Started Our Circumnavigation!

[TOM]

Hi all, We are 2 months into our 5 year circumnavagation and have just launched our website www.byamee.com .We have had so much great information from this site and hope that our website will be of interest to those on here who want to cut loose and do the same.

[Teej]

Paul, Joyce and Darien,
Greetings from Canada! and congratulations on setting off on your planned circumnavigaion. Your website looks great and it's a pleasure to be your first respondent. We will look forward to following your adventure with great interest and wish you wonderful, safe and memorable experiences.

Within the last year my wife and I took the big plunge, bought a catamaran and plan to initiate ourselves into cruising with a 5-6 month Caribbean cruise this winter. Like you, my dreams have included a circumnav. adventure so we bought a boat that is proven blue water capable, having already crossed the Atlantic from its production "birthplace" in S. Africa. While we are still quite uncertain about taking the big leap to a circumnavigation, reading blogs from couples such as yourselves that are just doing it is inspirational. Thanks for sharing your adventures in your blog!
Cheers!
teej

[TOM]

Hi teej, Thanks for the encouragment,so far we are having an awesome time.We sat down the other day to talk about what we missed about life on land and came up blank.We would have loved a cat but unfortunatly the budget did not extend that far,even at this early stage we are seeing the advantages of shallow draft,and been able to do 160nm plus a day not to mention the space .Keep in touch and let us know what you are up to.
Cheers Paul.

[Hud3]

Hi, Paul.

Congrats on taking the big step! I enjoyed your blog. You have a lovely family, and Byamee looks like a great boat for the job. I applaud your selection of a cutter rig for offshore passagemaking. You should add a link to your blog in your signature, so we all can keep up with your progress.

Best wishes for a safe and rewarding experience!

[Ocean Girl]

Byamee,
Great website. You have a beautiful family and a beautiful boat, I love the nice clear decks around the mast, no balancing on top of a cabin top, very nice. Who designed your Byamee? What a wonderful adventure you are giving your daughter
Godspeed,
Erika

[Amgine]

Congratulations! I too am very interested in the design and designer of Byamee. Looking forward to hearing much more about your adventures over the years!

[chala]

Good on you Tom and wishing you and your family all the luck.

[jim_thomsen]

Great website...I'll keep checking up on you. We started the same way, with very little experience (my wife had never been on a sailboat and I had 25 years before). But in 3 years we have come from Holland to the Caribbean and it is great to learn everything together. We are much closer and better friends than we ever were on land. It's a great life!
Enjoy,

[anglooff]

Very best wishes on your vogage, keep safe and have a wonderful trip. Many of us will be looking forward to hearing of your experiences so periodically update us in the Forum as well as the website.

best regards

Alan

[getlostonpurpose]

Best of luck to you! Great looking boat.

[maxingout]

Enjoy your circumnavigation. I started mine when I was 47 years old, and I have no regrets. I'm certainly glad I didn't wait until I was "retired."

Cruising doesn't have to be a physical challenge, but the older you get, the more physical challenges you face. Many things that were easy to do at 30 years old are a bigger deal when you are sixty. So doing it now is a great idea.

Fair winds and following seas.

[captain58sailin]

Congratulations on your voyage, may it be filled with wonder and adventure. Thanks for putting up a web site so we can follow your adventures. You have a very nice looking vessel.

[chala]

Tom
It is my view that when choosing a harness safety hook the hook should not open accidentally or under load and not jam under load. It must be easily operated with only one hand even if this hand is tired. It should also comply with some Standard and be marked with its tested strength and be non magnetic. I prefer aluminium ones because they are lighter and make less damage when falling on a painted surface and also do not suffer from crevice corrosion like stainless steel does. Even a slight orangey stain on an ss fitting and that fitting strength becomes suspect.
Picture 1 shows, from left to right, my preferred safety hooks. The red one on the left can easily accommodate a 19mm (3/4) diameter bar.
Picture 2 shows on the left my preferred carbine hook, (made in Italy) because the one on the right tends to catch the rope with its beak.

[SMcD]

Originally Posted by TOM

Hi all, We are 2 months into our 5 year circumnavagation and have just launched our website www.byamee.com .We have had so much great information from this site and hope that our website will be of interest to those on here who want to cut loose and do the same.

Great blog! I wish you all the best as you live your dream. My husband, son, and I hope to do something similar in a few years, so it's inspiring to read about your journey. Good for you for making it happen.

-Susanne

Looking for Freedom

[TOM]

Thankyou all for your well wishes.We were once the people looking at the websites and adventures of others all of which inspired and thaught us so much .Now we have our own website and hopefully will inspire others . There was a time when we thought this was an impossible dream ,too many obstacles were in the way ,too scary to leave family ,friends and careers behind ,it is all a bit daunting but that must be part of what makes it so great.
Amgine,Ocean girl, the design of the boat is a mystery which i wish i could solve.Built by Mass brothers in Sydney {professional steel boatbuilders} and commisioned by an enginer for cruising .I can find nothing on the internet about her but she does seem to have a S&S type look about her.