Could I manage Panama to Australia?

[daniel even zur]

If you are interested in another crew man, I'd love to join yo. I dreamd about it. If you find it interesting, here is my email.
evenzur dot daniel@gmai dot com

[TheThunderbird]

Thank you so much!

To the one originating the post, to everyone. You all ploughed a strong seed in me!

Being based in the Med, I was never caught by any Caribbean Dream... but, oh yeah, you make me feel like the SP is a story apart.

Point is being able to forget any hindrances ashore for 2 years at least :-)
...

[zeehag]

to op--- you can either fly and chew your nails to stubbins waiting for honey to eventually appear, or you can go with him and help him get thru whatever he has to face.
as i do know how to sail, if it were me and honey were gonna sail away into oblivion i would definitely go with him as i may not ever see him again. but that is your choice. also the sharing-- those moments of awesomness are so much better with your significant other to share ....
so many cool things to see and experience on the water. these are missed by flying over em.
enjoy your choice. it is all yours to make.

[Debzz]

Thank you to everyone for so many helpful replies!
We always sailed together starting from The West of Scotland and our first adventure of sailing from there to the Canaries in our little 29ft Mono.The Atlantic was where I stopped to draw a line for certain reasons.
Yes living aboard and sailing long distances bonds you together and we have a v long happy marriage.My concerns were not of boredom as I love Art,Music and reading,Fishing,snorkelling.Nor are my concerns being with my Husband as we are Soulmate's but weather conditions and being able to cope with the Prout alone if needs be .Also lack of Sat phone,radio,AIS Transmitter for emergency s.Another experienced person on board would be ideal but my other half doesn't want his bubble to burst !
Your replies were helpful.positive,caring and understanding,THANK YOU
again,watch this space

[JPA Cate]

Debzz,

Thank you for clarifying your situation. It sounds as if you want hubby to add some equipment and that would make you feel more comfortable about the trip. Maybe you can get him to meet you halfway about your concerns.

If you want a Satphone for the trip, make that happen, and be sure it's prepaid for the duration of the journey.

We have HF radio for emergency communications, and I am okay with that, but that is a question of risk tolerance, I think. FWIW, they can be a pain to install, and he may have resistance to that. The same is true for the AIS.

AIS is good to have, and although Jim replaced our receiver with one that transmits, I found just the receiver, interfaced with Open CPN to be adequate. Fancy electronics tend to draw out attention to themselves, when I think watchkeeping's primary focus needs to be on what's going on all around you.

As to another experienced crew person, well there might be someone like that you could take. So far, we've never taken crew. I wouldn't want the responsibility of having to take care of somebody else. Plus, there are a number of times crew haven't worked out and required to be returned to point of origin. So, for me, too much hassle.

We cope with long passages and short passages the same: 6 on, 6 off, watch schedule, sort of free form during daylight hours... This schedule gives us enough rest to go on indefinitely. So we don't need crew for getting adequate rest. Ymmv.

I do hope you decide to accompany him, but more on your terms than the situation appears at this point.

Ann

[TheThunderbird]

A full transparent communication and the mutual boiling down of all the aspects of a long term journey, are necessary


The stalemate seems more about your (unanswered, or rejected, yet duly honest..) concerns, than anything else.

You two have to work it out, on a 50/50 basis (one captain, yes, but dyarchy before sailing off)

[Livia]

During the correct season, an El Nino year should decrease your chances of strong winds. La Nina = reinforced trades in the Pacific..

Just be finished by the start of hurricane season

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by Debzz

My Husband and I always sailed together until the Atlantic crossing,now I fly out for long stays.The next sail is Panama to Marquesas Isles.I am more than hesitant to cross the Pacific especially with it being just the two of us and with The El Nino.This is breaking my heart as I can't imagine us being apart for almost Year if I don't go.I would greatly appreciate some encouragement from anyone who has sailed this route.Fellow Wives/crew especially!

I haven't read any of the posts after yours so bear with me if I duplicate anything or miss some other more explanatory post you have made. I am not even going to try to establish, or help you establish, whether you have the skills and a "good-enough" boat to make it. All I can say is my wife and I did it from Zihuatenejo Mexico in 2006 and made it to NZ, double handing every mile. We only started sailing in 2000 with a 42' old boat with no prior experience. The easiest part was the leg to the Marquesas. It was the longest though - days and miles. A bit scary but we hope to do it again.

No one is really sure what El Nino will do to the weather and seas for sure. Just start in the mid-spring. Don't go if you can't do that. Others may say it is OK but that is the "best" time. I also can't speak to leaving from Panama except to say that hundreds do it all the time. I think you have some wind issues (lack thereof) and some current issues so you have to take those in to account and provision fuel, water, food well. Take more than you can imagine using. With GPS finding the islands is easy. You just need to make sure you keep going.

You might find our blog helpful. It is not the best but it is representative and we did get good reviews from our polite friends:

SVMaggieDrum - Web Log of a Whitby 42 Sailing Vessel

We left Mexico for the Marquesas March of 2006 but you might find the lead up to that interesting. We did regularly meet with some like-minded souls in Mexico. We planned together and sailed (loosely) together the whole way across - one season to NZ, then another season back north and east to Fiji and Vanuatu. We went back to NZ and sold the boat. Others went to Oz and either kept going or sold there. You can also find some excellent info at the Latitude 38 site on the Pacific Puddle Jump: Pacific Puddle Jump Official Web Site There is also a big annual rally that leaves from Panama that does the same thing. You have to pay some bucks to "join". You can find it if it isn't already mentioned in this thread - probably is.

Easy peasy. You can do it. No shame if you decide not to. It is not for everyone. Some really good friends with very good skills, boat, and experience went through months of prep and took off in our same loose group. They turned around after two days. No one holds it against them. They just decided they wanted to do something else rather than the huge commitment of going across. It is a commitment for sure.

I probably have duplicated what a dozen others have said. Nothing original here.

[Lizzy Belle]

Originally Posted by Debzz

but weather conditions and being able to cope with the Prout alone if needs be .Also lack of Sat phone,radio,AIS Transmitter for emergency s

Those are very valid concerns, imho.

I'm not a fan of SSB myself, but no SSB means bringing along a sat phone. At least, that's my plan
AIS can be very helpful - not so much in emergencies but to help prevent collisions and close calls. I'd opt for at least a receiver so you have an 'extra eye out' for traffic around you.
Personally I'd also bring an EPIRB for when the sh*t really hits the fan.

If it's a choice between having my partner AND some basic safety equipment onboard, or go solo without any equipment, I know what my choice would be

As to handling the Prout: all that takes is practice. Most important thing to learn -again, IMHO- is how to reef and sail safely.
From what I understand (I'm usually not a fan of cats,but I recently saw a little Prout 31/33 and I have to admit -- I really like that little boat, so I've been reading up), Prouts are very safe boats and easy & friendly to sail. Slow but steady, so to speak -- but please note, this is from reading about them only, I have never sailed one.

If something were to happen to your husband and you need to sail the boat to shore by yourself, perfectly trimmed sails etc. aren't a concern. Only getting to shore / help safely is.
You need to be able to tell where exactly you are (!) and be able to navigate to the nearest 'point of help'. That, you can learn in just a little time on board. I'd also practice MOB procedures when sailing with 2 or more.

TL;DR version: if your husband would rather sail solo without basic safety equipment, then more power to him -- but in that case, I wouldn't wait ashore for him to grow tired of the sea - I'd move on with my life. Should he come back to shore, we'll see where we stand. But that's just me

If all it takes for you to join him is adding some safety gear like a sat phone, AIS receiver and EPIRB for instance, I can't really help but wonder why he doesn't want that -- provided he's fully aware of this, of course.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Debzz

My Husband and I always sailed together until the Atlantic crossing,now I fly out for long stays.The next sail is Panama to Marquesas Isles.I am more than hesitant to cross the Pacific especially with it being just the two of us and with The El Nino.This is breaking my heart as I can't imagine us being apart for almost Year if I don't go.I would greatly appreciate some encouragement from anyone who has sailed this route.Fellow Wives/crew especially!

Debzz, I can only assume your Atlantic crossing was at least unpleasant - possibly terrifying.
From your comment "this is breaking my heart", I can also only assume your husband is your life companion and best mate - my wife and I have a similar relationship.

To have experienced something unpleasant/terrifying, is indeed a big/huge hurdle to overcome. But then, to miss out on a shared adventure, that will be with you for the rest of your lives, to miss out on the amazing places, people and experiences along the way, the quiet times in the cockpit savouring life - that is a big price to pay.

Assuming you actually enjoy the more pleasant aspects of the cruising life, I encourage you to find a way to deal with this - to "dig deep" as my Lady says. Discuss the route, look for the nearest 'off' and see if you can come to terms with the concept of just making it that far and then being able to fly out if it is really not for you.

For us, the cruising dream was a huge step - especially for my wife. She was reading of others experiences in idyllic places and just wanting to go. Realistic enough to realise it is not always like that, but still needing to come to terms in a very big way, with her own fears and apprehension when things were not ideal.

It was a matter of bit by bit, and her taking more and more an active role in the actual sailing that helped grow confidence, and ability to deal with fear.

One significant milestone that really gave her a boost was dealing with her first night watch. The sea state was good, the wind mild, but she dealt with sail trim, passing ships etc, and knew that I was with her asleep in the cockpit if she needed me.

It will be a few years yet before we are looking at an ocean crossing, but I am quietly confident that if and when that time comes, she will be up for it. There is no way she would let me go by myself (even with crew), so we will in a way reach the point you are at, but by then we will have done a lot more overnight sailing, and she will be a lot more comfortable.

I don't know if any of the above is helpful or not, but in closing, work up to it slowly, have 'escape routes' planned so that it is a stage by stage commitment, and decide if - all things considered - you really want to be sailing and experiencing and sharing.

From that, I think you will find your answer.