How to Plan a Circumnavigation?

[Celestialsailor]

Here is a great place to find information for your dream...

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by dsmastern

Three or four years to see the world seems like a bit of a rushed trip to me.. . .

I would second that opinion in that trying to circumnavigate the world in "3 or 4 years" is more in the line of "sprinting" around the world instead of "living" around the world.

I know quite a few circumnavigators and those who enjoyed the experience usually took no less than 10 years plus or minus. The reason being that as a sailing boat you are pretty much tied to the rhythm of the seasons. Somewhat near half of each year you need to be in the "other hemisphere" to avoid generally nasty weather.

Then add in that in some places during the journey you really want to stay for the maximum time possible or return to those places that you missed in the previous year. Next thing you know a decade has slipped by.

Finally, there is the ever changing geopolitical situation in various parts of the world. Some years you can cruise an area in relative safety and economically. Other years areas become "too hot" safety-wise or the politicians too greedy and are wanting to strip your wallet/cruising budget too much.

So flexibility is the key word and for that you - sort of - need an rather open-ended calendar for such a cruising goal. Or - you just pare down the goal to circumnavigate a smaller region - like the Caribbean, or the Atlantic, or the South Pacific. Once you have exhausted the interest and opportunities in one area you do a reality check on your finances and family situation and if things allow - move on to a new/different area to circumnavigate.

You still keep the dream of doing the whole way around the planet but do it in smaller chunks.

Things like the various "round the world" rally situations work but usually for folks with both much larger boats and really larger finances. Those things are expensive.

[Cheechako]

make the plan around those weather windows in the books. Then... just take it one day at a time....

[sck5]

You might want to take a look at Jimmy Cornell's "World Cruising Routes"

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Here is a great place to find information for your dream...

...opps...I messed up and forgot to attach this...
Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Books | Cornell Sailing Books

[jackdale]

Read Liza Copelnad's books (six year circumnavigation) About Cruising - Liza / Andy Copeland & Bagheera

And Fiona McCall's books (another 6 year circumnavigation) All in the Same Boat: Amazon.ca: Fiona McCall, Paul Howard: Books

Both have a few books in their series.

[Captain Jeffry]

Originally Posted by ArtM

I'm trying not to make a suggestion, but I have read of several circumnavigators coming to that conclusion on their own.

Over time, you might in fact circumnavigate as a result of selecting different regions of the world to cruise about in at different times.

By removing circumavigation as a primary or necessary goal, I believe that you will look at the problem and it's solutions differently. How differently? I don't have experience in this area, only have read some accounts of others...

Spot on! Well stated. Sounds like your planning/dreaming or both?

[Captain Jeffry]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

...opps...I messed up and forgot to attach this...
Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Books | Cornell Sailing Books

Good one. Excellent Author/book.

[AiniA]

Most of the previous posts have been about the philosophy of cruising. I would like to look more at the practicalities.

I second the recommendation about Cornell's book. Basically there are weather windows linking various cruising destinations and when you link these you end up with a circumnavigation. For example, you want to arrive in South Africa about now (we did last week), and if you want to go to the US, you should be out of the Caribbean before hurricane season or you should stay south of the zone in Grenada or Trinidad for example. If you did not want to spend the hurricane season in the extreme southern Caribbean you go to Brazil and spend the time there before heading north. The voyage lengthens if you decide you want to stay somewhere (e.g. Caribbean, south Pacific, southeast Asia) longer. Generally the longer will be a year since you have to wait for next year's weather window. BTW, the World ARC boats should be here (Richards Bay) in a week or so. There were a few of them in Mauritius before we left. Seems like a bit of an ordeal to me and really makes sense only if you have a fast boat and are in a hurry. There was an X55 and a Catana 52? in Mauritius.They get a lot time in port than a 40 footer, but even then, not that much.

You mention that you want to do this with your family. Seems to work best if the kids are in the 0 to 13 age group. Teenagers seem to need to be settled where they have friends and school needs are higher. Might affect your planning.

[impi]

Definitely CORNELL'S book ...

We have found that our plans have changed several times along the way.

Choose your preferred route taking all due weather considerations into account and then ...GO!

Along the way you will meet up with other cruisers and share great information which will have a impact on your plans.

We actually had planned to sail to Maine in the USA for hurricane season but due to visa requirements and our love for cruising the BVI's decided to wait it out here for 6 months and will only now head for the Bahamas before the long trot down to Panama for the Pacific next year ... Our plans are not to have any fixed ones except to be aware generally of weather ...

[Celestialsailor]

I attended on of Jimmy Cornells seminars at a boat show. He explained with the continued effect of climate change, the weather patterns change slowly from year to year. He showed differences from a chart 15 years ago to today. Some destinations which were difficult to sail to are now easy with wind direction and the opposite is true for other destinations. See: Cornells Ocean Atlas.

[Therapy]

I have no experience but I was going to say this:

Along the way you will meet up with other cruisers and share great information which will have a impact on your plans.

And the part about making sure your bank account will withstand the rigors.

[tmoandj]

I appreciate all of the advice and I'm dedinitely going to look for Cornell's book. But, i'd like to refocus / redirect the conversation. What I'm really wonderingg about is the years leading up to our departure. What should i be planning or preparing now - before we go?

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by tmoandj

I appreciate all of the advice and I'm dedinitely going to look for Cornell's book. But, i'd like to refocus / redirect the conversation. What I'm really wonderingg about is the years leading up to our departure. What should i be planning or preparing now - before we go?

The challenges (and the reasons people quit):

#1 make sure your significant other (if you have one) is on board with the program and has something she/he is personally going to get out of it

#2 make sure you are comfortable living a life of emotional roller coaster. The life is a continuous series of high's (wonderful moments) and lows (terrible moments). Some people find this extremely stressful and dislike it. Other people find it exhilarating. Best to try to find out before hand which type you are.

#3 Make sure your finances are up to it

#4 Start planning now how you will 'cut the dock lines'. Many people have trouble getting rid of their houses and shore things and close contact with family and friends.

#5 Get some offshore sea time. Some people like passages and others hate them. Which you are will be important in what sort of cruise you will want to do. Also, take a lot of weather and navigation courses, and a few on diesels and remote first aid.

#6 realize its not going to be a vacation. Its not going to be like a week charter in the BVI. Its hard work, and sometimes difficult work, and sometime scary. Its very rewarding, but its not a vacation.

I could go on a bit, but that is probably enough for one post.

We have been around twice. The first time a 3 year trip in the tropics, and the second time a 14 year trip in the higher latitudes. The boat and skills and attitude and personal objectives were quite different for those two trips.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by tmoandj

I appreciate all of the advice and I'm dedinitely going to look for Cornell's book. But, i'd like to refocus / redirect the conversation. What I'm really wonderingg about is the years leading up to our departure. What should i be planning or preparing now - before we go?

IMHO making sure you have the core skills there and the logistics in place, etc.. Specifically, and in no particular order:
- your health fine,
- your relationships sorted out,
- your pockets full enough to last the planned journey and a half,
- your sailing skills at a level where you feel comfortable with your boat and the planned voyage,
- your boat repair and maintenance skills in sync with the technology level of your ship,
- etc..

If you are into cultures. Lear a language that you will need. My top choices are French and Spanish.

I think plenty depends on where you are actually at. Sort of like in navigation, the course depends on the target but also on the departure point.

b.