Circumnavigation.

Re: Smallest yacht circumnavigation

Well done to the sailor. However we also have the story of the guy who crossed the Atlantic then perished in the Pacific ocean in an 8ft boat. Meanwhile we have our local Jon Sanders who did 3 circuits non stop in a 39ft. Or one then later 2 circuits in an SS34. (Alone non stop) For a total of 10 circumnavigations in various forms. No I don't believe he carried desalination. olewill
 
Details from the Times are:

Mr Kuczynski, 37, started his journey from Plymouth on August 19 last year. His Atlantic Puffin, a Maxus 22 yacht which is 20ft 10in long, covered 29,000 nautical miles. It was the end of a gruelling 270-day journey in which he lived in a space of four square metres, and did not stop at any ports. He completed the expedition alone, unaided by medical or technical support. The classic route saw him navigate around the three famous capes of Africa, Australia and South America. He said on arrival “It’s great to be back on land. I’m very hungry. I can’t wait to shower and have a drink,”

What intrigues me is how did he store enough food and water in four square metres to last 270 days. We sailed 2,800 miles across the Atlantic in a 38 foot boat the food and drinks for a month took all our cupboard space and the emergency bottled water was put in front bilge. Donald Crowhurst?
 
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KellysEye said:
What intrigues me is how did he store enough food and water in four square metres to last 270 days. We sailed 2,800 miles across the Atlantic in a 38 foot boat the food and drinks for a month took all our cupboard space
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FFS. A mission like his is not about putting a pleasant variety of domestic supplies neatly into cupboards. Think calories per cubic metre, and per kilogram, compared to hull volume and buoyancy. Carve out one small bunk space and half a square metre of floor area and I’m sure the rest of the hull volume can easily accommodate a year’s supply of body fuel.

Pete
 
KellysEye said:
What intrigues me is how did he store enough food and water in four square metres to last 270 days.
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Quite apart from what prv correctly suggests, what has the four square metres he lived in got to do with food storage? Even a cursory look at the boat's visuals (or even just engaging one's brain) would show there's plenty of space to stash things elsewhere on board. That he was left with just a few square metres of 'living space' is strongly suggestive that he took full advantage of this.

Images of the Maxus 22, here: http://northman.pl/en/jachty/maxus-22-2/#gallery
 
Displacement and speed are related. The more you load a boat down, the more water you are shoving out of the way with less and less horsepower from the rig because you are losing stability. If using a desalinator, then a saving can be made perhaps, though few of us would trust our lives to one. And there is the possibility of catching rain, but it’s usually too salty to drink by the time it has made it’s way off the mainsail. Much easier using old style round the boom roller reefing of course.

The usual allowance is one gallon per man day, with half that as the absolute minimum.

As I was once taught , “a gallon of water weighs ten and a quarter (pounds) so 270 x 5lbs = 1,350lbs. Possible but iffy. I reckon his margins were tight. Look forward to reading his account anyway.
 
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Minn said:
As I was once taught , “a gallon of water weighs ten and a quarter (pounds)
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The imperial gallon's actually almost exactly 10lbs. Maybe the redundant quarter came from some obscure precursor. Or perhaps it's the angel's share of navy grog.

For the past several decades, people have been taught (if not always retained: some folk seem to regard it as a remarkable coincidence), that a litre of water weighs precisely one kilogram. Even disregarding the ambivalence of "gallon"* this seems altogether simpler.

* Imperial vs Queen Anne wine gallon, although you may be more familiar with the "American" moniker for the latter.
 
I still have my doubts about his circumnavigation. As I said we sailed 2,800 miles across the Atlantic in a 38 foot boat the food and drinks for a month took all our cupboard space and the emergency bottled water was put in front bilge. A single hander could cover 5,600 miles then he sailed another 23,400 miles. Estimating the volume of a boat by dividing the two lengths 22 feet by 38 feet gives 0.57. On that basis it is highly unlikely that there was room for him and enough provisions.
 
KellysEye said:
Estimating the volume of a boat by dividing the two lengths 22 feet by 38 feet gives 0.57. On that basis it is highly unlikely that there was room for him and enough provisions.
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I guess volume calculations aren't your strong point.

If you want to get a little more specific, typical daily food consumption is around 1.4 to 2.3kg, so lets say 3kg to be generous. (Expedition-type figures are excessive since sailing requires less continuous exertion than, say, yomping over glaciers.) For 270 days, that's 810kg. Foodstuffs vary enormously in density, but a SG of 0.75 is about average. The volume of that would be a little over one cubic metre. I could comfortably fit twice that in my not-very-large car and still drive it, let alone in a 22 foot boat.

That's not on its own evidence that he did make the trip: he could be fibbing whether he had a 22-footer or a Channel ferry. But it's strongly suggestive that he could have.

As said, water would be the key factor, especially since much of the food would be dehydrated/dried. Reliable water-making and/or gathering systems would be crucial.
 
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macd said:
As said, water would be the key factor, especially since much of the food would be dehydrated/dried. Reliable water-making and/or gathering systems would be crucial.
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Indeed, but as long as the reserves were enough to reach land if there was total failure of the watermaker, then it would be a perfectly safe strategy. About 20 galls would be adequate for an 'emergency reserve'.

Not even RKJ left with enough water on board for his entire projected trip. He depended on catching rain which I've found more 'risky' at sea than a solar powered watermaker.

The food issue is a non starter. We easily carried three months supplies for two people in an old IOR 30 footer. That included flour, tinned bacon, tinned butter, tinned fruit, tinned cornbeef, tinned everything! In contrast, long trips in the mountains have easily managed modern food packs at a little over 1Kg per person per day.

I find it pretty unsavoury for someone to start casting doubt on someone else's achievement based on no actual knowledge of the person, their own very limited personal experience and dodgy maths.
 
Regards the water... How often would he have been able to nip into a river?
Food, how much of the journey is coastal, affording the opportunity to catch fish?


Off topic, a litre does not weigh one kilogram, even under the specific conditions when it should. In the early days someone buggered up the length of a metre, so a litre is actually a bit too big.
 
And changing the subject a little: his Maxxus 22 boat has a 'C' RCD rating. Applying the laws being newly implemented in Spain it would be illegal for him to leave from, or make passage in, their waters.

Regulation stifling recreation strikes again...

I quite liked the Maxxus 26 except for the outboard motor...
 
Lon nan Gruagach said:
Regards the water... How often would he have been able to nip into a river?
Food, how much of the journey is coastal, affording the opportunity to catch fish?


Off topic, a litre does not weigh one kilogram, even under the specific conditions when it should. In the early days someone buggered up the length of a metre, so a litre is actually a bit too big.
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We'd need to know his route, but definitely not many rivers on much of it. Equally, not being near a coast is kind of implicit in ocean crossing. But then there are pelagic fish, and for much of the time he'd have nothing better to do (when not pumping his Katydyn). On the other hand, if he lost lures at the rate I do, he'd need a bigger boat just to have enough...;)

I think "buggered up" is a little unkind on anyone required to know the precise distance from the equator to the North Pole 225 years ago. Nowadays, my understanding is that a litre of water weighs one kilogram but at maximum density (4ºC), rather than STP (or whatever it's called these days).
 
>That's not on its own evidence that he did make the trip

Correct. Our boat had a beam of12.2 feet and the cupboards were an arms length long I cant find the beam of Maxus 22 but the beam of a Hurley 22 is 8.34 feet it giving smaller cupboards. It's not about the weight of provisions it is the weight of water which was given in a previous post as 10 lbs per day x 270 days is 2,700 lbs in imperial tons 10.05 Again I find the weight of a Maxus 22 but the weight of a Hurley 22 is 2,000kg or two imperial tons. The difference weight of water required and the of the boat is noteworthy about five times more. I doubt he had the power for a water maker.
 
I'd like to see a proper account, written by someone who knows what they are talking about, based on an interview with the man himself. YBW's coverage is ... not the best.

Szymon-Kuczynski-599x400.png


Food will usually be three or four pounds per day, maybe less if using dehydrated (but that doesn't help, on a boat!) so add 270 x 3 lbs and you have 810 lbs minimum Plus some water if using a desalinator, plus cooking fuel ( paraffin has the most BTU per lb, but even with that you need a lot.)
 
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