:) Blue sky / blue water thinking

[PhillM]

I took 110 litres for what turned out to be a 23 day voyage. Poor planning on my part as I intended to take 130. Got worried so I collected 15 l in rainwater, but only used that for washing. Finished the leg with 15 litres still in bottles.

I was eating freeze-dried food almost exclusively, and ended up using about 4 litres per day, including re-hydrating the freeze-dried food.

I am in awe of you!

[Minn]

This is an interesting thread for me as I have just decided to keep the boat I have rather than trade for a more modern one for going long distance. She carries 42 gallons in two stainless tanks under the bunks and I would reckon to increase that with plastic bottles (for three, occasionally four, people).

I am very interested in the question of worm proofing wooden boats these days - Cascover used to be the simple answer but I don't know if it is still made.

I am having a think about electrics and reckon that a towed generator is pretty well unavoidable.

Radar is a huge consumer of power and it "ought" not to be needed if you have a good chart plotter and an AIS transponder.. but am I right?

[Tranona]

I am very interested in the question of worm proofing wooden boats these days - Cascover used to be the simple answer but I don't know if it is still made.

No longer made, although Wessex Resins still have some expertise on the subject. If it is done properly (like my boat) it is superb. When I do repairs, or as recently after having nearly 50 years of paint blasted off, I use epoxy (and glass cloth if needed). However my hull is Ply so is very stable and one of the advantages of Cascover rather than epoxy/glass is that it can take movement making it arguably better on a conventional carvel hull. The original also used a flexible vynil coating to fill the weave before painting and that is no longer made. I rollered epoxy into the weave and then faired with an International epoxy fairing compound recommended by Wessex. Looks good so far.

[BobPrell]

Kenichi Horie did a very tight water budget for his 1962 solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean. Japan to San Francisco in 94 days aboard a 19-foot (5.8 m) sailboat called the Mermaid.

I will dig out the book.

IIRC it relied on catching some rainwater. This was not regarded as unusual back in the Golden Age of yot cruisin'.

[lustyd]

... but you wouldn't want to!

You mean YOU wouldn't want to. That doesn't mean there aren't plenty who would, it just means you're less adventurous than them.

[Babylon]

Today was the sort of day that makes me want to leave home, work and sail off to Bermuda single handed. Bugger the lot of them!

I would welcome any comments, but please do understand that this is only a pipe dream

Phill, I share your aspirations, even though I've not yet been beyond the Channel.

You don't need radar, certainly once clear of land and shipping after which you'd keep it permamently off so no drain, although an active transponder, AIS and/or a radar detector would be useful.

You're allowed more than one cabin light (chart-table, galley, bunks, heads) although you don't have to have them all on at the same time! I recently replaced all my festoon bulbs with LED's: each one only draws 0.1 Amp or 10% of the old incandescents.

You need to store enough water low down. Buy a bulk load of 1 or 2 litre plastic bottles, which you can refill for the return passage.

You don't need a bigger boat! All anyone ever needs is a well-found boat and the right attitude - have you read any of Roger Taylor's books or seen his Simple Sailor website?

And, for your sort of boat, you simply have to keep Eric Hiscock's 'Cruising Under Sail' by your bed and above your bunk.



PS I see you're Solent-based. I'm on the Hamble, so PM me if you fancy a beer and/or a sail.

[Minn]

No longer made, although Wessex Resins still have some expertise on the subject. If it is done properly (like my boat) it is superb. When I do repairs, or as recently after having nearly 50 years of paint blasted off, I use epoxy (and glass cloth if needed). However my hull is Ply so is very stable and one of the advantages of Cascover rather than epoxy/glass is that it can take movement making it arguably better on a conventional carvel hull. The original also used a flexible vynil coating to fill the weave before painting and that is no longer made. I rollered epoxy into the weave and then faired with an International epoxy fairing compound recommended by Wessex. Looks good so far.

Thanks very much. I am tempted to say, "Oh, bother!".

Copper sheathing is out (carvel teak on oak, but iron keel and floors) unless I spend a fortune replacing the ballast keel and floors, and the idea of relying on paint is not wonderfully attractive.

[bbg]

This is an interesting thread for me as I have just decided to keep the boat I have rather than trade for a more modern one for going long distance. She carries 42 gallons in two stainless tanks under the bunks and I would reckon to increase that with plastic bottles (for three, occasionally four, people).
...
I am having a think about electrics and reckon that a towed generator is pretty well unavoidable.

Radar is a huge consumer of power and it "ought" not to be needed if you have a good chart plotter and an AIS transponder.. but am I right?

FWIW - I bought a few 10 litre and one 20 litre fuel container (they are thicker than jerrycans for water), and filled them with bottled water. 5 litre bottles of water are about €1, and I didn't think it was worth the risk of contaminated dock water to save a few €. 20 litres is pretty heavy to lug around, so consider whether you would prefer 10 or 20 l containers.

For electricity you have two options - consume less, produce more (or a combination of both). LED masthead lights would be a worthwhile investment. Radar not necessary offshore. An AIS transceiver would be a good investment (look at the Wathcmate 850), as would a radar target enhancer (SeaMe, Active X) with an alarm to tell you when you are being painted. Both are low power draws.

I had but didn't use an interior light. Just used my Petzl headlamp and took a lot of spare batteries.

For electricity production your options are solar panels (I would recommend having some solar, either fixed or flexible which you can move around), wind or water generators, fuel cell (expensive) and dedicated generators. I have seen suitcase generators and, for small boats, petrol engines used as generators. I mean small petrol engines - maybe an engine from a leaf-blower or something of that nature.

[TQA]

For a planned 20 day passage 30 days food but add another 30 days subsistance. Rice beans oatmeal etc.

Set up a water catchment system working off the mainsail. A cutaway bucket with a spigot in the bottom works. You may need to raise the end of the boom to maximise catchment.

Get hold of a copy of Shrimpy by Shane Acton for inspiration. Shane did a cirumnavigation in an 18 ft plywood Caprice.

[Minn]

re using the mainlsail to collect rain water - a round the boom roller reefing mainsail is great for this...wind in a small reef and top the boom up and put the bucket under the gooseneck...but always be sure that all the salt and muck has been rinsed off the sail first, or your efforts will be counter productive.

You can go quite a long time without food but you need water.