Nonstop Solo Circumnavigation from Long Beach, CA

[Franklin]

Ross...I was misunderstood.

When I say that everybody should pay, I'm referring to the arguement that some think a single handler should pay the bill to be rescued. My arguement is that there SHOULDN'T be any difference between the reason a single handler needs to be rescued verses a couple or more. So if your going to make a single handler pay for his rescue, then lets make all pay for their rescue.Now if they have to rescue a guy because his haylard broke and he didn't have anybody to hoist him up, then yeah, make him pay. But if he got dismasted and then ran out of fuel, then it wouldn't make a difference if he was alone or not.

 

[Ross]

Franklin, There was a report tonight about the

search on Mt Hood for some missing men. One Man in Mountain Rescue Volunteers said that he wanted no restrictions on those who would climb because he wants no restrictions on himself. I feel much the same. The military writes off the cost as training and the local law enforcement people are paid the same and perhaps a little overtime. If we should choose to attempt to cross an ocean in a totally unsuitable vessel someone should stop us. But if we sneak out afterwards and go missing, friends and family ought not blame anyone but our stupid selves.

 

[Doug Burton]

Life

Uh, Ross, If the guy was 22 I'd be thinking he needed guidance. At 47 and divorced, go for what you want. I'm 51 and my kid is almost self sufficiant. Damn if I'm not going to do whatever my tiny brain thinks might be fun or interesting. Realisticly I feel my body in decline, not in a big way, but I'm not 30 anymore. A blessing in disguise, makes me aware of my mortality. It frightens me to think I'll someday be too tired or have too many health issues to live out a dream if I don't have a plan to act on it reasonably soon.

 

[Franklin]

Old Age

Many try to stay young and active as long as possible but mother nature will eventually catch up. That is the reason why it's important to not put everything off till retirement age. When the time comes where you can't do much anymore, I sure hope you've done all you want to do by then, because you will have plenty of time to either sit around and talk about what you did, or plenty of time to sit around and wish you did. That's too much time to spend wishing, I'd much rather spend it talking

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

I wish him well too ...

I do, sincerely, wish him the very best of luck. I would never wish ill of another sailor.I also sincerely feel that he is not an experienced seaman. I think his choice of a 50,000 pound 44 foot boat is questionable. The poor light air performance should be no surprise. I cannot find much specific information about the Gulfstream 44. The 42 foot version is multi-chined, has a LWL of only 33.5 feet, and calls for 8,000 pounds of ballast. For reference 25% to 40% ballast displacement or "normal" figures. That puts the displacement at 32,000 to 20,000 pound or the Ballast/Displacement ratio under 20% ..? The working sail area on the 42 foot version is 810 sq. ft. with a light air rig of 1,337 sq. ft. Comparing to a Shannon 43 Ketch: The Shannon 43 displaces 29,000 pounds with 10,000 pounds of ballast for a 38% ballast/displacement ratio and about 1,000 sq. ft. of working sail area. The Shannon 43 is no hot rod. The Gulfstream 44 has pretty bad numbers for a pure sailboat. At 50,000 pounds it is either grossly overloaded or grossly overbuilt.His log mentions that he was not going to give up his hard earned miles south, so he was sailing toward a storm. "The sky in every direction was dark gray and black with heavy, thick cloud cover and you could feel everything around being sucked into its center. By first light I was reefed down to jib, staysail and triple-reefed mizzen. I was not about to give up an inch of the hard-won southing I had fought for over the past several days, so my course was east southeast toward the storm."The designer says that the bilge plates (that were cut off) are not needed if you don't mind giving up some of the boat's ability to sail to weather.I have to admit that I was wrong. This could be a first:"December 4 - South PacificAs reported in September's issue of Latitude 38, Southern California sailor Ken Barnes, 47, is currently attempting to become the first American singlehander to circumnavigate the globe nonstop, via the 'three capes', from the West Coast of North America.Sailing aboard Privateer, a Maurice Griffith-designed Gulfstream 44, this newcomer to the realm of bluewater sailing ..."His apparent lack of experience explains his choice of boat and his sailing tactics. "I was having a tough time making any southing due to direct headwinds and a loose headstay. . . One evening I'm sailing east southeast not making much southing, but a little, when I noticed the wind had shifted and I could pinch up a little. A few minutes later the same thing happened so I came up again. This went on until the lift was about 60 degrees. Boy, was I excited. I was finally headed only about 10 degrees off dead south and thinking I may nave finally hit the southeast trades, when suddenly I heard the off course alarm on the autopilot go off. It turned out that even though I was telling the autopilot to turn the boat and it was gallantly trying to, the boat would not respond because there was so much current that there was effectively no water passing over the rudder even though I was making 4 knots."Loose headstay? Did he leave without the rig being tuned or has something changed?"no water over the rudder ... I was making 4 knots ..."? Not possible. Unless he is using the GPS for speed instead of a knot meter. Are these the sort of errors that an experienced sailor makes?I wish him luck, indeed I do.

 

[Ross]

This is going to be a "time will tell" story.

I think his choices and priorities are not based on the proven experiences of other successful circumnavigators. If you have read Cruising in Serafin you will remember that the Pardeys changed course and sailed west for two days to avoid a storm that would have made Ireland a lee shore. When the storm passed they again headed east and encountered a forty something foot boat that had battled the storm for the same two days. Most successful circumnavigators are well aware of the ocean currents, have studied them and either avoid them or use them to advantage.

 

[Franklin]

I have a feeling

That his boat isn't 50,000 lbs and the ballast isn't 8,000 lbs. Here (http://www.seeboats.com/boatlisting.cfm?intBoats_ID=5508&show_results=1&startrow=1451&show_results=1&sort=DESC#) is a 44' Gulfstream with a steal hull that is only 39,000 lbs with a 12,000 ballast.As for why he picked that boat, it may be because so many feel that a bluewater boat has to be bulletproof and heavy. Bulletproof and heavy are great if it also comes with enough sail area, which in my opinion, many don't.

 

[Peter]

Human element

There's alot to debate on the qualities of his equipment, but I am most concerned by the human element. He gives no indication that he is prepared on just a few indispensible skills as a cruising sailor, and single-hander at that. First, there is no such thing as too many provisions if you can accomodate them (within reason, of course), and tossing the flying fish back overboard is a rejection of nature's benefit in a lonely, hostile place. When he finds himself in a survival situation and wishing he had a few more ready-to-eat canned goods, I'll bet he'll be wishing just as hard that he had eaten some of those fish to save the cans for when he might really need them. The same goes for the dorado following him around. And if he only isn't trying to catch them because he isn't a fisherman, it indicates a lack of a necessary skill the medium of your travels is the only continual provider of food; the sea is your grocery store. Second, realizing the potential for food in the sea or really out of anything, that you should be able to cook (so its palatable, afterall chicken cordon blue isn't in its own group on the food triangle) seems to me self-evident. It's probably the most basic of the skills of self-reliance. Ultimately, the good sailor must possess two talents: ingenuity and resourcefulness. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on ingenuity because I didn't read anything that forces me to call that into question. However, above I see a plainly evident, perhaps dangerous want of resourcefulness that may indicate more serious problems, including fighting the elements instead of rerouting to capitalize on currents and winds (even 200 miles "off course" on a circumnavigation can pay dividends in favorable currents and wind). The cruising sailor needs both, and a single-hander more of both.

 

[NautiDuck]

Not my hero

Any idiot can set sail around the world. I am amazed when people are so gaga about someone "living their dream" when the real heroes are those sacrificng for others - not setting off on their own ego trip. People who risk their lives on such ventures - sailing or climbing - and leave their families behind and risk the lives of would be rescuers are simply selfish.

 

[Ross]

This is a man's man! And I don't know if the sea

cares. He didn't catch the fish because: "Well the reasons are many. I was not hungry, I have plenty of food, I did not want the mess on the boat to have clean up nor the smell, I am not a cook and would not know how to properly prepare it and would not want to spend the time or energy doing it anyway and lastly to much of it would simply have gone to waste." As of his last report he has averaged 79 miles per day for fifty days. His estimated speed is 100 to 150 miles per day. He expects to take about 200 to 250 days for the entire voyage. It appears that he is going to need to make up some time.I wonder how many days he provisioned for.

 

[Chuck]

A number of sailers have attempted it...

From the Latitude 38 September Article,"Although a number of sailors have attempted it, the only successful nonstop solo circuit from the West Coast of North America was achieved by Canadian Tony Gooch on his 43-ft sloop Tanoui, a 176-day trip completed in 2003. But no Americans have ever made it. We wish this gutsy sailor the best of luck-undoubtedly he’ll need it."The article also alludes to a "tough ride through the South Atlantic at the wrong time of year". Does anyone care to elaborate? What are the weather, wind, current patterns along the route?I do recommend that everyone read the Latitude 38 September article. It's a nicely done piece and sets up the premise beautifully.http://www.kensolo.com/Latitude38transcribe.htm

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Conditions ...

Based on his reported position Dec 18, I put him at about 55S 90W at the end of December. Average conditions for the next 1400 miles are 19-20 knot wind with an average wave height of just under 9 feet.I put him at the cape about Jan 6. He should see 22-25 knots average winds, mostly broad reaching and running.By Mid January he should be somewhere around 45S 45W and seeing 20 knots or less and under 7 foot waves.The end of January could see him at 40S 10W and sailing in 15-20 knots and 6-7 foot waves (if he sticks to his plan to sail eastbound between 40S and 45S).If he stays around 40S for the month of February, he should have some darn nice sailing. Air Temps in the 60's (F) and low chances of gales.I don't know what Latitude was talking about, January - February sounds like a good time to be crossing the South Atlantic at 40S (Mid Summer)... Then again that said the boat was Cutter Rigged and I think it's still a Ketch.

 

[Franklin]

Maybe it's a cutter ketch

.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

It is a Cutter Ketch

It is a Cutter rigged ketch. There is a photo of it in the 'related link'. However, Franklin, I hate like hell to correct you, but there aint no such thing as a cutter ketch. Its properly called a 'double head stayed ketch' or a 'double headsail ketch'. Had I written the book, then it would be a cutter ketch, mainly because that is what i normally refer to it as and 'almost' everyone knows what you are talking about. It's ME that no one knows what I'm talking about.I trust you a had a good holiday. I'll be back in Kemah late night Jan. 9th.....i think. Never know out here. Cheers to all Tony B

 

[Raleigh500]

No SAR?

The question posed about when to mount a search and rescue is really bigger than the issue of solo sailors: should SAR be done for any sailors on risky voyages?A good example of that is from the movie and book, "The Perfect Storm". Should a helicopter have been risked that night to save four people on a sailboat who had no business being out there in the first place? That weather was so bad that even the Coast Guard cutter was in danger of capsizing if it got caught broadside by the wrong wave.I also question whether any SAR should have been attempted on Mount Hood recently, given the weather.We might have a more charitable view toward adventurers if they were really on their own, and we weren't expected to risk good people trying to save them in the pinch.Saying they should pay for their own rescue isn't an answer, because few adventurers can pony up the several hundred thousands of dollars that such rescues cost.

 

[Franklin]

SARs

Then what will all the paid adventure seekers (SAR workers) do for a living? They love that stuff. That's why they do it. I used to jump out of planes in the army. I signed up and then later found out that I got paid more for it. I couldn't believe it....they were going to pay me to jump. WOW...cool I said. I even once volunteered for a jump when I had a broken ankle (I told them it was a sprang). After begging all day, they finally let me jump that night. Turned out that visibility was .06% and the air force dropped us at 300' instead of the 550' (standard combat jump). Many people broke something that night including my supervisor who broke his back. My ankle really hurt after that landing but I continued on with my mission and had to carry about 70 lbs of equipment that night and I loved it. I didn't bitch or anything. I was so pumped up on adrenaline that it may have been one of my favorite events in my life.So are you going to deprive the adrenaline junkies of their fix?

 

[Ross]

I was in the Air Force and the things

we had to say about people that would jump out of perfectly good airplanes can't be posted here.

 

[Franklin]

Air force

doesn't have "perfectly good airplanes"

 

[Raleigh500]

SAR workers

Those newly unemployed SAR workers can be encouraged to try extreme mountain bike racing without helmets. A few times at that should eliminate the need to pay unemployment benefits to them for very long.

 

[sand sailor]

solo rscers

they dont sleep check the logs