Thanks for the suggestion, but multihulls are especially sensitive to addition of weight. Tri's tend to be low on interior space to begin with and headroom on that one seems low already. Ill stick with the monohull concept for now. Most of them are already dragging around a huge keel.....
The Boat Design & Boatbuilding Site
Budget long range cruiser fit for Pacific crossing - Ideas ?
- Thread starter KeithO
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Chuck, I have only done one offshore passage before and that was in 92. I had been working on a refinery construction project for a few years and the project was winding up. I was working for a company that did non destructive testing and my manager, who had been a recreational sailer for years had to take his sailboat back to Port Elizabeth to be hauled out and pit up on the hard while he went back to the UK to re-take his certification tests.
He had just gotten married, he must have been about 60, his wife early 30' s and several months into a pregnancy. It was supposed to be a routine trip of a bit more than 300 miles 2-3 days but after just a few hours out the harbor we were becalmed, then a swell started coming through and building. He looked at me and said " last time I saw these conditions, we were hit by a storm that nearly cost me the boat"
When the gust front arrived it was so fierce that within an hour visibility was close to zero, despite it being nearly mid day. We ended up running before the storm, bare poles and motor, into Plettenburg bay, where we tried to find shelter behind Robberg Penninsula. All done with GPS since it was black as night and salt water flying horizontally. The wind built up overnight to about 110mph with gusts to 130. These conditions persisted for 4 days. South Westerly gale was blowing opposite to the ocean current resulting in near vertical waves 40-50 feet high moving at 50mph. Many large vessels lost lifeboats off the back of their bridge 5 stories up due to those waves.
Our ground tackle held for 3 days and 3 nights and we worked to manage chafe, but on the 4th night we had some of the strongest gusts and started dragging the anchor and at last light the anchor rode chafed through. The skipper had a second anchor down, but not paid out and as he got the engine started and motored back closer to the beach, the second anchor chain fouled the prop. Transmission was destroyed and rudder was jammed and we lost propulsion and steering and started drifting down the cliff face of the peninsula towards open water and a huge submerged rock where previously mentioned swells were breaking.
We were goners till a group of squid fishermen, who use steel catamarans with diesel inboards responded to our distress calls. They got a line to us and pulled us away from whale rock with only a few minutes to spare. The tow back to the beach went on the rest of the night, it also co-incided with the storm finally abating. At about 6am they set one of their spare anchors and we were safe again..
One of my uncles was involved in offshore racing on that coast for many years and they had many close calls, but racing is not my cup of tea... They finally slipped out of the harbor one night and sailed across the atlantic to make a new life for themselves first in the Bahamas and later in Virginia....
He had just gotten married, he must have been about 60, his wife early 30' s and several months into a pregnancy. It was supposed to be a routine trip of a bit more than 300 miles 2-3 days but after just a few hours out the harbor we were becalmed, then a swell started coming through and building. He looked at me and said " last time I saw these conditions, we were hit by a storm that nearly cost me the boat"
When the gust front arrived it was so fierce that within an hour visibility was close to zero, despite it being nearly mid day. We ended up running before the storm, bare poles and motor, into Plettenburg bay, where we tried to find shelter behind Robberg Penninsula. All done with GPS since it was black as night and salt water flying horizontally. The wind built up overnight to about 110mph with gusts to 130. These conditions persisted for 4 days. South Westerly gale was blowing opposite to the ocean current resulting in near vertical waves 40-50 feet high moving at 50mph. Many large vessels lost lifeboats off the back of their bridge 5 stories up due to those waves.
Our ground tackle held for 3 days and 3 nights and we worked to manage chafe, but on the 4th night we had some of the strongest gusts and started dragging the anchor and at last light the anchor rode chafed through. The skipper had a second anchor down, but not paid out and as he got the engine started and motored back closer to the beach, the second anchor chain fouled the prop. Transmission was destroyed and rudder was jammed and we lost propulsion and steering and started drifting down the cliff face of the peninsula towards open water and a huge submerged rock where previously mentioned swells were breaking.
We were goners till a group of squid fishermen, who use steel catamarans with diesel inboards responded to our distress calls. They got a line to us and pulled us away from whale rock with only a few minutes to spare. The tow back to the beach went on the rest of the night, it also co-incided with the storm finally abating. At about 6am they set one of their spare anchors and we were safe again..
One of my uncles was involved in offshore racing on that coast for many years and they had many close calls, but racing is not my cup of tea... They finally slipped out of the harbor one night and sailed across the atlantic to make a new life for themselves first in the Bahamas and later in Virginia....
fallguy
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What about a sailable cat with daggers and dual engines?
Sort of a run with the wind when you can/must?
Doesn't KH have such a beast in his lineup?
You get say 1500 miles of fuel and sail on balance. Outrun any weather if needed.
If I was going bluewater; it would be the only way.
Sort of a run with the wind when you can/must?
Doesn't KH have such a beast in his lineup?
You get say 1500 miles of fuel and sail on balance. Outrun any weather if needed.
If I was going bluewater; it would be the only way.
Chuck Losness
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Every couple that I met when I was out cruising were like the navy. The husband was the captain of the boat and the wife was the admiral. If the admiral was happy the ship was happy.
Long passages can be very tiring. I think it has something to do with your body always being in motion. Even when sitting or laying down your body is moving. Four hour watches at night are very tiring. A lot of boats do 4 on 4 off at night coupled with 6 on 6 off during the day. This rotates the night watches so every other night you have 8 hours off. Adding a 3rd crew member makes a world of difference. You are now on a 3 on 6 off schedule. This allows plenty of time for rest and taking care of life's necessities. Watch schedules with a 3rd crew member can also be arranged so that the admiral has minimal night watches.
I did one delivery down the coast of Baja with 4 crew. One of the crew was a night owl and liked being up all hours of the night. So he took the midnight to 4 am watch. I am a morning person so I took the 4 am to 8 am watch. The 3rd crew member did the 8 pm to midnight watch. The owner did day watches and filled in wherever he was needed to make decisions during the night time hours. There are lots of ways to schedule watches especially if you have an extra crew member or two on board.
Watch standing is just another thing that has to be factored in when making decisions about your boat.
Long passages can be very tiring. I think it has something to do with your body always being in motion. Even when sitting or laying down your body is moving. Four hour watches at night are very tiring. A lot of boats do 4 on 4 off at night coupled with 6 on 6 off during the day. This rotates the night watches so every other night you have 8 hours off. Adding a 3rd crew member makes a world of difference. You are now on a 3 on 6 off schedule. This allows plenty of time for rest and taking care of life's necessities. Watch schedules with a 3rd crew member can also be arranged so that the admiral has minimal night watches.
I did one delivery down the coast of Baja with 4 crew. One of the crew was a night owl and liked being up all hours of the night. So he took the midnight to 4 am watch. I am a morning person so I took the 4 am to 8 am watch. The 3rd crew member did the 8 pm to midnight watch. The owner did day watches and filled in wherever he was needed to make decisions during the night time hours. There are lots of ways to schedule watches especially if you have an extra crew member or two on board.
Watch standing is just another thing that has to be factored in when making decisions about your boat.
Chuck Losness
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I wonder what ever happened to Idlewild. It sounds like Idlewild is pretty close to your dream boat. If you can find her you might be able to buy her for a song and you would be way ahead of the game.
She was sold to a younger Canadian couple and based on Facebook profile photos, they were in Mana island Fiji last spring (2018)... So that ship has sailed, literally and figuratively....
I dont think she is by any means a dream boat, I guess a lot of the design restrictions Ben Gray was working around were based on the 2000mile portage. The portage itself must have cost him a fortune. I didn't initially realize just how far the boat had to go to get into the ocean. Without the extreme beam restriction and allowing a bit more draft, I am sure she would be a more comfortable boat and also allow the use of steel instead of aluminum for the hull. I would also have made the superstructure longer to provide adequate shaded area below and surface to support a large solar array. Then one can run modern DC air conditioning directly off the solar without needing to have a diesel genset running in the daytime.
Chuck Losness
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Oh well. It was just a thought. You might think about contacting Dudley Dix. Boat plans, yacht designs & boat kits from Dudley Dix Yacht Design & Boat Plans https://www.dixdesign.com/ He has a lot of experience with steel boats. He might be able to alter one of his stock designs to meet your needs.
Kieth ... this boat may not be what you want but she is sweet, check out the ceilings (you mentioned being tall):
1957 Ditmar & Donaldson Commercial or Yacht Conversion Power Boat For Sale https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1957/---2317278?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhMn-38O_5AIVSLxPCh3dUgKSEAEYASAEEgJdJPD_BwE
1957 Ditmar & Donaldson Commercial or Yacht Conversion Power Boat For Sale https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1957/---2317278?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhMn-38O_5AIVSLxPCh3dUgKSEAEYASAEEgJdJPD_BwE
Looks like a tug conversion... I'm not sure I would want to weather any strong blows in her with all that windage....
Built in 1957, repowered with twin 375 JD in 2007. 18' beam which is why it looks so short at 60' oal. I'm sure shes thirsty....
Built in 1957, repowered with twin 375 JD in 2007. 18' beam which is why it looks so short at 60' oal. I'm sure shes thirsty....
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They are saying original build. Anyway, I think she'd be perfect for the Great Loop. Put an EV car or a big golf cart on her aft deck and add a roll off ramp and you could boat for thousands of miles with America as your backdrop.
I have been thoroughly discouraged... However, Im working on the savings goals to make this a reality in a few years. Bought and renovated a 100yo house that is fully paid for and getting my house updated so it can be listed as soon as possible. My wife has also been applying for full time work to accelerate the savings rate. We intend on building our "primary residence" in TN in a couple of years and will look at our financial position and what we can afford when we are done with that. If the Pacific is ruled out, it seems that there are smaller boats that will fit the mission for not that much money. Whether things are going to settle down in the Pacific given the recent crazy lockdowns and anchoring bans etc one would have to see. I certainly wouldnt be trying my luck out there right now.
Will have to see how recent hurricane damage is going to impact the used boat market. It seems that plenty inventory has been lost this year and in a few prior years. There was a very good deal on a Bayliner 3270 on Lake MI this summer. 2 Hino Diesel motors @ 110hp each are economical to run and maintain. But I will wait until I am in a position where we are ready to go because of how expensive it is to keep in a slip when not actually using the boat.
Will have to see how recent hurricane damage is going to impact the used boat market. It seems that plenty inventory has been lost this year and in a few prior years. There was a very good deal on a Bayliner 3270 on Lake MI this summer. 2 Hino Diesel motors @ 110hp each are economical to run and maintain. But I will wait until I am in a position where we are ready to go because of how expensive it is to keep in a slip when not actually using the boat.
Sergey Stoyanov
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