"Curious about circumnavigating/no experience"

[nofacey]

Lol.....watched South Pacific when I was very impressionable, read Solcum, Sleeton, +++. Cruised the BC Coast extensively with 1 run to Hawaii.
Then started building my “ultimate” cruiser. Knew I wanted to retire early & head offshore, no clue on where.....so I targeted building a boat that could go anywhere, then stop & run up the visitors flag for family & friends.

Spent 15yrs doing that...(which I’m perversely proud of, but wouldn’t recommend to anyone).

Then wifey & I went sailing, no great plans other than “the South Pacific” (starting out of Vancouver BC).

Throughly enjoyed all aspects....planning, finding crew(prefer to go offshore with 3-4 so you get to sleep & socialize), passagemaking, LANDFALL(!!), exploring & meeting locals.

Pacific loop became a circumnavigation when we decided not to dive back down to New Zealand a second time after spending a season in Fiji......we had superb luck getting into/out of NZ, most boat buddies did not.....so we went Vanuatu, New Calendonia, Chesterfield’s, Australia. Awesome pick ups, and figured once we hit Oz, it was easier to continue west than turn around.
And for us, it was....got to stop at Cocos-Keeling (where all my sailing hero’s had), had a great run across the Indian ocean, jumped from Reunion over top of Madagascar just so we could visit Hellville, and run the Mozembeq channel into South Africa (didn’t see the Red Sea run worth the risk).

DreamCatcher was more than she needed to be, but it was awesome to have total confidence in your vessel. When things got sloppy, she still rode well.(if we were cruising amongst cats, this is where we’d pass them, as we sped up a touch.....and they’d slow down). And we had a huge aft deck lined with benches.....usually the go to boat for sundowners in remote anchorages.

Finished a bit quick (only one season in the Carribbean) with last run starting Feb in ABC’s, finishing Oct back in BC....but made it home two weeks ahead of #1 grandson....which is a whole new adventure!

So didn’t leave with intent of circumnavigating, but throughly enjoyed 6 years out there, primarily sailing as the wind blew us.

Most important piece isn’t the boat, it’s the weather; understanding the local patterns, and being patient enough to leave when it’s right (not when the herd heads out!)

[sailorladd]

I had this dream of building a boat and sailing around the world as a teen ager, and long story short I pulled it off, I had crew with me some of the way and I single handed from Australia to New Zealand and then up to Hawaii through the Cook islands.

In retrospect they were the BEST days of my life. I was alive, thrilling in such an adventure and it set a theme for the way I was to live, and how to deal with hardships and to know how to feel gratitude for the simplest things in life, ... my book explains the whole sage ..days of deja vu I wish you luck and tight lines..

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by nofacey

...Spent 15yrs doing that...(which I’m perversely proud of, but wouldn’t recommend to anyone)...

I found your blog, Beautiful Boat!

[JPA Cate]

Spent 15yrs doing that..

@nofacey:

And what a lovely sailing career. Chapeau!

Ann

[ben2go]

I just made a post in a thread about a similar thing. I have 30-40 hours of sailing across 4 or 5 boats. I know just enough to know I need more experience. I plan to circumnavigate. I will as long as my health holds out. I agree with those that say a very limited number of people make the jump from dirt dweller to world cruiser. It just doesn't seem smart. I bet most that attempt it end up turning back. I know I would have. I am setting goals for myself, unfortunately C-19 has had me modify those goals. Next summer, I will be aboard my own boat and living aboard at least 70% of the time and coastal cruising to get use to the boat. I feel I need a solid year on the same boat honing my skills before I attempt to point the bow at another continent. I'll probably island hop south or make the Bermuda trip before I cast off across and ocean.

[Scratchee]

Originally Posted by NedX

"Curious about circumnavigating/no experience."
I've seen some variation of that line a lot of times here.

The most entertaining and/or frustrating are the ones where someone says they have decided to sail around the world, or some other huge undertaking involving a sailboat, even though they have never sailed. They then proceed to argue with anyone providing advice, saying that they don't need to do those things because of their specific talents or circumstances.

I'm glad to see people sticking up for the newbies, but it's the ones who think they can skip straight to the graduate level sailing that really earn the snark.

[Celestialsailor]

People(Newbies) chose the word "Circumnavigate" because they have no reference. In their mind it is the Nirvana of Sailing. The highly coveted Circumnavigation. I sailed to Mexico and realized it is the journey not the destination. Most people I met told me that Mexico was their favorite place to be. That's saying a lot. If I was to advise someone, I would just tell them to take off for a season and see how it works out for them. It's not for everyone.

Amelia Earhart said it best.."Adventure is worthwhile in itself."

[NedX]

Originally Posted by nofacey

Lol.....watched South Pacific when I was very impressionable, read Solcum, Sleeton, +++. Cruised the BC Coast extensively with 1 run to Hawaii.
Then started building my “ultimate” cruiser. Knew I wanted to retire early & head offshore, no clue on where.....so I targeted building a boat that could go anywhere, then stop & run up the visitors flag for family & friends.

Spent 15yrs doing that...(which I’m perversely proud of, but wouldn’t recommend to anyone).

Then wifey & I went sailing, no great plans other than “the South Pacific” (starting out of Vancouver BC).

Throughly enjoyed all aspects....planning, finding crew(prefer to go offshore with 3-4 so you get to sleep & socialize), passagemaking, LANDFALL(!!), exploring & meeting locals.

Pacific loop became a circumnavigation when we decided not to dive back down to New Zealand a second time after spending a season in Fiji......we had superb luck getting into/out of NZ, most boat buddies did not.....so we went Vanuatu, New Calendonia, Chesterfield’s, Australia. Awesome pick ups, and figured once we hit Oz, it was easier to continue west than turn around.
And for us, it was....got to stop at Cocos-Keeling (where all my sailing hero’s had), had a great run across the Indian ocean, jumped from Reunion over top of Madagascar just so we could visit Hellville, and run the Mozembeq channel into South Africa (didn’t see the Red Sea run worth the risk).

DreamCatcher was more than she needed to be, but it was awesome to have total confidence in your vessel. When things got sloppy, she still rode well.(if we were cruising amongst cats, this is where we’d pass them, as we sped up a touch.....and they’d slow down). And we had a huge aft deck lined with benches.....usually the go to boat for sundowners in remote anchorages.

Finished a bit quick (only one season in the Carribbean) with last run starting Feb in ABC’s, finishing Oct back in BC....but made it home two weeks ahead of #1 grandson....which is a whole new adventure!

So didn’t leave with intent of circumnavigating, but throughly enjoyed 6 years out there, primarily sailing as the wind blew us.

Most important piece isn’t the boat, it’s the weather; understanding the local patterns, and being patient enough to leave when it’s right (not when the herd heads out!)

I love this story...

Having read it, I'd say you, Nofacey, are the most important ingredient to it.

[clownfishsydney]

You should read about Bumfuzzle. They had no experience at all in 2003 when they decided to buy a cat and sail around the world. They copped a lot of flack from so called experts (who mostly had never sailed across an ocean, yet alone around the world) including on this site. They documented the whole trip and you can read it here https://www.bumfuzzle.com/2003/09/. Since then they have done many more amazing adventures.

Personally I decided that it was not for me, despite having a cat that was more than capable of circumnavigating. Have a read before you decide, although you should note they had a remarkably good trip in terms of weather.

[sailorboy1]

This also reminds how much time gets wasted here on CF by people who post they never have sailed, but then list all the “Bluewater” boat requirements they have and who then go on to argue about it.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by clownfishsydney

You should read about Bumfuzzle. They had no experience at all in 2003 when they decided to buy a cat and sail around the world. They copped a lot of flack from so called experts (who mostly had never sailed across an ocean, yet alone around the world) including on this site. They documented the whole trip and you can read it here https://www.bumfuzzle.com/2003/09/. Since then they have done many more amazing adventures.

Personally I decided that it was not for me, despite having a cat that was more than capable of circumnavigating. Have a read before you decide, although you should note they had a remarkably good trip in terms of weather.

I love these guys. When you read their entire adventure travel resume from old VW camper to Airstream and old International Travelall though a couple sailboats (including a circumnavigation) and now a 42 foot Grand Banks Trawler in the Caribbean, it's clear they are all about the journey.

Good blog and good photography. I wish they were more prolific.

Peter

[barnakiel]

Well, if it is your first rtw then clearly you cannot have any earlier experience. Only people who have rtw'ed already have relevant earlier experience.



Many people undertake it.


Sailing rtw is easy.


It does not require any earlier ocean sailing experience but it does help if you have a number of skills, e.g.:


- you can sail a plain dinghy in any kind of weather (e.g. you raced Lasers),

- you can find where you are and plan where to go (aka navigate),
- you can read with understanding (wx forecasts, engine manual, red tape, etc.),


There are also people who do not know how to sail but go for it anyway. I think they are stupid and irresponsible. If you ** somebody will risk their life to come and rescue you.



b.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Well, if it is your first rtw then clearly you cannot have any earlier experience. Only people who have rtw'ed already have relevant earlier experience.



Many people undertake it.


Sailing rtw is easy.


It does not require any earlier ocean sailing experience but it does help if you have a number of skills, e.g.:


- you can sail a plain dinghy in any kind of weather (e.g. you raced Lasers),

- you can find where you are and plan where to go (aka navigate),
- you can read with understanding (wx forecasts, engine manual, red tape, etc.),


There are also people who do not know how to sail but go for it anyway. I think they are stupid and irresponsible. If you ** somebody will risk their life to come and rescue you.



b.

I never can understand this 'must have sailed a dinghy' clause so many go on about..
I learnt the basics on 27ft Montague whalers and 32ft cutters with crews and powered by oars once the sails and mast were dropped..or no wind.
I then (some 15yrs later) bought a timber 24ft bilge keeler and refreshed my limited skills coastal sailing between the Solent and Weymouth for a year before venturing across to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands of Alderney and Guernsey.
The navigation I agree with.. A good understanding of tides, positioning by cocked hat sighting and dead reckoning at a minimum.. along with reading a chart and understanding the symbols, just looking at a screen is not good enough if you don't know what things mean.

[smacksman]

The Canaries, Trinidad and Panama are full of boats where the romantic dream ended with a bump.

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

You know, "not a sailor, want to circumnavigate" sounds to me like a desire to escape something, whereas, "I wanna go cruising" sounds like wanting to explore. The person whose first post on CF is a question about extending cruising range on their boat is a much more likely candidate to find him/herself actually circumnavigating. It is that they are already sailing (they and their bodies know something about it), and they already have a boat--they have already "put their money where their mouth is." I love it when they show up. And look at the response KelseyB has received for her maiden voyage! Some are "much talk, little do"; and some get out there, pay some sweat equity, and go for it. Everybody's different.

I still like the Pardey's exhortation, more or less, "Keep doing it while it's still fun."

Ann

Haha I like that I've been dragged into this! To give my unqualified two cents, I think that the people who are successful, in addition to those who do it unintentionally, are the ones who are terrified before they leave the dock. I don't think it's good for the sailing community or new sailors to have the first thing new sailors hear be all the terrifying stuff (scares people off), so I'll just clear that up, but step one of the whole thing is going past the romanticism into the terrifying stuff, and step two is coming out of the terrifying stuff back into the romanticism. Its going, "yea, okay, got it, but I still wanna do it anyway." So that goes back to what others have been saying about how those who come out and say "I want to expand my cruising range" instead of "I want to circumnavigate" are more likely to circumnavigate, because even if you're thinking of the circumnavigation but you're afraid, then you probably won't blab that goal to the whole world lest you back out or fail. And if you're afraid of it, then I think you might have a better chance of being successful because you have a better sense of what you're getting into in the first place.