Cruising on a hunter

[Franklin]

Hello all. Don't know if any of you remember me but I was very active on this site a few years ago. In 2005 I purchased my 1996 Hunter 376 and move aboard a year later. I sailed her as much as I could as I prepared her and me for my dream of cruising around the world. Of course owning a boat puts a serious dent into any plan of saving money for cruising but I caught a lucky break in 2012 when my boss let me work from the boat.

I left Texas in March of 2012 for Key West. Ended up in St. Petes but it was the start of my cruising. I finally got to Key West a week later and got my first taste of cruising...oh the lessons learned I went to Marathon, Miami, Bimini, back to Marathon, back to Miami, Green Turtle, Marsh Harbour, Spanish well....bounced on down Elutheria and then over to George Town and then set sail for Cartagena. Next was Bocas Del Toro, Panama, then Providencia, Colombia, Grand Cayman, then back to the Abacos where I met up with friends. Next was the thorny path on down to Grenada and then Bonaire and lastly (for now) Aruba. When the wind dies down a bit I'll head back to Cartagena to complete my circumnavigation of the Caribbean.

Next up, I'm headed to the Philippines. I've come to learn that the Caribbean sea is much rougher than the South Pacific (in the tropics) so I'm sure my Hunter has proven herself worthy. I'm looking forward to sailing down wind. Only had two legs where I could do that in all this cruising

I have come to the conclusion that I like cruising on my Hunter. It's not the best boat for cruising but it sure does have it's benefits, like being able to sail when others are either motoring or stuck in port complaining there isn't any wind Now granted there were times I wished I had an IP like when crossing the Caribbean sea through the Colombian low, but she did just fine.

Just thought I would update you guys on my progress. Don't let anybody tell you your Hunter isn't worthy of the sea.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Welcome back, we missed you. But you sure were happily "busy." Congrats on the cruise.

Any Lessons Learned you'd like to share with us?

 

[Franklin]

Cruising is all about picking the right time to leave the harbor. Doesn't matter how tough your boat is, if you pick the wrong window, you may lose it. Case in point, crews of 4 boats, including blue water boats, had to be rescued this year doing the trip to the Azores Islands. They left about 3 weeks too early. Got caught in a storm near Azores on May 4th but on May 4th they should have been in Bermuda looking for a window.

 

[Franklin]

Welcome back, we missed you. But you sure were happily "busy." Congrats on the cruise.

Any Lessons Learned you'd like to share with us?

Don't even know where to start I know that before I left I had gotten lazy in my sails and at times would fly just the jib when I should have been balancing the sails. That makes a big difference offshore.

Another is never leave the dink in the water at night. Sometimes you come home trashed and think you tied it off right but if you get it out of the water, you know it's good. Also reduces temptation of locals to go for a swim.

Another is one can get by with a 4 to 1 scope with all chain in deep water (like 40+). The weight of the chain is so much that it needs to blow 50 knots or more, which like never happens, to straighten out the chain.

Another is pick a really good anchor. It really is fun to watch people try to find spots their anchor will set in.

Another is, never use an anchor marker (floation tied to the anchor). I once had to go diving to cut one lose as it was caught in the rudder (wind shift) of a boat who's crew was out of town.

Another is, stock up on spare parts, not food, when cruising. You can get food anywhere, but not boat parts. Always ask locals how to get things shipped in. Never assume this island is like the last one.

WIFI on the water is really terrible all over the place. Unlocked smart phones with a cheap local sim card is the way to go. Most places have data caps that make it expensive if you want to watch video but it is 100 times better than WIFI even with a powerful boaster (antenna with bridge/bullet). When checking in, ask the locals which company is better for data. Each island is different.

AIS is a wonderful tool for overnight passages. After a few close calls off Miami I just had to get it. It's made a world of difference in my long passages.

 

[Franklin]

A few more:

Have pre-cooked meals for passages.

Using a bucket in the cockpit is much easier in rough weather than the head down below.

If you do tow the dink, make sure you have at least two ropes to it.

When planning a route, don't plan for more than 5.5 knots. If you do better than that's great and you will feel good, but if you find it difficult or uncomfortable to do what you plan, then you will be disappointed the whole time.

Always try to enter a new harbor in the day time but have a very good spot light and make sure it's charged just in case you can't make it. Better than being hove-to waiting till daylight and maybe drifting away.

Having at least a 3/4 cockpit enclosure is awesome. I used to get soaked but now I stay dry. I always hated getting splash in my face while sleeping in the cockpit (single handler).

Having Wind and solar is the best but if you have to pick, go with solar. Much more consistent.

If you like to stay in one port for a while without sailing, use hard bottom paint because you will need to clean it a lot and if you use the other stuff you will need to paint ever year.

Use Boat Life's Life Seal for all your hatches and even the ports and sky light (yes, the one that is always leaking). You will not need screws to hold them down and they will not leak...even after years of rough sailing.

They make solar LED lights and even solar water LED proof flash lights now days. I love not having to worry about AAA batteries anymore.

Keep a good stash of cash on board. When the bank decides to put a hold on your cards because it is afraid of these overseas charges, it really helps to buy food until things can be straightened out. Installing small safes has been a good thing for me.

I like to use the Android Pad and sometimes my phone as my chart plotter. I have Navionics and Plan2Nav. Nav is terrible in the Exumas and not so good in the eastern Caribbean. Ok in Panama. Plan2Nav is good for Exumas but even worse in the eastern Caribbean. For the most part, the closer to the USA, the better the charts are. The least places visited, the least information on the charts and not reliable. Play it safe when going into a new harbor. Go slow.

Before dropping the hook, motor around and ask the other boats how much scope they have out. Also when new boats come in, ask them how much they are putting out. Make sure it's the same or bad things can happen on a wind shift.

That's all for now.

 

[Kings Gambit]

How did your autopilot fare; how much did you use it? How much overnighting did you do making those destinations? Is the boat rigged with a solent stay or other inner stay?

 

[Phil Herring]

Franklin! People have asked about you; glad to see you're doing something you love!

 

[woodster]

Franklin that is a wealth of information you have posted thank you vm for that not only the sailing parts but the business of everyday living as well out of the country can't wait to read more glad you had a great time and welcome back

 

[51RD55]

So much great information, thanks for sharing. Being prepared is always half the battle! Sounds like you are living your great dream. So wonderful for you!

 

[Franklin]

How did your autopilot fare; how much did you use it? How much overnighting did you do making those destinations? Is the boat rigged with a solent stay or other inner stay?

I replaced the st 4000 wheel pilot with a Type 1 rotary drive system. It has actually taken me years to get the settings right but even with the settings wrong she did pretty good. One odd bug is that one time, about a day into the trip, it will automatically go to stand-bye without any warning. After that it is fine for the rest of the trip. It has done it one me I think 5 or 6 times...always about the 24 hour mark. Weird.

When I first left Texas, I tried to hand steer as much as possible, maybe 6 hours a day to save wear and tear. Then one day I spoke with cruisers who cruised for 23 years all over the world. They had a hydrollic pilot and a wind vane. They said they only used the wind vane once, 700 miles to New Zealand when the pilot broke. It only broke on them once so that gave me the confidence that my pilot will last a long time so I use it non-stop now but I do want to get back into hand steering just for the excersise. However, now that I'm going to the other side of the world, I bought a complete new system as backup so if something breaks I can replace the part at sea in just a few minutes.

No inner stays at all. Rig is off the shelf rigging but replaced a year ago. The cotter pin at the top of the forestay failed me 27 miles away from Providencia, Colombia and of course, the mast came down real quick. Someday I'll tell the whole story on that but the odd thing is: 1) I had just inspected that pin before I left 2) I was heading to Bahamas to have my rigging done because I didn't trust myself to do it in Panama. I decided that since the mast was already down, I might as well replace the rigging there, so I had the parts flown in. New rule for me, replace all cotter pins every 3 years. They are cheap so why not.

As for overnighters....I have two 8 day trips, two 5 day trips, one 6 day trip, three 3 day trips, and several in the 1-2 day range. My next one to Cartagena is a 3 day trip. Panama to Galapagos is 8 days, Galapagos to Marquesas is 25 days and the rest across is 3-7 day trips.

 

[Franklin]

Franklin that is a wealth of information you have posted thank you vm for that not only the sailing parts but the business of everyday living as well out of the country can't wait to read more glad you had a great time and welcome back

That's just what I could think of off the top of my head so I'm sure I just scratched the surface. Sometimes I look back at my journey and say "wow...I was stupid" Lots more to learn I am sure.

 

[Franklin]

I used to love being at sea by myself. Now days it sometimes gets boring. I've learned to "escape" now and then. I've loaded up a ton of movies in mp4 format and my music on a solid state hard-drive and plug that into the wireless router so I can access it if needed without leaving the cockpit. I load up a bunch of movies onto the pad and my music on the phone. When I want to escape I use a Bose noise cancelling headphones with the pad or phone to watch movies and listen to music. All the noises go away and it's like I'm not even on the boat. Sometimes when I just want to be entertained but still listen to the sounds of the boat I'll use a wireless speaker instead. I enjoy the longer trips much better now.

 

[Kings Gambit]

No inner stays at all. Rig is off the shelf rigging but replaced a year ago. The cotter pin at the top of the forestay failed me 27 miles away from Providencia, Colombia and of course, the mast came down real quick. Someday I'll tell the whole story on that but the odd thing is: 1) I had just inspected that pin before I left 2) I was heading to Bahamas to have my rigging done because I didn't trust myself to do it in Panama. I decided that since the mast was already down, I might as well replace the rigging there, so I had the parts flown in. New rule for me, replace all cotter pins every 3 years. They are cheap so why not.

How awful is that? We've been discussing this (rig failure) in the forum lately (see at link below) about cutting away fallen rigs;i.e., the tools to use and how fast one needs to be. How did you do it; how did it go?

http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/just-a-question.175681/

 

[Franklin]

How awful is that? We've been discussing this (rig failure) in the forum lately (see at link below) about cutting away fallen rigs;i.e., the tools to use and how fast one needs to be. How did you do it; how did it go?

http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/just-a-question.175681/

It was a mess. My crew member (only leg I had crew...maybe never again ) woke me up for my shift an hour late. I think he feel asleep but said he wanted to give me an extra hour. I could really use it. He said just before he went to sleep that the auto-pilot was making a different noise. I thought it just needed a bolt tighted but when I looked I saw that the board the steering was bolted to was breaking free on one side of the console. I hove-to immediately and realized at that time that I forgot to undo the wheel brake from the time we hove to the night before so that helped create this problem.

I drilled a hole in the console and put a screw into the board and for some reason, maybe because I just woke up and couldn't think of anything better, thought that was a good solution. Anyway, we come out of the heave-to by doing a gybe. I ask my crew member to grab the sheet to ease the main over and I took it slow. We went around easy but I knew something was wrong because the boat never grabbed the wind. Instead of settling in at a close reach we went all the way around (tacking now). I said that was weird but, well, we'll try it one more time. That is about the time my crew said the mast was coming down. He said don't go down wind. I thought that was weird because that was the only direction I felt anything at the helm. I kept turning up into the wind and that is when it fell. Turns out when I was downwind the main was holding the mast up but at 3 am with no moon it's hard to see anything and you don't have time to be reaching for flashlights.

It landed on my homemade arch I have to hold the wind generator, solar panels, radar and davits. It knocked the generator into the water and landed inside of the pole with the diagonals around it. AKA...it wasn't going anywhere until that arch failed. The supports for the arch busted and it was swinging side to side (about 30 degrees). I reached down to turn the engine on and get the boat into the waves and it wouldn't start. I knew then we were in a bad situation. I tried tying off the arch to stabilize it with dock lines to cleats. That helped but only a little. I then tried to keep the boat pointed as much into the waves as possible as he went forward to pull the pins out just in case, or more likely, when the arch fell we could dump the mast. It took him about 2 minutes to get the pins out and then he spent about 10 more minutes tying things up.

I in the meantime was trying to come up with a solution to stabilize the arch. The solution was using my jib sheets which were my strongest ropes on the boat and also stretch resistant. I tied them onto the poles and then took them to the winches in a crossing pattern. They tightened down real tight and solved that problem. We were at least now safe for a while.

While I was thinking, the thought also crossed my mind that I am responsible for my crew's safety and things look really bad. Earlier I hit the button on my spot that I had pre-programmed into "I need a tow" message. That was sent to my friends back home. While I was still trying to come up with a solution and was losing hope, I pressed the 911 button on the spot and also pulled the EPIRB. I thought for sure the mast, arch and boat would all be sunk in no time.

Just as I finished with the arch, he finished with the top side and I told him help should be here in a few hours considering we were only 27 miles from Providencia. That is when he gave me a very good motivational speech "Get this ___ engine started. I don't want to rely on somebody else to save my ___." So I go digging around and came to the conclusion the fuel line was clogged. After taking things apart and throwing things overboard that got in my way, I got to the problem and got a temp fix in place, started the engine and motored to Providencia. The Colombian CG came out from Providencia in boat similar to our CG's small crafts. They knew I needed a tow and found us after about 2 hours of motoring. I was so glad they decided to follow us back because I wasn't sure how long my temp solution was going to last.

After I got back to the states on my parts run I found out all the craziness going on at home. My friends and family were calling everybody including the CG and the CG was calling them. Everybody had questions to ask but basically the CG realized I was out there and needed at least a tow and the best solution was to call Colombia's CG. One of the questions the CG ask them was "what is his call sign" and oddly, nobody knew

So, the summary answer is it took him about two minutes to pull the pins. He threw the pins overboard so when we got to the dock and realized it was just a cotter-pin that failed, he was like "Opps" because I couldn't raise the mast and keep going (we were going from Bocas Del Toro to Caymans).

I doubt it would have taken much longer to get off if there was pressure on the wires due to how they are rigged, but with the boat rolling side to side like crazy even two minutes would seem like forever if the mast was down there in the water.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Trying to imagine this event from your description. The forestay of your mast lost its connection to the mast b/c of a cotter pin that failed. Ultimately, the mast fell back toward the stern and slammed onto the arch supporting your wind generator and other gear. The arch was damaged with the impact and began swinging side to side. While you were trying to stablize the arch your crew member went forward to "pull the pins?" What does that mean? Pull the pins from what? At some point did you disconnect the mast from its shrouds, or disconnect the shrouds from the chain plates, by pulling cotter pins or clevis pins and then dump the mast overboard? Was there also a tabernacle that you released it from by "pulling pins?" Did you ever cut any shrouds with a cable cutter? Does this boat have a backstay? What happened to the sails; did they both go overboard too?

 

[Franklin]

Trying to imagine this event from your description. The forestay of your mast lost its connection to the mast b/c of a cotter pin that failed. Ultimately, the mast fell back toward the stern and slammed onto the arch supporting your wind generator and other gear. The arch was damaged with the impact and began swinging side to side. While you were trying to stabilize the arch your crew member went forward to "pull the pins?" What does that mean? Pull the pins from what? At some point did you disconnect the mast from its shrouds, or disconnect the shrouds from the chain plates, by pulling cotter pins or clevis pins and then dump the mast overboard? Was there also a tabernacle that you released it from by "pulling pins?" Did you ever cut any shrouds with a cable cutter? Does this boat have a backstay? What happened to the sails; did they both go overboard too?

Sorry...I was not clear. Yes, he first took out the cotter pins holding the clevis pins attaching the shrouds to the chain plates. Boat has a typical B&R rig so no backstay. The mast landed on the arch and wasn't going anywhere unless the arch failed. The mainsail got ripped up pretty good and the arch but the jib was fine. Nothing went into the water except the clevis pins he pulled and threw overboard. At 3 am with no moon, not much sleep and the boat rocking like crazy and you've just been traumatized, you tend to make mistakes. He is maybe the best sailor I've ever met but he made a mistake that time.

No need to cut cables and not sure if that would have been faster or not. Speed was not an issue here because the mast was not in the water. This was just a precautionary step just in case the arch failed and the mast did end up in the water.

Surprisingly, not much damage to the mast at all.

 

[Kings Gambit]

. Nothing went into the water except the clevis pins he pulled and threw overboard.
No need to cut cables and not sure if that would have been faster or not. Speed was not an issue here because the mast was not in the water. This was just a precautionary step just in case the arch failed and the mast did end up in the water.

Surprisingly, not much damage to the mast at all.

So, you were "escorted" to harbor with the mast fairly undamaged, still attached at the tabernacle, and lashed to your homemade arch, with the shrouds loosed from the chainplates and tied up. Quite an experience. Congratulations on getting through it! Yeah, your crew throwing the c-pins overboard was not too wise--but I think we get the picture on the fatigue/stress part. Thanks for sharing.

KG

 

[pateco]

Great tale. Glad it worked out ok.

 

[JamesG161]

One odd bug is that one time, about a day into the trip, it will automatically go to stand-bye without any warning. After that it is fine for the rest of the trip. It has done it one me I think 5 or 6 times...always about the 24 hour mark. Weird.

My ST7000 did that too!

I believe it is the electronic compass loses or changes direction too fast and shuts down the autopilot for safety.
I found that if i stupidly put my hand held hailing horn with a large magnet or coil, near the Ecompass, STANDBY!!
Not sure, but an educated guess.
Jim..

 

[Franklin]

My ST7000 did that too!

I believe it is the electronic compass loses or changes direction too fast and shuts down the autopilot for safety.
I found that if i stupidly put my hand held hailing horn with a large magnet or coil, near the Ecompass, STANDBY!!
Not sure, but an educated guess.
Jim..

Well, one time it could have been a wave knocking me around but I remember it doing it while motoring in calm seas too. All times it happened I was in the cockpit and nothing moving down below. The odd thing is, it only does it about the 24 hour mark, give or take an hour. I get up, get it back on course, set it to Auto and it goes days without fault. Weird.