Unknown unknowns: Longer trips

[dom]

A good radar reflector (basically narrows it down to Echomax and Trilens) is a must, or better still an active radar transponder (X-Band only should be OK).

As previously suggested, also, swap to LED lamps and if your boat has the smaller original navigation lights specified for 12m craft designed to comply with the 1nm range, then increase them to 3nm spec.

 

[LadyInBed]

Another thought, if you have just been day sailing uk, check / up your insurance for solo night sailing and your specified cruising area to include N France then when ready, Biscay and N Spain. You will have to do some research and shop around.
BTW if you haven't got them you can copy tide charts to your phone / tablet from my website.

 

[KellysEye]

Two things I forgot to mention is we decided to sail in a gale once you have done that it becomes normal. But with a small boat you will want to avoid that but there is a problem not all gales are in a forecast. We had that with a gale in Biscay 35 knots gusting 50 and a secondary low in the English Channel 50 knots gusting 80. We kept an hourly log that had speed, heading, distance sailed, barometer reading and engine hours for knowing when a service is needed. It was the barometer reading that warned us of the gale and we reefed when the wind reached 25 knots. Good luck and I hope you avoid a gale.

 

[lw395]

I would forget about windvanes for now. The main self steering scenario often turns out to be motoring in no wind.
For the less experienced skipper, the most useful gadget is called a 'crew'.
An extra pair of hands is a versatile help in almost any situation.

 

[PhillM]

Thanks for the reminder re insurance. I am with Pant's and I have SH and no restriction on duration. I should check the area again, especially, if I follow up the suggestion of Jester Baltimore in June.

 

[jamie N]

A good radar reflector (basically narrows it down to Echomax and Trilens) is a must, or better still an active radar transponder (X-Band only should be OK).

+1, I forgot to mention that I'd fitted one a couple of years ago, which in conjunction with an AIS transponder makes you as bullet proof as can be.

 

[webcraft]

Thanks guys, solar now on the shopping list, although no idea where to mount it as yet.

Windvane _ agreed but may be beyond me for the next couple of years as it looks like £3k to get and fit, which is beyond my budget atm.

Contrary to an opinion expressed above, you do need a windvane. I've been offshore in a 27 footer (Biscay, Canaries, Azores) and it steered for over half the time - invaluable.

You don't need a 3k wind vane for your boat though - look for a 2nd hand Navik (around £600) or consider a MrV. (Or build a Hebridean)

- W

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The opinion was mostly that the OP did not need a windvane just to get to La Rochelle, not that he might never need a windvane. His later need for a windvane might depend on his later style of cruising. If like many of us he calls into many ports just to see them, then hops might be so short that a windvane is less useful. If he wants long hops with nothing too see because he simply wants to get a far place then it might be useful. Winvanes arent without their own issues and I had to remove and give up on one on my older boat as boat not suited to it. With the right boat however simple jib sheet connected to tiller "self steering" also works.

 

[RupertW]

I would also echo that although a windvane may be useful on longer trips it is not necessary even for singlehandes as you could buy half a dozen spare tiller pilots for the same price - and are unlikely to even need to use one spare. We haven’t fitted a vane for cross-Atlantic trips.

 

[doug748]

Here is another lower cost windvane option to consider when the time comes:

http://www.windvane.co.uk/prices/

 

[lw395]

+1, I forgot to mention that I'd fitted one a couple of years ago, which in conjunction with an AIS transponder makes you as bullet proof as can be.

Neither AIS nor active radar reflectors are any substitute for a decent lookout.
A lot of what the OP is talking about, he will be more likely to meet fishing boats etc which won't be looking at their radar or AIS every minute of the day even if they've got it, and when they do they start with the assumption that you're to keep clear of them.

 

[JVL]

Get yourself a windvane , shop around or make one ! Life without one for any length of time is seriously not fun !

John

 

[GHA]

A tip for open water: Have a timer you can set to go off every ten minutes. You can do what you like until it goes off - read, catnap, rustle up some grub then, when it goes off, have a good 360 degree look round. If nothing's in sight, in good visibility, you've got another ten minutes before anything's likely to get close enough to need your attention. In dubious visibility, make it every 5 minutes or less.

:encouragement:

I just use a digital watch for that, usually 10 minute timer for a good look around but sometimes 5. Though not for catnapping, one of these if you ever feel the need to have a little snooze >

 

[[3889]]

Get yourself a windvane , shop around or make one ! Life without one for any length of time is seriously not fun !

John

You think? I've managed to cross the pond twice without one. Seems overkill for a passage to Atlantic France.

 

[LadyInBed]

You think? I've managed to cross the pond twice without one. Seems overkill for a passage to Atlantic France.

I don't have one either, I just have a reliable autopilot.
A windvane may well be overkill for a passage to Atlantic France and come to think of it to Spain, especially if it doesn't work too well on downwind passages.

 

[steve yates]

You think? I've managed to cross the pond twice without one. Seems overkill for a passage to Atlantic France.

Yes, mayhap, but the op is talking about the azores too. And if singlehanded, going those distances, I personally would want a windvane.

 

[Stemar]

One more tip for the run to Cherbourg.

I set a waypoint for each of the entrances, plus another 10 miles out and set course for that one. The tide will take you up and down channel of your desired track, but the tides should roughly cancel out, so don't be tempted to correct until you're getting closer and can work out what the tide's doing and where you're likely to end up. From that waypoint, work out which is going to be the uptide entrance when you get there and head for it. That way, if you miss it, you've got a second chance at the downtide one. It's a dispiriting experience trying to punch the tide off Cherbourg in a small boat.

 

[dom]

One more tip for the run to Cherbourg.

I set a waypoint for each of the entrances, plus another 10 miles out and set course for that one. The tide will take you up and down channel of your desired track, but the tides should roughly cancel out, so don't be tempted to correct until you're getting closer and can work out what the tide's doing and where you're likely to end up. From that waypoint, work out which is going to be the uptide entrance when you get there and head for it. That way, if you miss it, you've got a second chance at the downtide one. It's a dispiriting experience trying to punch the tide off Cherbourg in a small boat.

Be careful with that, a little Cheverton Caravel has an LWL of 19'. If it made 4kts average through the water, that would suggest over 15 hours to complete the 60m passage from the Needles to Chbg in the absence of tides.

So, if the tides cancel each other out, one would arrive three hours into a third and non-cancelling tidal flow, over on the other side of the Channel where tides are much stronger.

I would recommend great care on the nav workups, especially at springs

 

[Stemar]

Good point.

It's been a while since I did a Cherbourg passage plan, and the last one was for a much bigger boat. Thinking back to my trip with Jissel (20ft waterline, so not very different), I've a vague memory of downloading a free trail of a planner that could work out a course to steer taking tides into account. Neptune, possibly?

 

[Yellow Ballad]

Yes, mayhap, but the op is talking about the azores too. And if singlehanded, going those distances, I personally would want a windvane.

My windvane is a joy singlehanded I use it on short hops down the coast frequently. My tillerpilot on the otherhand I loath and only behaves in dead calm whilst motoring, well thats the only time I trust it. If you plan on sailing shorthanded a lot look out for something suitable.