Small (Cheap) Boat Capable of sailing from UK to Med (not via canals)

I think he'll have difficulty producing enough power for an autopilot from an outboard and a wind vane is going to bust his budget. You can get a cheap handheld GPS with digital display, charting software on a tablet would be nice but again , can you keep the battery charged. I wouldn't make that trip without paper charts.
dylanwinter said:
self steering is pretty essential

what is a sextant for nowdays?

who needs a steering compass?

who needs charts?

D
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ghostlymoron said:
I think he'll have difficulty producing enough power for an autopilot from an outboard and a wind vane is going to bust his budget. You can get a cheap handheld GPS with digital display, charting software on a tablet would be nice but again , can you keep the battery charged. I wouldn't make that trip without paper charts.
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the steering would be the hardest thing to bring in under the budget

tiller pilots are not up to the job in my opinion

I am now on my fourth or fifth from the past eight years of sailing - and they are power hungry

so it would have to be non electrical self steering - and there goes your budget straight away.

charts is an interesting one

would you want charts of every port and bolthole along the way or charts just good enough to get you to the harbour entrances and then rely on following another boat in or getting the charts off the web when you get close enough to get a signal

charts of the whole route would also blow your budget

as for batteries

AA powered GPS's should be fine

buy three just in case - they only cost £50 a pop
 
dylanwinter said:
the steering would be the hardest thing to bring in under the budget

tiller pilots are not up to the job in my opinion

I am now on my fourth or fifth from the past eight years of sailing - and they are power hungry

so it would have to be non electrical self steering - and there goes your budget straight away.
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This month's PBO has a review of the Hebridian wind vane. Perfect for this job. £450 for a basic kit that needs some woodworking or £650 for a more complete kit that just needs assembling and installing. Not a lot more than a tiller pilot, which is impractical on the hair shirt type of boat the OP is planning to use - which BTW once he has equipped it will cost far more than his budget.
 
Tammany said:
Hurley 22 bilge keel. You can cut costs as it can sit on drying moorings on the way round. External outboard which is easier to repair at stop off points. Old well respected name which means it's built like a tank.
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Saw a Hurley 22 going great guns in a BIG blow off Dartmouth a few years ago. We thought it was quite rough enough in our Rival 41 and a trawler was sunk in much the same place that day (hatch came off and she filled and sank). Although the crew were plainly getting very wet (full oilies despite the July sunshine) the boat was going beautifully and seemed very happy despite the weather. Might make you feel secure if Biscay or the Portuguese coast gets a bit rough.

p.s. can I stowaway please ? :) Always wanted to go that route
 
Tranona said:
This month's PBO has a review of the Hebridian wind vane. Perfect for this job. £450 for a basic kit that needs some woodworking or £650 for a more complete kit that just needs assembling and installing. Not a lot more than a tiller pilot, which is impractical on the hair shirt type of boat the OP is planning to use - which BTW once he has equipped it will cost far more than his budget.
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A couple of friends of mine have fitted Hebrideans and are extremely pleased with them. I was also able to have a lengthy chat with the designer when he was up fitting one of these, and if I was in the market I would certainly consider one.
A big plus, in my view, is how easily it attaches to the boat- you can remove it by withdrawing a single pin and then lifting the whole thing off, to stow down a side deck or, if you have a few seconds to break it down, stick it down below.
By contrast I always feel that my Navik is quite vulnerable hanging off the stern, especially in tight harbours.
 
Joshua Slocumb sailed round the world single handed without even a wind vane. It's a matter of sail setting. Most boats will exhibit a measure of self correction if the sails are set properly. On a cross channel trip with steady westerlies, I managed to set everything up nicely and the boat maintained course for over an hour with no hand on the tiller. On the -ve side, my sail setting isn't usually that good and I was experimenting for over two hours before I found the sweet spot. Then I had to go back to steering by hand as there was a lot of crossing traffic. I didn't find the sweet spot again after that. I find it much more difficult to sort that out on a beat and almost impossible on a run. It's fun to try occasionally, though and in my experience, best done in moderate conditions.
 
Topcat47 said:
Joshua Slocumb sailed round the world single handed without even a wind vane. It's a matter of sail setting. Most boats will exhibit a measure of self correction if the sails are set properly. On a cross channel trip with steady westerlies, I managed to set everything up nicely and the boat maintained course for over an hour with no hand on the tiller. On the -ve side, my sail setting isn't usually that good and I was experimenting for over two hours before I found the sweet spot. Then I had to go back to steering by hand as there was a lot of crossing traffic. I didn't find the sweet spot again after that. I find it much more difficult to sort that out on a beat and almost impossible on a run. It's fun to try occasionally, though and in my experience, best done in moderate conditions.
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there is your answer right there, an hour won't cut it on that trip :)
 
Topcat47 said:
Joshua Slocumb sailed round the world single handed without even a wind vane. It's a matter of sail setting. Most boats will exhibit a measure of self correction if the sails are set properly. On a cross channel trip with steady westerlies, I managed to set everything up nicely and the boat maintained course for over an hour with no hand on the tiller. On the -ve side, my sail setting isn't usually that good and I was experimenting for over two hours before I found the sweet spot. Then I had to go back to steering by hand as there was a lot of crossing traffic. I didn't find the sweet spot again after that. I find it much more difficult to sort that out on a beat and almost impossible on a run. It's fun to try occasionally, though and in my experience, best done in moderate conditions.
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Maybe, but Spray was a hefty long keeler with a man who had spent his life skippering sailing boats, so he knew exactly how to set her up. She was a long keeler, and even Slocum was surprised at her ability to hold a course so precisely. Some time since I read the book, but I seem to remember he said Spray was the only boat he ever had that could do it.

You wont get a Spray replica for £3k, either!
 
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I have a clubmate with a Halcyon 27. His "self steering" is a bungee cord stretched across the cockpit. He sets the boat up such that any tendency to head up is accompanied by an increase in bungee tension to give a little more steering effort. He regularly makes extended single handed trips using this method and assures me it's just a question of setting the sails correctly. That my sail setting and attempts to do the same have been less than successful, I put down to his relative excellence as a sailor.

I don't reckon you'd get a decent Halcyon 27 for £3k either, it's just to show what's possible.
 
I found that our Vega generally had a bit of weight in the helm and would not steer herself for long enough to be useful. But the new boat can be balanced perfectly when on the wind, and can truck along for several minutes without a hand on the tiller- long enough to nip below, or to go up front.
However I find that the length of time that she will sail herself is pretty random, as it depends on a wave or gust changing the balance, and she is unlikely to get back into the groove by herself. So it's not really useful in the way that actual self steering is, because you have no idea how long it will hold course for.

For somebody wanting to singlehand a passage the length of the OP's, I would put self steering of some kind extremely high on the list, probably above similarly priced things like liferafts or instruments. Being able to get some reliable cat naps is a safety issue after all.
 
Dont give in to that urge - instead buy an Easyjet ticket to Preveza in Greece and buy your cheap boat there - you will get more for your money and by mid March you can be sailing /repairing in the sun!
 
dylanwinter said:
self steering is pretty essential
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So - I guess it depends if the plan is to do a lot of long legs or several short hops. Is there any reason you can't creep round the coast in daylight? If so, provided you can secure the tiller to let you leave it to do things (pretty much essential for any single handing) do you need self steering?

I agree if you are going to sleep - you will need some self steering. Could you find one already on a £3k boat?

what is a sextant for nowdays?
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Gives SWMBO something to dust! And kids someone that if the GPS fails you aren't going to be 'lost'

who needs a steering compass?
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Someone who doesn't have a boat in front of them to follow into/out of port! when you would prefer to have your hands free?

who needs charts?
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Oh Lordy! Don't wind them up!
I assume you can get a pilot book of the ports being visited. Plus some large area charts but I'd want to add navionics or something. Charging an *Pad shouldn't be THAT hard. But you will need battery to store the charge to then give it to the *pad when you aren't charging... Costs are climbing!...
 
I think Corribees are overrated just because dame Ellen chose one (probably at random) to circumnavigate the British isles (excluding NI and the hard bit of Scotland). You'd get extremely wet, cramped and end up in the Med with a completely unsuitable boat. There are better choices but the low budget makes it difficult to equip properly for such a trip.
I am a fan of dame Ellen and respect her achievements.
 
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