Amateur sailors wanting to become a true seafarers !

[Clemroc]

Hello forums!

I am joining you today because I have finally decided to dive into the world of bluewater cruising, and thus I will be looking for your combined knowledge and experience to better prepare my future journey.

A little about myself:
I was born in France, grew up in Central America, and currently live in Canada (unfortunately, far from the sea). I've always loved the sea and am an avid snorkeler and spearfisher.

During my teenage years, I took several dozen (about 100) hours of sailing classes in France, in any weather and wind condition, making my way from the tiniest sailing dinghy, then laser, and finally my favorite, the catamaran (hobie cat 14, 16 and 17). I practiced with various sails (main, jib, spinnaker) and even did trapeze sailing. Eventually, I got my french coastal motorboating permit ("permis cotier").

A few years back, I rented a hobiecat17 and sailed one of my childhood friends around. Like me, he is someone that enjoys the thrill of adventure (he descended the full Danube river on a kayak). He immediately loved sailing, and told me that he's always dreamed of crossing an ocean and that we should do it together. "You're out of your mind!" I exclaimed, and we left it at that. I finished my university degree, started working, and never gave it another thought...until just recently.

My friend came to visit, and this time, I brought up the subject, and our plan hatched. We are going to sail across an ocean, but first we need some more hands-on experience - and more importantly, a capable boat.

The plan is to purchase a used 40' sailboat in Florida (or south USA), make sure it is safe and sea-ready. After hurricane season, we would sail it across the Caribbean all the way to Dominican Republic, where some of my family live. Then we would continue down south towards Panama, cross the canal, and continue sailing south towards Ecuador, where some of his family lives. At this point, we expect to have enough experience to cross the Pacific Ocean towards French Polynesia.

In the meantime, I will continue gathering up information, and look for trainings/certifications to have better/safer sailing and maintenance skills (especially for mechanical and electrical parts).

Thank you for reading, and I am looking forward to learning a lot from your combined wealth of knowledge!

- Clemroc

[Michael Cobbe]

The harness should have one long and one short tether which is used on deck so you can't go over the guard rails the long one is to put around the mast when reefing or vice versa, plus a U-bolt in the cockpit and jackstays on each side of the boat tied to the cleats. We clipped on in bad weathers and always at night.



Do a frst aid course and download The Ship's Captains Medical Guide is free as a PDF online at https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-medical-guide


One cause of engine failure or losing power is a diesel leak that lets air in, we had it more than once because of copper pipes which I changed. Put kitchen roll on all joints, the lift pump and any fuel filter that has a bowl. When the engine loses power or cuts out the leak will be obvious.


Make a note of the baromter readings every hour.We had 35 knots gusting 50, it was not in a forecast, over Biscay and all we did was reef. In Velsheda crossing the English Channel we had 50 knots gusting 80 in a secondary low, that also wasn't in the forecast, we had put up the tri-sail on the main mast and storm jib when the wind passed 35 knots.


SSBs are the lifeblood of cruisiind nou can conact other boats on passages, weather forecasts, nets in marinas and anchorages. The ground makes up half the aerial metal boats have best signal. Connecting the tuner to the aerial should us copper foilS e. Do no touch the Arial when transmitting you can light it will fry a hand You do need a SSB license, LRC, we also got a satellite endorsement to fit an Inmarsat C it makes getting weather forecasts much easier, incoming email is free.



Everything except electronics will break more than once they are made for weeknd and holiday sailos. We carried two spares for everything, explodrd diiagrams and a range of tools includfng open and ring spannners.

[JPA Cate]

Bonjour Clemroc,

Well, then, perhaps from Ecuador, you can get your permit for the Galapagos, and from there onward to the Marquesas. However, better wait for countries to re-open for cruisers.

Good luck with your cruising plans.

Ann

[Clemroc]

Thank you Ann and Michael for the warm welcome

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Bonjour Clemroc,

Well, then, perhaps from Ecuador, you can get your permit for the Galapagos, and from there onward to the Marquesas. However, better wait for countries to re-open for cruisers.

Good luck with your cruising plans.

Ann

Galapagos sounds like a lovely plan, I've been dreaming of going there since I was a kid but completely forgot about it, thanks for reminding me!

As per the whole confinement COVID19 issue, our plan is to wait out until after the Caribbean hurricane season, so we wouldn't leave until December this year. I hope by then the COVID19 situation will have calmed!

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Clemroc! Good luck in your adventures! Come down to California, we have lots of good places for practicing before you set out!