Does anyone sail now or have sailed before without a motor

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by Estrellita

I'm waiting until I get to Key West and a job to get a dinghy and motor. That's my destination and where I will get a job and start on all these boat projects and get what I need to succeed, as of now I'm doing my best winging it. I think it's a big accomplishment going without a motor. It's something I want to do. I want to fix the motor myself and I need a class or to a little more time and better weather. It's one more thing I'll take care of when I get to the keys. I think I am going to wait for the winds to change and leave more towards Nov 1 instead of now. So I'm not sailing straight into the wind during the peak of hurricane season

Well then when needs must , you are a brave man , go for it , take care and good luck , ( it seems that you do have some knowledge of what you are taking on which is obv a great help )

[Cadence]

It sounds like folly in this day and age. Off shore fine but you need to come into port. You can read all the books in the world. Get the engine repaired. JMHO

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by Cadence

It sounds like folly in this day and age. Off shore fine but you need to come into port. You can read all the books in the world. Get the engine repaired. JMHO

He has already indicated that that is not an option

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Hene

The rig and underbody of our Cheoy Lee Offshore 40, Mary T, are very similar to yours. We had several periods over the years, of sailing without an engine, whether it was out for a re-build or lurking in its hole waiting for the skipper's diagnosis.

We did not always sit on the hook or in a marina during these periods; sometimes we went sailing just for fun, others we went for water and food, which meant maneuvering in port. Based on this experience, if you are going to wait until November, it would be a good use of your time to get the mizzen boom back on and the mizzen working. It won't be particularly helpful to you on passage, but will be invaluable maneuvering when you get there, especially if you have enough wind to take down the main.

Strapped in, the mizzen will keep the boat headed into the wind while you drop that big anchor. If you need to sail off the hook, you can tie the mizzen boom over to a shroud to shove the boat onto the tack you will want when the anchor comes up (sail stop and slip knot). This is very handy in a crowded anchorage! We did practice this a lot in our early years, and at first I liked to have the engine (if it was working) ticking over in neutral as a security blanket, but after a while I was happy to skip the engine. My late husband liked to get up early and sail out of an anchorage on a morning offshore breeze singlehanded, adding the main or the engine later, depending on the wind.

I do agree with the people who suggest towing membership/insurance especially if you think you'll need to go through a narrow, coral-lined entrance to a crowded marina.

Listen to the voice of experience, above.

All our boats have been one kind or another of fin keel. The short tacking that may be necessary is more difficult in a boat with the hull configuration of yours.

How could you personally get hurt? all it takes is a sudden stop when you're standing on deck, going 5 kn., and off the boat you are, or a sudden lurch. I don't know if you have the experience yet for your feet to tell you in advance what the boat is starting to do. You can hurt others or their boats when you lose control of your boat.

With your lack of experience, mentioned above, if you make it without incident, you shall have been lucky. This is not to denigrate you, but Hene and her husband had some hours of practice where they had room to make mistakes, and really learn the boat's behavior. Snow Petrel has countless miles behind him, and we sail without using the engine, but it's maintained and ready to go. Have sailed out of some tight situations when it wasn't, and to anchor, but not as a "getting to know you" of the boat.

Ann

[Wannabes00n]

Hey Estrellita,

I live in Charleston and am just curious, are you moored at the end of lockwood blvd by the coast guard station? Best of luck on the way to the keys. If you need a tow out to the harbor, although you said you already have one, I may be able to help out.

Richard

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by anacapaisland42

We've sailed thousands of miles with a very unreliable motor. Now I have an outboard on the back. Also previously we rafted our inflatable with a 9.9 Yamaha alongside and that worked just fine.
Getting in/out of harbour is a big issue.
I feel that having a motor is a safety issue not a luxury
Bill

Someone said it was brave. To be crass, I would classify it more as stupid. Why people encourage ill conceived ideas is beyond me.

[noelex 77]

We suffered engine failure in our previous yacht and we sailed for several weeks without an engine. This included sailing to another country to effect repairs.

It sounds romantic, but it's not.

[puffcard]

Originally Posted by Estrellita

I'm always solo, been single handing since the begining of time..haha I might have a friend going but I will plan on going solo. And I'm not sure want that is you're talking about, run-in take out or bobtail

I have a running Westerbeke that I'm pulling and plan to sell in a few weeks. The bobtail means it doesn't have a transmission. Does have a new clutch plate and the adapter plate for a Hurth ZF transmission. The motor has 1,800 hours since a major rebuild, runs great. Doesn't burn oil, but does leak a little oil, like all Westerbekes or British base motors.

[Hydra]

Originally Posted by Estrellita

Pictures.

With this kind of keel and rudder, I would experiment tacking in light airs to get a feeling of how long and how much room it takes to restore some headway. In addition, many modern marinas are so constricted that it is necessary to turn on a dime to enter some berths. Many yachts can only do that with an engine, backing and filling.

Sometimes, an engine is useful to safely abort a badly engaged manoeuvre in port. In the past, sailing workboats had no engine but they were strongly built and they could withstand a crash.

Alain

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by Estrellita

I think it's a big accomplishment going without a motor. It's something I want to do. I want to fix the motor myself and I need a class or to a little more time and better weather. It's one more thing I'll take care of when I get to the keys. I think I am going to wait for the winds to change and leave more towards Nov 1 instead of now. So I'm not sailing straight into the wind during the peak of hurricane season

Please don't fix the motor. Just get rid of it.

If you put long oars and a sliding seat you can probably maneuver.

Worst case just get an electric motor. They have 1 moving part. Also it is kind of funny to motor along without draining the battery when the sun is out.

I left charleston without wind. I used the sculling oar, but mostly the tidal current.

[akprb]

"How would I be endangering anyone elses if I'm single-handed?"

A million ways. Single handed (don't get me wrong I love it and have done plenty of it) can be taxing. Light air, counter current, traffic, fatigue, heavy air, injury, gear failure, grounding, loss of autopilot.....the list goes on.

If you find yourself on that reef with the tide rushing out at any time of day, exhausted, broken finger, etc and you call seatow cause you got the insurance you are putting them in harms way.

Full keeler like that not going to perform when you need it and one missed tack against current and there you are.

Not trying to throw cold water. More an encouragement to sort out your auxiliary propulsion since you have it and at least have the piece of mind of a backup.

[mayberrybfd]

Lynn and Larry Pardee did for years

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by akprb

"How would I be endangering anyone elses if I'm single-handed?"

A million ways. Single handed (don't get me wrong I love it and have done plenty of it) can be taxing. Light air, counter current, traffic, fatigue, heavy air, injury, gear failure, grounding, loss of autopilot.....the list goes on.

If you find yourself on that reef with the tide rushing out at any time of day, exhausted, broken finger, etc and you call seatow cause you got the insurance you are putting them in harms way.

Full keeler like that not going to perform when you need it and one missed tack against current and there you are.

Not trying to throw cold water. More an encouragement to sort out your auxiliary propulsion since you have it and at least have the piece of mind of a backup.

I must agree with this. All the folks extolling the virtues and joys of engineless sailing seem to be basing their advice on experience gained in much smaller boats than the OP's. Out at sea (like Chichester's one stop circumnavigation) bigger boats are quite manageable. Entering passes, etc, ain't so! The Pardeys too were in smaller boats, and eventually used a dinghy with an outboard to help them through tight spots, as well as accepting tows from others with engines. Boat Alexander's heroic sculling would not likely work so well on a big, heavy, high wetted area yawl. And remember that all the folks whose exploits have been shown as examples were very experienced in the specific boats they sailed, a familiarity that the OP lacks.

In short, there are a lot of failure modes that can accost the OP, ones that could cause harm to other persons or property, and small boat tactics will not be successful in remedying them. IMO, the addition of at least some form of motor driven tender is a requisite for good practice. Surely such a thing can be borrowed, hired or purchased for the duration of this voyage. If not, then as a bare minimum towing insurance should be obtained, for I gather that there is good coverage in the area in question.


Jim

[Mike OReilly]

I'm mostly fine without an engine, until I get close to the hard stuff. Then I pray to the Perkins gods and hope to heck Grampa Tractor fires when I turn that key.

I'd love to go engineless, but I'm just not that good a sailor [emoji6]

[Rorzech]

What did they do without engines in the days of sailing two hundred cannon galleons and no tide tables GPS's or reliable charts ??? Hundreds of years without motors and they made it back and forth most of the time . It's just like computers . People wrote books for thousands of years and now you almost wouldn't consider writing a book without using a computer. Myself , I want every advantage on my side possible , and back ups to those advantages , along with insurances and lots of reading about everyone else's mistakes that I can learn from. Minimum 2 engines barely makes me comfortable. I guess I'm a firm believer in "Murphy's Law"