Negativity on Sailing Your Own Boat (RANT)

[nv5l]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I calculate 8 days from Fiji to Bundaberg. 1600 miles approx,

Then another 7 days Bundy to Yaringa, Western Port Bay, 1300 miles, approx.
All depending on Puff in the sails,

So 15 days approx all up.But I am not in any hurry, I am now retired.

I bought a Sailchute for it and will be taking it with me, 30 foot in diameter, It lifts the front of the hulls up, works better than a spinnaker and not as much hassle as one, you dont have to watch it as much,

This little Pussy is gonna Boogy, Hahahahaha The Sailchute is a mile cruncher,
Its all the sail I need, Its used by itself, No main or jib,
DDW it is perfect,
They recommended a 28 foot one, But with all the gear the boat has, it is a bit on the heavy side, so I went for the bigger one.

It takes me an hour to get to St Kilda or Yaringa,
But Yaringa does not have car parking problems and I have a wet berth, So I can just walk to the boat and step on to it, Car park to boat, about 150 yards,

St Kilda, I have to find an expensive car park, walk for ever, and then tender across to the boat on a swing mooring.

I am too old for those hassles, and just couldn't be bothered with it.
And there is not all that much difference in the fees when you add them all up,

Sailchute have a video on their site, They have the sailchute on a Seawind Cat which is very similar to the Gemini, In size and shape,

Cheers,
Brian.

200 miles a day, that's pretty good -- I can't come close to that without a 3-4 knot current. What's her hull speed, or however you say it for a multihull?

[atoll]

200/24 does sound a bit optomistic in a 10meter cat that you havent sailed before,also bear in mind that on that passage you get weather fronts that come through every 10 days or so giving sse winds.

would reccomend going fiji to noumea,new caladonia then jumping off from there if in a hurry,also aiming as far south on the australian coast as possable.

predominant se winds in sept oct which can make going south a problem in a boat that wount point that high.

for a better angle you may consider going fiji -sydney.

going south along the east coast can be difficult and time consuming.

[MarkJ]

When we did that trip it was Tonga to Sydney direct. The angle was better and I didn't want to drop into anywhere else other than Sydney because of the GST + Duty stuff - I like dealing with Head Office

It was 1,600nms and we did it in 10 days (I just checked the website and it says: "nearly 2 weeks at sea" so 12 or 13 days) only saw 1 ship and that was anchored off Newcastle.

Further south from that you'll pretty much always cop southerlies.

But if you have time then go as slow as you can Its all pretty.

[Undadar]

Originally Posted by Mr B

What is it with people that crawl out of the woodwork and from under rocks to actively put you down,
when you mention that you have bought a boat and intend to go sailing on it.

I understand the problem and your frustration - I face it myself as do most "adventurous types." I also agree with most of what has been said in response. One thing not mentioned is that, from my experience at least, many people have a very narrow scope of experience/knowledge and anything outside of that is "WOW" territory. It seems most people vocalize this "WOW" sensation as negativity, whether they intend it that way or not. I try to keep that in mind when talking to people. Most of them cannot imagine any of the adventures that we speak of here. When you say "boat, sailing, liveaboard" they imagine living all by yourself on a little life raft out in the middle of the ocean during a hurricane never to see another human again. So, if you must tell of your plans, you might try using a different approach with their lack of information in mind. It only partially works but I found it to be less frustrating.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Brian,

First, most of us who have chosen to cruise long term have had folks explain the errors of our ways to us. If you pay attention to them, you won't go, so ignore the noise and carry on. If it is potential crew making the noise, you surely don't want them onboard with that sort of attitude.

And secondly, you might want to reconsider your passage time estimates. Averaging 200 MPD is not likely for your boat, with or without the odd parachute. A number around 150 MPD will be more realistic, and even that might be hard to maintain. We've found that it is surely better to provision for longer passages than expected, and celebrate our prowess when we arrive "early".

Cheers,

Jim

[zeta]

When one stops caring about other's opinions, thoughts, judgments, etc...it is very liberating, unfortunately this happens to most only upon death. Do what YOU want and if it is not hurting anyone--screw them!

[MarinerJo]

Cast the negative ones off my friend. Do what is in YOU'RE heart and what is right for YOU.

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by Mr B

What is it with people that crawl out of the woodwork and from under rocks to actively put you down,
when you mention that you have bought a boat and intend to go sailing on it.
...
They say I cant do this, or I cant do that....

I have been treated to the well known variant of "You'll never do it".



Here is the pop corn, now watch me go....

[Me-and-Boo]

Reading this post again is fun. A few months ago, when I decided I needed to get back on the water, sailing in particular, I only told one person. I was not asking for support, I just told her how nice getting back on the water would be. She did ask how far [life experience far] that meant to me. Right then I realized I needed to live on the water and told her. She said that I was right.

A week or two later I told my closest friend; he thought going sailing was a fine idea. Actually our entire conversation was not absorbed by him, only the sailing part.

I told my co-workers I was looking for a boat to live on. They missed most of the conversation and thought going sailing was a nice idea.

I told my parents, they thought I was going to have a nice time sailing.

It took until a couple weekends ago when I sent them pictures of one boat I was looking at to understand that I was not talking about renting a 10 ft dingy and hoisting a bedsheet.

Now that I have narrowed down my choice and may make an offer this week will all of them have to face the reality that I am buying a boat and moving me and my cat on it to live.

The platitudes and "yeah, sure" stuff has to come to an end soon. Most important is that I never had any negative things said to me until they saw the results of Irene. That is when they asked if I understood what I was doing. HeeHee. None of my family and friends will ever understand that I fully know what I am doing. My real task will finding a gimbal to set up my record player on so I can play my vinyl albums.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by nv5l

200 miles a day, that's pretty good -- I can't come close to that without a 3-4 knot current. What's her hull speed, or however you say it for a multihull?

Its just a guestimate, Average 10 mile per hour, I would say that would be tops,
I am asked how long will it take, so I give an answer,

Mutihulls run a lot quicker than Mono's, Thats their advantage, They skate across the water, not through it,

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Its just a guestimate, Average 10 mile per hour, I would say that would be tops,
I am asked how long will it take, so I give an answer,

Mutihulls run a lot quicker than Mono's, Thats their advantage, They skate across the water, not through it,

bear in mind,going to wind ward is not a cats strongest point of sail.

hence the sugestion of going directly to sydney

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by atoll

bear in mind,going to wind ward is not a cats strongest point of sail.

I agree. We didnt go very fast on that leg. 1,600 nms in 12 or 13 days = 5.1 to 5.4 knots where we had averaged 6.4 knots earlier in the Pacific.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

When we did that trip it was Tonga to Sydney direct. The angle was better and I didn't want to drop into anywhere else other than Sydney because of the GST + Duty stuff - I like dealing with Head Office

It was 1,600nms and we did it in 10 days (I just checked the website and it says: "nearly 2 weeks at sea" so 12 or 13 days) only saw 1 ship and that was anchored off Newcastle.

Further south from that you'll pretty much always cop southerlies.

But if you have time then go as slow as you can Its all pretty.

That works out at 13 days on an average of almost 6 miles an hour, so the Cat will do a little bit better than that, Depending on Puff,
I am not in a hurry,
I decided to come through Bundaberg because the people in the Marina there have an annual race from Vanuatu to Bundaberg and They Have all the customs, Etc organised for boats coming into Australia,

Should make it a bit easier for me,

I was going to come in to Brisbane as my first port of call, But changed my mind,

I want to drop in to see people I know on the way down to Melbourne, Sunshine coast,Etc,

I also want to come down between Fraser Island and the Mainland, My old fishing ground when I used to live there,

I only have the 10% GST to worry about as it is an American built boat, being transferred to Aussie registration.

I have lived in Brisbane and Maryborough, QLD, so I know the coast along there from the road side view, Travelled up and down the coast by road lots of times, Cooktown to Melbourne, So I know where the good parts are. Seeing them from a boat is going to be some thing else.

I know what the bottom of Aussie is like, I live there. It gets very cold, and the wind can scream. I will just park in a sheltered beach some where till the conditions are suitable,

Beuaty of a Cat, Is I can park it on the beach as well.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Undadar

I understand the problem and your frustration - I face it myself as do most "adventurous types." I also agree with most of what has been said in response. One thing not mentioned is that, from my experience at least, many people have a very narrow scope of experience/knowledge and anything outside of that is "WOW" territory. It seems most people vocalize this "WOW" sensation as negativity, whether they intend it that way or not. I try to keep that in mind when talking to people. Most of them cannot imagine any of the adventures that we speak of here. When you say "boat, sailing, liveaboard" they imagine living all by yourself on a little life raft out in the middle of the ocean during a hurricane never to see another human again. So, if you must tell of your plans, you might try using a different approach with their lack of information in mind. It only partially works but I found it to be less frustrating.

That about nails it on the head, The perfect storm in a life raft, springs to mind when they are saying their crap.

I have never listened to the doubters, I just do what I want to any way,

But my friend was getting exceptionally upset by it, So that affected me,
But we have it sorted it all out now, She is smiling again.Thankfully.
But it was touch and go there for a few days,

[Mr B]

I am really looking forward to trying and using the Sailchute,

It can swing 45 degrees to either side of the boat, It lifts the bows up so I dont get as much drag, Should be a real hoot,

I will do a write up on it when I get back,

Its basically a very large Windsurfer made for a boat.

I had one in mind for my 40 foot steel Cat, just to hold my 1200 square foot spinnaker up in the air in light winds, Rectangular 60X20 foot Spinnaker with Sailchute on top.

But thats another story, for the future,