Attempted Trip to Bermuda

[BlackOak]

Just thought I would throw this out there. I need a ride from anywhere on the east coast or Gulf of the U.S. to Bermuda. Departure anytime within the next couple of months. Willing and able to pay my own way for the passage.
Just PM me for my email and phone number. Thanks!

[BlackOak]

No longer need a ride, bought my own 34 Seafarer. and hope to make the passage soon as possible from the west coast of florida. thanks

[Mark1977]

Congrats on the new boat .....Any pics?

[BlackOak]

Here she is..1972 Seafarer 34 and ready to go and so am I!

[witzgall]

Congrats on the new to you boat. Make sure you do some shake-down sailing before you attempt to sail her to Bermuda. The internet is littered with stories of failed trips, where folks buy and outfit boats before taking off on long trips, sometimes straight offshore. Inevitably things break, and they are forced to turn back or worse. So get out and sail!!

Chris

[BlackOak]

Originally Posted by witzgall

Congrats on the new to you boat. Make sure you do some shake-down sailing before you attempt to sail her to Bermuda. The internet is littered with stories of failed trips, where folks buy and outfit boats before taking off on long trips, sometimes straight offshore. Inevitably things break, and they are forced to turn back or worse. So get out and sail!!

Chris

I figure to shake it down the west coast of florida to the keys and do a bit of cruising in warmer waters, then break out for the crossing.

[BlackOak]

So far so good...all the paperworked signed...Bill of Sale signed and notorized, Tiitle signed over, boat 20hp Yanmar motor runs great (did a around the bay shakedown..motor and sailing befoer I laid the cash), 6 sets of sale good to +good condition, and a near new spiniker and pole. Toilet, Macerator, & Shower functioning, 3 burner lpg stove fires on all 3 burners, 30# lpg tank, new bottom job done 6 months ago and all for 8K in cash....

All I gotta do now is learn how to Sail...figure I can learn on the way to the Keys.....gotta get out of this cold...might just motor and pactice sailing along the way. Leaving tomorrow down the west coast fla....cold here in Tallahassee..

PS..Photos are always 90% better looking than the actual boat..the boat looks good...just the photos make it look flawless

[Mambo]

Originally Posted by BlackOak

So far so good...

All I gotta do now is learn how to Sail...figure I can learn on the way to the Keys.....

Awesome! That attitude will take you a long ways. Have fun.

It might be getting a bit late in the year for a run to Bermuda. Check Jimmy Cornell and more experienced sailors for best times from the Bermuda run from the SE US. Some of those winter storms are killers.

Congrats!

[MysticGringo]

I like how you've gone from a crew available to almost a crew needed situation in 1 month. That's awesome.

[SVTatia]

Way to go BlackOak, determination always gets you where you want to go.
Parallel to you learning how to sail, make sure your navigation skills are good for offshore work. Bermuda is surrounded by reefs and is a low-lying island - you need to know how to negotiate the gulf stream and how to get there. Take heed from the previous post and learn as much as you can from the reference books. Take a look at the pilot charts and pick the most favourable time - best time is around May, June. Been there a couple times, post any questions you may have.


Are you planning to stay there for long?
Good luck on your trip down and have fun!

[cabo_sailor]

By the gods, I remember when I was young enough to do what you are doing. Now, being older, I would be really hesitant. Having said that, I have a number of friends who didn't know the bow from the stern and they've had the time of their lives. Good luck, and fair winds.

Rich

[BlackOak]

Just a quick update. I left St Marks with Fort Pierce as a destination saturday morning in my seafarer, motored and sailed a little along the way, but the sailing part was only with the jib, as I could easliy take it down if bad weather came up. Saturday day was nice an pleasant, lite winds out of the north east sea at 1 to 2 feet...nicely motoring along.

Saturday night? SHEAR TERROR...winds at 15 to 20 knots, seas 4ft - 7ft, cloudy. There I was...zero sailing experience, zero open ocean experience, old boat I knew almost nothing about, being tossed around like a ceasar salad on the waves. All I could do was sit down in the middle of the sole and get religion. This little tempest went on for about 15 hours, and moved my little boat all over the place, sideways, thissaway and thattaway, till I realized, this was my time to die, and it would be here in the open ocean...why I cried...why did i do this stupid faking idiotic thing to get in a boat and go into the ocean, all alone, out in the middle of nowhere. This all night long, and into the morning did I plead, cried, screamed, beg God for mercy. I call the coast guard on the VHS and said...will someone PLEASE help me! Where are you at...and all the normal details, vessel name, long lat, description, name, how many people on board...and all the time I just asked Where is LAND...I need LAND!! I was weak, sleep deprived, in total terror. The CG guy said, "You are 85 miles from Ft Pierce, and 35 miles from Hommasass" I asked where is hommassas, CG says...due east..u gota a compass? yes I do..he said go east. I turned the boat due east....35 miles and 17 hours later...dark again, cold north wind, seas 2 to 4 feet, clear night..as I watched the last rays of the sun sink into the west...crab pot bouys ahead for as far as I could see, i dodged them all...ah a light in the distance..I headed for the light and LAND...depth finder beeping..7 ft.....I got a 5ft draft.....beep beep beep...6ft. Dropped anchor, 10 miles due west of the hommasssa river. I went to bed, CG called me and ask my position, just as I dozed off...I said I was anchored, gave him my lats/longs...he said great, be sure you have ALL your nav lights on, I said ok and went to sleep..or tired to go to sleep...chain locker rattling, squeeks and moans from the boat, fish flopping, and every few seconds it felt like someone was yanking the front of the boat real hard. Tried to sleep, but only short cat naps maybe 5 or 10 minutes long. Thought I heard people talkin on deck...jumped up the stairs and only the wind rattling through the riggins was there. Around 5am this morning, I go to crank up the motor...batteries FLAT...nothing....short end of the story...called tow boat, an 12 hours and $1050.00 later, here i sit in Crystal River at Petes Pier tied to the dock. At least I can get a decent nights sleep.

For ALL you romantics that want to go a-sailing in ships..stay the fak on land! Cause being out there all alone being tossed around, with no place to go is the most terrfying situation you will ever imagine!!!

I am taking a week here to piddle around on the boat and practice some, and hopefully get my nerve up to go back out there.

[witzgall]

I suggested a shake-down cruise, not a shake-up! The good thing is that now that you have that out of the way, most everything will seem less intimidating. Now that you are back in port, you can assess - were you ever in danger, or just tossed about? Sorry about the dead batts, but I am going to guess that they were toast before you left.

Might I suggest the ICW for awhile? It sounds like perhaps you rushed the learning process?

I thought your shake-down was going to be on the west coast???

Chris

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by BlackOak

Just a quick update. I left St Marks with Fort Pierce as a destination saturday morning in my seafarer, motored and sailed a little along the way, but the sailing part was only with the jib, as I could easliy take it down if bad weather came up. Saturday day was nice an pleasant, lite winds out of the north east sea at 1 to 2 feet...nicely motoring along.

Saturday night? SHEAR TERROR...winds at 15 to 20 knots, seas 4ft - 7ft, cloudy. There I was...zero sailing experience, zero open ocean experience, old boat I knew almost nothing about, being tossed around like a ceasar salad on the waves. All I could do was sit down in the middle of the sole and get religion. This little tempest went on for about 15 hours, and moved my little boat all over the place, sideways, thissaway and thattaway, till I realized, this was my time to die, and it would be here in the open ocean...why I cried...why did i do this stupid faking idiotic thing to get in a boat and go into the ocean, all alone, out in the middle of nowhere. This all night long, and into the morning did I plead, cried, screamed, beg God for mercy. I call the coast guard on the VHS and said...will someone PLEASE help me! Where are you at...and all the normal details, vessel name, long lat, description, name, how many people on board...and all the time I just asked Where is LAND...I need LAND!! I was weak, sleep deprived, in total terror. The CG guy said, "You are 85 miles from Ft Pierce, and 35 miles from Hommasass" I asked where is hommassas, CG says...due east..u gota a compass? yes I do..he said go east. I turned the boat due east....35 miles and 17 hours later...dark again, cold north wind, seas 2 to 4 feet, clear night..as I watched the last rays of the sun sink into the west...crab pot bouys ahead for as far as I could see, i dodged them all...ah a light in the distance..I headed for the light and LAND...depth finder beeping..7 ft.....I got a 5ft draft.....beep beep beep...6ft. Dropped anchor, 10 miles due west of the hommasssa river. I went to bed, CG called me and ask my position, just as I dozed off...I said I was anchored, gave him my lats/longs...he said great, be sure you have ALL your nav lights on, I said ok and went to sleep..or tired to go to sleep...chain locker rattling, squeeks and moans from the boat, fish flopping, and every few seconds it felt like someone was yanking the front of the boat real hard. Tried to sleep, but only short cat naps maybe 5 or 10 minutes long. Thought I heard people talkin on deck...jumped up the stairs and only the wind rattling through the riggins was there. Around 5am this morning, I go to crank up the motor...batteries FLAT...nothing....short end of the story...called tow boat, an 12 hours and $1050.00 later, here i sit in Crystal River at Petes Pier tied to the dock. At least I can get a decent nights sleep.

For ALL you romantics that want to go a-sailing in ships..stay the fak on land! Cause being out there all alone being tossed around, with no place to go is the most terrfying situation you will ever imagine!!!

I am taking a week here to piddle around on the boat and practice some, and hopefully get my nerve up to go back out there.

Oh, BlackOak, thank you so much for sharing (I must say I haven't laughed so much in ages). You have a potential career as a comedy writer. Seriously though, I think this is really what all the newbies out there that post "I have never been sailing, but want to buy a boat and go around the world" need to read. I dont think it sounds like you were ever really in danger, just miserable. Don't let the experience put you off. A little more time on the water and skills learned will stop this awful experience reoccuring. The fact that you are trying to get your nerve up to sail again is a sign of your great potential. I would strongly suggest you get someone with some experience on board to show you the ropes, then experiment yourself with short day sails.

Best of luck!

[MysticGringo]

Whoa!

Well, the hard part is over, it's all much better from here on out. You now have some of the respect the sea deserves... that's where the real learning starts.

You also now know your boat can take more than you thought it could, and more than you can, both extremely valuable lessons.

I wouldn't blame you for ditching this whole idea, but I hope you don't... your experience was bad because of a few mistakes... be thankful you're alive, uninjured and undamaged.

Get towing insurance! Cheap investment, as you've learned.

Learn the weather! Watch reports before you go, and check for updates along the way. But also learn to read the signs that it's changing.

Take more supplies than you'll need. Stuff happens, and you don't wanna run out of beer before you get back.

Maybe next time take a friend... ideally someone with some experience.

Thank you for coming back to share your story.