Hand steering across the Atlantic....mad or insane?

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mairisona

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Ok, so now with all these new fangled gadgets, old style self steering, new style self steering, battery operated, etc., etc., would a capable crew of two, who have neither of the above, and so had to hand steer, be classified as insane or mad.... or anything else you might like to describe the said fellows? Just interested.
 
very pi55ed off I would imagine! It's a long old way to be steering 12 hours per day. Also important to remember that there are always loads of other jobs to do on passage so it would be damn hard work to helm 12 hours a day and be doing other jobs for a few hours. Plus, there a quite a few jobs where an extra pair of hands make short work.
 
Barking.

Utterly, stonkingly drongo-whooping-matilda cream crackers. Nutters, the pair of you. Should be sectioned before you set off.

(Well, you did ask)

What is your objection to a windvane? Ours cost us £600 on Ebay, virtually brand new. There are better economies to be made if blue water cruising on a budget.

- Nick
 
no objection to windvane at all.... if you know not to put up too much sail.. don't ask, it's a bit of a "learn from your experiences" story, or perhaps lean towards the other one that's been used and say "ignorance is bliss" but later realise what a crock of [--word removed--]!
 
Like I said Nick, ignorance is a pretty cr#ppy, but excellent excuse. No problem with the wind vane, problem was with the people using it. Gave up after a few near jibes, and so on went the 4 hour watches, and on, and on..... But coming back was a dream, hardly ever touched the tiller, bliss. Now I'm hoping someone will nick it off the deck where it's been methodically left, in which case I'll happily pay 600 quid for something a bit less intrusive and a bit more petite! Not one for major asthetics, but having a teradactyl strapped to the stern sure does get a few weird looks. But that's getting away from the question!
 
Fatipa,

agree with you whole heartedly, and yes it was down wind, but the seas that were maybe a bit lumpy for the amount of sail we had. Mind you we were "humming" all the way over.

Never, ever in my entire life would I do it again! Just wondering what all you clued up folk thought. And exactly, what did everyone do before the invention of self steering?
 
dead downwind is a no-no for an aries you need to steer 15/20 degrees off... any more than two hours at the helm in a cross sea with a following swell is more than enough for most people,,

cheers

ian
 
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Why on earth do you say dangerous??? Always someone on watch, how can that be dangerous? The mad part I agree with!

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Because physically it is impossible to keep watch and watch and hand steer on a long ocean passage and keep awake. Half way across the Pacific friends of mine 'lost' their self steering gear and in the end resorted to heaving to at night in order to get some sleep.
Before self steering there was crew - lots of crew... It was self steering - Blondy Hasler created one of the first efficient system, that enabled single handed and two handed ocean passages to made safely and sensibly.

If you find making your self steering work efficiently a problem, either the system has a fault or you do not know how to balance the boat and set it up..

Michael
 
But it is not physically impossible, a four hour watch can be done between two people on a rota basis, a 5 hour stint for the one not cooking dinner at the end of the day. It's exhausting but not impossible.

I'm not saying it's the way to go, just wondering whether mad or insane? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I am knackered and fed up after just one long day of handsteering(only needed on my boat if the wind is from behind the beam.),I couldnt imagine weeks of it. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Oh yes, totally mad.

But achievable.

The boat needs to be well balanced, and large enough that the weight of a crew member moving about won't unbalance it. (That's the Joshua Slocum way).

If you know what you're about, you can rig up your own self-steering from the jib sheets. I think Robin Knox-Johnston did that when his wind vane broke (or was it someone else?).

Short shifts sounds good. And when it gets too much, just heave-to for a night. I seem to recall that's what Shane Acton did.

Mind you, I think all those sailors were insane...
 
Mad AND insane - SWMBO and I have been there - self steering failed big time about 10 days out from the Canaries west-bound. She was 14 weeks pregnant at the time, with morning sickness (and sea-sick on top). Took us another 14 days to reach Barbados, utterly knackered. (I reckoned it would have taken us about the same time to beat back to the Canaries, which is why we kept going!).

To make matters worse, the engine was totally fecked as well (we were young and poor) and we ended up having to sail her alongside the commercial dock at Bridgetown to clear in. Not a good crossing...

...but the Bionic Cock certainly made up for it after that, and SWMBO agrees!!
 
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