Planning a World Circumnavigation - Trying to Estimate How Long it Will Take

[MarkJ]

Re the do it fast Vs do it slow.

We are doing 2 circumnavigations: 1 in 2 1/2 years and the next one, ohhhhhh in many many years

Each to do as they please.

I feel our way is much better than wasting a decade in one area and perhaps missing 90% of the world.

It would be nice to get the OP some information on crossing the Med in winter. Thats the difficult bit I see in his plan.


Mark

[s/v Beth]

Question for Lady Circ (and anyone else that has gone this route) Is South Africa doable for the average sailor? I think I would want to experience the Cape of Good Hope more than I would want to dodge bullets around Somalia. I would be shorthanding a Valiant 40.

[jkleins]

Our experience was much like Faith of Holland's. We were young like you and mid career and were planning a 2 year trip maybe 3 years. We got to Mexico where many of our friends were jumping off to the South Pacific and realized that we were going too slow and didn't want to speed up. We were looking at 4-5 years at the pace we were on and we like that pace and really spending time at these lovely little places. We finished our 2 years in the Caribbean and are getting our new boat ready for our bigger version now after we did all those things we thought we wanted to do career wise.

I don't think we would have been disappointed if we would have continued and sped up. We would have just missed a lot of what made it fun for us. Hopefully we will have an chance to try again.

Jim

[BruceC]

Hi Steve

I am glad you asked the question, it makes interesting reading.
I well have to keep dreaming!

Bruce

[Noname1]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Re the do it fast Vs do it slow.

We are doing 2 circumnavigations: 1 in 2 1/2 years and the next one, ohhhhhh in many many years

Each to do as they please.

I feel our way is much better than wasting a decade in one area and perhaps missing 90% of the world.

It would be nice to get the OP some information on crossing the Med in winter. Thats the difficult bit I see in his plan.


Mark

Of course different strokes different folks.
I would however submit by doing a hurry up one in fact WILL miss 90% of the world

[fareweather]

We were considering a plan like yours, it comes down to the fact that any amount of time is not enough. Do you really think you can see the "world" in 2 yrs, 4yrs,10 yrs? Not.

We like to go fast whenever we can, covering great distances efficiently is as good of an experience as exploring the land/culture in my book. I'm sure we miss somethings but if we didn't do what we like we'd also be missing that. The things that you can miss are infinite so don't worry about it, when you're missing out on one thing you're usually doing another, at least that is my experience. Really, we are not talking about sailing vs watching TV here.

We caught a front while moving SE thru the Bahamas and were averaging 12k over 28 hours in small seas, we passed up a few stops because the sailing was so great.

We have decided that we will explore the world by land and sail fast when we can. If I get a chance to circumnavigate at 30 knots I'd think I wasn't missing anything.

Going slow is fine too but we get enough of that forced on us when the wind isn't blowing.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Sailor954

Friends of ours recently completed their circumnavigation. He had set aside 7 years to make the trip. It took 12. The point being that no matter how much time you set aside, it will certainly be more.
Weather, breakdowns, the lack of parts, officialdom, world events, and of course the fact that some places are just so cool that you're not going to want to leave. My friends spent a year in New Zealand. The original plan was to be there just a couple months.

Make your plans but allow for extra time. You'll need it.

Most of all,, enjoy the experience.

The funny thing I get is people asking "how long will that take!?!?!". I break it down with "I think when we get to Tahiti, I'm not exactly going to haul anchor the following morning and get the hell out of there."

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by michaeldsusa

Of course different strokes different folks.
I would however submit by doing a hurry up one in fact WILL miss 90% of the world

Only been RTW once......by Jumbo Jet

But I can see the attraction of both approaches, and each presents different challenges. I don't think one is either better or worse or can be done at the exclusion of the other. I like Mark's approach, as easy when wondering the world to stay somewhere you like .........and nothing wrong with that as over the hill (or horizon) ain't always better.......but you only find out one way or another by looking..........but you can always go back.

Never had any great desire to cruise RTW, or do a non-stop RTW (let alone a race )......but the idea of doing a RTW simply with re-provisioning / repair / beer stops (rather than for sightseeing) does have a certain attraction both on the more limited time involved to complete the venture and for the relative simplicity of the (self) challenge concept and with a defined start & finish.........not quite head down and plod on, but.........

Mmmmmmm........WWTGD?

[Tom Hildebrandt]

Plan for two years, it is doeable if you leave at the correct time, Cornell tells you how. But remember, most cruisers (as well as pilots in aviation) get in trouble because of schedules, they feel they must go despite equipment or weather that may not be favorable. Sooner or later these forcing these issues will reach up and bite you big time. Those who do the trip in two years as part of the rallies are required to have extensive equipment lists and invenories, as well as substantial cash reserves so they can get parts shipped in and things fixed quickly. They have very experienced folks calling the shots and get excellent support from weather forecasters and the like, as well as priority treatment from the people the rally organizers put in place at each of the major stops.

My sugesstion is that you go ahead and plan for two years, and get started. If you find that you want to slow down in Indonesia (surfing and such) or in Malaysia or Thailand ( lots of fun things for young folks to do in Phi-Phi for example) so what? Stop and enjoy your selves and have fun cruising. When funds run out, put the boat on the hard, get to work and make more funds so you can head off again.

I bought Juno in Australaia and spent two years getting myself up to snuff for the trip, then went to New Caledonia and Vanuato first, then went via South Afrrica to South America (now in Venezuala). I figured initially two years to get to the Carib but by my ruff calculations I am 6 years in arriving here. I rushed through Indonesia because of percieved schedule issues and regret that decision. Now I try to spend a month to three months at each new country, unless I find it absolutely unappealing, and so far only one has made that list. (Don´t ask, I will not tell, I do not want to take the hits from those who loved this stop.

Tom

[SusanneAmes]

A couple on a boat in our Panama Canal raft did it in two. They enjoyed it but that would not be for me. The other couple in the raft took 7 years, on a boat they had built themselves and spent a season or 2 shaking down in the SoPac before leaving. Before that, they had bought and refitted a boat with another family to bring the 10 of them to New Zealand from England in the 70s. They are our role models.

We ourselves have gone halfway round and are far more interested in spending quality time in interesting places than re-proving that the world is round. We also won’t leave on passage without at least a decent weather window. We’ve learned the hard way that weather which is rough for us is also likely to damage the boat.

Since you describe yourself (and your mate?) as a novice, I’d really encourage you to take some time before you get into the big boat refit and go sailing for a few weeks if not months. You will learn many of the skills you need, and have a better feeling for what else you need to learn. You’ll know if you like it or not, and maybe some strategies for coping with the bits you don’t like. You’ll experience coping with breakdowns in inconvenient times and places, and what pieces of kit are really necessary for you.

Cruising is sometimes described as fixing your boat in exotic places. This is true and is a big risk for your spreadsheet. I’d suggest the fewest and simplest systems on your boat possible, and know as much as you can about how to fix things yourself.

As the French say, Bon courage!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by SusanneAmes

The other couple in the raft took 7 years,....

Yeah, we are surrounded by people who have taken 6-7 years to cross the Pacific. Must be 10 boats we know. 7 years, one ocean.
Nic is 26 now. If I took 7 years hanging around here she would not get to see Europe untill her mid 30's. Then the USA by 40?

As she has never been there I think that would be a travesty when its just a cruisers 'stone throw' away.

Each of us are from different cultures and those from the UK would probably get a raging soft-on with the thought of a Spanish holiday, or a Californian winning a vacation to Tijuana.... But give those people a cruise in the South Pacific or here in Asia and its tres exotic! For others, like us from Australia, Bali and Fiji are the Spain's and Tijuana's!

We may well take 7 years doing the Caribbean/Med circuit. But at least we will have seen a slab of the rest of the world first

Someone once noted that there is more than one way to skin a porcupine.

Originally Posted by SusanneAmes

Cruising is sometimes described as fixing your boat in exotic places. !

Perhpas not, touch wood, if one buys the right boat.



Mark

[dhenline]

If you want to do it "fast" then it obviously can be done. The World ARC does it most every year in about 15 months. You could try and join the World ARC or you could just mirror their schedule
When I looked at your spread sheet, you seem to be off a few months at most places for the ideal time to be there. Maybe you want to play a bit with moving your starting dates around.
Given that you are planning on using a small (therefore slow) boat, I would think two years would be feasible
Hope it happens for you

[Dsanduril]

The OP posted his question and route in 2008 and hasn’t been on CF since 2009. Perhaps he took that “extended break” and is off sailing somewhere?

[Lady Circumnavi]

Beth, It was for us. Weather is the key as you have 400 miles between safe harbors on the first leg from Durbin to Capetown. Rounding the Cape is, I think, about an 800 mile trip. Lows stack up across the southern ocean and you have to be ready to wait it out or make a dash. We also strategized to stay closer to shore rather than ride the current and risk 100 ft, seas in a blow.
We loved visiting game parks and really exploring South Africa.