New Sailor, going East to West Coast...advice, thoughts, opinions?

[BIGA13X]

Ill just get straight to the point. I have never sailed a day in life, but I've been sailing before. There was a point in time when I never raced on a race track, but I did!
I am closing the deal on a 1985 45' Tristar, located in Virginia. I am located in the San Francisco bay area, California.
What I'm here for is advice, tips, concerns, anything helpful information on making this journey. I am of course, NOT making this trip solo, in fact I am inquiring the help of someone seasoned who knows what theyre doing. This is my first step, finding someone who'd be willing to sail from Virginia to California. So, any takers? Of course I'd be paying for your time...This is absolutely no joke by the way. As ridiculous as it sounds, this is my only choice if I wish to have this particular trimaran. Shipping is about $40K out of the question!
So aside from finding someone willing to captain, I am also interested in hearing all the good, bad & the ugly in making this trip. As of now I am planning to do this in June. Dont want to shoot myself in the foot here but I've read that its possible to make it in 2 weeks on a multihul! To give you a rough idea of my intentions... I want to make this trip seemingly as fast as possible! What I mean is, I am not making this trip because I'm on vacation even though thats kind of what this will be for me. This is going to be the experience of a lifetime! I can imagine its going to be hard, stressful, to say the least... But I am perfectly okay with that. I'd sail every second of day light and switch out with someone at night, and eat MRE's the whole time if it was up to me...And I would love it!

A couple things I should add I guess to save on questions being asked... Myself, I am 28 years old, single,male, and a hardened veteran. I've never came across something I couldnt do if I put my mind to it. I've done all sorts of adventurous things in my life, and for now I've given up the fast life racing motorcycles and want to enjoy my time on the water!

1985 Ed Horstman Design TriStar 45 sailboat for sale in Virginia

^ here is the link to the boat I am considering purchasing for any questions you might have on that.

Thanks for your time gentlemen,

[sailorchic34]

2 weeks travel is a bit optimistic in that boat. Yes a few Frenchmen in racing tri's or cats can do impressive 24 hour mileage, But the tristar's not going to give you that.

So 6300+ miles, the last 1/3 pretty much a bash north and you've got to get through the canal. That's a week (at least) right there, if your lucky. At best with perfect weather, its at least 40 days. Add a week for the canal, add at least a month waiting for weather to be good. Oh and you have to re provision somewhere. Plus the weather is never perfect for long.


The second issue is no boat is ready to cruise once you purchase it. That jib looks a bit tired, or maybe its just poorly furled. Looks like one filter on the two diesel filter housing is missing one filter, located on the forward bulkhead. So you know that maintenance has not been totally up to par.

6000 miles on a boat, your going to want everything, including standing and running rigging being in very good condition. As in replace with new.

So why not buy a boat in the bay area. Tons of boats for sale, even a tri or two. Then learn to sail and head off to Catalina for a week or so.

[BIGA13X]

Hi SailorChick...
I still have so much research and planning to do before I can really think if this is possible/worth doing. I know 2 weeks is a poor estimate, But even with round the clock forward progress I still think its possible surely under 3 weeks maybe +,- a few days depending on how it goes getting through canal. Again, this is just from other peoples calculations... I would take anyones advice here over my own.
I have a recent survey that shows everything from water line up/inside & out is in good condition. No recommendations except the hull needing paint (is it smart to sail this distance needing that?) The owner also claims the boat is ready and capable of making the trip. Im going off assumptions here, but if they are correct Thats why I feel comfortable doing this.
As far as buying a sailboat around here, ive been looking for months! Not really interested in a mono haul, especially since I've got myself all worked up over a multi haul. There are no multi hauls around here, nothing similar to that tristar- and by that I mean, I love how spacious it is inside and especially the deck space.
Can anyone speculate how the weather will be june timeframe? I know its hurricane season... Also, can anyone throw out some rough figures to expenses. How much fuel would I be using etc...

Thanks

[FSMike]

Sailorchic is right. About everything.

[sailorchic34]

Get a laditude 38 magazine, free at any marina or marine store in the bay area. In the back are the cheap boat ads. February had a 30 foot tri for $12,500. at marina bay. Ok it might be a dog, but it would be big enough to live on and learn to sail. If you can sail on the bay, you can sail most places.

Then walk the docks many boats will have for sale signs or are not advertised

Myself, I would take anything a seller said with a grain of salt.
First rule of sailing is the wind is always on the nose. OK its not, it just seems like it is. Many folks take 3-4 months just to get to panama. Ok most take a year...

Another issue your going to face is getting insurance with zero experience. That could be hard to do.

40 days would be the best you could do. It could take 60 or 80 days or longer. Things break at sea. All. The. Time. You'll have the gulf stream against you unless you hug the shore in Florida. Pretty much a broad reach from the keys around cuba to panama. But then look the winds will be on the nose for 2000 miles. Not my idea of a fun time. Probably faster to sail to Hawaii, and then to the Bay.

Its not just learning to sail, its the plan B's and C's for when things get a little sideways. Plus your passing up all the nice spots in the western crib, just to bash up the cool pacific in June.

[gamayun]

Unless you can seriously take off for at least 4 weeks, I wouldn't recommend buying a boat in Virginia. You'd need a crew of 4 to reasonably run 24-7. To give you some idea, the ~450 miles between San Diego and San Francisco at 5-6 knots took me 71 hours of motoring and 6 hours of sailing. It was exhausting with 3 people. There's lots of other things to consider such as where you can go in bad weather, the costs of going through the canal, how much to pay crew, the amount of diesel you'll need, the amount of food, the condition of your engine and rigging, etc. This seems overly ambitious, especially given how little you know about sailing. I was completely in your boat, so to speak, a few years ago when I first started looking for a sailboat to buy. I was on the East Coast and would see something interesting around the Great Lakes or in Texas. I'm glad I took the advice of friends and didn't do it. Until you set foot on it, it's not really in your best interest to trust anything anyone tells you about the boat. If you decide to do it, then make sure you have a competent surveyor who can advise you well. This is a huge endeavor.

[BIGA13X]

Yeah, im beginning to realize I underestimated this...
So youre saying 4 weeks at least with 24/7 forward progress?
The crew would consist myself, someone who really knows what theyre doing, and 3 friends are inexperienced.
I'm taking lessons starting this weekend so im counting on being at least a "Bigger" contributor to the work load.

In order for this to work for me I would need it under 3 weeks.. Id plan to stop Once mid route for any service/ re stock food, fuel ... Im envisioning this being a cannonball type run (only sailing). Myself and my friends that offered their help are not expecting a vacation, more of an adventure. We're fairly young, and probably dont know any better, which is why I feel we can spend less time worried about being comfortable and more time worried about covering ground.

[sailorchic34]

That boat lightly loaded can do 12 knots or more. So in theory, it could be done. BUT, the problem is when you load it up with 5 people, with food water, beer, etc for two weeks that boat gets heavy and that slows it down.

The other problem is the winds rarely are perfect. Much of the time the winds will be light or on the nose. When the wind is blowing the seas get bigger and the crew will get tired quickly. A Trained crew on a racing maxi tri can do 6000 miles in 3 weeks easy, but not up wind. Figure you might average 7 knots or 168 miles a day on average. More on those perfect days. But that last 1/3 is upwind is going to be a slow wet slog.

So the one guy that knows how to sail falls overboard in a gale, Four guys untrained are not going to be able to find him and get him back aboard. Its hard even for trained crew to do it. Then your up the creek as it were.

Three weeks is just not going to be possible. Two weeks from panama to SF would be a fantastic run. But I don't see even that happening. More like 3 weeks counting lay days for weather to pass, just for that segment. At best.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Wow... Just wow...

Honestly... I think you'll be lucky if you make it around Florida before the hurricane season starts again... (that's June to you...)

[SaltyMonkey]

Totally totally unrealistic. Try another plan or another boat.

How about hopping it down the coast. Fly back. work. fly to boat, repeat.

Where did you get that 40k shipping cost?

[BIGA13X]

Hey you guys, thanks for all the input..
Im thinking of breaking up the trip into segments. So is the last 1/3 going Up the coast towards California-- and i could make that in 2.5 weeks??-- that could work. Then i save the last bit for another time But at least ill be on the west coast.
SailorChic- good point about losing the skipper overboard.. We would be hosed. And at most wed only be carrying clothes, food, and of course beer... I dont think we would be loaded down to heavily to hinder our speed.
Does anyone know how much it costs
To get through panama canal?

[Mark1977]

Dude take a breather....When I first read your post i thought [me being from Canada] maybe there is another Virginia on the west coast. Nope its the same Virginia I thought.
I normally don't agree with all the naysayers on the forum telling people wait, get more training or that boat is too big, but what you are thinking is impossible.

I think you should go for it but you will have to do it in parts, if time is a concern. Like someone else said do a leg, fly back...repeat.

[BIGA13X]

SaltyMonkey - $40K is +,- $2K in all shipping quotes ive got from uShip.com . I called even and the fuel alone these days is a primary reason why price is so high.
Thats with practically 0 time constraints meaning just pick it up in the next month or so and deliver within a few months... Reasonable

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Mark1977

Dude take a breather....When I first read your post i thought [me being from Canada] maybe there is another Virginia on the west coast. Nope its the same Virginia I thought.
I normally don't agree with all the naysayers on the forum telling people wait, get more training or that boat is too big, but what you are thinking is impossible.

I think you should go for it but you will have to do it in parts, if time is a concern. Like someone else said do a leg, fly back...repeat.

Nope ..... This killed me!

Gotta break it up if you are going to pursue...

Do a search on canal costs... more than just the entry to a theme park...

[Fog Bank]

Originally Posted by BIGA13X

As far as buying a sailboat around here, ive been looking for months! Not really interested in a mono haul, especially since I've got myself all worked up over a multi haul. There are no multi hauls around here, nothing similar to that tristar- and by that I mean, I love how spacious it is inside and especially the deck

In our marina, a tri has been for sale for some time but I believe it is a bit smaller in length than the model you are considering. You might take a look at sailboatlistings.com as well.