I crossed the south pacific in a 45ft sailboat. Ask me anything.
273 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Fariun;30381476]I am an Avid sailor so I have a few questions:
Make and model of the boat?
Get any foul weather/squalls along the way?
Ovb asked above- Can I see charts please :D
I'm sure I'll think of a few others. For now thats it! Glad to hear you had a good trip always nice to see another sailor about.[/QUOTE]
It's a Jeanneau 47 Sun Odyssey (I thought it was 45 until I dug out the owner's manual, oops.)
I have a screenshot of google earth here, sorry it only shows our route up to day 10: [url]http://i.imgur.com/AXAF3.jpg[/url]
As I said above, we ran into lots of squalls, but nothing that bad.
What did you do for sex?
Where there a lot of sea men?
How does the toilet work, things like this always bother me.
What measures could you have taken if your sail ripped/an emergency happened?
Did you encounter any storms?
Did you meet Jack Sparrow?
[QUOTE=hgncommand;30381619]What measures could you have taken if your sail ripped/an emergency happened?[/QUOTE]
They would probably have an extra sail, and a satellite phone.
[QUOTE=OvB;30381542]To give you an idea on just how big the Pacific is, you can rotate a globe to where you see nothing but water with small slivers of land just on the horizon. Even with modern tracking systems and radar you are really at the mercy of the ocean. Should have an emergency where you have to abandon ship, there's a good chance you won't be found alive, or at all for that matter. It really takes balls to go out there in a sailboat.[/QUOTE]
On the contrary, in case of an emergency, we have a 6 person liferaft that deploys in under 30 seconds. We have an EPIRB (Emergency Positioning Radio Beacon) and a SPOT system. (Both can pinpoint our position within 100 yards and relay it to emergency services.)
Another question- What is your previous experience sailing? Your family?
[QUOTE=The BoxDog;30381603]How does the toilet work, things like this always bother me.[/QUOTE]
It works like any other toilet, except you have to hand pump it.
[quote=hgncommand]What measures could you have taken if your sail ripped/an emergency happened?[/quote]
We have a temporary sail repair kit and all necessary emergency devices.
[quote=The BoxDog]Did you encounter any storms?[/quote]
Yes, lots of tiny ones called squalls.
[editline]10th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Fariun;30381689]Another question- What is your previous experience sailing? Your family?[/QUOTE]
I have been on the water literally since I was in the womb. We had a small sailboat in San Fransisco bay, and later on upgraded to larger sailboats.
I did 5 years of sailing school in San Fransisco bay as well.
If you could list the top things you did everyday besides wanking. What would they be.
Did you encounter any pirates?
Nice- I'm happy to hear that you've been at it awhile. I hope you enjoy it and stick with it for years to come :) I'm in the process of refurbishing my own boat. Getting ready for a few years from home!
[QUOTE=The BoxDog;30381783]If you could list the top things you did everyday besides wanking. What would they be.[/QUOTE]
Computer games, iTouch games, Movies, Reading, Eating, Sleeping.
Jeanneau 45, huh?
That is both a gorgeous boat, and a very expensive boat. How much did it run you per foot, if you don't mind me asking?
Also, I wish you the best of luck! It sounds like an incredible trip, and if you get into a spot of trouble there's always the Navy and the Coast Guard!
[QUOTE=Quark:;30381791]Did you encounter any pirates?[/QUOTE]
No.
[quote=Fariun]Nice- I'm happy to hear that you've been at it awhile. I hope you enjoy it and stick with it for years to come :) I'm in the process of refurbishing my own boat. Getting ready for a few years from home![/quote]
Yeah I really enjoy it. I plan on spending most of my life with boats. :buddy:
[QUOTE=DeadCow;30381813]Computer games, iTouch games, Movies, Reading, Eating, Sleeping.[/QUOTE]
I see Computer games and I touch games, how did you charge your laptop and Itouch?
Did you ever get sea sick? Was it strange stepping on solid ground for the first time?
[QUOTE=ewitwins;30381835]Jeanneau 45, huh?
That is both a gorgeous boat, and a very expensive boat. How much did it run you per foot, if you don't mind me asking?
Also, I wish you the best of luck! It sounds like an incredible trip, and if you get into a spot of trouble there's always the Navy and the Coast Guard![/QUOTE]
To be honest I have no clue how much it cost, I know we got it used. It's an 18 year old boat.
And after creating this thread I found out it wasn't 45, it's actually 47.
[editline]10th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=The BoxDog;30381860]I see Computer games and I touch games, how did you charge your laptop and Itouch?[/QUOTE]
Only ancient boats don't have an electronic system. We have 5 truck batteries, 10 sq ft of solar panels, and a generator. We also have an AC outlet system throughout the entire boat.
[quote=myng]Did you ever get sea sick? Was it strange stepping on solid ground for the first time?[/quote]
I don't get motion sickness. It was very strange stepping on ground, I actually got "land sick". For the first day it felt like the ground was rocking.
You didn't have any problems with crosswinds? And did you stay on shipping lanes?
you should have sabotaged your boat and gotten picked up by a cruise ship
[QUOTE=Miskatonic;30382061]You didn't have any problems with crosswinds? And did you stay on shipping lanes?[/QUOTE]
There are no shipping lanes in the south pacific if you get out far enough.
Crosswinds are actually the best winds for sailing. They are what makes the boat move.
[editline]10th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=teh pirate;30382095]you should have sabotaged your boat and gotten picked up by a cruise ship[/QUOTE]
I was seriously considering that after my parents found my weed stash.
Did your boat have a satellite?
I want to do this so goddamn badly. So badly.
How'd you plan the route? Where'd you get access to a sailboat? Did you buy it, rent it, borrow it, inherit it? How much did the trip cost, as far as supplies, planning, and lodging go? Did you have any supply issues with fresh water and food? How much was needed to keep a family alive for 23 days at sea, or did you just resupply at ports along the way?
Jeez, just tell me everything I need to know to plan this sort of adventure myself, please. This is, like, a dream of mine. A [i]dream[/i].
I'm looking up sailboat prices, and the average for ships around this size appear to be about fifty grand. If people can dump that much into a car, I can definitely drop it on a sailboat. Because, dude, it's a sailboat. How badass is that? Eventually, man. Wasn't there some dude on YouTube who kept releasing videos asking for a million dollars, and in the end he finally got it? Maybe I could do something like that, only instead of asking for a million bucks, I just ask for a sailboat and some travelin' funds. I don't know how many YouTubers have sailboats, though.
I want a sailboat.
[QUOTE=OvB;30382134]Did your boat have a satellite?[/QUOTE]
By satellite, do you mean satellite phone or GPS? If so, yes, both.
[QUOTE=DeadCow;30382168]By satellite, do you mean satellite phone or GPS? If so, yes, both.[/QUOTE]
I don't think you mentioned it before, but was internet available on the boat?
How bright were the stars when there was no land in sight?
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;30382144]I want to do this so goddamn badly. So badly.
How'd you plan the route? Where'd you get access to a sailboat? Did you buy it, rent it, borrow it, inherit it? How much did the trip cost, as far as supplies, planning, and lodging go? Did you have any supply issues with fresh water and food? How much was needed to keep a family alive for 23 days at sea, or did you just resupply at ports along the way?
Jeez, just tell me everything I need to know to plan this sort of adventure myself, please. This is, like, a dream of mine. A [i]dream[/i].[/QUOTE]
It was pretty easy planning the route, there were a handful of cruisers that gathered in Puerto Vallarta, including us, who attended a seminar to get the best routes, info, etc. We own the sailboat. We bought it in San Fransisco in 2008. I am not really sure how much the trip cost, I'm guessing around $4000 for supplies, maximum. We had enough food to last a month and a half, and we have a watermaker on board (Filters seawater into freshwater). 23 days at sea means 23 days without stopping, meaning we didn't stop at ports. (There are no ports in the middle of the ocean anyway.) We resupply when we get to a town or village in the islands here. I can tell you one thing for certain though, It was TONS of work to prepare for this trip.
[editline]10th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=OvB;30382183]I don't think you mentioned it before, but was internet available on the boat?[/QUOTE]
We have a satellite terminal for phone calls and internet. We rarely use it since it costs $6 a megabyte.
We also occasionally find a wifi connection at a town or village though, like the wifi I am using now.
[QUOTE=DeadCow;30382268]It was pretty easy planning the route, there were a handful of cruisers that gathered in Puerto Vallarta, including us, who attended a seminar to get the best routes, info, etc. We own the sailboat. We bought it in San Fransisco in 2008. I am not really sure how much the trip cost, I'm guessing around $4000 for supplies, maximum. We had enough food to last a month and a half, and we have a watermaker on board (Filters seawater into freshwater). 23 days at sea means 23 days without stopping, meaning we didn't stop at ports. (There are no ports in the middle of the ocean anyway.) We resupply when we get to a town or village in the islands here. I can tell you one thing for certain though, It was TONS of work to prepare for this trip.
[editline]10th June 2011[/editline]
We have a satellite terminal for phone calls and internet. We rarely use it since it costs $6 a megabyte.
We also occasionally find a wifi connection at a town or village though, like the wifi I am using now.[/QUOTE]
So does somebody always have to be at the controls, or do you anchor at night for sleep? This is probably a dumb question, but I've never been on a boat! I don't know proper boat customs.
And storms! What about storms at sea?!
[QUOTE=credesniper;30382245]How bright were the stars when there was no land in sight?[/QUOTE]
Pretty hard to explain, but they were pretty goddamn bright. I could see probably tens of thousands more stars at sea than around land.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.