Offshore Sailor Needs Advice

Originally Posted by LeeSailor

How do we find someone to help him figure out how to dismantle his steering system?

I guess it would help to know what one piece, and why it won't come off. I am traveling right now, and do not have the time to go through his blog so, if you know, post it here. I would be happy to try to figure this out.

[imagine2frolic]

He says that c clamps are shearing in half. I am not familiar with monitor as to it's workings, but for the life of me I can't figure out where c clamps would go. There were 6, and now 2 left.

Get the bungie cords working, or hove to, and put things in order. He has made some rookie mistakes. The spilled fuel was bad. It could have ignited. As always turning back has to always be an option. His learning curve is a VERY steep spike right now. If he gets the boat to self steer? I think he will be fine. Bruised, and battered, but able to make it.

I am sure he is truly beginning to understand the task he has undertaken. When he gets to his next port. He will leave that one a much more prepared man & boat.......BEST WISHES to him in the face of adversity......It ain't easy single-handing the ocean. He's getting a spanking for the moment. He'll learn his lessons.....i2f

[theonecalledtom]

My best guess is that the six u bolts go to each of the six spokes on the wheel. There is probably a central drive wheel that the lines from the monitor attach to that is somehow attached to the wheel itself.

[rtbates]

who didn't see this coming? The first time I read of these two bozo's 'plan' I mentioned that they just might want to learn about sailing and the rigors involved. Nope, they are young and bullet proof and were going to 'just do it'.

Apparently from their web page they know a hell alot more about blogging than sailing.

Another stunt going wrong.

[skatastrophy]

Originally Posted by theonecalledtom

My best guess is that the six u bolts go to each of the six spokes on the wheel. There is probably a central drive wheel that the lines from the monitor attach to that is somehow attached to the wheel itself.

similar or dissimilar to these clamps on the wheel?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

He posted his sailing plans here before

I don't recall who. But hopefully I never said "go for it"

[SkiprJohn]

Those J bolts shoud not be sheering. When the sails are set properly and the windvane is working the wheel should not have that much resistance to sheer stainless bolts holding the hub to the wheel. Somewhere in his steering system is a lot of resistance that shouldn't be there.
I wish him a lot of luck and there were many many people who drifted to Hawaii from California with a lot less experience and a lot less boat without GPS in the 60s and 70s so I'm certain he'll make it.
Here, Hilo, is his closest landfall so I suppose this is where he'll end up. If anyone is contributing to his blog make certain he understands that most tragedies occur by singlehanders in the last few hours when approaching the islands due to lack of sleep.
regards,
JohnL

[Alan Wheeler]

OK firstly this thread is in the wrong place. Mods, shift it to the maintenance section where it is probably going to get a better read. This subject Forum was started as a "non-serious" forum and so I thought that was what this thread was about. Now I see it is serious.

OK, we have little facts here and need some serious info. I suspect he has a cable steering system and as is a common fault with these, the cable sprags and jams. That is not going to be repairable and he needs to get home ASAP before he loses all steering completely. At least that is my advise without knowing more details.

[EDIT: good suggestion, Alan. Thread moved, with re-direct in original forum. --- Hud]

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I don't recall who. But hopefully I never said "go for it"

Ronnie said,

Kai Nui, you obviously understand who I am and what I am doing. As for everyone else, I didn't mean to offend anyone when I referred to "worst case scenarios", I was just stating my own personal worst case scenario. Every single one of us is unique and has a different path that our lives will follow. What works for some doesn't work for others. Me personally, I want to sail around the world, as a single 23 year old guy, and see what happens.

As for the people that were giving me words of caution before single-handing to Hawaii:

Thank you. It really does mean alot to me that a stranger would take the time to write an emotion-driven post advising me to take crew, wait, not go, etc. Your words of wisdom do not fall on deaf ears. I acknowledge that I am incredibly inexperienced, but I think I can do this. And for some reason, I feel very strongly about doing it single-handed. (At least to Hawaii, anyways) A friend of mine summed it up as "keep the heavy side down, keep the water on the outside, don't run into stuff, and reef early". That's pretty much my plan, to be honest. My boat is a veteran cruising boat, and I am sure that it is up to the task of crossing oceans, even with me at the helm, alone. I know that I don't truly know what i'm up against, but I am used to identifying and solving problems as they occur, and this is the mindset that I am taking with me. Yes, i'm sure stuff will break. And i'll fix it to the best of my abilities. People always give me these hypotheticals like "what are you going to do when you're in a hurricane and a sperm whale rams a whole in your boat, you're dismasted, your boat explodes, and you get shot by a stray bullet from a Pirate's AK-47 and your comm is down, all at the same time?" Let me answer that question with a question. "what are you going to do when a drunk driver t-bones you at 60 mph? What are you going to do when an overtired trucker falls asleep and doesn't stop and just runs you over from behind while you're doing the daily commute to work?" Stuff happens in life. Sometimes you're meant to die. If that's what happens, that's what happens. I am trying my hardest to plan for the worst, and be ready for it. I know that to many of you, I sound like an arrogant, stubborn young kid with no respect for his eleders' opinions, and to some extent I would say that is accurate, but in reality I think that I am just very driven and focused on what I want to do at this point in my life. I am not cocky, I do not think this will be an easy trip, given my lack of experience and being alone, but I truly believe that I can do anything that I truly set my mind to. Every single day that I am above ground seems like a bonus to me. I think about the fact that I pretty much got blown up by an RPG and I should be dead. Then I look at what I am attempting to do with my life right now, and just smile.

I am still planning to leave San Diego, solo, on Oct. 1 for Hawaii. and then head south.
__________________







DOJ said,


This thread has developed in unexpected and interesting ways Kinda why I left it alone to develop without my usual 27 cents worth




Easy for me to say "Go for it!" or "Don't do it!".....but I figure only you know whether you can and events will prove one way or another. You sound like you have a good grasp on your (Donald Rumsfeld style ) unknowns - but you may in reality be a completely deluded f#ckwit (no offence ) who manages to get far enough along your learning curve from pure gold plated luck or you may be 120% prepared and experianced and fail in your ambitions simply due to good old fashioned bad luck.......life is like that - only way to find out whether you will suceed is trying. In any event, IMO changing to a Plan B is never a failure - it's just another route to one's destination.......whatever that may be - the big destination is usually in one's head.......

Bon voyage - and be informative to read how the voyage(s) go.


On a seperate issue, I suspect that I should have added to my original scenario




http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...t-18838-2.html

[Cheechako]

balance the sails so there is just a little wx helm, even if he has to move slower by reefing etc. At night, tie the wheel with minimally stretched bungies. Take cat naps. Maybe use an egg timer. Check position between cat naps. Oh and buy a good auto pilot and charging system, throw that ancient technology off the stern...;>)

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Therapy

I am still planning to leave San Diego, solo, on Oct. 1 for Hawaii. and then head south.

DOJ said..........Easy for me to say "Go for it!" or "Don't do it!".....but I figure only you know whether you can and events will prove one way or another.

Oh sh#t

Mmmm. I read that as a politely hedging me bets..........

This is kinda something I have pondered over before (can't find the post ) - easy to be polite and to be interpreted as giving a green light to someone to get into something they do not yet understand / unsuitably equipped........and which turns out badly.

It's the internet - who even knew he really had a boat


Anyway, doesn't sound like a disaster yet. Plan A come home. Plan B sail by hand, and if she won't self steer, heave to for sleep. I hope he knows that heaving too is an option......

[skatastrophy]

This is like seeing an old lady drive her car at 30 mph down the middle of the freeway and hoping she doesn't get hit

[hellosailor]

His posts now seem to indicate everything has been dealt with (gasoline below, seawater in the fresh tank, autosteering out...) I only hope he remembered to keep the cameras rolling, so they can sell the film. Looks like he's got just past the 1/4 way mark.

[Wotname]

My first reaction to this thread was "Oh, here goes another one, plenty of armchair (cockpit) advice etc etc)"; but I am finding it more interesting as it develops.

As I put myself in his position (as best as one can from just reading), I am left wondering where his "fear factor" is at.

While I have single handed and spent days at sea and fixed problems along the way, I can't say I have experienced all that he has in such a short time with so little experience to fall back on.

I suspect that he can keep his "fear emotions" down to a reasonable level, he will do OK and learn much, on the other hand, if the fear level skyrockets, then bad decisions become commonplace (especially in conjunction with fatigue).

Good Luck Mate!

[Alan Wheeler]

So I am a little confused. I thought we were trying to fix a steering issue. Is the steering now fixed?? What was wrong??? I think the suggestions of turning around etc etc were not due to lack of experience, but due to repair somewhere due to lack of experience. If all is good, I say go for it. If you think you can sail to Hawaii, more power to you. But the questions you need to ask yourself are, if Plan A goes wrong, what can I use to make a Plan B. That is the true essence of water sailing">Blue water sailing. The further you go, the more you need to know how to get around the A's that go wrong and put B's into place. In other words, self sufficiency.
The big question is, how are you navigating and should that fail, have you got a plan B. All the rest can sort of be fumbled through.