Completely Overwhelmed

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by defjef

While the GG dream seems a fantasy,

.

YEAH, A FANTASY

[Capt Phil]

Too many naysayers!!! GG hasn't ended up at this point in her life without some smarts and I, for one, encourage her to follow her dream. I'm sure she has/is considering all of the downside, the financial commitment, personal requirements of a life afloat and the necessary help she is going to have to hire to get her to a level of competency that she is comfortable with having the responsiblity of 5 kids and her mother.
Most of us here graduated in small steps to where we are now... she is taking a giant step but with a lot of advice from seasoned vets and offers to help from many of us.
If I were still fit and able to do some leg work for her, I'd be delighted to... even skipper her new boat for her but unfortunately that isn't in the cards.
There have been several really good sea boats that posters have pointed her towards. i'm sure she is smart enough to get the requisite help and advice before squeezing the trigger on the one that really catches her fancy.
May advice is go, GG! Phil

[foggysail]

This naysayer will remain so until GG actually makes a purchase. Much of what she considers feasible appears unfeasible to most with experience on the water. For example, in her earlier posts her intention was to keep her condo, let half of her family reside there while the other half resided on the boat. That was before the boats in consideration grew enormously. Many of the boat values are for the most part beyond rational expectations... considering small ships ..... especially for one who has never owned a boat and maybe for all I know, never been on one. I believe she has smoked all of you.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by foggysail

This naysayer will remain so until GG actually makes a purchase. Much of what she considers feasible appears unfeasible to most with experience on the water. For example, in her earlier posts her intention was to keep her condo, let half of her family reside there while the other half resided on the boat. That was before the boats in consideration grew enormously. Many of the boat values are for the most part beyond rational expectations... considering small ships ..... especially for one who has never owned a boat and maybe for all I know, never been on one. I believe she has smoked all of you.

You really have no clue what my intentions are in regards to condo or no condo. Just because I don't mention something doesn't mean...

The boat considerations have shrunk considerably.

Boat values are very rational, for my situation.

You have to remember, I'm not you. Just because you can't or won't do it or buy it doesn't mean I won't. Everyone is not the same, and everyone doesn't think like you or anyone else. Try opening your mind a little to various possibilities...

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

I was waiting for someone to say this. I'd get chewed out if it came from me.

Not from me. I've always said pleasure boating should never have a schedule but rather accept weather windows to determine the schedule. Another good plus for powercats, the ability to run over 20 kt, hence more weather windows for any given passage.

[chris_gee]

Originally Posted by psneeld

You might be surprised....most serious, cruising powerboaters aren't this "I'm going and will take whatever comes" mentality...

Most of the circumnavigating powerboaters I've met say they have never really been in severe weather...cause they don't have to be if they don't want to be....and have a little upstairs to figure it out.

Yeah sure, and I would guess the same applies to yachties. Except those racing, on a schedule etc.

Possibly yachties don't have enough upstairs to figure it. They don't call it the milk run for nothing. The catch being that when they get to Fiji or Tonga and try to go to NZ say, or the Indian ocean or around South Africa they fill their pants trying to fit it into a weather window. Maybe the apparent wind downhill in the trades is less than the apparent wind uphill?

Sure at 20 knots in a cat you can position yourself but at 7 on a 1200 mile trip that won't save you.

Sorry I don't know any power boat circumnavigators. I have led a sheltered life, I guess. I did see a video of a cruise ship in a bit of a storm though.

Not sure what severe conditions are - my guess would be something to do with boat, skipper, crew.

I did not mention severe conditions.

However GG agrees with you so that's ok with all of u

[deckofficer]

Chris,

Steve and Linda Dashew have circumnavigated a number of times and extreme lats in their FPB series boats. Friends of mine are making the global loop in a 43' Nordhavn, so it isn't just sailboats. A sailboat would be my choice though.

[parito]

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

That is my take on OPs idea.

[goboatingnow]

65 foot twin screw motor yachts can easily be handled by galaxy girl after some appropriate tuition. Its not difficult, and no different from a similar sized sail boat ( under power) , you don't need too many crew , one crew along with the driver can be enough.

Maintaining a big power boat is more complex then a sailboat, typically they're more systems , and those systems are bigger and often more technically advanced. Bigger , more technical engines also mean more coats.

Really of GG wants power then stop trying to convince her, rather help her to refine her choices.

Powerboats can go anywhere a sailboat goes . Once the boat is appropriate.

Dave

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by foggysail

For example, in her earlier posts her intention was to keep her condo, let half of her family reside there while the other half resided on the boat.

Geez, Joe, that was her early thinking. She's demonstrated that she's learning and has moved on from all that. It's not uncommon in life for folks to propose some kind of thesis, and then modify that based on discussion and feedback. Seems like GG has been doing just that all along.

She can benefit from useful advice. "No, you can't" isn't always all that useful.

-Chris

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by chris_gee

Yeah sure, and I would guess the same applies to yachties. Except those racing, on a schedule etc.

Possibly yachties don't have enough upstairs to figure it. They don't call it the milk run for nothing. The catch being that when they get to Fiji or Tonga and try to go to NZ say, or the Indian ocean or around South Africa they fill their pants trying to fit it into a weather window. Maybe the apparent wind downhill in the trades is less than the apparent wind uphill?

Sure at 20 knots in a cat you can position yourself but at 7 on a 1200 mile trip that won't save you.

Sorry I don't know any power boat circumnavigators. I have led a sheltered life, I guess. I did see a video of a cruise ship in a bit of a storm though.

Not sure what severe conditions are - my guess would be something to do with boat, skipper, crew.

I did not mention severe conditions.

However GG agrees with you so that's ok with all of u

I don't know of a compilation of various ocean passages under power; maybe too many to count... but in any case, here's a list of full circumnavigations under power:

Circumnavigators of the world on Trawlers & Trawlering

Several Nordhavn's listed -- and not particularly huge -- starting in the early '90s.

Not surprising, given Jim Leishman's PAE (Nordhavn) pretty much evolved from early study and design captured in Beebe's "Voyaging Under Power."

-Chris

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

I was waiting for someone to say this. I'd get chewed out if it came from me.

Any rightly so...because you and probably 90% of the captains you hire aren't that good to be able to "stay safe" on long distance cruising ...so be really picky who you choose to take you offshore....even coastal for that matter.

What you are looking for may or may not be on a "maritime" resume'....being able to operationally risk manage properly is a way of thinking...not experience. They have to have show a long pattern of making the right choices in difficult operational situations.

The captain also has to have a "fire me if you don't like my decision" mentality....backing down from owners is what gets the boat in trouble...more corporate execs have died in plane crashes bullying pilots than ever should have.

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

I don't know of a compilation of various ocean passages under power; maybe too many to count... but in any case, here's a list of full circumnavigations under power:

Circumnavigators of the world on Trawlers & Trawlering

Several Nordhavn's listed -- and not particularly huge -- starting in the early '90s.

Not surprising, given Jim Leishman's PAE (Nordhavn) pretty much evolved from early study and design captured in Beebe's "Voyaging Under Power."

-Chris

Yes...thousands more than are ever written about.

Everything from sportfishing boats with hundreds (maybe thousands) of gallons of fuel in drums in the cockpit running to the Azores from Florida to Smallish trawlers leaving California to Hawaii where the braver than smart skipper reportedly left one prop off in Calif...and dove mid ocean swapping shafts and engines to keep the hours balance while saving fuel (didn't say all were smart...just many have done it)...

We all don't even come close to having all the answers on all the possibilities...but you can do a lot by thinking outside the box. I can tell some sailors are already thinking crossing oceans based on winds...powerboaters think on crossing them hopefully without any wind. So avoiding bad weather means completely different thinking and planning skills than what most cruisers I know really think about.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Yes...thousands more than are ever written about.

Everything from sportfishing boats with hundreds (maybe thousands) of gallons of fuel in drums in the cockpit running to the Azores from Florida to Smallish trawlers leaving California to Hawaii where the braver than smart skipper reportedly left one prop off in Calif...and dove mid ocean swapping shafts and engines to keep the hours balance while saving fuel (didn't say all were smart...just many have done it)...

We all don't even come close to having all the answers on all the possibilities...but you can do a lot by thinking outside the box. I can tell some sailors are already thinking crossing oceans based on winds...powerboaters think on crossing them hopefully without any wind. So avoiding bad weather means completely different thinking and planning skills than what most cruisers I know really think about.

That was one of Beebe's exact points starting back in '58 or '62 or whenever (I think largely influenced by his Naval Academy training and wartime experience on the aircraft carrier, even though he was originally primarily a sailor for recreation).

Scale all that down to something that can essentially be single-handed (with autopilot), augment that with small-ish crew if you like, go anywhere anytime. (Still obviously guided by overall weather factors, but not limited by lack of wind.)

-Chris

[GalaxyGirl]

I have said this many times before and I will say it again, now. I don not plan to circumnavigate, or travel far, for that matter, until I am very competent. And...even then, I may decide to ship.

I'm not choosing to get a big boat because I want to prove that I can conquer the challenge or get the biggest boat for the money. We have a large family and everyone needs to be comfortable for the adventure to be successful.

I have been trying to get the smallest boat that we can all fit into.

Talking about breaking bones and wild seas, 5 mil dollar budgets and all the rest are just scare tactics, and I have never been the one to buy into that. Sorry, you can try that on some other newbee...