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Old 26-06-2011, 10:02   #1
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Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

Looking for examples of what types of boats folks have used/been aboard that you would consider unseaworthy to cross major bodies of water. Something like a minimum of 7 days (Can be less, just an example) or so in timeframes, or similar. We keep hearing of how this boat is better than that boat, this is the opposite, like, I did this on one of those... Can you believe I actually did that?

What made the boat unseaworthy?

Were there problems with the boat or just the crew not understanding the fix?

Was the ultimate reward (Completed journey) worth the risk at the time?

Would you do the same thing again? If not, what would you change to complete the task?

Even, heck the boat did much better than expected...

Cheers...
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Old 26-06-2011, 10:47   #2
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

Alain Bombard sailed a 15 foot inflatable Zodiac across the Atlantic Ocean with almost no provisions. I think this pretty much set's the precedence of minimal seaworthyness...anything above this level is "doable".

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Old 26-06-2011, 11:46   #3
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

Okay, understand the extreme fringes... Bathtub, Kayak, rowboat... etc...

How about the boats being used every day out in the harbors... 24', 27', 30' boats nobody really wouldn't consider doing an ocean crossing in but you did it and learned the deal is more with the sailor than the actual boat?

Or better yet, Cruising Forum... You cruised in a boat that someone would never dream of and things really were not that bad? examples? What did you do to adapt?
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Old 26-06-2011, 12:04   #4
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

any boat 22 and larger will sail across the ocean.
depending on whether you run into a storm and how bad that storm is will and could decid for you your boats seaworthyness.
After this it is just a matter of choice and money as to how the vessel is outfitted.

I sailed my laser across lake ontario from Kingston Via Mainduck to henderson hardour and back. Had cooler lashed to mast with backpack.
Some consider this to be one of the roughest areas and very open. So it's all relative.
As for doing in now, I would take my G26 the atlantic, and then the bahamas, once there head east and enjoy.
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Old 26-06-2011, 12:05   #5
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?



Well in that case... there was a Catalina 27 named Dreadnaught that did a 2.5 year circumnavigation. It had some basic mods like backing plates and oversized rigging, retabbed bulkheads etc.. but nothing majorly structural.

On the Grampian owners site, there is a great story about a guy crossing the Atlantic in his Grampian 30. He also gives pretty detailed description of things that went wrong (not much) and his preparations...

If you look at the Single Handed Sailing Societies website, you can get lists of all the previous boats that have done the Singlehanded Transpac. Some of the boats are quite surprising and according the SHTP history pages, the vast majority of them are stock boats, no major structural modifications....

I've read quite a few blogs about folks cruising (usually with several crossings to their credit) on many different boats in the 25-30 foot size range, like Cals, Catalinas, Islanders, etc.. not crazy voyagers, just regular cruisers on regular old production boats from the mid-70's.
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Old 26-06-2011, 12:15   #6
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

Thanks, that is what I was looking for.... People doing it in the not so desired ways...
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Old 26-06-2011, 14:40   #7
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

Size matters in terms of Plan Bs, stowage, fuel and water: Small boats have a lot less, so you may, as some have found, arrive eventually looking a little shrivelled. I would install enough ways to make power so I could figure out my weather routing, as the smaller boats, especially the lighter IOR-style '70s types, don't heave to so well and there's a limit to how long you can hand-steer in a blow.

In a small, snug cabin, there's less space in which to fall and break an arm, but also less stowage for food, spares and safety gear.

On the other hand, there's a limit to how big a boat one can safely single-hand without first-class gear and adaptations, which is out of range for most sailors. So the general sense seems to be that the intrepid small-boat world cruiser has to have a LOT of patience, because they are going to take longer to go point-to-point, and will require a benign weather window in which to do it. Larger boats just go, and cats arrive first.

So if you are patient, thrifty, can live in the equivalent of one and a half tents, eat a lot of food reconstituted from dry, and can balance on a bucket, fair winds to you! The Hiscocks, after all, took off for years in Wanderer, a 30 footer that had a cabin that looked like the snug in a pub for Munchkins.





(Note: This is a nine tonne 30-footer...made of wood...so draw your own conclusions)
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Old 26-06-2011, 16:54   #8
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

If you just want to consider size in a production boat and disregard quality of construction a guy took a slightly modified Cal20 called Chalupa from San Francisco to Hawai'i singlehanded in the early '80's. In the '90's couple took an extensively upgraded Cal25 around the world having 2 kids on the way.

There are have been a couple of trips in inflatables, Bombard's being the first I am aware of.
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Old 26-06-2011, 17:52   #9
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

Kenichi Horie crossed in1962 from Japan to San Francisco on his 19ft plywood sloop 'Mermaid'

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park - Kenichi Horie and the MERMAIDS (U.S. National Park Service)
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Old 26-06-2011, 18:50   #10
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

Surely not the smallest but maybe the uglest. A Bolger AS 39

AS19 AS29 AS39

UUUUUUUUUgly!

But, if you read Annie Hill then you know that they crossed on a small home built Whammer. Dismasted a couple of times, but it was SUCH fun!

But for sheer audacity and in-your-face guts google up Howard Blackburn who brought a different meaning to 'single handing.'

Howard Blackburn, Gloucester - Cape Ann Museum

Howard Blackburn
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Old 26-06-2011, 18:51   #11
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Re: Okay, what was the least ocean worthy boat you have used to cross oceans and why?

That reminds me of another one

Mosato Fujimura, 6 year circumnavigation in a homebuilt 23 footer... one of the best sailing stories.
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