Bluewater Cruising Capability

[Pilgrimtex]

Originally Posted by trapoc

After reading 20 or so pages I think you guys are trying to scare me into not leaving next year on my 25ft fin keel spade rudder boat. If that isn't true then tell me what I can do to the boat to make it as safe as possible. Thanks Charley

First, Wrap an air bladder completely around and attached to your hull. Next Fill the cabin with closed cell foam. Place a giant coil spring between the mast and Cabin so instead of the boat getting knocked down the mast bends and comes back.
Use common sense. Be sure within your mind that your capable and the Boat is rigged and fit for where you want to go. Use good judgment in your decisions and sail. Time and experience is your teacher. Posts are cheap and plentiful.

[Paul Elliott]

Pitchpoling is quite rare. The most famous case of it that I can think of is of the Smeeton's in their ketch Tzu Hang, as they were attempting to sail around Cape Horn in 1957 (or so). In fact, after they repaired their boat they tried it again, and pitchpoled again (or broached, there is some uncertainty). They tell the story very well in their book "Once is Enough".

[trapoc]

I know I've already done all of that, but what can you add ? There must be something else I can do. Seat belts, maybe I could wear a helmet and shin pads. Come on now what else have you got ?

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by lifeofreilly57

Thanks for the feedback, in my 30 years of sailing I'd never come across many stories or mentions of a pitchpole incident so I assumed they were rare, of course up until recently 90 foot waves were also said to be impossible by the scientific community as just a figment of some impressionable sailors imagination. That is until they actually have recorded waves that size with data recording ocean bouys designed for that purpose, then they had to go back and tweak the theory. In reality they are rare since not a whole lot of waves that size have been recorded with those instruments.
I do remember my uncles stories of the storms they encountered in WWII when in the South Pacific, one of which sent waves right over the conning tower on the destroyer they were stationed on causing extensive damage. All three were stationed on different ships in the same fleet. Of course they were there for the duration of the Pacific campaign and only encountered one storm of that magnitude, which again points to the low incidence of those type of events.
I would think it would take pretty poor planning or extremely bad luck (which still happens) to be put in that situation, which is probably why it seems to be such an infrequent event.
I was just thrown off by the number of times it came up in the thread.

When I first moved to Guam in the 90s I reada newspaper from Australia that reported a story about a shoal off the north east coast that produced 100 ft waves on a regular bases...even showed photos from the air,can you imagine 100 ft faces and one mean left break,Kowabunga!

[Paul Elliott]

Check out Cortes Bank, about 100 miles west of San Diego. This is a seamount that rises up from a depth of 1000 fathoms, and sits a few feet under the surface. 70+ ft waves!

[Mr B]

In December, 2013, An Aussie is going to row a boat across the Atlantic Ocean, Single Handed,

Around the Equator area, It was on the news here, He Comes from Brisbane,

And I am sure its not 25 foot long,

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by Mr B

In December, 2013, An Aussie is going to row a boat across the Atlantic Ocean, Single Handed,

Around the Equator area, It was on the news here, He Comes from Brisbane,

And I am sure its not 25 foot long,

Been done by quite a few people
John Fairfax

[PUDDLE JUMPER II]

Originally Posted by trapoc

After reading 20 or so pages I think you guys are trying to scare me into not leaving next year on my 25ft fin keel spade rudder boat. If that isn't true then tell me what I can do to the boat to make it as safe as possible. Thanks Charley

My two cents=
I would start by water proofing all lockers and lazerettes... With not a lot of room on the boat-- so having some 'float-ability' should anything -God forbid--happen-- at least you have water tight compartments to it only provide some 'float' to keep your from sinking but also keep stuff DRY!

Prepare yourself for waves and ANTI- Surf mechanisms... Won't go into details-- there are a zillion threads and posts of peoples + vendors on these forums more knowledgable than me.

Guard your power sources-- batteries STRAPPED AND BUCKLED down. Go with GEL batteries to avoid spills on smaller boats that heel probably more than a heavy 44' sailboat with 10 metric ton disposition...

[robert sailor]

Jeeez give the guy a break. All kinds of small boats have made long passages and if he is reasonably skilled he will be able to deal with most issues that come up. As long as the basic structure is decent and the rigging is OK I can't see why this fellow will have problems sailing to the Caribbean. If you pick your weather its not much more than coastal cruising. Back in the day when the average cruiser was 30 feet and a 40 footer was huge we saw all kinds of boats in the mid to upper 20's sailing offshore. A young fellow sailed Dove damn near around the world way back when. You can't expect a young fellow on a limited budget to get too concerned about older and wiser naysayers when he's on a mission.

[trapoc]

Originally Posted by PUDDLE JUMPER II

My two cents=
I would start by water proofing all lockers and lazerettes... With not a lot of room on the boat-- so having some 'float-ability' should anything -God forbid--happen-- at least you have water tight compartments to it only provide some 'float' to keep your from sinking but also keep stuff DRY!

Prepare yourself for waves and ANTI- Surf mechanisms... Won't go into details-- there are a zillion threads and posts of peoples + vendors on these forums more knowledgable than me.

Guard your power sources-- batteries STRAPPED AND BUCKLED down. Go with GEL batteries to avoid spills on smaller boats that heel probably more than a heavy 44' sailboat with 10 metric ton disposition...

Puddle Jumper thank you for the info. All is greatly appreciated. Charley

[trapoc]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

Jeeez give the guy a break. All kinds of small boats have made long passages and if he is reasonably skilled he will be able to deal with most issues that come up. As long as the basic structure is decent and the rigging is OK I can't see why this fellow will have problems sailing to the Caribbean. If you pick your weather its not much more than coastal cruising. Back in the day when the average cruiser was 30 feet and a 40 footer was huge we saw all kinds of boats in the mid to upper 20's sailing offshore. A young fellow sailed Dove damn near around the world way back when. You can't expect a young fellow on a limited budget to get too concerned about older and wiser naysayers when he's on a mission.

Robert Sailor thank you for your support.

[trapoc]

For anyone who cares I am 54yrs old and have done a lot of stuff in my life already. Probably a lot more then most of the nay sayers. I am still alive and have never had any serious injury. I am as fit as any 30 yr old person in good condition. I have sailed an underbuilt boat in very poor conditions in the gulf stream off the coast of Florida in june 2003. I didnt break the boat because I am a conservative sailor. I had breaking waves 8-10 tall and about 20ft apart I knew then to under power the boat and secure everything. I have been caught in some very rough squalls while fishing in the gulf of Mexico on my 25ft Tiara flybridge sedan and I'm still alive. What I want to do here is not outrageous. I like working on boats and I don't mind spending some money while doing so. If someone can show me where its going to cost me 100,000 to do this then I will change my mind. I think I'm looking at 10,000 to 15,000 which is totally fine with me.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by trapoc

For anyone who cares I am 54yrs old and have done a lot of stuff in my life already. Probably a lot more then most of the nay sayers. I am still alive and have never had any serious injury. I am as fit as any 30 yr old person in good condition. I have sailed an underbuilt boat in very poor conditions in the gulf stream off the coast of Florida in june 2003. I didnt break the boat because I am a conservative sailor. I had breaking waves 8-10 tall and about 20ft apart I knew then to under power the boat and secure everything. I have been caught in some very rough squalls while fishing in the gulf of Mexico on my 25ft Tiara flybridge sedan and I'm still alive. What I want to do here is not outrageous. I like working on boats and I don't mind spending some money while doing so. If someone can show me where its going to cost me 100,000 to do this then I will change my mind. I think I'm looking at 10,000 to 15,000 which is totally fine with me.

Just go for it, I did it in a 34 foot Cat, I had no problems other than normal breakdowns, Crap in the filters, Etc,
Learning all the systems on my boat was the hard part, 6 weeks on board full time, Then I upped anchor and left,
Waking up in the middle of the Ocean on my first day out,

What have I done this time, Hahahahaha, Have I finally done the wrong thing, and put myself in the deep Doo Doo's,

It was a Hard Reality Check at the time,

Well I am here, On my own, Just off Fiji, And Australia is a long way over there, Some where,
The wind is not going in my direction,
I am 65, I have also done a lot of things, I am Capable,

As long as your boat is sound, you should have no problems,
As you say, Its mostly coastal cruising, Thats even easier, You can pick your weather windows to sail,
Middle of the ocean, You wear whatever is thrown up at you,, You dont have the luxury of weather windows,
Bad weather, Just run before it, It only lasts a few days,

I didnt have weather reports of any kind, No radio, no communication with any one,
And if I waited for a weather window from Fiji, I would still probably be sitting there waiting,

A Good Auto pilot is essential for single handing on long passages,

Fresh water and canned food, Canned food doesnt spoil,

A 4 foot square Tarp or Plastic sheet, With ropes on each corner, will catch all the fresh water you will need, If your bottled water runs out, Or needs to be refilled, or topped up while your travelling,
Keep your fresh water full at all times, You never know what might happen,
You can go with out food, with out any bad side effects for 10 days, as long as you have plenty of freshwater,
A lot of the Naysayers on here, Havent ventured further from their computers than the kitchen to get another cup of coffee, But they are experts on sailing across the world,

Dont let others stop you achieving what you want to do, Its you thats doing it, Not them,

They also have no idea on what your capabilities are,
They can only work on their own Capability, If thats not up to scratch, Thats the limit they are restricted too, Not yours,

[trapoc]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Just go for it, I did it in a 34 foot Cat, I had no problems other than normal breakdowns, Crap in the filters, Etc,
Learning all the systems on my boat was the hard part, 6 weeks on board full time, Then I upped anchor and left,
Waking up in the middle of the Ocean on my first day out,

What have I done this time, Hahahahaha, Have I finally done the wrong thing, and put myself in the deep Doo Doo's,

It was a Hard Reality Check at the time,

Well I am here, On my own, Just off Fiji, And Australia is a long way over there, Some where,
The wind is not going in my direction,
I am 65, I have also done a lot of things, I am Capable,

As long as your boat is sound, you should have no problems,
As you say, Its mostly coastal cruising, Thats even easier, You can pick your weather windows to sail,
Middle of the ocean, You wear whatever is thrown up at you,, You dont have the luxury of weather windows,
Bad weather, Just run before it, It only lasts a few days,

I didnt have weather reports of any kind, No radio, no communication with any one,
And if I waited for a weather window from Fiji, I would still probably be sitting there waiting,

A Good Auto pilot is essential for single handing on long passages,

Fresh water and canned food, Canned food doesnt spoil,

A 4 foot square Tarp or Plastic sheet, With ropes on each corner, will catch all the fresh water you will need, If your bottled water runs out, Or needs to be refilled, or topped up while your travelling,
Keep your fresh water full at all times, You never know what might happen,
You can go with out food, with out any bad side effects for 10 days, as long as you have plenty of freshwater,
A lot of the Naysayers on here, Havent ventured further from their computers than the kitchen to get another cup of coffee, But they are experts on sailing across the world,

Dont let others stop you achieving what you want to do, Its you thats doing it, Not them,

They also have no idea on what your capabilities are,
They can only work on their own Capability, If thats not up to scratch, Thats the limit they are restricted too, Not yours,

Mr B I knew there had to be more people out there like me. Thanks for the words of encouragement. Charley

[Mr B]

I also know now that my Cat will sink if holed,
I have air bags now that I can inflate quickly,
They fold flat when not in use, But are a cubic metre when inflated, I need four to keep my boat on the surface,
Manual air pump blows them up, Very quickly,
Similar to the Air jacks for cars, that run off the exhaust of the car, But bigger,
Any Bladder maker can supply them, Water beds, Etc,

Take out the actual Factor of sinking, The rest is up to you, You have plenty of time to repair things if your boat wont sink,
Even if it is level with the ocean surface, You still have the time on your side to fix things,

Repair the hole, Pump it out, your on your way again,
It may take a week to fix, bobbing around in the Ocean,, But Its doable,