Advice for a young sailor...

[jay3tom]

Hello everyone,

I am a 19 year old male who loves to sail and have been cruising since I was young. I have recently become interested in longer, blue water passages (such as an atlantic crossing) and after completing my RYA competent crew I am now trying to find crew positions for the summer.

My questions are regarding a position on a transat crossing I have the oppertunity to take and it's safety. The planned route is from Puerto Rico to the Azores and then to Spain aboard a Gib'sea 105; this is to begin in late June or early July.

Firstly, I was wondering if this is a suitable boat for an ocean passage such as this?

And secondly, I know that the hurricane season begins on June 1, and was wondering if this makes it impossible to do the crossing, or if it is possible does this make it unsafe and inadvisable?

I am anxious to go to sea yet wish it to be under safe and responsible circumstances.

Thanks for your anticipated advice!
Jeremy.

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day jay3tom, and welcome aboard the YBW forums.

I would think a 10 m yacht built in the 80's would be a solid if heavy boat, being loaded with extra water and provisions will make her even slower and more enjoyable.

A trip across 'the pond' may be a bit longish if this is your first long distance run; it's not like you can hop off at any port and return home. Perhaps a couple of trips to the Med' would be a better starting point to give you a better idea.

As for weather, you can't control it, but we can monitor it and get some very sophisticated predictions these days, so I would not worry too much provided the equipment to get the information is available, along with other long distance
communications gear.

No doubt others will have some further comments for you soon.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[Bajansailor]

Re sailing from the Windies back to Europe - you are running a much greater risk of encountering an itinerant hurricane along the way if you do not leave until end June / early July.
Most boats aim to leave by early May ideally, and many leave earlier.
OK, hurricanes have happened in every month of the year - but the odds of them happening in April / May is much less than in June / July.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. I wouldn't want to leave any later than end of June, but hopefully the skipper will keep an eye on the forecast and head north for a while anyway. Hurricanes normally track much further south than your intended route.

Ocean sailing is mostly fairly boring. You don't see very much and it can be a bit like groundhog day on some trips. The advantage of your trip is that you don't have such predictable wind directions. The most important factors are a sound and well prepared boat witha good skipper, and a crew you can get on with. Small boats on an ocean passage are not the place to find that other crew members drive you round the bend.

Enjoy it, but remember you will get lots of miles without a lot of experience.