Beneteau Oceanis 45;I need your help to select right spec for 2yr world cruise please

[Daniels34]

My wife and I decided to buy a new (or 2012) Beneteau Oceanis 45 to use:
- During a 2 year sail trip around the world
- With wife, 2 kids (3&10) and me
- We look for a comfortable and safe boat that is relatively fast

I ask your help to select the right specification bearing in mind I have to be able to sail single-handed. Please comment on:

Which sails should we choose? I was thinking: (a) standard 50m2 furing main sail, (b) 50m2 furling genoa (c) kotterfog for heavy winds (d) Beneteau's code 0 and (e) a Parasailor for downwind (suggestions on brand/type are welcome?)

Standard saildrive or POD 90 for easy docking; I am not very experienced and thought the POD 90 was interesting for docking and shallow bays with reefs...

2 or 3 cabin options; we lean towards 2 cabins as we could use the versatile storage; including for a dishwasher and/or washing machine

Colour of the hull; we really like a break from white and thought the grey/blue is refreshing; would this be an issue thought whenever repairing any damage?

Having read many books on ocean crossings all get damaged in Panama canal, busy Malaysian ports etc. anyone who fitted a thick (10cm) rubber barrier all around the boat? (Maybe crazy suggestion and yes would not win in beauty contest)

Electronics; I specced the full Elegance, Electronic and Docking packs. Missing anything?

Navigation; Elegance and Electronic pack incl autopilot and bowthrusters. What does the optional Simrad NSS7 chart table screen add?

Shallow (1,75m) or normal (2,15) cast iron keel?

Beneteau's Easy Sail worth the money?

We thought NOT to spec the generator as this would only use more of the 200 litres diesel; instead we noted that sailors often have to use the main engine when there is no wind to speak of and we look for advice on fitting solar panels...

Water; 570litres including optional extra 200litres tank doesn't seem a lot for possibly 20 days continued sailing. Any suggestions if enough? Possible to get another 200litres or so instead of the generator?

We thought not to include a watermaker as it is costly and would use a lot of energy?

Prop; we understand that an autoprop is better that a folding prop. Agree? If so maybe spec the normal SailDrive and keep the prop as a spare?

Noted in books that rudders sometimes break in have seas; any thoughts on spares to take or ways to strengthen rudder?

Only one electric flush toilet in case we have no electricity, we can still pump flush #2?

Radar: Simrad 4G as offered any good? Will it warn us at night loud enough about a ship closeby?

Are the electronic navigation maps expensive to obtain? Any thoughts on second hand/older maps to buy?
Where do we best buy our paper back-up maps?

TV 26" with antenna is a EUR 3000 option; seems a lot and do you get any reception anyway? Anyone fitted their own Samsung LED?

Sorry for all the questions, it would help me a lot if even you could answer 1-2. Have been reading LOTS and like to get the spec right straight away

Have already got a Suzumar DS320 with 6bhp Suzuki outboard

Still need to buy sailing outfits, maybe an emergency raft? Any other thoughts are welcome!

Best,
Sander

 

[mariadz]

I will preface my comments by saying that I do not have practical experience of sailing around the world but have gone through a similar process to yourself specing a boat for a circumnavigation. We started by looking at upgrading our Dufour 455 but have since changed to a slightly larger Moody.

Two years to complete a circumnavigation sounds like you are racing around and may not have time to enjoy the sites so it may be worth thinking about why you are doing this. Is it so you can say you have been around the world or is it so that your children get to see and experience all of the different cultures. To put it into perspective, we are planning on five to seven years for our circumnavigation.

You are choosing a new boat to do this in – how long are you going to own the boat before you leave? New boats have a number of “snags” that will need to be addressed (I heard of over 500 on one boat recently) and you will need time to familiarise yourself with a boat not only from a sailing perspective but also from a maintenance perspective. Otherwise it could be a very expensive few years!

I don’t know about the reliability of the POD90 but the saildrive is more established and so you would hope less likely to fail and more likely to be repairable in far flung places – I would suggest a bow thruster on that size but during your familiarisation definitely practice without it a lot so that you use the bowthruster for convenience rather than as a necessity.

I don’t think you want a dark hull in a hot climate, I would have thought you want to go lighter and reflect some heat.

Look at the keel performance to see whether you can put up with the shallow keel, I think you will find a deep keel will limit some of the places you can get into (for instance Bahamas).

On the generator and fuel, 200 litres does not sound a lot of fuel for an ocean crossing and I would have thought you should look at an additional fuel tank. Looking at your power requirements (dishwasher, washer machine, full electronics, TV, microwave?) you should look at the battery banks that you have and you will need alternative means of generation (probably several) and I would suggest a battery monitor so you can manage your consumption. A small generator may be a good move since it will burn less fuel than your engine. Definitely look at where you would put solar panels and how much power you can generate from them – check on the ybw site for real world examples rather than manufacturers claims.

570 litres of water sounds pretty good but there are metrics you can get for number of litres per day person. I would consider a watermaker since with a young family your water requirements may be higher than you think. You will also have to carry a lot of water in bottles just in case there is a problem with your water tanks.

We have a similar theory on the toilets – one electric and one manual.

As for the TV, I’m not sure you are going to receive much mid ocean and realistically are you going to be watching TV in foreign climes anyway. We have bought a 22” Cello 12V combi TV/DVD for about £200 in the past which may help keep the kids entertained…. €3,000 sounds a lot! Look at the glomex mast mounted aerial and signal booster if you need to receive TV signals.

Definitely look at the safety equipment in detail. For instance you haven’t mentioned EPIRB, sat phone, navtex or SSB. You may like to consider the raymarine lifetag for the kids.

There are a number of people on this site with practical experience who may be able to inform you better than I but I thought it worth sharing our research. Also it may be worth reading Nicola Rodriguez’s book – Sail Away - which has a wealth of practical advice, you never know “Jonic” on here may impart some of that too

 

[TQA]

2 years is too fast. 5 to 7 is better and 10 about right. After all one bit of ocean is much the same as any other. It is the crinkly bits at the edge that are interesting.

You want the deep draft version.

Fit a Hyrovane wind vane, this gives you a back up rudder.

I know plenty people have circumnavigated with roller furling mains but I would go with slab reefing and get a really deep 3rd reef. Also spec your main from heavy cloth.

My choice would be a roller reefing 130 genoa and the code zero on a roller furler. I would also have a 3rd headsail that I could set flying. Then 2 poles so you have a good downwind set up. I have seen but never used the 'twistle' rig it is worth a look.

Forget the washing machine and dishwasher.

Forget the POD 90 keep the boat as simple as possible. The Beneteau Oceanis handles well in both forward and reverse. You can slalom the sucker in reverse ENVY!

For the Panama transit you get car tyres, the process is well documented. For the rest of the time just accept that you are going to get the odd war wound from a boat boy or dodgy dock. Normal fenders are fine.

Rather than a TV I would get everybody a Kindle or similar tablet.

Please tell me you are planning to carry paper charts as well, at least the basics. Electronics go wrong.

Most people with sub 5 year olds add netting to the life lines all the way round.

Where do you see yourself spending your time when you get to the crinkly bits, marinas or at anchor. This has some bearing on your power generation choices.

 

[sailorman]

This is a very lightly used boat
http://www.foxsyachts.co.uk/used-sail-yachts.htm

 

[Bajansailor]

Lots of good advice above.

Sander, if 2 years is really all the time you have available, I think you would be much happier setting yourself a more realistic target.
Instead of 'round-the-world', two years is just about enough time to do a quick potter around the Atlantic, with a winter in the Caribbean and perhaps a look-in at the Med and the Eastern Seaboard of the USA on the way, but even then you will find that you are 'rushing'.
Especially as you really want to allow at least a few months to get to know the boat before setting off in earnest.

As Sailorman has suggested above, it might be much easier in the long run to look for a second hand boat where somebody else has already done all the hard work of getting it up to specification for the intended voyage.

 

[Neil_Y]

Good advice so far, there are many additions and alterations for long distance sailing and a s/h boat that has just come back from a circuit could be a far better choice than trying to kit a new boat. Sorting a new boat and all the accessories to get them working well short handed will take some time. Get a boat that has been through this and you can pretty much jump aboard and head off.

Washing machine and dishwasher! are you sure you need these.

Power I've used a towed generator and this alone provided enough power for all electric needs, never needed engine on passage.

Sails, downwind twin headsails and no main is very quick and easy to use/reef once in trade winds of 15-20knts or more. You really want simple and robust. Slab reefing is in my view the only option for main, I've experienced so many problems with mast furling systems, slab single line is so much better.

Wooden plates are good, they don't slide and food doesn't slide on them.

More toys and less gadgets, a sit on kayak, a good small rib with 10hp outboard, small crane to lift outboard for over night storage, good snorkellling kit, dive bottles/kit? large awning over boom with side screens very useful.

Radar that warns you of ships? good look out and nav lights is better and uses less power ( we never had a radar and never felt it was needed)

2 years good for Atlantic circuit or a round the world race with limited stops, and many of those stops you'll be fixing/sorting the boat rather than enjoying where you are.

Have fun, don't rush.