I should have done this years ago!

[Eco Voyager]

Hello Everyone - all you lucky people out there,

I am new here and new to cruising. I started last April on other peoples boats and have travelled from Australia to NZ to PNG and onto Indonesia. Now back home (Blue Mountains, NSW Australia) and am desperately trying to sell the house to buy a liveaboard and take off myself.

That is how much I loved the cruising lifestyle. I have been sailing all my life. My dad owned a 40ft timber sloop and i started out on dinghies in the UK where i grew up before moving to OZ. Much better , warmer place for sailing and no where near so crowded as in the UK.

One thing that has really surprised me. I cannot find anyone willing to teach me celestial navigation!! Where have all the old skills gone. Everyone I ask is too scared to attempt it anymore and they simply say WHY? Well I want to learn and not in a school but from a real sea salt who knows his stuff. So if there is anyone out there willing to share their knowledge please don't hesitate to contact me. And, Yes I did do a celestial course but i want a hands on experience.

So here I am about to embark on a massive change in my life from my beloved mountains to the sea to live aboard and cruise to places unknown in no hurry and with no time committments. Looks like I will be doing this solo at first. Hopefully I might meet a sea tuned Damsel along the way. I had talked about sailing around the Pacific with my German ex wife before. She even bought me a book on how to do it and where to go but sadly we split up some years ago now and so my dream got shelved until now.
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I have a 4 year old daughter who sadly lives in Germany with her mum. When I went cruising last year I wrote her childrens stories about sailing and the sea which I sent from every port to her. Now she knows what a sailing boat is and what lives under and on the oceans. She wants to go sailing with me already and I am sure as she gets old enough this will happen and my daughter will be my crew. I just had a holiday with her and she can paddle her own seakayak already and ride a horse on her own and has already been rock climbing with me and she is only 4 yrs old. Tough little girl.

I will tell you one last story about her. She was the child I did not know I had. I found out about her when she was already born and 8 months old. I had just returned from my celestial navigation class in Sydney where we had been learning some of the 21 stars of first magnitude and especially Antares. Well would you believe it that night I got that fate full call telling me I had a daughter and that she had been named Antara after the guiding star, Antares. Wow! This blew me away.

I am a very proud dad ( despite being over 50 ) I am just so happy that I have her. Somehow I knowthat she has been born to be part of the sea. She has all my traits: explorer, climber, is healthy (lives with no TV or junk food so far) and can swim and kayak and so much more.

What boat am I getting. well looks like it may be a Spray design or an Offshore 44 or an Adams 40, Salar 40 or an Endurance 37. They are all on my short list and there are just so many boats to choose from in the 40ft bracket that I am bamboozled by it all. Any suggestions folks. Like do I really need steel or is good seamanship better rather than complacency? Deep stable keel or shoal draft? ketch or cutter? big diesel guzzling engine or just enough to get her home type? Is 45ft too big for one man or is 40ft too big? I want to have room for crew to join me and be comfortable.

Looks like my first trip will be to Japan then the Phillipines. Anyone sailed the Japan Sea? My Aussie friend there tells me it looks like a great coastline to cruise just a little cold in the water that's all.

No doubt I will get to meet some of you along the way. By the way i am a qualified mountaineering instructor so if any of you need brushing up on your mast climbing skills drop me a line. Also I do sketching so would be happy to sketch your boat or your favourite pet or child etc.

Take care, Fair winds and calm seas to you all.
Colin

[cooper]

Hi Colin and welcome.
fair chance we will meet along the way. I have climbed lots of things, trees buildings,masts, but oddly not rocks. I say odd because I have a full knowledge of the principles and climbing ropes,harness, and the usual assortment of alluminium bits : ). Double roping, prusick knots and all that stuff that makes life safe and takes the stress out of it.

The biggest problem with celestial is practice. I am no expert but access to a beach to shoot a flat horizon is a wonderful thing. A funny thing.....I was told......if maths is your problem then there are plenty on computer programs that will do the maths for you. Well if the computer is up and running then why would you need to use a sextant ?. To me, the reason to have the celestial navigation skills is if the rest of your gear fails. I will try and have battery powered gps as a back up just in case.( trying to get a good quality and cheap sextant at the moment)

cheers.

[GordMay]

WELCOME ABOARD!

Some trivia, FWIW:

“Antara”, is a brand (Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) of Fenofibrate; which is used to treat* high cholsterol and high triglyceride blood levels.

*To reduce elevated LDL-C, Total-C, Triglycerides, and Apo B, and to increase HDL-C in adult patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed dyslipidemia (Fredrickson Types IIa and Iib).

“Antares” gets its name from the ancient Greeks. It means Anti-Ares. Ares was the Greek god of War, who was also called Mars by the Romans.
Antares is linked to the planet Mars because they are both about the same color ,and the same brightness. Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius, and one of the brighter stars in all the night sky (16TH?).

[Eco Voyager]

Thanks Cooper and Gord for your comments. Hope I do catch up with you guys some time. I am sure i will.

Cooper, I can do maths but it is just that i get all mixed up with the v and d corrections etc. Really the whole computing thing confuses me so that is where I need some help. Also it would be nice to have someone to point out which starts they use and their shortcuts to finding them. I did get to know a few but I found going to NZ the sky was all different and the same as we head northwards. I would love to lie down on a bobbing deck with a cool one in the hand and have someone ther going well this is thAT STAR AND SO ON.

I noticed you have a ferro and a steel boat. So many people have tried to talk me out of getting a ferro boat and now the same with steel ones. In the last two days I have had two different people tell me similar stories of steel boats leaking like a sieve very quickly from lots of tiny pin holes. Today I was told that some insurance companies won't insure steel boats without a survey each year and ferro are almost impossible to insure especially if old. I checked out one nice looking ferro boat and on close inspection in the cupboards it had lots of rusty weeping stains coming out of what looked like good hull material. If rust is there then it is in the reinforcement too and as far as I can tell it would then rust all the way over time. One nasty bump and the ferro could be in pieces???

So why did you opt for either of these two materials. Do you trust them?

And Gord, thanks so much for that enlightening detail of the creation of the word, Antares. My daughter by the way was named after the German word for the female form of Antares that is why it is spelt, Antara.

Fair winds and fair maidens!
Colin

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Colin,
Welcome aboard!! I did a couple of celestial classes for our club this last year and only had 5 folks out of 100 interested. GPS is too easy I guess.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[mickmul]

Great story Colin!! Hope to cross trails someday!! Your post brought this to mind . . don't know exactly why . . .
Come, my friends,
T'is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
--Alfred Lord Tennyson

Fair winds and happy trails to you both!!

[Eco Voyager]

G'day Mick from Ireland,

Thanks for your response and yes maybe we will cross waters one day! Thanks for the poem too, very touching. I remember a poem from my school days about the Eddystone Lighthouse which I sailed past once with my dad. Maybe that was by Tennystone too. Do you know it as I have forgotten the words.

One of mr favourite though was by Allan Cunningham as follows:

A Wet Sheet And A Flowing Sea

A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast,
And fills the white and rustling sail,
And bends the gallant mast;
And bends the gallant mast, my boys,
While, like the eagle free,
Away the good ship flies, and leaves
Old England on the lee.

O for a soft and gentle wind!
I heard a fair one cry;
But give to me the snoring breeze,
And white waves heaving high;
And white waves having high, my boys,
The good ship tight and free -
The world of waters is our home,
And merry men are we.

There 's tempest in yon horned moon,
And lightning in yon cloud;
And hark the music, mariners!
The wind is piping loud;
The wind is piping loud, my boys,
The lightning flashing free -
While the hollow oak our palace is,
Our heritage the sea.

by Allan Cunningham born 1784

Mick, i am looking at a Van de Stadt 34 steely at the moment. Beautiful boat but they want a bit more than I can pay. There is a very affordable Roberts 37 in Malaysia and also a really nice Hardin Sea Wolf in San Diego all going for about US$50-70000. Considering the VDS is asking A$130000 i am inclined to head overseasto buy and have money to spend on the boat after purchase.

Anyway, cheers and see you around some day.
Colin

[markje4]

G'day Colin

Have just thrown another log on the fire in my little house in BULLABURRA hoping that this winter will be my last in the mountains for a few years.

I will be taking early retirement at the end of the year and plan to head over to the Med to enjoy the life of a liveaboard for as many years as I can. Don't have the boat yet but have spent countless hours on Yachtworld playing with figures and seeing what I can afford. Ideally I am looking for something around 36' that I can manage as a singlehander - with the occasional help from visiting relatives and friends.

I am also thinking of doing a Yachtmaster Fastrack - not for the qualifications (for what they are worth) but to give me the foundations upon which to build, as most of my sailing experience is on J24's down on Pittwater.

I did spend a few months in 2004 sailing from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal and then island hopping from Cyprus to Piraeus. It was my idea of heaven and hence my desire to get back to that part of the world.

Regards
Mark

[Eco Voyager]

G'day Mark,

Would love to catch up with you. What are you doing today. My home number is 90042874 (read it backwards) and my mobile is 7439971240 (read it backwards too) and my direct email is: eos2voyage at hotmail dot com.

Hope to hear from as I have a voyage in mind as a trial.

Cheers, Colin

[Ex-Calif]

Welcome aboard Colin and what an awesome first post! My middle name happens to be Colin (from the Scots side of the clan) - If you need someone to get eyeballs on any boats in Singapore or West Malaysia, give a shout and I might be able to help.

[Eco Voyager]

Hiya Dan,

Hey, thanks heaps for your kind offer, actually i have found a Martzcraft 35 (albiet a Bruce Roberts 35) for sale in Langkawi mascarading under the heading Roberts 37 with Lee Marine (not sure where they are based). I sailed a Roberts 35 around the Whitsundays some years ago and found it to be a strong comfy ride and it sailed well too. The South Coast 36 is based on the same hull but is more of a dog compared to the Martzcraft 35 which sails better.

They are asking just US$52000 which is good for this design. Not a lot of cruising electronics but enough, AWLgrip hull and deck and recently fully recond motor.

Are you anywhere near there by any chance. The other boat I am keen on is a Haldin Seawolf in USA a long way away and i would rather sail Asian waters first up as I am familiar with them a little.

Also would I be cazy to condsider a voyage northwards to Phuket then onto Bangladsh to leave the boat with a mate in Dacca. Would be sometime from October to Dec. Would the SW monsoon make it impossible or is it still ok to sail in this time? Will there be any winds in October as I hate motoring on a sail boat too much?

I have a girlfriend in Manilla so will be meeting up with her anyway in that region maybe in Thailand or Langkawi so perhaps we may get a chance to meet up or sail together.

Cheers, Colin

[Ex-Calif]

Colin,

Langkawi to Phuket is a no brainer. As for crossing to India I will defer to those more expert. Northern Winter sees the Northeast Monsoon kick in around here.

Langkawi is a bit of a hike (~12 hour drive) - I'll ask around if anyone has seen the boat.

And definitely if you get to this part of the world drop a line and we'll go for a sail on my modest boat...

[markje4]

Originally Posted by eos2voyage

G'day Mark,

Would love to catch up with you. What are you doing today. My home number is 90042874 (read it backwards) and my mobile is 7439971240 (read it backwards too) and my direct email is: eos2voyage at hotmail dot com.

Hope to hear from as I have a voyage in mind as a trial.

Cheers, Colin

G'day Colin

Unfortunately, Monday is a workday and will be until the end of the year - along with all the other days that end in 'y'.

Luckily I work in Hazelbrook (schoolie) so don't have the long commute the majority of mountain dwellers have.

Saw the Roberts/Martzcraft on the Lee marine site last week as I was looking at the Ericson 32. Have often looked at Martzcraft on both Boatpoint and YachtHub sites. Both appear very nice boats for the asking prices. For me, though, it's not the right time, financially so will have to pass it on to someone else...

Mark

[Eco Voyager]

Hi again Mark,

Sounds like you have more than a full time job so I doubt the upcoming sailing trips will be possible for you but, if you do want some experience at passaging on other peoples yachts there is a spot on a Martzcraft 35 doing 2 1/2 months and 2000nm from Glenegl SA to Tasmania circumnavigate it and back departing Feb1.

I may go along myself.

Also I am helping sail a 35ft Wharram Cat from NZ to Sydney departing November approx 2-3 weeks and they still need 2 other crew. It is not luxury accommodation like the Martzcraft but will be an adventure instead.

Give me a call if interested. Give me a call anyway as I would be interested in hearing your criteria for buying a cruising boat. remember too I live just up the hill from you so we could meet up for drink or meal anytime.

I saw the Ericson 32 also.
Cheers,
Colin

[sabray]

For cellestial navigation. try Mary blewitts book celestial navigation for yachtsmen. You may have to read through a few times.Kindergarten of celetrial navigation by joseph sellar has a different perspective. Bowditch and chapmans. You will be much better prepared to take a course after tearing these apart. It fits my learning style anyway. Gps is great but a deaper understanding of what is happening is good intersting and helps with all the navigation skills.