Uk to New Zealand

[sealions]

hi all,

me and my friends are looking into sailing from the uk to newzealand
we have a few years to prepare so we have alot of time to plan and gain some experience.

however we are all new to this, we need to hold 8 or 9 people and were looking to get a captain for the voyage. hopefully well get to travel alot of different countries along the way so minimal long cruising involved, mainly though i need advice about everything i might need to get this project into the planning stages.

potential boats, captains, cost, routes and any other information that might be valuable. specifics arent the priority yet, i want to be able to build a plan and see the scale of the projject in front of me

hopefuly i get some good feedback

cheers

[goboatingnow]

budget , its all about budget

dave

[sealions]

sorry ye should have mentioned that, id say budget to be £50,000 for a boat and another £30,000 for everything else

[Teknav]

Hi! This should be an exciting trip, as it has already been done centuries ago! Follow captain Bligh's (Mutinity on the Bounty) footsteps from the UK (England) to Tahiti, continuing on to New Zealand. While in Tahiti, stop by and gather a few bread fruit seedlings...well, you get the idea...

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

[Jeannius]

You'll need a big boat for 8 or 9 people. 50ft minimum on a monohull, 40ft on a catamaran, and at those sizes you'll be VERY cramped. Big boats cost big money, even if they are cheap to buy they are expensive to run. Your budget is very small for buying a suitable boat. I would say double it to get anything half reasonable.

The classic route from the UK would be across Biscay to Portugal, then on to the Canary Isles, then to the Caribbean. You'll want to spend time in the Caribbean before heading for Panama and the Canal. From Panama to the Galapagos, then on to the Marquesas, Tuamotus and the Society Islands of French Polynesia. From there on to the Cook Islands and Fiji. From Fiji to New Zealand.

There are plenty of other places to stop but, if you are in a rush, you can do the whole trip in around 6 months.

[goboatingnow]

you might hire a suitable boat and skipper for under 50K though, accommodating 8,9 or more if none of you can sail. thats potentially a 10-12 berth boat, thats big stuff.8-9 people on a 50 footer , well only if its a ocean racing boat and you fancy pipe cots!!.


what you are saying is OP , is that each is putting in 10K , thats quite a small budget for a big extended trip
dave

[chris_gee]

Your budget should cover 2-3 people. How keen you really are will be shown by your own research of existing threads.

[skipmac]

Unless you are incredibly lucky, lucky like finding someone that likes you and gives you a free boat, then your budget is extremely small for the trip you plan.

Without the incredible luck or a gift from your fairy godmother to do this you will probably:

1. Buy a very old wood or steel boat and spend a huge amount of time fixing it up to make the trip.

2. Time to repair might be 6 months if everyone involved in the project works full time on the boat. That means 8-10 hours a day for 5-6 days a week, non-stop, every week. If the group can't invest that much time then figure 1-3 years to fix up the boat.

3. Cost to fix up an old boat could easily (probably) exceed what you pay for the boat unless you scrounge old parts from junk yards and the boat has minimal to no luxuries, electronics, etc.

4. Plan to eat a lot of beans and rice. Don't worry, it's healthy.

[dizzysailing]

Good luck guys, you'll have an amazing time. Lots of people will tell you it can't be done / don't do it/ not enough budget/ space etc etc.. Ignore them all. If you all really want to go, you'll find a way. Set your goal, work out the steps it takes to achieve that goal, complete the steps. it's that simple.

If you have a couple of years before you go, why hire a captain? You have time for some of you to do RYA courses even up to yachtmaster. Although all of you should probably do the basics: VHF/1st Aid/Sea Survival. I shopped around and did the basic courses for £65 each. Do one a month and it's not too painfull on the bank balance.

Wannabe skippers should do a RYA weekend dinghy course first for around £100-150, there are 3 levels, but you don't need to do them all to learn the basics. It's not rocket science, although some will try and make it seem so... Then work your way up the RYA Skipper courses - I did my Day Skipper on a stand-by basis for £200 and Coastal Skipper was the same price.. Plus get some experience on other people's ocean crossings or longer passages so you know what to expect. Ask people in the local marina if they need volunteer crew, put adverts on the crew sites. Be determined and pro-active, people respect and respond to that.

Plenty of individuals, couples or even families have successfully set off round the world on their yachts safely with minimal experience. Navigation and safety equipment is so good these days that the risks are far less than even a few decades ago. And life comes with risks attached. Anyone who says otherwise is probably sat at a computer telling people not to do things! lol...

[Teknav]

With so many sailors getting together, consider getting two 35-40 ft boats then sail them in tandem. This should take care of space/cost issues, in addition to the added safety. Sail away!

Mauritz

[sealions]

Cheers guys, 3 years before this course would even potentially be launched... I like doing the captains course idea, at the moment im in birmingham so a few weekend trips that could be accomplished

The other thing is alot of sites say its best to have a mechanic if you are goin to have any sort of motor on board, woul you say this is a must or not?

Potential route at the moment seems to be through suez canal and down along asia before we head around audtralia, are there any thoughts on that route as oppose to the panama canal route?

And thanks for all your input so far, its helping me to create viable options and i really appreciate it.

Cheers

[skipmac]

Do not think you would need a professional mechanic but you should have at least one person with basic skills to do minimum maintenance like

- replace belts
- change oil
- change filters (oil and fuel)
- bleed air from diesel lines
- remove and replace starter, water pumps, hoses, etc.

someone with basic plumbing and wiring skills would also be very important.

[Jeannius]

Cruisers have pretty much stopped going through the Suez Canal... It takes you too near the pirates near the Gulf and Somalia.

I started sailing some 30 years ago (while living in Birmingham). I got started by joining a group in Bromsgrove that organised RYA training and weekends away learning to sail. They are probably still there so you might look them up.

[sealions]

The name of that group would be awesome

Also the suez canal has really become that dangerous? I wasn sure if it was over hyped by the media or not... Complete novice here about sailing and safe routes....

Thanks again guys

[Jeannius]

Yes it is that dangerous. There used to be a round the world rally that went that way. Two years ago an American boat that had just left the rally and headed out on their own was boarded by pirates. All four crew were killed. The rally is no more.

I was circumnavigating at the same time. Fortunately our route took us from Australia around South Africa, keeping us away from the problems.