Testa who sailed around the world on (no, in) a 3.6m (almost 12 foot) aluminium boat "Acrohc Australis" that he built specifically for the trip.

[Randy Bogardus]

Hi There, long time forum lurker here but I couldn't resist chiming in on this post. I met Webb Chiles in the Marquesas in 1979 while he was circumnav'ing in his Drascombe Lugger which I believe is an 18' open boat. We would hear his rusty typewriter clicking away under the boom tent, with a hurricane lantern for light, typing away on his SAIL magazine articles. He said the worst part of the first part of the voyage was that his toilet paper got wet the first few days out of San Diego. Also, in reference to his many wives, he was seriously hitting on MY wife at the time! I don't think he completed the circumnav and it took him more than one boat before finally gave up. There used to be a plethora of smaller, under 30' sailboats out and about at that time.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Flagman101

I know a guy who sailed from Halifax NS across to Azores, then down to Capo Verde and all the way down to south Africa then back North to Canada. Called a big 8.
He did it on a 28 ft sailboat without a motor.
It takes a special type of person to put yourself into that much disconfort. But some do it.

I believe they're called masochists