California to Europe

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by JanekPL

Dockhead, please. I have a 40 ft boat. A piece of wood? A broken windsurfer mast??

At worst, I'd consider making my own from a nice piece of carbon tubing, but you can't get relevant ratings on those things, they don't sell "carbon tubing for spinnaker poles".

So I think I'll just buy one appropriate for the boat. If you were getting one, which of the three I listed would you go for?

You want carbon fibre for sure.


A broken windsurfer mast is the most efficient way to source a nice carbon tube.


If you want to buy one ready made, and don't mind the cash for it -- go for it. But clever people, even with multi million euro yachts, have them made out of appropriate repurposed materials.

[rygygtx]

Originally Posted by JanekPL

To rygygtx:
I believe the TIP is required for all of Mexico, if you pull into a place that has "port authority" officer.

Coming from Galveston, are you thinking the Gulf coast of MX, or Panama and up to Baja? The Sea of Cortez is worth the trip!

Tell me a little about your Rafiki 37. I looked it up on boatdata.com, I like it! Is yours pretty much as spec'd there? 120 gal of fuel and 195 gals of water?!?! Omg.

To sv_pelagia:
Thanks for the heads-up, I will have to look into the customs charges and shipping costs. My other alternatives are to have it shipped to the US and either take it down in my truck or find a boat that will take it for me; or I may consider sailing back home to get it, depending on the timing. Sailing north would likely take a couple of weeks, though after all, I'm in this for the sailing, so...

JanekPL - Thanks for confirming the info on the TIP, I have read around a bit about it and it appears to be advised to obtain one in advance, so that's good to know.

I really like the Rafiki - She ticked off all the checkboxes in what I wanted: tiller steering, cutter rigged, full keel and canoe stern. I do miss a bowsprit though (purely for the aesthetics She is indeed spec'd with those tankage sizes, which is quite nice for her size (I could probably just about motor all the way to FL or MX, though I wouldn't want to ofc)! My current plan is to do a direct crossing from Galveston to Isla straight across the gulf, and make my way down the carib coast of MX and Belize, but I haven't thought much about beyond that, plenty to explore around just those two coastlines

[Cynara]

VHF weather channel will give you the conditions ib the Catalina channel. If it's a Santa Anna they usually close avalon harbor

[JanekPL]

Can anyone share their experience sailing with locked helm (brake)?

Are there tricks to setting the sails to best maintain the course? For example, would sailing with only one sail up help the boat maintain course? Let's assume steady wind for the sake of this deliberation.

Would using a drogue help?

I'd love to save the batteries by not using the autopilot, and I don't have a wind vane.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by JanekPL

Can anyone share their experience sailing with locked helm (brake)?



Are there tricks to setting the sails to best maintain the course? For example, would sailing with only one sail up help the boat maintain course? Let's assume steady wind for the sake of this deliberation.



Would using a drogue help?



I'd love to save the batteries by not using the autopilot, and I don't have a wind vane.

Very few yachts will sail any distance without helm adjustment.

Beef up your power sources

[Cynara]

How well does your boat sail that way now? Are you sloop, cutter, ketch,etc? Full keel fin keel? Will you be sailing with crew? Many questions

[boatman61]

Look up Hans Christian 40 in SailBoat specs..
JanekPL.. try a wind generator if you don't want deck clutter.

[Cynara]

Drogue will slow you down a lot.

Some people have rigged sheet to tiller with bungee cord. I've never tried that

Windvane works very well. That is what we had.

I'm sure you can find plans to build one

[JanekPL]

Originally Posted by Cynara

How well does your boat sail that way now? Are you sloop, cutter, ketch,etc? Full keel fin keel? Will you be sailing with crew? Many questions

In general, my boat sails excellent on reaches, quite well upwind, and fair downwind (needs 10 knots to get going). But I have not tried the technique with a helm brake yet. Boat has a fin keel with skeg rudder. Removable inner stay, so either sloop or cutter; and I will be sailing solo.

==================
I don't need to rig sheets, I have a helm brake.
I am not planning to install a wind vane at this time.

Boatman1: Wind generator is a possibility, but I heard they are inefficient and noisy. I'm a picky eater. Still, it may be just the thing to supplement my solar. I assume you have one? Tell me about it.

But the question is, how to keep the boat on course while using the helm brake?

[boatman61]

You may manage it for 10 to 15mins max if your sails are set perfect.. long enough to nip to the loo or make a brew but more than that no.. depending on wind direction you'll start heading up or falling off.. more difficult (impossible) when the winds abaft the beam..
Lost my WP just above Bermuda on a solo to the Azores-UK so had 1300+nm to experiment.. that was a Hunter 37 cutter.

[Rod Headlee]

Leaving California in February will be fine. Go 50 miles offshore and turn left. Once you get through the canal head for Grand Cayman, go around the west end of Cuba.. You can jump in the Gulf Stream and ride it around to Florida. Make your way from there.

[JanekPL]

Originally Posted by boatman61

You may manage it for 10 to 15mins max if your sails are set perfect.. long enough to nip to the loo or make a brew but more than that no.. depending on wind direction you'll start heading up or falling off.. more difficult (impossible) when the winds abaft the beam..
Lost my WP just above Bermuda on a solo to the Azores-UK so had 1300+nm to experiment.. that was a Hunter 37 cutter.

Hmm, that's not very long, is it... Not nearly enough for my purposes, which are mainly taking a nap and fixing food. And I will be sailing from San Diego to La Paz in about two weeks, via Isla Guadalupe btw, so I guess I should expect the wind from abaft.

But I shall experiment, too! I have all the time in the world, don't need to be anywhere any time, so I can go as slowly as it takes. My horse sense tells me that if I drop the genoa and just sail under the main, maybe reefed, the "performance" of the helm brake may improve. Did you experiment with that?

Regardless, I have lots of fuel and the batteries are not really a critical issue under the circumstances, so I will just use autopilot when I must.

Sorry, but what is "WP", the one you lost just above Bermuda?

[JPA Cate]

You may need to pick up two crew if you plan to hand steer. It will probably be cheaper than adding a wind generator or solar power. (If you do decide to take crew, remember to plan for the power consumption of their gear, too. Phones, cameras, computers.) If your present setup can only just barely handle your needs, you may want to upgrade before you leave. It is common to find that what worked with occasional shore side top ups will not support the demands day in and out on passages. One usually goes from colder to warmer, and one's fridge running times increase. Obviously this isn't so if the North Sea is your cruising grounds, for instance, but...is true for North Americans headed south.

For DDW, people have flown twin headsails, and it needs to be rigged sheet to tiller, so that it can correct the course. Locking the helm means the rudder offers no input. Fin keel boats tend to spin around their keel. It's part of what makes tacking easier. People who sail this way get used to it, but it can be pretty rolly.

Incidentally, it is possible to design and fabricate your own wind steerer. My Jim did that, and it steered us thousands of miles. It had been inspired by the autohelm one, an auxiliary rudder type. He got the shape of the ruder cum trim tab from a book on wing design. It may not be the kind of project that interests you to take on, but if you're looking for silent, not power hungry, it is a good way to go.

Ann

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by JanekPL

....................


My horse sense tells me that if I drop the genoa and just sail under the main, maybe reefed, the "performance" of the helm brake may improve. Did you experiment with that?

If you are going downwind, and you have a choice of which sail to leave up my experience says it should be the jib, not the main.

[JanekPL]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

If you are going downwind, and you have a choice of which sail to leave up my experience says it should be the jib, not the main.

Indeed, that is so. And that may be a better way to keep the course steady than the helm brake. A drogue might also help, if I don't mind using the water brake