The go/no go list

[Steadman Uhlich]

You have three things (Wife, 2 year old child, dog) on the boat that cause me to suggest the following as a priority over getting a BBQ or Microwave or WIFI:

1. PFD for the Child
2. Harness with tether for the Child
3. Lifeline Netting (helps keep the child and dog aboard)
4. Jacklines (to which you attach the harness of the child or yourself)
5. EPIRB
6. Life Raft
7. Life Sling
8. Boarding Ladder

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

You have three things (Wife, 2 year old child, dog) on the boat that cause me to suggest the following as a priority over getting a BBQ or Microwave or WIFI:

1. PFD for the Child
2. Harness with tether for the Child
3. Lifeline Netting (helps keep the child and dog aboard)
4. Jacklines (to which you attach the harness of the child or yourself)
5. EPIRB
6. Life Raft
7. Life Sling
8. Boarding Ladder

Great basic list! The next question would be how deep are your pockets? You didn't mention nav. equipment? You said coast wise so no great investment needed but it is nice the know your location.


Don't take Steady Hand's tethers and jack lines lightly.

[rognvald]

Some interesting replies, however, my list would be:

1. Inspect/rebed all chainplates and deck hardware
2. drop mast/analyze/replace/recon rigging /lights/antenna as needed
3. inspect/analyze all sails at a qualified sailmaker.
Minimum sails: triple reefed main, 110% reefable working headsail,
cruising spinnaker
4. Replace/inspect stuffing box, strut bearing, rudder quadrant and
bearings/rudder shaft, rudder delamination
5. Replace/inspect all belts, hoses, seacocks, drains, hose clamps
6. Replace inspect all ports/hatches
7. Replace/inspect all running rigging
8. Spare parts/tools for engine
9. GPS, Charts, Coast Pilot, Sailing Directions, hand bearing compass,
EPIRB, binoculars, safety harnesses, life vests, jacklines, sextant-if
going offshore, compensated compass, depth sounder, VHF, bosun's chair, etc.

I'm sure I've missed a few "essentials," however the most important go/no go is the condition of the vessel. If the above items do not take precedence over all else, all the toys you feel you must have will be of no use and your chance for failure/disaster will be great. Good luck and good sailing. P.S. I wish I had a dollar for every "cruiser" we encountered along the path in their luxury interplanetary spaceships that spent more time in marinas or at anchor repairing their vessels than cruising. . . but boy, they sure looked nice at the dock!

[4arch]

I agree with rognvald about getting the basics down first. My wife, 9 month old daughter, and I will be taking off this fall to cruise the ICW and to the Bahamas. We're going through similar outfitting choices and I've responded to the original list with the choices we've made...

SSB
Pactor modem
NO - to install new is in the $5K neighborhood. If you were sailing off to never return it would be a good investment but you'll be hard pressed to spend that much on sat comms in 1 or 2 years out. A $100 shortwave receiver will do most of what you need as far as receiving weather.

Solar panels
YES - They are so cheap now that there's little reason not to have them.

Inverter
NO - We have one that came with the boat but find it's not very efficient. It's been easier to move mostly everything to 12 volt.

Wind generator
NO - there are very few boats with both wind and solar where the wind gen doesn't create undue shading on the solar panels.

EPIRB
YES - I believe this is an essential piece of safety gear.

Iridum go/next device
Maybe - it really depends on how connected you want to be. Many are happy with device like an InReach and its lower costs. We are still trying to figure out our needs in this area and will not buy until we've been out for a few months.

life raft
NO - It seemed too much to us for coastal sailing. We'll never be more than a couple of hours from USCG reach and will be carrying a RIB on the foredeck. Our passages will not be more than 48 hours, if that, and will be within conservative weather windows.

reasonable dingy with an outboard
YES - we learned this one the hard way with cheap, small, and underpowered dinghies. On anything but glass flat water and calm wind they were miserable. We've upgraded to a 10'-6" RIB with 15 HP outboard. Not cheap but worth it when used everyday.

Spinnaker running rigging (I have a kite, but I need to run a halyard for it).
NO - You or you wife will be saililing the boat while the other tends to the child. I'm all for having a light air downwind sail, but there is no way you'll be able to manage a kite essentially singlehanded in anything but the most sedate conditions.

Cutter rigging (I have the sail, the chain plate, but I need to run a halyard
and I think I need two additional backstays)
No comment.

watermaker
NO - But maybe for the west coast. My research indicates most inexperienced cruisers go with a unit whose capacity is too small and end up frustrated at either having to run it constantly or not having the power to run it enough. If you can go without, at least at first, you'll better understand your needs.

self inflating life preservers for my wife and I
Sure

WiFi extension gear (I'm a wifi geek, I could build this from scratch, and make it lock on to the coords of a given wifi SSID and keep pointing that way regardless of how the boat drifts)
NO - We have one. It wasn't a budget breaker but the number of open access points is getting smaller every year and when you do find one it's usually slow. Also, how secure is using random unsecured access points? People are moving more to 3G/4G solutions for near-shore connectivity. It's probably still worth having a WiFi extender, but no need to go too elaborate or too expensive.

a aft pulpit mounted barbeque
Maybe - we have one but don't use it anywhere near as much as we thought when we bought it.

autopilot
YES - I pretty much think self steering is near-essential on anything other than a daysailor.

microwave
NO - we have one that came with the boat. We use it occasionally for heating water for tea or coffee when we have the excess power but could just as easily go without.

refrigerator
YES - I respect those who live without refrigeration - especially those who claim to not miss it - but to me it would feel like too much of a sacrifice. With portable units available for under $500, it's really not much of a stretch to have some level of refrigeration. There are even some CF members who are happy running cheap dorm fridges off inexpensive inverters.

[captmikem]

"Spinnaker running rigging (I have a kite, but I need to run a halyard for it).
NO - You or you wife will be saililing the boat while the other tends to the child. I'm all for having a light air downwind sail, but there is no way you'll be able to manage a kite essentially singlehanded in anything but the most sedate conditions. "

4arch, I do not mean to be harsh here, but you simply do not know what you are talking about. It is fine to give your opinions, but unless you have experience with the items you are talking about you are just blowing smoke.

I sailed a 90 ft cutter around the world with my wife, and I would say we used our chute about 30% of the time. You must not have any experience with a chute, as most people who say such things. People are afraid of them because they do not have experience with them . True Spinnakers are well worth their space. I do not care for asymmetrical “cursing" chutes, as they are useless down wind, you need them out on a pole to work. And a spinnaker pole is invaluable when running downwind with a jib boomed out.

I have carried a chute most of the way across the Atlantic twice. And yes, I have damaged one or two when I foolishly kept them up too long, but if you use one sensibly they are wonderful. I like a sock, and with just the two of us on a passage, we have a standing rule we pull the sock at 20 kts. Blow the guy and pull the sock, an easy one person job. (we use a martin breaker to blow the guy). Also I over-trim the sheet, which keeps you from having to tend it. You will find most of the wind you see is under 20 kts, and when it is on the stern, rather then roll roll roll, and run the engine, your chute becomes a favorite sail.

And about the Pactor. If you bought a brandy new ICOM with tuner and a pactor, you might spend 5K. but there are plenty used ones around that you can get good deals on. You can pick up an icom 700m, tuner, and pactor for under $1500 total, and have email, nearly continuous synoptic charts, and talk to your friends on the net. Trust me there is nothing better than Grib charts. If you ever try getting your wx from WWV, NMG, NMO, NMN, or KMI, you will find out getting weather by listing to an hf radio is tenuous to say the least.

Michael.

[4arch]

I don't know how you presume to know my experience and I never said that a having and using a spinnaker was a wrong choice, just that it wasn't a sensible choice for myself (or, IMO, the OP) given the realities of having a very small child on board. With the crew dynamics a baby aboard imposes, deploying and flying a chute falls really low on the priority list. There are times when the baby will need one parent's undivided attention, leaving the other parent to essentially singlehand. Although a spinnaker can be managed singlehanded, it's hardly the ideal or most conservative sailing choice, especially if you find yourself in the position of needing to jibe or douse. I agree with you that too many cruising couples are reluctant to use traditional spinnakers, but a baby boat isn't realistically the place to turn this trend around. Once the child is older and more self-sufficient, then sure.

Also whenever the expense of an SSB/Pactor combo is mentioned on this forum a poster inevitably replies with the assertion of used gear being available super cheap. If there really are used, working, complete, ready-to-go SSB/Pactor combos currently available for sale for $1,500 USD, please post some links! And remember there are install costs associated with used gear that can run several hundred dollars, or more. The $100 receive-only radio I mentioned, when coupled with a computer or tablet, is also capable of receiving GRIBs and WeFax.

[captmikem]

I have to confess I have ZERO experience with babies. Took my dog around the world on another boat, a real pleasure having him aboard, bit of a problem in OZ and NZ but other than that a real pleasure. (he was of no use handling a chute though).

As to the sideband, I purchased an m700 for 300 bucks on ebay, a NEW turner on ebay for 125 and a pactor modem on craigslist for 250 (only a Pactor II though, 170 to upgrade to III). Pretty easy to wire up, my boat had an insulated backstay already.

While in La Paz, getting ready to sail to Tahiti, I bought an M700 with a tuner for $150 off a fishing trawler (plus a large antenna which I could not use).

When crossing an ocean, it is pretty nice to be able to talk to other boats doing the same, and make an occasional phone call using the very helpful people on the mm net. These folks are so helpful they will do practically anything for you.

From this forum:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...io-101089.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...dem-86442.html

from ebay:
Icom IC M700 Base or Marine Radio | eBay

Icom Single Side Band IC M700 | eBay

Icom at 120 Antenna Tuner | eBay