1000 mile ocean passage

[Phil Herring]

What kind of changes would you make to your boat before embarking on a 1000 mile ocean passage? Are you ready to go; would you need to do nothing? Would you add gear like backup GPS, life raft, weather fax, SSB, etc?Would make structural improvements to your boat to improve its seaworthiness?Or would you not go at all?

 

[Rick D]

Interesting Question..

..probably more a question of whether or not it was a transit or one stop of a continuous passage. If I were to go from L.A., CA. to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I'd add SSB or Ham and rig some sea berths. Maybe some extra fuel. Beyond that, nothing apart from a very thorough inspection. Quite different from a couple of year cruise or to a desolate area. Over the years, I have seen many people spend years 'preparing' for a cruise that never came. Conversely, I have known others that put a few things together and just went (not without reasonable preparation). Personally, I'd need a lot of decompression before I could even consider a several week cruise. RD

 

[carol donovan]

our H410...

is getting there slowly. For extended coastal cruising (in addition to probably the most canvas/eisenglass/screening possible), we have already added an extra house battery and Link10 monitor, propane sniffer and second tank, radar, 2-75w solar panels, manual water pump, thru hulls for the watermaker, and have backup macerators, GPSs and VHF radios. Still to be added - life raft, EPIRB, SatCOMM, weatherfax, inner forestay/sail, watermaker, diesel heater, backup autopilot/monitor, lee cloths and two more manual bilge pumps. The major changes would be to convert the 50 gallon aft water tank to fuel, and change the composite boom/mast fittings to stainless steel, and add a spinnaker pole.Then we're down to spares and provisions?????/cs/v Twilight

 

[Jay Hill]

Buy a New Boat...

Just a consideration, since the question is of "General Interest", but I would not take my 1985 H31 on any 1,000 mile journey...period. Except for some extra gear I've installed to make it easy to single-hand, I could not equip the boat cheaper than buying a new boat. Well, let me explain that. The approximate value of my boat is "roughly" $25-28K. By the time I added all the gear and structural changes I would feel are required, I would have another $30-50K in the boat; obviously not a wise investment in the event I ever had the desire (not likely) or need (just in case) to sell the boat.So, what's one to do? Buy a new boat and rig it for ocean passage knowing you can probably get a little bit back on the investment of additional gear? For me, I am still not convinced any boat (including our beloved Hunters) are worth the asking price when new "off the showroom floor". So, I'd "hunt" down a boat that has offshore experience, meticulous owners, all the gear I'd want/need (within reason), extra tankage, built for or upgraded to offshore capability, and the right price.Hard to find? Not really. Tons of boats on the net advertised as "we did it, now we're tired and want to go back to the mountains" type boats. s/v Eau-de-vie is a prime example; wish I'd been able to cut a check for that one. Tons of upgrades and equipment.The other option is to hang out on HOW and hope somebody needs crew one of these days. The disadvantage is this option helps someone else achieve their dream and doesn't do much for one's own except for getting some experience.Love to hear what others have to say and find out where the "new" vs. "used" vs. "length" vs. "model" vs. "age" vs. "equippage" discussion ends up.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Query should allow multiple....

responses. Most Hunter owners would acknowledge needing gear AND structural upgrades. Mine would be the low budget version. First, guaranteed electricity with wind generator and high-output alternator. Then SSB, liferaft, and rented EPIRB. Finally, lots of plywood and fiberglas to build watertight compartments. That's a short list because it assumes stormsails, the right anchors and rode, drogues, good fuel and water systems, GPS, sextant, VHF and backup, and ability(which I do not have). But it's fun to participate and dream.

 

[Don Sanford]

best way to sail 1000 miles

The best way to prepare a sailing vesselfor such a voyage is to place go packing material on all the edges so it want get dinged when you ship it in a large cargo plane.Thank Don

 

[Glenda Wolfe]

Leaving in 2 weeks

We are leaving on our '91 Legend 43 from San Diego to the Sea of Cortez on Feb 1 (750 miles). We added a 3rd anchor (44# Delta), an innerstay for a storm jib, SSB receiver, Magellan GSC100, 4-75 watt solar panels, wind generator, Spectra watermaker, more batteries, cruising spinnaker, Garmin 128 GPS, remote for the ST7000 autohelm, 4-6 gal. diesel cans on deck, lee cloth to a bunk, weather cloths in the cockpit, and converted the stove to propane. We already had radar, VHFs, handheld GPS, and inflatable RIB dinghy.

 

[Justin Wolfe]

Terrible idea Don.

Getting there is at least half the fun.Our boat is ready. It's more than ready. We should have already left. I just went sailing with a couple yesterday who have sailed their 1950's 31' wooden ketch from Hawaii, to NZ, circumnavigated NZ, to Australia, around the south of Australia to Bali over the past 5 years. They looked at our boat and went "You're overprepared." You don't need half this stuff.Take a sound hull and a sound rig with good sails and go! Everything else is to satisfy your cravings or separation anxiety from our modern day worlds.Incidentally I think Carol's comment about converting water tankage to fuel is nuts. You bought a sailboat, sail it! I don't care if you have a watermaker, there is no substitute for tankage. Watermakers break. We are over gadgeting ourselves to death here folks. We didn't make any changes to the boat, but we added a bunch of gear. The hull/rig/interior are the same as the day the boat was built 22 years ago.We have all the electronic doo hickey's everyone else has. Somedays I wish we didn't...Happy sailing

 

[Clyde Lichtenwalner]

H-34

This is an interesting question. I will confine my remarks to my boat, an '83 H-34 that we have owned from new. I assume that a 1,000 mile ocean passage means 10 days at sea - I will assume 5 days (500 miles) from the nearest land at the midpoint of the voyage- and not 1000 miles along a coast never farther than 100 miles from land. I have known several who have taken their H-34s to Bermuda (600 miles and 6 days or less) without major changes (only typical equipment additions like liferaft, EPRIB, extra water and fuel). However I think that is about the limit. I would go no farther in a boat this small that was designed to be an inexpensive racer/cruiser. More extensive voyaging far from land calls for more beef. By that I mean stronger ports, real storm sails, a stronger (read bullet proof) hull, a small, better draining cockpit, more permanent tankage, and that's just the beginning. Upgrading an older, inexpensive boat like mine is a loosing proposition. This boat was never intended for that type of passagemaking, and upgrading it would mean adding equipment and structural reinforcement that would be worthless when it came time to sell. Put $20k into a $35k boat (and I expect this boat would take more) and you still have a $35k boat. The value of a boat is dictated by the market, not what the owner has in it. The ideal passagemaker is a boat that has already been upgraded, either because it has been there and has returned, or because the owners have changed their plans. Let somebody else make the investment in equipment and other upgrades in a boat that was designed from the outset for the rigors of long passages. My ideal passagemaker for now (excluding the truly ludicrous Hinckleys, Swans, Deerfeet, and other gold platers); I'll take a J 40, thank you. A Valiant 40, or Passport 40, would also suit me. Not asking for much am I? But these can be purchased used for less than the price of a new Hunter of similar size, and they will probably require less upgrading. The sea is unforgiving. All in all, it's much cheaper to fly and charter. Incidentally, we love our H-34 and I don't think upgrading her to passagemaker status would improve her one iota for the service she currently sees. In fact, some of the changes would make her less desirable.

 

[carol donovan]

well justin,

We currently have 3-50 gallon water tanks (versus 64 gallons on the 35.5), 1-50 gallon fuel tank (versus 22 on the 35.5), a 51hp engine (versus 27 hp on the 35.5), and have at least one 500+ mile passage on our journey from southern California to the Sea of Cortez. With a normal motoring speed of 7mph, we would need at least 71 gallons of fuel to make just that one passage safely. Normal wind conditions and currents make most sailboats going to/from the Sea of Cortez 'motor sailors' - two boats that left Marina del Rey a few days before Christmas put their sails up twice for less than an hour each attempt during the first two weeks of 'sailing' between MdR and La Paz!Rather than pile up the deck with jerry cans, we've decided to convert the aft/third water tank to fuel with a separate shutoff (to be able to segregate good fuel from bad, a notorious problem with Mexican fuel supplies) and will put a 20-gallon tank under the aft berth for the watermaker output (more desireable than fuel under the berth and the aft tank already has a deck fill). That means that we'll actually increase our fuel to 100 gallons and only deplete the water tankage by 30 gallons which can be made up by the watermaker on a regular basis.We're doing what we're doing to the boat for our safety and comfort - the H410 was a given as we bought it with the journey in mind. Please feel free to outfit your boat as you feel necessary, but please don't be so quick to condemn others for doing what they feel is appropriate for their well-being./cs/v Twilight

 

[George Lamb]

Multiple Water Tanks

Hmmm,My boat has mutliple fresh water tanks, with individual valves. I guess I would designate one for rum, another for red wine and save the other two for fresh water.

 

[Rick D]

Options, Justin..

.. are a good bit of the management of sailing that is part of the overall experience, and makes for great debate IMHO. Carol D could sail all the way to Mex, but the typical wind strength is such that she would put quite a strain on resourses compared to motoring when applicable and utilizing a portion of that output to make the water and keep the tanks topped off. What may be hard to apprecate is that the trip from California to the end of Baha is the means to an end; not the objective itself. RD

 

[Justin Wolfe]

C.D. I hope you're wrong.

but you might be right.You didn't mention you were adding additional water tanks. I can only respond to the information given. Nevertheless, my bad, I assumed and you know what happens when you assume. I still hope you don't need that extra fuel. When does a trawler start to make more sense?We're headed to the Sea from San Diego in March on our Valiant 32 (sold the 35.5 two years ago). 90 gallons of water + watermaker, 35 gallons of fuel.Anyway, you're right the Sea is notorious for light air, however, the trip down "should" be a good one. We've also friends that headed south this fall. They sailed the entire way with following breeze up to 40 knots. And yes the trip up can be a motorsail, unless you decide to go offshore and make a sail of it.It's becoming more and more common, motorsailing. If it works for you...I'd rather use a spinnaker.That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Everybody is a little bit nuts sometime.Hey if we all felt the same we'd all pick the same boat and go to the same anchorage. What fun would that be?

 

[Rick D]

March, Justin?

Isn't that a bit late? I thought Oct/Nov/Dec were the preferred months. Regardless, have a great 'sail' and think of the rest of us blokes stuck behind a desk. RD

 

[Justin Wolfe]

Preferred. Yes, but?

Sure if you can swing it going in the fall provides the longest season. That works if you are patient or if you're retired. If you aren't even half way to retirement you go when you can and come back when you half to. We decided we'd rather go sooner and come back more often than wait to go when everything is perfect (which it never is). Hopefully we'll be richer for the experience.

 

[Mike DiMario]

Read Fatal Storm......

... the true story account of the December 1999 Sydney to Hobart race. Most of the damage reported seemed to be from surfing down a rogue wave sideways. The sudden stop and roll at the bottom would rip a proper cabintop in two.Everone's focus seems to be on the strength of the hull. The only hull damage, if I recall properly, was caused by dismasting.I believe in adding the comforts, necessities and a sensible equipment check. Avoid dangerous situations when possible. The rest is in the hands of a higher power.Safe sailing,Mike D.

 

[Bob Bass]

Buy More Fishing Lures

I would buy more fishing lures and convert my front water tank (45 gal) to diesel.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Oh come on, George...

Convert all three to red wine, white wine, rum...and add a watermaker!

 

[John Drost Jr.]

NOT WHAT BUT WHO

I want to take Phil Herring and that Conners guy and three beautiful women. Then I might have a chance of getting to the other side.

 

[Phil Herring]

Hey, John

About the only thing I could do for you on that crossing is get a web site built before we reached port...