Miles Traveled

[Unicorn Dreams]

75-80,000 NM total

3/4 RTW, boat on the hard in Durban, S Africa, yard fire and everything forward of mast destroyed.

Complete RTW with no problems and no FIRE. Provably 1 week total of extreme weather in 5 1/2 yr cruise.

Multiple trips throughout the Caribbean and the GoM..

[Jimbo485]

15 000 miles between the ages of 10 and 12, doing 5 - 6 hours of solo watches per day, learnt celestial, etc. Lost count of the miles during the following decades. Our son now does solo night watches at the ripe old age of 10 and has about 4000 miles under his keels over the last 18 months. He can use a GPS and a sextant but hasn't learnt the celestial maths yet.

My younger sister was a baby during my childhood cruising. 20 years later she was working on yachts in the Caribbean. 10 years after that, married with 1 and 3 year old toddlers, and they sailed home across the Pacific in their own boat.

Our old man did 2 circumnavs, then swallowed the anchor and moved ashore last year.

And so the cycle continues..... but ya gotta start them young........

[boatman61]

Since May this year in the region of +5000nm....
but like Captain58 its OP's boats and work... around the same last year...
Since 1964 when I first stepped into a Royal Navy Montague whaler... ???

[captain58sailin]

Like several other posters, started early, got addicted before I knew better, and I too will die at sea, I think I will leave a treasure map for my next of kin to follow, so they can find the boat, who ever gets there first gets the boat!

[ADMPRTR]

Originally Posted by Target9000

100 miles and counting. :P

Way to go! We all have to start somewhere and the first 100 miles is often the hardest. Have you had any adventures yet? The worst grounding in my sailing carreer was within my first 300 miles...

As for me, I started late although I have always loved sailboats (I have a picture of one that I drew when I was a young child and I convinced my father to make me a toy boat).

I held the dream in the back of my mind for years untill one day I realized it was possible. I am iching to go but the Admiral is not so convinced and with career and family it is hard to weigh anchor. But one of these days. I fantasize that I will one day be buried at sea (hopefully not too soon) but I have to get to the sea first. For now, I am trying to gain what experience I can in our inland fresh water seas.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by James S

Hong Kong to northern Luzon then down to Manila then down and out the straights to Yap, Ulithy Guam...then sailing around the Marianas.
Coastal Leb and to Cyprus and back..

Edit...that's hand steering all the way and taking noon shots..so I thing I get double the miles?

We have a lot of sailing in common..I have been from Guam to Truk onto Phonapa, Yap,Palau,PI,all the N.Marianas, Siapan..when I was young(er)Jamaica ,Haiti,DR...N.C. to Fla...DVC

[zeehag]

we all still learning and never will be masters of the sea, as mother nature has strong hands and a strong will.
everyone does things a lil differently also.
just sail and learn. every day of life and living is learning.

[Jeannius]

About 36000 nm in my catamaran over the last 9 years and a few more thousands in half-boats in the 20 years before.

[Hydra]

I have no idea. Roughly 1200 nm/year over the last 6 years, around France, England, Ireland, not counting miles in ships for work. For the 30 years sailing before that, I don't know, don't care.

Alain

[sck5]

about 5000 in the last year. more before that. I only know the last year because my new chartplotter kept track of how far I went between Rock Hall, MD and the Grenadines and then back again.

[msponer]

I am conflicted about counting miles at sea.

The number just doesn't tell you much about the experience-- my friend crewed on a Norsea 27 for a week, and I am certain he'd say that those 500 miles are completely incomparable to the more than half around the world he sailed on my boat. The couple thousand I have on a 52' boat with electric winches and an ice maker felt more like a floating party with a few minutes of day sailing here and there.

I also feel like the "miles" thing is a bit of a boyscout badge. Which is fine, I know that for some, sailing is a bit of an Everest expedition-- a thing to prove themselves. That's better than me, because I haven't even really figured out why I love being at sea. But, for me, it feels a bit... impious... and imprecise, to measure the experience like that, sort of like summarizing my experience as a parent by the total combined weight of my children. Which is, by the way, 110 pounds.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by msponer

I am conflicted about counting miles at sea.

The number just doesn't tell you much about the experience-- my friend crewed on a Norsea 27 for a week, and I am certain he'd say that those 500 miles are completely incomparable to the more than half around the world he sailed on my boat. The couple thousand I have on a 52' boat with electric winches and an ice maker felt more like a floating party with a few minutes of day sailing here and there.

I also feel like the "miles" thing is a bit of a boyscout badge. Which is fine, I know that for some, sailing is a bit of an Everest expedition-- a thing to prove themselves. That's better than me, because I haven't even really figured out why I love being at sea. But, for me, it feels a bit... impious... and imprecise, to measure the experience like that, sort of like summarizing my experience as a parent by the total combined weight of my children. Which is, by the way, 110 pounds.

I don't actually disagree, but it is what the OP asked for.

So, what parameter would you suggest for describing one's experience? I guess that we could all attach copies of our logs, but it might overload the forums servers. Short of that, what would work?

Cheers,

Jim

[Target9000]

Originally Posted by ADMPRTR

Way to go! We all have to start somewhere and the first 100 miles is often the hardest. Have you had any adventures yet? The worst grounding in my sailing carreer was within my first 300 miles...

I've had a few modest "exciting moments". We just finished an engine replacement and motoring out of the harbor when the motor dies due to a bad fuel line hose clamp was interesting. Got to test just how fast we could get sails up.

I've had one grounding so far but it was on a soft marsh and I was able to weasel my way out of it.

Hardest thing so far has honestly been getting in and out of the slip. But we're getting better! Hopefully we'll add a great many more miles onto that figure. I figure the boat itself has well over 100k miles on it. Its been circumnavigated in 3 times.

[captain58sailin]

I agree with msponer, it could become a measuring contest of sorts. Personally it has more to do with the spirit of the ones involved. I have come across people with very little actual experience that had the kinship with the ocean at the out set and it came to them as naturally as breathing. As far as grounding goes. "If you ain't been aground, you ain't been around."

[Astrid]

In the old clipper ship days, passages were usually recorded in days, hours, and minutes rather than in nautical miles, as extra nautical miles over and above the charted course might be accumulated by tacking and wearing.