Hello!

[new-to-sailing]

Hello, I currently have dreams of taking 1-3 years off work and sailing from the Great Lakes to Europe and exploring Europe and perhaps other areas. I know virtually nothing about sailing but am hoping to come here to learn more and see if it is possible for someone with little experience to get to that level by 2024.

Cheers

[TrentePieds]

Tell us what your route will be from The Lakes to, say The Solent, and what time of year you wish to travel, and we'll certainly be able to give you some pointers.

It'll help us also to get your learning process started if you give us some indication of the make and size of boat you hope to do it in.

TrentePieds

[new-to-sailing]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Tell us what your route will be from The Lakes to, say The Solent, and what time of year you wish to travel, and we'll certainly be able to give you some pointers.

It'll help us also to get your learning process started if you give us some indication of the make and size of boat you hope to do it in.

TrentePieds

I would like to go from The lakes, end up in Ireland and make my way around the european coast. I would like to have a few months of good weather in Northern Europe so leave in the spring.

I don't have a boat yet but would like something in the 35' area, and something older as I will be buying used and refitting.

[Sailor 99]

Originally Posted by new-to-sailing

I don't have a boat yet but would like something in the 35' area, and something older as I will be buying used and refitting.

Buy the best, well-equipped boat you can for the money. You will spend a fortune refitting, it will take forever and you will never get your money out. I have much experience in these matters. I can not even insure my boat for what I have into it. I thought I could refit it for 100k. NOT EVEN CLOSE. You could easily drop 50 to 100 k refitting an older 35 footer.. Just price redoing the standing rig.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, new'.

[TrentePieds]

Well, I hope you pay strict attention to what Dark Horse just told you :-)!

Now, "The Lakes" is a big place :-)! So are you departing from Thunder Bay or from Kingston? Or somewhere else? Your first task on your voyage of learning is to lay out a voyage plan for the leg from your point of departure to, say, St.John's NFL

In a 35 foot boat, more or less regardless of make, you may expect to make a maximum of 8 knots (8 nautical miles per hour) THROUGH THE WATER. That is NOT the same of speed "over the ground", so - quick now :-) - how long will this leg of the voyage take you? What is the one thing regarding VOG I (deliberately) haven't mentioned although it is a crucial component in a voyage plan for this particular voyage?

Will you be sailing singlehanded? Or will you have an experienced crew member with you? Either way you have "problems" to square away. If you are single-handing, I can guarantee you that you are going to be totally frapped out after a 12-hour trick under way. That equates to a little less than a hundred miles in a straight line under power the whole time. If you are sailing, then, dependent on conditions, you may have to settle for something like 40NM.

If you are the skipper and you have an experienced crew, are you humble enuff to let that crew make the significant decisions without turning resentful? If you are single-handing, do you have it in you to make quality skippering decisions, and to work efficiently and effectively, AFTER you've filled your knickers?

So let's see your voyage plan for this leg, listing the points where you are going to touch land for R&R and for provisioning. Then we can give you some idea of what vicissitudes you may meet on your way.

Assuming you set out as soon as The Lakes are ice-free, what sort of weather conditions are you most likely to meet on the way to St.John's?

Cogitate on that, for on your answers to those (sorts of) questions will depend just what sort of advice we need to give you to help you along.

Cheers :-)

TP

[Adelie]

Welcome

[Patman252]

I think everyone needs to back off a bit. This person stated they have no knowledge of sailing, and are planning a voyage 3 years from now.
We can not expect them to already have a route planned out. Planning a route without knowing about sailing, weather patterns, etc etc would be foolish.
The smarter course of action is to start learning about sailing, and then plan out a route.

To the OP, welcome to the group and good luck on your journey toward ocean sailing!