Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 02-02-2010, 08:47   #1
Registered User
 
DesertMermaid's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Reno, Nevada
Posts: 19
Storms at Sea

For many years it has been my dream to sail the world - alone, except for maybe my dog, or an occasional friend or family member.

So, I'm plodding along, working harder, and watching my wealth dissapear as my country continues it's financial slide into becoming a banana republic - without the bananas and warm weather.

That issue aside. Recently I've been reading a book by Pat Henry titled By The Grace of The Sea. I'm sure many of you have read it. My question is this: how close is this story to what those of you that are full-time cruisers have actually experienced?

This book has been SO DISCOURAGING to me!!! Is this lady particulary unlucky, or negative in her thinking? What a nightmare. She describes storm, after storm - detailing literal days of fatigue, tears and almost total devistation! Then there's the mechanical break-downs and challenges...and sometimes total poverty because of higher-than-expected costs associated with unanticipated break-downs.

Honestly, it's enough to discourage even a mermaid from her dream!
DesertMermaid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 09:08   #2
Registered User
 
swagman's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Winter land based UK New Forest. Summer months away. Making the transition from sail to power this year - scary stuff.
Boat: Super Van Craft 1320 Power Yacht
Posts: 2,175
Images: 10
Send a message via Skype™ to swagman
Hi Mermaid,

Welcome to the site. A lot of publications sell best when they focus on drama.

I've not read this ladies book but we have covered more than a few miles and 100% of it has been good. Maybe 5% in strong to storm conditions - but well prepped and equipped - that can be a lot more fun that sliding along in near calm seas.
Reality is with today weather predictions and the relatively fast times cruisers can now make - no one need expose themselves to the bad stuff.
In terms of boats breaking - well that happens, but it need not ruin the cruise. Most cruisers adopt a regular if simple program of preventative maintenance and that usually ensures you find trouble before it becomes a big problem - and problems do not turn into big troubles.

Honest - cruising is great. Give it a go and find out for yourself.

Enjoy
JOHN
__________________
Don't take life too seriously. No ones going to make it out alive......Go see our blog at https://www.sailblogs.com/member/yachtswagman/
swagman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 09:09   #3
cat herder, extreme blacksheep

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: furycame alley , tropics, mexico for now
Boat: 1976 FORMOSA yankee clipper 41
Posts: 18,967
Images: 56
there is also the awesome side--lol---sounds like someone didnt like cruising when writing the book..>LOL..there are days like that--but they are overcome and left behind by th e sea life and the sunsets and the sunrises and the fish ye catch while trolling and the folks ye meet while out and about in anchorages and places not called home--lol...
sailing along in the dark and flying out of a following sea a porpoise ....
evening sailing along and playing with dolphins as the sun sets....LOL...there is so much more positive than negative--we got stuck in some lightning storms last summer off florida--so what?? so we sailed 10-12 kts instead of a peaceful 4-5.....LOL.....is all part of the trip--sailing is not always pure fun--have ot do work to keep it that way----LOL...like a relationship----is a relationship with a lifestyle, a traveling style, the boat......nature.....
zeehag is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 09:30   #4
Senior Cruiser
 
GordMay's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,082
Images: 241
I’m amazed you got past the first few paragraphs of drivel!

By the Grace of the Sea: A Woman's ... - Google Books
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"



GordMay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 09:41   #5
Registered User
 
Randy's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: San Diego
Boat: Farrier f27
Posts: 704
Read more singlehanded accounts to ensure a balanced perspective.

Singlehanding is in fact about dealing with fatigue, getting used to 15 min naps every couple of hours and if you're circumnavigating its weeks at a time.

Donna Lange has a good account from a couple years ago.

Storms can be minimized by planning passages in favorable seasons but won't be entirely eliminated.

Breakdowns happen but they can be managed as Swagman has said with maintenance and prep before putting to sea. You have to know your gear and how to fix it or get by without it.

And the awesomeness of the experience can not be understated! Many of the peak experiences are had during these passages!
Randy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 11:36   #6
Registered User
 
wildebeest3's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: St Johns River
Boat: 1978 Newport 30 Mk II
Posts: 56
Images: 1
Why not sail with another person? Split the watches, have someone pass up a snack when the weather is bad, etc.
wildebeest3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 12:11   #7
S&S
Registered User
 
S&S's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2009
Boat: 48' 1963 S&S yawl
Posts: 851
Images: 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by GordMay View Post
I’m amazed you got past the first few paragraphs of drivel!

By the Grace of the Sea: A Woman's ... - Google Books
Yep, pretty nauseating. I like Knox- Johnston's "A World of My Own"- written like a true seaman, (coincidentially, by a true seaman)
S&S is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 13:59   #8
cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tampa to New York
Boat: Morgan 33 OutIsland, Magic and 33' offshore scott design "Cutting Edge"
Posts: 1,594
some people are consumate whiners. I've heard two versions of the same crossing where one gave glowing accounts of great speed and a well performing boat and another describing a terror filled nightmare where everyones life was in peril.
forsailbyowner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 14:20   #9
Registered User
 
Hampus's Avatar

Join Date: May 2008
Location: Sweden
Boat: Between boats
Posts: 474
Images: 6
Send a message via MSN to Hampus
It's like "forsailbyowner" sais! It's all about mental attitude. You'd be surprised to know how differently two people can experience the same situation. I havn't read the book you referred to, but plenty of others. I'd recommend "Dove" by Robin Lee Graham, it tells both good and bad. I'd also, ofcourse recommend "Sailing alone around the world" (I think the english title is) by Joshua Slocum. No matter what breaks down or how bad the conditions are, he just keeps going on and on about how great his boat is and how much he enjoys what he's doing.

Don't listen to the whiners, they only bring you down!

/Hampus
__________________
https://adventureswithsyingeborg.blogspot.com/
On the way back to Sweden.
Hampus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 19:41   #10
Registered User
 
iSaint's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Mississippi Gulf Coast
Boat: never mind...
Posts: 312
Maybe the 'story' was written for sales!?
iSaint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2010, 20:11   #11
Registered User
 
maxingout's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cruising
Boat: Privilege 39 Catamaran, Exit Only
Posts: 2,723
On our circumnavigation, we experienced wind to fifty knots on only three occasions. I have talked to other yachts that sailed around the world and never saw winds of fifty knots.

Low winds and small seas don't sell books. Dull reading.

I never watched the movie, "The Perfect Storm". I don't want those exteme images in my mind. Sailing is too much fun and too enjoyable to spoil it with doom and gloom stories of perfect storms.

Of course, you can duplicate the stories of doom and gloom. It's not hard. Sail across the Bay of Biscay during a winter storm. Enjoy a winter storm in the North Atlantic. How about going for a sail during a tropical storm in the Caribbean?

On the other hand, how about a sail around the world in the tradewinds? How about moving your boat out of the hurricane and cyclone zones when it's hurricane and cyclone season.

Avoiding bad weather isn't rocket science. Sensible cruisers do it all the time. It isn't that hard.

If you would like to know more about storms at sea, visit:

Blue Water Catamaran - Exit Only Sails Offshore Around The World.* Captain Dave - Privilege 39

It will put things in perspective.
__________________
Dave -Sailing Vessel Exit Only
https://RealOceanCruiser.com
https://PositiveThinkingSailor.com
maxingout is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2010, 03:50   #12
S/V rubber ducky
 
sailorboy1's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: heading "south"
Boat: Hunter 410
Posts: 20,362
It goes back to the "fear" thread. Seems being kept in a state of fear is a way of life.
sailorboy1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2010, 04:38   #13
Registered User
 
bobsadler's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Shenzhen, China
Boat: Nauticat 42 (Jersey, U.K.)
Posts: 403
Send a message via Skype™ to bobsadler
if you want an almost day-by-day account of a circumnavigation you can download webb chiles' logs of his fifth and last solo circumnavigation ("the 5th circle") - it's free.

Passage Logs  The fifth circle.pdf This is the downloadable log for the entire circumnavigation. It includes the story, ‘Sailing to Africa.‘ Logs for Individual passages are below. Most of the posted photographs of the fifth circumnavigation c

i've read the whole thing - he writes well - and the lasting impression is generally of a lack of wind and not a lot of cost
__________________
Bob
SV Karen M
https://www.freewebs.com/svkarenm/
bobsadler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2010, 05:12   #14
Senior Cruiser
 
boatman61's Avatar

Community Sponsor
Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PORTUGAL
Posts: 30,561
Images: 2
I've experienced 70+ knots in the Biscay(May 96) for 36hrs... and 60+ knots off the Azores(June 05) which was accompanied by rain so heavy visibility down to -500metres... this lasted 4 days... My normal parctice is Heave To heavily reefed... go below, read books and drink coffee, eat digestive's and generally take it easy till conditions improve. I find gear breaks when people insist they can fight the weather and keep on sailing... wasted energy IMO.
Storms pass, conditions improve and of you go again.... to enjoy the beauty of the Ocean....
And anyway... is it not about FACING CHALLENGES
__________________

It was a dark and stormy night and the captain of the ship said.. "Hey Jim, spin us a yarn." and the yarn began like this.. "It was a dark and stormy night.."
boatman61 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2010, 05:20   #15
Eternal Member
 
imagine2frolic's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Las Brisas Panama AGAIN!
Boat: Simpson, Catamaran, 46ft. IMAGINE
Posts: 4,507
Images: 123
Quote:
Originally Posted by boatman61 View Post
I've experienced 70+ knots in the Biscay(May 96) for 36hrs... and 60+ knots off the Azores(June 05) which was accompanied by rain so heavy visibility down to -500metres... this lasted 4 days... My normal parctice is Heave To heavily reefed... go below, read books and drink coffee, eat digestive's and generally take it easy till conditions improve. I find gear breaks when people insist they can fight the weather and keep on sailing... wasted energy IMO.
Storms pass, conditions improve and of you go again.... to enjoy the beauty of the Ocean....
And anyway... is it not about FACING CHALLENGES
EXACTLY!........i2f
__________________
SAILING is not always a slick magazine cover!
BORROWED..No single one of is as smart as all of us!
https://sailingwithcancer.blogspot.com/
imagine2frolic is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Worst Storms miketmbt The Sailor's Confessional 44 29-12-2009 23:29
Anchoring Techniques for Storms, Hurricanes and Cyclones Hud3 Anchoring & Mooring 45 25-05-2009 14:44
queensland storms. cooper Cruising News & Events 0 28-02-2008 21:33
West coast storms Randyonr3 Cruising News & Events 4 06-01-2008 20:39
lightning storms pete33458 Seamanship & Boat Handling 34 04-11-2007 18:49

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 21:18.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.