How Far Have You Sailed?

[akprb]

I’m of the “don’t really keep track” crowd as well.

A Lot

That being said when I heard “anchored 100 times” I kind of laughed.

It’s not a competition. Be cool and don’t be a burden on others.

Simple as.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Are Cat miles measured the same as Mono miles.
I have 850 very proud nm which is one trip across the Gulf.
We’re leaving in November to start adding miles to our counter.

Going by marina charges for catamarans, your miles should be multiplied by x1.5 - 1.75.

[Mike OReilly]

Funny question … got me thinking I guess. I’ve never even thought about trying to keep track of miles or anchorages. I know my two big jumps total around 3000 nm, and we anchor out most of the time.

All I know is I’ve made it to Newfoundland, and I’m not really sure where I’m going next.

[Bleemus]

Had fifteen years full time with 6-8k miles every year. Not nearly as much in recent years.

[stormalong]

Since leaving my old home town of Chicago in 1992 the boat's permanent log reads 130,000. Before that at least another 10,000 on the great lakes. Since then I am on my third anchor chain, on my second engine, second windlass but still the same primary anchor and boat.

Lived on the hook for many years, sometimes moving daily, sometimes not moving for months so it is impossible to know how many times I have anchored without looking through a dozen log books.

Now back to being a dirt dweller and using the boat seasonally.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by thinwater

The other day I saw a thread where someone pointed out, as a matter of experience that they had sailed over 10,000 miles and anchored over 100 times. That sounds like a lot, but is it really, for someone with a life-long sailing habit?

About 6 months ago I was reviewing my experience log, and in 30 years, it added up to a larger sum than I was expecting. The actual miles of coastline were only a few thousand, but I've sailed all of it a lot more than once. I passed "anchored 100 times" several boats ago.

So how far have you sailed? I'll bet there are some big numbers out there.

Really, I was curious about local/weekend sailors that have logged big miles and many anchoring cycles, not by virtue of going far, but by going often over many years. Less open ocean experience, but perhaps more piloting and anchoring experience, and almost certainly more docking experience. Different.

[Tingum]

Who the heck knows? After 38 years as a licensed Master I don't have a clue. Sorta like people who keep diving logs. When you've lived in the Bahamas for 40+ years and someone ask how many dives you have you just look at them and laugh.

[SV Sailfish]

Boat #1 Murray Peterson Schooner (wood): 39k

Boat #2 Downeaster 38: 25k

Boat #3 Downeaster 38: 8k (just getting her broken in)

Yep, 2 Downeasters in a row. Go figure. But I need to go back to an old woodie as this plastic boat work stuff is just too darn easy. No cotton to bang in. No worms boring holes. No fun.

[picklesandjesse]

About 150,000 on commercial fish boats in the 60's, now own boat #28. Lots of miles I guess, too many really. Can tell some great stories but mostly keep quiet, just listen. Don't post much here either.

[hamburking]

As a teenager, I sailed aboard the STV Pathfinder, a sail training brigantine based out of Toronto. We kept meticulous logs and records (all of which were lost to fire) that showed we sailed about 2000 miles each season on the Great Lakes, mostly Lake Ontario, going back and forth the length of the lake over and over. So before leaving my teens I had almost 10,000 miles beneath my keel, along with roughly an equal number of nights at anchor as nights sailing, around 100.

I spent one pleasant summer as a charter skipper of a Maple Leaf 48, and have done more deliveries on LO than I can recall, always for the fun, never for any dollars. Add a couple thousand for those.

Before I was 30, I bought my first boat, a C&C27mk2. There would be 7 more boats to follow. My goal each summer was to spend 30 nights aboard. As pets and kids entered my life, the reality became 20 nights, preferably at anchor. When it got to 10, time to sell the boat. Span that over 25 years. Add in my sail training days and conservatively, I would guess 365 nights at anchor. Wow, never thought of it like that. Thats a year on the hook!

A delivery across the Atlantic in 2010 boosted my odometer another 4000 miles bringing my total to something like 30,000.

FWIW, this has been a terrible thing to think about and post. I realize that most of my miles and nights are now behind me. So many great adventures, now in the past, with nothing to show except some vague numbers. The past few years I sailed alone, my (now ex) wife and kids having other interests, and my boats not big enough or pretty enough to attract friends or relatives to come along. Now I walk the docks, looking for boats for sale that I will not buy. Not for lack of money or time. Because when those were in short supply, that was when I sailed the most.

[TheThunderbird]

As a judgemental yardstick
30,000nm for a relevant experience
>50,000 for salty awards
And hooks by the 000s

Bar for those sailing in high latitudes.


We can Draw the conclusion that, bar a few peak years, no one sails much in excess of 3-4,000nm per year, and 5-8,000 mainly if professionally or in a circumnavigation .

Which lends to a prior post of mine: as a liveaboard there is less and less necessity to move from A to B, mainly so when A has positive perks and B is a question mark , not as a Destination, but as an OVERALL Venue (for hook, boat, life ashore, logistics, etc.)

Because sailing is good, but life at sea does not necessitate sailing.

[donradcliffe]

A lot. Another thousand this week on a 5 dayoffshore delivery from Ft Lauderdale to Newport RI on the Merlin. It was pretty cool going through Newport harbor with the Volvo race boats out practicing.

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Really, I was curious about local/weekend sailors that have logged big miles and many anchoring cycles, not by virtue of going far, but by going often over many years. Less open ocean experience, but perhaps more piloting and anchoring experience, and almost certainly more docking experience. Different.

Agreed. For 30 years I lived aboard in Santa Barbara, first aboard a Seabird Yawl, then a Catalina 30. During that time I made hundreds of trips to the Channel Islands, using traditional piloting techniques, anchoring in challenging conditions and frequently having my ass handed to my by the changeable weather. The total miles were probably only around 5,000 but the experience was invaluable. Since then I have done over 25,000 ocean miles in our cat, but these were easy in comparison to the the coastal cruising I did before becoming a "real" cruiser and have consisted mostly of sitting in a beanbag chair in my pajamas, watching a boat icon creep across a computer screen.

[zeehag]

from 1955 thru 1988 gawds only know.....
198801995, about...lemmeseee..26x10? 26x15??? plus outnbacks??? lost angeles harbor, exploring working port??
opb....6000 plus wtf in caribbean = gkw.... and do not forget those miles in sd bay....2.5 each way to inspection dock x 12 years, out and around bay for grins and giggles on mine and opbs x 20 yrs....
plus 3000 in this boat plus other miles..
how the hell does one keep track over a lifetime of sailing. and anchoring--not a competition to collect more times anchored than fb friends.

so, what i wanna know is--how far have you drifted in your boats and how many times
hard aground.

[brendanwalls]

Since my first expedition in 1972 on a mirror dinghy in Emsworth Harbour, graduating to a laser, and then a GP14, Westerley 27, then here in the USA on a Sadler and a Hunter, and now my venerable Bristol, probably as many as 1000nm in the past 46 years.

Brendan