New and wanting to cross the Atlantic west to east

[Suijin]

German, there are a lot of laissez faire sailors who come through here asking for advice on making an ocean passage or otherwise embarking on a challenging trip. It is sometimes difficult to know exactly what their experience is and to what degree they understand what's involved. You're getting responses that err on the side of caution as far as making explicit how difficult it can be.

Being at sea can be tiring even in the best of circumstances. Throw in a few days of bad weather and it can be exhausting to the point of poor decision making. Then start breaking stuff and trying to fix it in five meter seas and 35 knots of wind, while you're alone. You get the picture.

We're not being mean. It's tough love baby. We love you man.

[GermanAmerican]

Originally Posted by Suijin

German, there are a lot of laissez faire sailors who come through here asking for advice on making an ocean passage or otherwise embarking on a challenging trip. It is sometimes difficult to know exactly what their experience is and to what degree they understand what's involved. You're getting responses that err on the side of caution as far as making explicit how difficult it can be.

Being at sea can be tiring even in the best of circumstances. Throw in a few days of bad weather and it can be exhausting to the point of poor decision making. Then start breaking stuff and trying to fix it in five meter seas and 35 knots of wind, while you're alone. You get the picture.

We're not being mean. It's tough love baby. We love you man.

Love you too man

I'll stop commenting on here for now, going to spend some time with my family.

Merry Christmas and happy new year y'all.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by GermanAmerican

Seriously? Concerned?

You makes me laugh. As stated before I have no problem with constructive criticism or anyone's oppinion.
What I do have a problem with, is how it is conveyed.

You are telling me, telling someone, they have no idea, giving a worst case scenario is advice? C'mon, I appreciate any advice, but what I personaly don't like, is the tone some is written.
That's is mean, rude, you name it.
So it's ok in your oppinion, because it's the Internet, to behave like that?
No wonder, that they are kids committing suicide of Facebook comments.
What happend? Now it's my fault for asking? Global warming too?
Well I'm really sorry to have bothered you then, oh wait I was asking for all of it, wasn't I? I deserve it then, thumbs up for freedoms of speech.

I have to say, I'm deeply disturbed what has become of our society and the way we're heading to.

Y'all seriously need to chill people....

My goodness you're a drama queen. Really, telling people to chill because they're trying to give you advice. Calling them mean. Then saying you're disturbed about our society and the way we're heading (forget the to....you don't end a sentence with a preposition). You ask a question initially with objectives that are not compatible with each other. Well, I'll leave additional suggestions to others as I consider a crossing a serious undertaking.

Advice in the style you seem to want: Go dude. Just chill and go for it. You can do it dude, by yourself. Don't worry about the boat or your ability or anything, just chill.

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by BandB

Go dude. Just chill and go for it. You can do it dude, by yourself. Don't worry about the boat or your ability or anything, just chill.

Yes - Yes - I agree, just go and do it. But please at least buy a Spot and let us know your link because I for one would love to watch you chill all the way across.

[Delancey]

Dude, in America we have an awesome saying called Murphy's Law which says if something can happen, it will happen.

According to Murphy's Law if you buy a cheap boat in the states thinking it will be so much less expensive than one you can buy in Europe if you just sail it across the ocean, and that cheap boat has the potential to break down in the middle of the ocean in the midst of a gale causing you terrible grief, well then that cheap boat will most certainly break down in the middle of the ocean in the midst of a gale and cause you terrible grief.

Murphy's Law also applies to the internet where sometimes people go to get external validation for their foolish ideas but end up being told things they don't want to hear.

For example, if you start out telling the world you and your wife and two kids and big dog want to live on a boat but complain that new boats too expensive, then proceed to ask very basic questions about the best way to undertake an epic tans-oceanic voyage singlehanded on an older boat without prior singlehanded experience, well then, according to Murphy's Law strangers are going to read your postings and respond by telling you things you don't want to hear.

It's just how it works.

If I had known you were so emotionally sensitive I would have coddled you more as my intent isn't to make you feel bad, but really crossing an ocean is serious business.

My crossing last summer was a delivery with someone like yourself who thought buying a boat in the states and sailing it to Europe was a way to get the boat he wanted but couldn't otherwise afford. The boat was old and had not been the best maintained and my friend had both a limited budget and a schedule to keep.

Even though he had owned and sailed the boat in the states for a year prior and he had made just about every possible preparation, we still got the crap beat out of us and in the end, he failed to achieve his goals because he was ultimately unrealistic and over-reaching.

Before our departure my wife and I considered backing out due to schedule conflicts knowing my friend would have carried on regardless without us. In hindsight it is very clear he would not have made it even to the Azores if he had tried to do it alone. On our trip we tore sails and broke gear as one does with older boats crossing the ocean and we ended up having to hand steering pretty much the whole way across.

Singlehanded? Yeah maybe on a boat set up specifically for it. One with at least three back-up autopilots.

Also, it might be a good idea to have a plan for how you are going to get yourself up the mast alone in 5 meter swells to cut away a leach cord on a mainsail that shredded while hove to in sixty knot winds and got itself wrapped around the remaining running backstay that isn't broken so that you can drop the mainsail and put up a back-up mainsail so you can survive the gale that wasn't forecast but spontaneously developed behind you before rolling right over you and is going park itself in front of you for the next five days.

Hopefully your wife will read this and talk some sense into you. Saying you are a pilot for fifteen years makes you sound arrogant. Saying you think you are safer sailing singlehanded than with crew makes you sound wildly imprudent.

Yeah, I am still wishing you good luck. Clearly you need it.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Delancey

Dude, in America we have an awesome saying called Murphy's Law which says if something can happen, it will happen.

According to Murphy's Law if you buy a cheap boat in the states thinking it will be so much less expensive than one you can buy in Europe if you just sail it across the ocean, and that cheap boat has the potential to break down in the middle of the ocean in the midst of a gale causing you terrible grief, well then that cheap boat will most certainly break down in the middle of the ocean in the midst of a gale and cause you terrible grief.

Murphy's Law also applies to the internet where sometimes people go to get external validation for their foolish ideas but end up being told things they don't want to hear.

For example, if you start out telling the world you and your wife and two kids and big dog want to live on a boat but complain that new boats too expensive, then proceed to ask very basic questions about the best way to undertake an epic tans-oceanic voyage singlehanded on an older boat without prior singlehanded experience, well then, according to Murphy's Law strangers are going to read your postings and respond by telling you things you don't want to hear.

It's just how it works.

If I had known you were so emotionally sensitive I would have coddled you more as my intent isn't to make you feel bad, but really crossing an ocean is serious business.

My crossing last summer was a delivery with someone like yourself who thought buying a boat in the states and sailing it to Europe was a way to get the boat he wanted but couldn't otherwise afford. The boat was old and had not been the best maintained and my friend had both a limited budget and a schedule to keep.

Even though he had owned and sailed the boat in the states for a year prior and he had made just about every possible preparation, we still got the crap beat out of us and in the end, he failed to achieve his goals because he was ultimately unrealistic and over-reaching.

Before our departure my wife and I considered backing out due to schedule conflicts knowing my friend would have carried on regardless without us. In hindsight it is very clear he would not have made it even to the Azores if he had tried to do it alone. On our trip we tore sails and broke gear as one does with older boats crossing the ocean and we ended up having to hand steering pretty much the whole way across.

Singlehanded? Yeah maybe on a boat set up specifically for it. One with at least three back-up autopilots.

Also, it might be a good idea to have a plan for how you are going to get yourself up the mast alone in 5 meter swells to cut away a leach cord on a mainsail that shredded while hove to in sixty knot winds and got itself wrapped around the remaining running backstay that isn't broken so that you can drop the mainsail and put up a back-up mainsail so you can survive the gale that wasn't forecast but spontaneously developed behind you before rolling right over you and is going park itself in front of you for the next five days.

Hopefully your wife will read this and talk some sense into you. Saying you are a pilot for fifteen years makes you sound arrogant. Saying you think you are safer sailing singlehanded than with crew makes you sound wildly imprudent.

Yeah, I am still wishing you good luck. Clearly you need it.

Oh wow, dude. Like, you really need to chill out. You know it just isn't mellow putting out all these negative vibes. It's like a real bummer, you know.

[Delancey]

Bro, it's all good. We be chillin! Fershizzle!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Don't over think the traffic.. its not that bad between Ushant and Falmouth.. its further E it gets really dense as it heads for the bottle necks.. and watch for coastal traffic heading for Plymouth if you head for there.. gets busy after sunset..lol.
If you want somewhere like S'hampton or further E make the UK coast 1st before turning E.. more hidey holes that are 'All tide states' than Brittany if there's a sudden screecher.. which can happen..

Yes.

The traffic is not scary when you're travelling with it. Crossing is more complicated, and as Boatie says here, much worse in the Eastern part of the Channel. You should have AIS and brush up on collision avoidance procedures.

I would cross over early -- Falmouth is perfect. Much easier getting up the UK coast than the gorgeous but quite forbidding Brittany one, and greatly more ports of refuge. Channel has a lot of strong weather and big tidal races, and with a gale blowing against the tide can produce horrendous sea states. Some of the races (like Portland Bill, but not only) can kill you in the wrong weather.

The Channel is also some fabulous cruising -- the whole English coast West of the Isle of Wight is fabulous, and the entire French side is, too. Good place to cruise with your family if you pick the right weather. You might want to have them meet you in Falmouth and take it from there.

If you are not experienced in sailing in strongly tidal waters you will want to brush up on the basic techniques -- calculating CTS, calculating rise of tide, rule of 12ths, etc. -- you'll need all that, and good charts too.