cruising guidance

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nickpoll

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Looking for a book that gives cruising advice on port costs, passage making other practical considerations for world cruising.

We are planning with a young family (aged 5.5, 4 and 2.5 years).

Any ideas on best sources for this information?

Thanks, Nick
 
Start off with "World Cruising Routes" which advises on passage planning wrt weather patterns etc and suggests atlantic circuit, circumnavigation in 5 yrs etc etc etc. Local pilots could then follow once you have decided where you are going.
 
I can't help feeling that with a question like that perhaps cruising the world is more a dream than practicality. Don't be too enraged please it takes a certain type of person to really love cruising.

I reckon especially with a young family you might do far better trying some little bites of cruising. ie charter in Mediterranean or Queensland or Caribean. or all of the above. You can get a lot of pleasant adventure without such a huge commitment.

Sorry I am not a real cruising person but then not many are. olewill
 
Hi Sir and welcome
Try the liveaboard forum here.
Jimmy Cornell´s world cruising routes, excellent.
as for ports, costs etc. well try www.noonsite .com again by the Cornell familly. Jimmy also route (With Doina) world cruising handbook, that tried to do what you ask re places and prices etc.. but obviously the written word is out of date. www.Noonsite.com is the way he got around this..
There are many many out here cruising with kids, but the younger ages can be a handful.

Do a google liveaboard cruising with kids etc.
again, try the liveaboard forum here.
Joe, Master under God of the good ship Ruddles. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Wiiliam-H, don't be too enraged please it takes a certain type of person to start off with a dream then turn it into reality. The dream is there, the reality, if it does, will come, but not if it quashed by others who perhaps dont have the vision in the first place. Sorry if this is coming over as harsh, you have struck a nerve in me, sorry /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. There you go, I have finished, I shall go back to sleep again.
 
Hi - everyone is right to mention Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes. Before it existed the research on tradewinds, weather seasons, distances etc was a lot more complex.

But there are also many other books you might find useful, many of which have been listed on threads here before. But as a started - Bill & Laurel Cooper's Sell Up and Sail is an excellent and thought-provoking study of things you will want to ponder. I have always found the Pardey's how-to books a great source of thought. Annie Hills' Voyaging on a Low Income was a brilliant kick-start for me (tho' as I got to know more I found some her smugness really irritating!) And tho some people disparage her, I think if you're pondering cruising with children Rose Swale's book is excellent. I can't remember the exact title but she cruised round Cape Horn in a catamaran with her two young children in the '60's or '70's and is one of the few sailing mothers to have written a lot about that experience. Her oldest child was born at sea (the Med, in a gale).

There are lots of people with children out here. I admire them, but then I admire anyone who takes on having children by land or sea! The children are often very together people. Have you looked at the ssca.org discussion forums, as there is also stuff there.

Good luck
 
This is really a Pandora's box question, as you probably suspect. Going round as an adult team is quite an issue, taking kids magnifies the issues much more. Education, health, and all the welfare concerns focus the mind on what kind of boat to take and where to go/avoid. No one who takes kids on a long voyage has, to my knowledge, regretted it, but they will absorb an enormous amount of your focus.

My perspective is that of a planner, and traveller, long time sailor, but not a long distance sailor. It always seemed to me that the trip down to Oz/NZ via the ARC, Panama/Galapagos/ Pacific Isles route had a great deal to commend it – contact with people and cultures, wonderful scenery etc. When I researched the return trip via the Indian Ocean, Red Sea etc I saw a quite different picture - more a white knuckle ride; with kids, even more so I would think.

Dick Allen wrote a very good book "Sail your Dream" where he went round in a small boat as part of a flotilla. No kids, but a realistic view. Having talked with him, I can vouch for the authenticity - not all accounts seem to offer this virtue! The weather threats are probably a lot less than imagined, if you pay proper regard to weather patterns. Mechanical issues are to be expected, but relief is often a question of working with local skills, knowing where in the UK to obtain spares, a cool approach to DIY, and taking the right boat in the first place. I would also add, KISS – keep it simple. Electronic complexity is almost certainly something to avoid.

A good friend of mine who circumnavigated over 5 years, with pauses, spoke seriously about the need for crew having their own space on board. Even between loving spouses the pressures build. He spoke of how good it often was to have other adults visit, for short breaks, but longer legs with crew whose capabilities and temperaments did not exactly gel were more a liability and cause of stress than a boon.

Above all, the costs of such a venture have to be carefully researched - Dick Allen's book goes into this, along with equipment – what’s essential vs. the nice to have. As you appreciate you can spend a fortune kitting out a boat for such a trip, lower your waterline significantly, and reduce your budget for seeing all the wonderful things along the way.

Finally, on a personal note, I have been to the Cook Islands (just about the middle of the Pacific!) - one of the most idyllic places I could ever conceive. Time there in a small boat with kids would indeed be a dream.

This is a note of measured encouragement! And lengthy research.

PWG
 
Whereabouts are you? If you can get to some of the Cruising Association winter lectures (guests are welcome - no need to join) you might find the content relevant and the attendees helpful. The best programme is in London (Limehouse) but the local sections also have winter speakers. Starting point is here
 
Thanks for a great start. Takes a while to ferment the dream and then there are practicalities to consider.

We are Australian and based in Salvador, Brazil. Been here for 3 years with a lot of international travel in between with the kids, so we have an appetite for adventure. Regularly go to London, so hope to make it to the CA soon.

Will be back with more questions soon.

N
 
Your best source of information will probably be the others you meet as you go along. It could be better not to try to plan too far ahead, as you do not mention a particular destination.

Information in books can soon be outdated.

I hope you go ahead. We took our two boys aged 5 and 6 to Malta in 1969 and cruised back to England the following year. Not much of an adventure now, but in those days there were not many of us doing that and it was the best part of my life.
 
I agree with Twister Ken the Cruising association is the place to go. All the books mentioned are in their library and they post them all over the world. They also have a network of people who support sailors all over the world.

There is a Canadian lady that has written several books on world cruising with children. Lots of practical info. Can not remember her name off hand the CA will know. She is always at the boat shows signing books so is up to date.

Good luck.
 
Just a caution on the ssca, frequented mostly by bahamas types, snowbirds etc, down the icw, long ocean passage to bahamas etc, 70 miles...
CA is good from people I have heard from, but just get the books, in the uk the library will get them for you at little or no cost. CA "seems" more aimed at clubby types..
Check Jims site, definitely... rosie swales book is ok, but long in the tooth now. and she was kinda crackers lol... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Have fun
 
If you are planning long distance cruising, the best advice that you will find is from people going the same way as you. Get a boat that you can be confident in and just get out there and do it. Your first leg, if you are going from the UK, will be down the West coast of Europe to Portugal or the Canaries. There are lots of pilot books that cover the route. I thought that the ROC books were worth every penny spent. Talk to people on the way. They will be very glad to share their plans and advice with you. They are normally just happy to have someone listen to them.

Once you have done your first section, you can see what sort of sailing suits you and your family. How quickly you want to go. Whether you prefer the sailing or the being somewhere.

Good luck with your voyage.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Looking for a book that gives cruising advice on port costs, passage making other practical considerations for world cruising.

We are planning with a young family (aged 5.5, 4 and 2.5 years).

[/ QUOTE ]

Nick,

How much sailing experience do you, (and the family), have?

None? A bit of sailing round the bay? Coastal Hops? very experienced as crew and/or skipper on long trips?

I think this info would help others to give focussed advice.
 
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