Too much too soon?

[tropic]

G day all , after years of looking wistfully at boats moored in marinas and sailing along in stiff winds, and dreaming of living aboard , Ive just gone out on a whim and secured myself a 39 footer with berth in Spain, to move into over the winter, get some lessons and experience and head for the Carribean next year...I have a little experience sailing in small boats but not much.Is this remotely feasible ?

 

[Mad Pad]

No

 

[[70521]]

Yes

 

[tropic]

Care to elaborate why and why not? Its potentially 8 months aboard, taking lessons, adjusing to the life and learning...surely long enough for anyone to get a basic grasp?

 

[Mad Pad]

No,don't have the time.It's about seamanship NOT navigation these days.(GPS and all that stuff)Plastic sextant did me proud.

 

[macd]

Most people would say (and probably will say) that your plan is premature folly, but it's certainly doable. I've chatted with sailing friends in the past about pointing a boat west from the Cape Verdes under somewhat reduced sail, with plenty of solar panels to power an autopilot set to go to a waypoint off the Antilles, and no-one on board, and most of us have reckoned it would probably get there in one piece. There wouldn't be much seamanship in that.

Were you thinking of doing it single-handed, or with a more experienced crew? There's a bit of a difference. If the former, my concern would be how little you'd have in reserve for the unexpected. Equally, long solo sails take a bit of working up to. And, whilst the likes of Chay Blyth have set out to do much more with even less than you're proposing, he was a rather singular young man. Mind you, for all I know, so are you.

Then there's the problem of getting back, which is no cake-walk.

But dream on. It's one of the joys of sailing.

 

[tropic]

Folly maybe , but its gonna be fun ! I wouldnt be attempting anything so foolhardy on my own ( yet),( will assemble a crew of some description) for the moment it will be learning in the med with day sails and outfitting boat with required items for long range cruising . I have time to do it and the presence of mind not to take unecessary risks , I like to think positive and believe it can and will be done , got to now, Ive bought the damn thing !

 

[TQA]

Easily doable. Sailing is 95+% common sense. Get used to the boat and it's systems. Get some solar and a reliable autopilot or windvane. For the Transatlantic you want to get to the Canaries early as crossing in Mid to late October is often a bit stormy. Organize some crew for the crossing, at least two. Avoid racers, your goal is to cross without breaking anything, there is nothing wrong with reefing down overnight and just jogging along at 4 knots.

Decide soon if you want to do the ARC it could be full already. IMHO it leaves to early for guaranteed trades. I would join the NARC [NOT ARC] group which is informal but still gives some reassurance AND ONLY LEAVE WHEN CONDITIONS ARE GOOD.

See you in the Caribbean. It is good out here.

Oh Yes the first time I went cruising I left the UK never having done a multiday passage, never used my sextant for real and had no real big boat experience. I got a sailing instructor to get me across the channel and down to Camaret. [Thanks Jack L.] After that it was down to me and Jenny. I had 2 crew across Biscay and 2 on the Transatlantic. We broke two spinnaker halyards [ chafe] which we flew only in light winds. 29 days from The Canaries to Martinique.

 

[GHA]

I would say have some lessons then get out on the water as much as poss on your own and start making mistakes.
Cruising is a bit different, maintenance is possibly more important than being some sort of sailing god, a good passage measured more by how few things broke than average speed
Where in Spain? Lots good sailing this side of the pond, you could drift around this side for a while and still have lots of fun, no need to dash straight across.

 

[duncan99210]

Don't set your plans in concrete. By all means have the base concept of a period in Spain doing the exploring your new boat thing, making adjustments to her fit out and learning to sail, but don't have a fixed, irrevocable comitment to depart for the Trans Atlantic sailing. Keep it flexible, you'll know yourself when you're ready to go, both yourself and your boat. Do some shorter hops inside the Med to see how it feels being out of sight of land for a couple of days - Mallorca to Sardinia makes a good work up. If you're happy doing that,then really all you need to do is make sure you've got enough food, water and fuel to last and off you go!

 

[Koeketiene]

Is it advisable? Probably not.

Is it do-able? Almost certainly.
Great things have been achieved by naive and ill-informed people.

 

[temptress]

YEs - go for it. You need to get a lot of experience fast - so GO sailing often and don't hold back. You have alot to learn but ar enot the first to do it this way.

 

[timmygobang]

YEs - go for it. You need to get a lot of experience fast - so GO sailing often and don't hold back. You have alot to learn but ar enot the first to do it this way.

+1

tbh you need to believe in yourself and to some degree not the opinions of others. If you feel you've invested enough time in yourself and the boat then there's no reason not to go for it. Everyone has their own benchmark of what they perceive as being 'fit and ready'.

 

[syfuga]

Best of luck. There is no substitute for experience, but reading about the experiences of others, making sure you know and understand your boat, getting in some miles will all go a long way. In many ways it is when approaching land, transitting pinch points, where you will encounter more situations: once out in the ocean with luck there is only the weather (and your crew of course) to concern you.

 

[KellysEye]

>...I have a little experience sailing in small boats but not much.Is this remotely feasible ?

Yes. Build up experience: short passages in mild condition, longer passages in say 20 knots, then up to 30 knots. Then night sailing and then a 100 mile passage. Seamanship is the key thing, knowing how anchor, how to set the sails for best performance , navigation, understanding charts, taking a VHF licence, being able to fix things that break and having the right tools etc etc. There are books on seamanship do it's worth buying one.

We never had sailing lessons but had both sailed dinghies. We bought a steel ketch and did what I've written before going ocean sailing.

 

[drawp]

Go for it if you think you are capable of it.
A few years ago I met a Norwegian sailor in Bembridge IOW. The first time he ever went sailing was in Cape Town the day after he bought his Folkboat, when the previous owner gave him a sailing lesson. Within 12 months he sailed single handed to Rio, the Caribbean and back to Norway. And this was in the days before everyone has GPS. He built his self steering while under way to Rio. When I saw him he was heading south again and wasn't sure whether he would turn left or right at Cape St Vincent.