Ocean Crossing In A Small Boat

[venomousbird]

My main concern here is not comfort. I'm looking for a bare-bones, small boat, as inexpensive to buy or build as possible that is going to take me through terrible weather without killing me. I've spent years of my life roughing it in the bush, but I'm stuck here in the city working at a shoe store right now, which is not my thing at all. I'm making a decent wage for the time being, but adventure (a real life) calls again.

I've learned the fine art of distilling seawater with a fresnel lens, so that will reduce the amount of cargo I'll need to be hauling along with me. I know that people have rowed solo across the Atlantic, so I'm certain that with the help of a sail, I can do this. My concern is to avoid sinking or breaking up in the process. Preferably I would have accomodations for three adults, and no more than a few hundred pounds of gear.

[Guest62110524]

there is a 20 footer that has never killed anyone
LAURANT GILES TREKKA, very famous for circumnavs, , some friends owned one, and they did NZ to Fiji islands and Australia and back
the thing abt them is they are very round with tumblehome and very quiet running
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...trekka&spell=1
or you may pick up a very cheap very well built steelboat, pends on your budget

[Landlubber]

There are a few good small boats, buy try to get something in the 30 foot range instead of the 20 foot range, they are faster, more comfortable and actually quite enjoyable, small boats are simpley pain disguised in another way, you need to be able to stand up, cook in comforat and sleep in peace. I would not recommend anything in the low 20's for sure.

[Guest62110524]

Originally Posted by Landlubber

There are a few good small boats, buy try to get something in the 30 foot range instead of the 20 foot range, they are faster, more comfortable and actually quite enjoyable, small boats are simpley pain disguised in another way, you need to be able to stand up, cook in comforat and sleep in peace. I would not recommend anything in the low 20's for sure.

dead right there Lubs, where are you now?

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1986.../Sidney/Canada
ok here is a boat near you

[alex folen]

Now, will you be traveling from New Guinea, or Vancouver? Venomous birds are more prone to be defensive in nature. You cannot think of something killing you, more so something not killing you.

[alan white]

If I had to go to sea in a boat alone, and I wanted a small boat, I think I'd choose a Vertue class, which is a bit over 25 ft, but even that isn't suitable for more that two close friends.
At thirty feet, three people are a crowd, but it's possible. thirty five feet will cruise three in style.
You can cruise offshore in a boat smaller than 25 ft, but why would you?

[rrhal]

You could probably purchase a serviceable Thunderbird for under $4000 in the Puget Sound area. It would make the crossing but it would not be comfortable.

Have you looked into a folkboat? Pearson 26'? These could be had for not a huge amount of money.

[Gary Baigent]

Don't forget the 6.5 metre mini-Transat designs. Although hard and mean down below, these boats have clocked up huge mileages of fast sailing. There must be numbers of older versions going for reasonable prices.

[zigzag]

Try bateau.com, 26' plus. Kits available at reasonable cost

[ff_nick]

Hi,
Google the Jester Challenge - it is an informal, self-regulated transatlantic race in boats 20 - 30 feet long. Run by a group of mainly British & French sailors who say they are trying to recapture the spirit of the original OSTAR. Most of their boats cost buttons! Loads of good ideas there too. There is forum on ybw (http://www.ybw.com/forums/postlist.p.../Board/jester).
Bit eurocentric of course, but still worthwhile.
From personal experience, a few to consider:
Contessa 26 - a folkboat derivative. Some were built in Canada under another name (after a disagreement with the original UK builder over the name, I think).
Ecume de mer (Group Finot - 1500 built in France, no idea how many are in N. America though).
Nicholson 26 (Rare).
And a few others with a good reputation:
Sabre 28 (loads of those around, both sides of the pond).
Frances 26
Achilles 24

I expect you'll get at least as many other suggestions as you do posts.

Yours

Nick.

[venomousbird]

Thanks to everyone making suggestions. I was looking into a Pearson 26, but I now have a lot of other options to consider as well. . . I spent 6 months last year heading up the BC coast in a 16 foot canoe with homemade pontoons and a basic wooden motor-mount, and living mostly from the wild on uninhabited islands, so I learned a lot about the sea and survival skills in general.

It was amazing how even such a simple design could withstand some pretty heavy swells with whitecaps. Got into some 30 knot or so winds, which made for some exciting open-water crossings! I was hoping to settle along the way, but didn't find the kind of community I felt comfortable in unfortunately, but the exploration and time on the water was amazing. It's addictive, isn't it?

[Tcubed]

Sounds very nice.

Myself , my last serious passage was crossing the Atlantic non stop Cornwall, UK to Puerto Rico ~4500 nM in 47 days, with best two consecutive days run being 385 nM about 350 nM off Cape Finisterre.

Note the fill in on the rudder where the prop used to go. That made a huge difference in speed, handling, and seaworthiness. The boat was 22 foot long x 8' 4" x 3' 10" ~ 3200 kg , launched 1945

The point of this post is just to say that that particular boat was certainly an example of able and would highly recommend something along these lines for minimalist deep sea passages.

[Chris Ostlind]

Pretty "out there" sailing speeds with a deep draft, fully keeled boat that is heavily loaded with stores for a crossing of 47 days.

Dude, you should be banging the Vendee Globe with numbers like that from that kind of craft at that LOA.

My deepest sense of awe...

[Tcubed]

Yeah , it has been my experience that there is unfortunately a very large amount of misinformation about the performance of full keel boats.

I have considerable sailing experience on both full keel and high aspect type keel sailboats and have found that there is certainly much less performance difference between the types as popular opinion would have one believe.

I am currently researching on unifying hydrodynamic theory so that these designs can be evaluated side by side using theory alone to come up with a more satisfactory and more realistic performance estimate for both types.

[alan white]

Average for two days was 190nm per day, in other words. Very good for a 22 ft boat. Looks to be similar to an Itchen ferry hull.