couple in 20's 2 year circumnavigation...We need advise

[Adelie]

Step-by-step guides - Department of Agriculture

Bringing cats or dogs to New Zealand | MPI Biosecurity New Zealand

[SimonV]

Good advice here. The dog is the deal breaker. Most countries will let you in but will demand the dog never leaves the boat...is that fare on the dog. I always pine for a Bendy 473 but a smaller 37 would see you right and the savings could extend you cruise or make it lavish. Good luck.
This is a good pet travel sight. http://www.pettravel.com/immigration

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[Wotname]

30+ posts and almost all are in broad agreement - gotta say something!

[Bregts]

"we probably will never get to see the world in a way that is truly stress free and relaxed."

Don't want to rain on the parade but crossing oceans and sailing unknown coastlines with tricky currents with a small crew an a sailing yacht is not always stress free and relaxed. It's an adventure and adventures give you stress and exciting moments. Make sure you realize that whatever boat or budget you have it will not always be a walk in the park. We met many couples giving up after their first atlantic crossing because it was not the sailing they expected after spending huge budgets on boats and gear. Things will break and seas will be rough from time to time. If you are prepared for this go and you will have the time of your life (but go west) just realize that sailing oceans is not (always) like sailing that local lake or coast on a nice sunday.

[natraps116]

Thanks all for the advice.

After doing a lot more research it totally makes sense to go the westerly route. We're gonna try to do our trip only backwards! And probably extend the time frame to around three years with trips back to family every six months or so via plane.

Also the thoughts on traveling with the dog are definitely noted. There is a lot of red tape to bring a dog around the world.

As for the size of the boat, we have been to many boat shows and feel that the 30-40 foot boats are really cramped for more than one couple. (I have 9 siblings ((9 boys one girl in family))that I know will be joining us separately with there wives/kids on legs of our journey) so having the extra room and storage is a must for us. I would get a cat but I personally don't like the sailing experience of being on a cat. It's more real to me being on a mono. Just my opinion though and my wife agrees

Thanks for all the replies though it really helps the whole process. We have already decided to go west instead of east. Hearing it from people that have done it is certainly more reassuring than reading stories of people that have done the east trip.

Thanks

[natraps116]

Originally Posted by Adelie

Two years is rushed but doable. For folks with limited experience it is really rushed.



Leave the dog or skip Oz and NewZealand take your pick. Both have a 6 month quarantine, any deviations from requirements they kick you out immediately, if you aren't ready they put the animal down or they might put it down anyway. This is a huge money issue for both countries, both have large agricultural segments to their economies and have no tolerance for anything that might bring a disease or invasive species that would threaten their people's livelihoods. If you have hiking boots aboard they will brush the dirt off them into a bag and incinerate it to make sure no seeds or spores make it into the country.



37' is probably the largest boat you want for your skill level. With several years of offshore experience a bigger boat would be OK.



The way I read your budget you have:



$200-250k to buy and outfit the boat



plus



$135k lump sum + $1300/mo for underway expenses



Is that correct?

Yes, that's correct. Obviously we are trying to save as much money on the boat as possible but really are looking to kit the boat out with as much with new gear as possible to reduce maintenance on the trip. Being a general contractor and a fairly handy fellow (patting myself on the back ) I hope there isn't much that could happen that would totally stump us.

Hopefully the investing in some good manuals will pay off on the way

[BandB]

We predict you'll relocate, at least for a few years. You're the perfect candidate. So many of the places you'll visit hire US citizens to lead construction projects. So somewhere along the way you'll find a place or area you fall in love with and actually find your skills in demand and ability in your profession to get work visa's.

[natraps116]

Originally Posted by Bregts

"we probably will never get to see the world in a way that is truly stress free and relaxed."

Don't want to rain on the parade but crossing oceans and sailing unknown coastlines with tricky currents with a small crew an a sailing yacht is not always stress free and relaxed. It's an adventure and adventures give you stress and exciting moments. Make sure you realize that whatever boat or budget you have it will not always be a walk in the park. We met many couples giving up after their first atlantic crossing because it was not the sailing they expected after spending huge budgets on boats and gear. Things will break and seas will be rough from time to time. If you are prepared for this go and you will have the time of your life (but go west) just realize that sailing oceans is not (always) like sailing that local lake or coast on a nice sunday.

Thanks bregts,

Don't worry your not raining our parade when you say sailing isn't all roses and relaxed. We want to hear constructive critisicm to ground us to the realities of undertaking a voyage this ambitious.
I would take sailing stress any day as opposed to a half million $ project construction deadline with pre Modonna clients in willing to budge on trivial details.

I gladly look forward to breakdowns!!!

In the end I'm still sailing and not listening to clients rant.... Woot!

[Matt Johnson]

If you want to actually SEE the world in two years.... FLY. You'll be spending a lot of time at sea, and when you finally arrive somewhere, you won't have time to actually experience anything the country has to offer besides the beach/harbor/town you're at.

You're younger than us (My wife and I are both 31), but we started cruising for the same reasons...we wanted to see the world before we had children. We have a lot more time than your self imposed two years, but once we left the US, we quickly realized we could either collect a ton of stamps in our passport or we could actually experience each area we are in. We slowed way down and have enjoyed it ten times more.

On that note, this past hurricane season (6 months long) we parked our boat in Guatemala and went backpacking in South America. I saw way more of each area we traveled with a pack on my back than I have with our boat. Unless you have unlimited time/money, I've found most cruisers fall into the rut of sticking close to the comforts of their boat. Your boat is your home...Why go into the interior of a country and stay in a hotel? You have now just limited yourself to the coastal areas of each country.

I absolutely LOVE what the cruising lifestyle has done to my typically high stressed and fast paced personality (it's very calming), and I think we may continue to do this indefinitely. But as a way to quickly see the world, I have to say a backpack or RV is a much better choice. You're young and now is the time to travel hard and dirty if your goal is as stated in your OP.

Last but not least...leave the dog at home especially if you're going to circumnavigate in two years. 8 months of that time will be at sea, and it is not right to make a dog do that.

Matt

[SimonV]

I can see a couple of problems. The first seems to be you are buying your boat, not for you but other people that will be visiting you at exotic location. This in itself is a problem in you will be sailing to a time table. Time tables are what bring sailors unstuck.

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[chuckr]

well lets see

1st the dog -- big dog little boat and a lot of miles and not always pleasant -- i am not a dog lover but even i would feel sorry for the dog -- and if you plan to travel in land what are you going to do with it?? kennel? leave it on board and pay someone to walk feed ect, - heart over head on this one and not well thought out

2nd - good idea on the bahamas first as skinny water and good nav skills required

3rd - crossing atlantic in mar/apr -- only if you have paid up life insurance and want someone to cash in -- we crossed last may and boats we knew of crossed early but they we generally bigger boats with professional crews that had to get to the med to charter -- we left may 1 and had an ok trip with 3 days of winds in the 25-30k range and seas at 3+meter -- then some great sailing then another 3 days of winds 25-28k and again 3meter seas -- when we got to azores there were 2 boat watches out for boats that left a week before us and never heard from again -- we found out later that 5 boats did not make it across -

4th -sailing the med past around the 1st of oct is iffy -it is not the cold it is the winds - the winds begin to come out of the gulf of lion on a fairly regular basis and it gets nasty to say the least - and it happen quick - we know from experience - most boats are parked from oct 1 to apr - and what are going to do in the med in such a short period of time -- not sure if you are an american or a brit - if american the schengren agreement will get you fairly quickly -- and it goes fast -

5th - i have thought of the backward nav but have not researched it but did you take into account the cyclone season in the pacific??

6th - not sure if isreal is stamping passports now or not - but they do you may have a bit of an issue getting into a muslim country -- we plan to research this a bit more later as we plan to go to isreal sometime and perhaps winter over there -

all i can think of right now --

[giant]

Has the poster actually done any real sailing yet?

My cousin who is a very keen and capable big wave surfer (sailed in pleasant conditions once or twice) now 50 years old suddenly announced while travelling through Guatemala that he and his girlfriend were going to buy a cruising boat and start cruising after viewing a couple of "cheap" yachts for sail there. He asked my advice on certain boats he was interested in , I told him to forget it because... he doesn't know anything about it, his girlfriends volatile personality is not suited to it and he will loose a lot of money. I finally cured him by taking him on a short cruise down the east coast of Oz... supposed to be Sydney to Hobart. It was a bit rough that first night at sea and we ended up sheltering not far south of Sydney at Jervis Bay at about 3am. Next morning he walked off the boat vowing never to go to sea again. I figure I saved him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Might be an idea to try sailing in the ocean first before selling up.

Dito for buying a boat to meet with the requirements of your friends, buy the boat for yourselves. Your friends will likely be too busy in there lives paying off mortgages, school fees and running businesses etc to join you. Looks to me you can find a very nice boat in the USA for $50 000 to $150 000. Really get some experience sailing before selling up everything and closing your business. Or go backpacking as another poster suggests.

I can admire the poster for running a successful business and getting ahead financially at a relatively young age but without some actual experience sailing I think the idea of selling up and sailing off into the sunset is a little naive and ill conceived at this stage.

Get some experience first.

[svBeBe]

It can be done, but you will be rushed. We are going to complete with 10 years. It would have been 6-7 years, but there were pirate issues and some health issues...100% cancer free now.

You might want to read the blog of another novice circumnavigator/couple who completed in about 3 years...and I think they went too fast. Bumfuzzle » Adventures There will be a lot of criticism in Cruisers Forum about this couple, but they did do what you are asking about.

Before we owned our Amel 53, we owned a Beneteau 461. I would suggest that you consider buying a different boat, used, larger and equipped for cruising. You will probably save some money to add to your cruising budget.

Lastly, we have 7 years of expenses on our blog at svbebe.blogspot.com/p/costs.html

Hope this helps you.

Bill

[natraps116]

Originally Posted by chuckr

well lets see

1st the dog -- big dog little boat and a lot of miles and not always pleasant -- i am not a dog lover but even i would feel sorry for the dog -- and if you plan to travel in land what are you going to do with it?? kennel? leave it on board and pay someone to walk feed ect, - heart over head on this one and not well thought out

2nd - good idea on the bahamas first as skinny water and good nav skills required

3rd - crossing atlantic in mar/apr -- only if you have paid up life insurance and want someone to cash in -- we crossed last may and boats we knew of crossed early but they we generally bigger boats with professional crews that had to get to the med to charter -- we left may 1 and had an ok trip with 3 days of winds in the 25-30k range and seas at 3+meter -- then some great sailing then another 3 days of winds 25-28k and again 3meter seas -- when we got to azores there were 2 boat watches out for boats that left a week before us and never heard from again -- we found out later that 5 boats did not make it across -

4th -sailing the med past around the 1st of oct is iffy -it is not the cold it is the winds - the winds begin to come out of the gulf of lion on a fairly regular basis and it gets nasty to say the least - and it happen quick - we know from experience - most boats are parked from oct 1 to apr - and what are going to do in the med in such a short period of time -- not sure if you are an american or a brit - if american the schengren agreement will get you fairly quickly -- and it goes fast -

5th - i have thought of the backward nav but have not researched it but did you take into account the cyclone season in the pacific??

6th - not sure if isreal is stamping passports now or not - but they do you may have a bit of an issue getting into a muslim country -- we plan to research this a bit more later as we plan to go to isreal sometime and perhaps winter over there -

all i can think of right now --

Chuckr,
Thanks for the detailed response. We really appriciate it.
I'm glad to know about your experience in the med, I really hadn't heard about the wind in the med after October. I also was unaware of any issues with Israel. Friends of ours flew their and did some bible tours and said it was a must to do if We are in the region and being a Christian it would be awesome to retrace the foot steps of Christ. But anyways the backwards journey really would be based on cyclone seasons as you said.

As I posted earlier we have realized that we are either gonna end up taking 3 years plus for this journey.

But alas only time will tell. We love sailing and love the freedom it brings. Especially after working in a high stress environment for 6 years plus. I don't feel like dieting of a heart attack just to meet deadlines imposed by others.

Thanks for the useful tips

[natraps116]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

It can be done, but you will be rushed. We are going to complete with 10 years. It would have been 6-7 years, but there were pirate issues and some health issues...100% cancer free now.



You might want to read the blog of another novice circumnavigator/couple who completed in about 3 years...and I think they went too fast. Bumfuzzle » Adventures There will be a lot of criticism in Cruisers Forum about this couple, but they did do what you are asking about.



Before we owned our Amel 53, we owned a Beneteau 461. I would suggest that you consider buying a different boat, used, larger and equipped for cruising. You will probably save some money to add to your cruising budget.



Lastly, we have 7 years of expenses on our blog at svbebe.blogspot.com/p/costs.html



Hope this helps you.



Bill

Svbebe

Thanks for the link we are checking out a lot of people's blogs to try to pick everyone brain so we can focus on the good ports and avoid the ones where the consensus is not good.

I'm a big believer in learning from others. With my business, I lived by the model if I didn't know how to do something don't guess, hire an expert who does,(then learn from them)

About the beneteau, which layout did you have. We really like the beneteau 473 because the two stateroom one storage room layout. We are big bicyclers and campers/hikers and will be bring our bikes with us to explore inland where we go so the storage room accessed from the inside is a must.
You felt you out grew the 461? It's good to hear because we defiantly don't want to feel cramped in our future home for three+ years.

Thanks so much for the link to your blog!