How Can You Determine a Timeframe ?

[set_sail]

For sailing? I'm in the beginning stages of the whole thing, and I still have yet to get a boat or anything, but how can you determine a timeframe and distances for a trip?

[Khagan1227]

I figure 100 - 125 miles per day in a 30' boat. That depends on wind, seas, etc. The longer the hull the faster the boat, generally speaking.

[Pblais]

Your range per day increases with experience to the point where you tend to know what the base value is for your boat. For the beginner day sails of 40 nm is a pretty long day.

I would start out with the idea of hours not miles. Let your experience dictate how far you are willing to sail in a day. You really are not going to do 24 hour passages in the beginning. You need to grow into your abilities.

[Hudson Force]

Sometimes experience will slow you down. We left the Saint Johns River in NE Florida twelve days ago and we have traveled a total of 130 miles. Tomorrow we'll head down Mosquito Lagoon to Indian River where we will anchor off Titusville and fill one of our propane tanks. We tend to enjoy where we are without striving to be anywhere else soon.

[Pblais]

We tend to enjoy where we are without striving to be anywhere else soon.

Not being on a schedule is the lesson of true experience.

[boatman61]

I would not go to much on what a boats capable of... those speeds are usually achieved in open water and trade wind conditions where it'll blow steady for weeks on end...
For everyday coastal sailing I'd reckon on more like 80-90/24hrs... if tides are not to strong... some places you have to lay to anchor till the tides change.. so you can cut the above in half straight away...
Oh.. that's in a 30/32ftr

[Bash]

That may be a more complex question than you realize. Figuring what the boat can do and what the sailor can do often require different formulas.

There are basically two types of sailors: those who enjoy getting there, and those who enjoy being there. The first type often doesn't mind a slower passage; if the winds lighten up and the knotlog only reads two knots, they are fine with that. The second type, who will inevitably be married to the first type, generally have a number etched in their brains below which they cannot tolerate dawdling. My wife, for example, begins to itch if the boat speed drops below five knots on a long trip, and if she's on watch there's a good chance that the engine will come on once we drop below four knots. For her, the fun begins the moment we drop the hook and rig up the sun shade. And not a moment sooner.

It helps, if your boat partner is a "being there" type sailor, to have a big, fast boat and always run it downwind in the tradewinds. At that point, you can reliably pick a number, such as "150 nautical miles."

If someone tells you that they average anything more than 150 nm per day, you must consider one of five possibilities: (1) the person is wealthy enough to own too much waterline for their own good (I include owners of large catamarans in this group, btw); (2) the person pushes the boat and crew far too hard for their own good; (3) the person spends the greater part of his/her time sailing through gales; (4) the person is navigational challenged and really hasn't got a clue how far he sailed yesterday; (5) the person is a congenital liar.

I'm happy to report that there are only two congenital liars included among the membership of this forum, and that they both claim to be "getting there" types, but we have reason to believe that their fuel bills are higher than they admit.

[set_sail]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Not being on a schedule is the lesson of true experience.

I will certainly take this piece of advice and store it front and center. Thank you.

[Minggat]

Until you actually get a boat you can count on it taking much longer.

As far as that timeframe goes, set goals. Mine were always 3-5 years. That never got any shorter until I noticed that I had never bothered to set a date.

Not at all what you asked, but related in my warped thinking.

[courageous cat]

speed x time = distance

time divided by distance = speed

speed diveded by distance = time
i think thats right. If not someone will corect me

[courageous cat]

I mean distance diveded by time or speed
sorry about that

[barnakiel]

You divide the trip distance by the distance you can cover per day and the result comes in days. Distance/speed=time.

Over larger areas you may be forced to respect the seasons - esp. with a non-extreme boat. Not much cruising in the polar regions in the winter nor in the tropics in the summer.

b.