Engine-less Cruising

[nimblemotors]

Why do you hate having the motor on? I can understand if you mean a gas or diesel engine. If an electric motor, why would you hate it?

[bobconnie]

And as far as Capt. Cook go's, he had a pretty good sized crew, and long boats and oars, and plenty of line to haul his ship when needed !! Just sayin, if Cook had an engine he would have used it !!

[LBW399]

Has it gone too far the other way, where people call themselves sailors, yet they are motoring most everywhere, and sailing only when the breeze is **perfect**?

I dunno. One could look at the likes of those fuzzbummles or whatever the hell they called themselves -- they basically motored round the world on their Cat didn't they?
Would you call people like that sailors?

The Pardeys may have waited outside a harbour for the odd tow, but if you had to choose someone to teach you to sail, would you choose Larry, or some guy like the fuzzbum guy who motors most everyhwere?

[captain58sailin]

To be sure he would have, still it was a remarkable feat, try navigating Cook inlet sometime or Turnagin arm, where 10' standing walls of water are a common occurance. When you have a 25' verical change of tide every 6 hours it can be challenging even with engines.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

The Pardeys touted engineless cruising for years, all the while waiting outside harbors to get towed in by other peoples' engines.

I think there are few engineless cruisers these days. You need an engine that you can trust to get you in places where there's currents, where it is too tight to maneuver under sail. The proliferation of marinas (where sometimes there are current swirlies) and mooring fields makes sailing into and out of marinas and anchorages difficult in populous areas.

My hat's off to the guy with the sculling oar: people who are competent with them can do amazing things with their vessels. A worthy skill to learn, IMO.

We still practice sailing into anchorages and on and off moorings when there's space, and off the hook, too, 'cause it's a good deal to have the skills active, in case of engine failure.

My two cents.

Ann

Ann, you've broken my bubble on the Pardeys! I have always admired their commitment to engineless cruising, even if I didn't understand putting a bathtub in place of the engine. As a practical matter, I think the only time you need an engine is when entering or exiting harbors, which can be accomplished with a smallish outboard, even on larger boat. My favorite memories of sailing were ghosting into and out of anchorages, so I appreciate the notion, even if I clearly don't practice what I preach.

[LBW399]

Originally Posted by Delfin

Ann, you've broken my bubble on the Pardeys! I have always admired their commitment to engineless cruising, even if I didn't understand putting a bathtub in place of the engine. As a practical matter, I think the only time you need an engine is when entering or exiting harbors, which can be accomplished with a smallish outboard, even on larger boat. My favorite memories of sailing were ghosting into and out of anchorages, so I appreciate the notion, even if I clearly don't practice what I preach.

Pardey's: What, are we saying they did a "Tristan Jone's" and told porkies? I reckon they deserve the respect to answer these assertions themselves, that they routinely waited outside harbours for tows.
Otherwise it is just rumour.

For me, unless it can be proven otherwise, the Pardey's are one hell of a couple of sailors. And if they got the odd tow, big deal.

[captain58sailin]

I know plenty of people that have engines; that have asked for tows, myself included.

[goat]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

I know plenty of people that have engines; that have asked for tows, myself included.

+1

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Kiwi399

Pardey's: What, are we saying they did a "Tristan Jone's" and told porkies? I reckon they deserve the respect to answer these assertions themselves, that they routinely waited outside harbours for tows.
Otherwise it is just rumour.

For me, unless it can be proven otherwise, the Pardey's are one hell of a couple of sailors. And if they got the odd tow, big deal.

I agree. The Pardey's taught me more about voyaging than any other source. In particular, Larry's 'Pardey Bridle' for deploying a para-anchor gave me confidence I could withstand any weather I encountered. And please, don't tell me Tristan didn't actually drag his boat over the Andes, with the painter in his mouth while he fought off pythons with a machete.....

[StuM]

> took a lot of guts,skill, luck, guardian angels

While engineless, he did have 85 crew including marines who could sail/row the longboat, pinnace, yawl and two skiffs they carried and also man the set of sweeps they had.

They might not have had any horsepower to manouver, but they had quite a bit of manpower.

[dp1404]

I grew up sailing the great lakes and we spent most of the summer of 1969 sailing our Newporter ketch around lake Michigan and the north channel without an engine. We had decided to go on our annual summer cruise after the engine had blown a rod

There were 8 of us on board, 6 kids from ages 5-17 and my parents.

Granted it was the great lakes so no currents to deal with but both plenty of wind and or lack of wind so we either sailed like heck or at times sat for hours becalmed and eventually made it to a port. If it was close enough we would push in the last few miles with the dinghy or just wait it out for a tow. Back then there were few marinas so you docked at the commercial piers so it was not too tough tying up once you got in.

However our greatest act of seamanship that summer was when we sailed into Mackinaw harbor and in front f the entire Mackinaw race fleet, rounded up in front of our slip, dropped the anchor and let the wind push stern first into our slip and tied up like we did it every day . It was pretty impressive and we received plenty of compliments from the Mac boats

[henryk]

When cruising with my wife and children in the Caribbean on Tayana 42, the transmision blew the seal so we end it up with no motor when sailing along Dominica. I fixed it in Grenada, 6 months later. Had great time cruising the windwards. Just be patient, watch the currents in the harbor days before departure.

[gjordan]

I have done the engine-less cruising and tried it with an outboard, and had diesels in my last 2 boats. I would not recommend an outboard unless it is in a well. After I took the worn out diesel out of my 26 footer, I used an outboard off of the back for a while. In any chop at all, it would go under and die, and need to be cleaned and restarted as soon as possible so that it didnt seize up. After a dozen times of that, it was scrap metal. Cruising without a motor puts lots of limits on where you can go, and when you are going to arrive. I spent more than a few nights hove too, outside of an anchorage that I could not reach before dark. I also had to bypass a lot of interesting islands because I didnt think I could tack through the pass. Without an engine you find yourself anchoring farther out in the bay, rather than manuvering around the already anchored boats. Passage making in an engine-less boat is a joy. No smell, no noise, and no heat from an engine. A clean bottom, and good light air sails will get you from point A to point B usually in good time, but the hard work comes near shore. Would I cruise again in an engine-less boat??? Only if I was flat broke, and had a boat that sailed really well, and had good ground tackle. I would not tell someone to not go cruising without a motor, but I would tell them that there are a lot of limitations. ______Grant.

[LBW399]

Originally Posted by gjordan

I have done the engine-less cruising and tried it with an outboard, and had diesels in my last 2 boats. I would not recommend an outboard unless it is in a well. After I took the worn out diesel out of my 26 footer, I used an outboard off of the back for a while. In any chop at all, it would go under and die, and need to be cleaned and restarted as soon as possible so that it didnt seize up. After a dozen times of that, it was scrap metal. Cruising without a motor puts lots of limits on where you can go, and when you are going to arrive. I spent more than a few nights hove too, outside of an anchorage that I could not reach before dark. I also had to bypass a lot of interesting islands because I didnt think I could tack through the pass. Without an engine you find yourself anchoring farther out in the bay, rather than manuvering around the already anchored boats. Passage making in an engine-less boat is a joy. No smell, no noise, and no heat from an engine. A clean bottom, and good light air sails will get you from point A to point B usually in good time, but the hard work comes near shore. Would I cruise again in an engine-less boat??? Only if I was flat broke, and had a boat that sailed really well, and had good ground tackle. I would not tell someone to not go cruising without a motor, but I would tell them that there are a lot of limitations. ______Grant.

A Norwegian couple sailed from Norway to Tonga in the South Pacific, on their Contessa 26 BIKA, and they successfully made use of a 4hp on a bracket off the stern as their only auxiliary..

In their words: "The old inboard engine was replaced with a second hand Mercury 4hp outboard".
Link here: Preparations - Bika

They bought this boat in mid 2000's I think, and have only just sold her. So they managed for a good 6-7 years with just an outboard, and sailed far and seemed to have a lot of fun going by their website.

But I take your valid point bout having to bypass some places.

Cheers.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Kiwi399

A Norwegian couple sailed from Norway to Tonga in the South Pacific, on their Contessa 26 BIKA, and they successfully made use of a 4hp on a bracket off the stern as their only auxiliary..

In their words: "The old inboard engine was replaced with a second hand Mercury 4hp outboard".
Link here: Preparations - Bika

They bought this boat in mid 2000's I think, and have only just sold her. So they managed for a good 6-7 years with just an outboard, and sailed far and seemed to have a lot of fun going by their website.

But I take your valid point bout having to bypass some places.

Cheers.

Yep, outboards work fine on boats like the Contessa 26.

I have a 5hp on a Bristol 27. The bracket is mounted similar to theirs
on Bika except my engine is a 4 stroke with a 25" shaft so it's stronger and deeper in the water.

At times it can be tough in a narrow channel with the wrong size chop, but usually it works fine.