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Old 25-06-2011, 12:46   #16
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Re: Single person sailboat

Sounds like you really have a ton of research to do. If you want the story to be accurate? Almost anything in size can fit your description of people aboard. If it is in the Philippines why not use a local boat? Smaller are even sail........i2f
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Old 25-06-2011, 16:15   #17
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Re: Single person sailboat

Welcome to CF.

As i2f says above, you've got a ton of research to do if you want the story to be fairly accurate. But I gotta ask ... why do you want to write about something you say you know very little about? And why focus on the choice of boat before knowing about more about ocean sailing? Seems as though you may be getting "the cart before the horse", so to speak.
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Old 25-06-2011, 16:26   #18
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Wink Re: Single person sailboat

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Originally Posted by Seawriter View Post
Hello,

I am writing a story that involves sailing and I admit I know very little to nothing about it. My first question is to find a sailboat that could handle open water (ocean travel) with a main mast and backup outboard engine but that could be sailed by one person alone.

Does anyone have any links or comments to help me get started?

Thank you,

SW
Yes, a friend has sailed from Plymouth UK to the Caribbean in his Robert Ives Four-21, a 21 foot long pocket cruiser that I located in Poole. The shopping list included Hurley 22, Jaguar 22 and a long list of similar boats but the spec was fin keel and inboard diesel up to £3000. The Ives was not on the list but it ticked all the boxes and the rest is history. Note that several months were spent doing a refit including an H frame, solar panels, and wind vane steering and the boat was given a good shakedown before the big trip. The route was Isles-of-Scilly then a long run across the Bay of Biscay (during this run the boats all time daily best of 114nm was achieved) In northern Spain jellyfish destroyed the impeller of the Petter Mini-6 seawater pump. More jellyfish trouble caused an engine fire (exhaust hose burnt through, silencer melted and head gasket blown) and he had to put into Sines, Portugal for repairs. Upgrades to the filters were done and an engine overheat alarm fitted. After this it was down to the Canary Islands. Main problem now was that the sea was over twenty five degrees C which can cause hurricanes. Once the sea temperature fell to 24 it was off to the Cape Verde Islands for a few days at Mindelo. Two knockdowns occurred during the crossing of the Atlantic which took about 30 days. The problem is that with a boat that small the crossing takes longer than what they can predict with a long range weather forecast, nevertheless the website "Magic Seaweed" can be extremely useful. The Ives is built like the proverbial brick outhouse and the fin keel protects the rudder and propeller from damage. Spade hung rudders and props on P brackets might be OK for racing but if they get bent and jammed in mid ocean you can lose the boat (note that sunfish weigh about one ton). The knockdowns caused some rigging damage but nothing major. In the Caribbean the chief problem is keeping the beer cold as the Peltier diode coolbox that was OK in temperate climes just can't hack it any more so one either has to buy ice or pay £s£s£s for a tropically rated cooler. The other problem was worn seals in the Jabsco seawater pump (the one that has got the wrong number that doesn't exist according to ****** Marines computer - duh you just can't get the right staff!) Viton rubber seals with stainless steel garter springs were sent out from England (many thanks to Simply Bearings for being so efficient) so the pump should now be OK for a good few more years as wearing out all five might take a lifetime! The Ives is beamy and allegedly has more room inside than a Contessa 26 which is a very capable boat nevertheless. Drawbacks of the Mini-6 diesel are head gasket problems as it is a mixed-metal engine but the gaskets are not very expensive and with practice the job can be done in an hour. The Yanmar 1GM10 is taller than the Petter so isn't ideal however the Farrymann "Yellow River Star" would be absolutely perfect if one has the funds. One does of course need GPS and an Iridium phone on such a trip. Another extremely useful item is NASA Marine AIS. This cost less than a radar detector and does a better job. It also uses very little power so one can sleep soundly. As to the water situation a great solution is to use lots of 2 litre lemonade bottles as if the boats tank gets contaminated you are still OK and the empties might come in handy as buoyancy. Good Luck!

By the way outboard motors are not very good in the ocean as the propeller can keep coming out of the water. The fuel efficiency is also rather poor.
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