I crossed the south pacific in a 45ft sailboat. Ask me anything.
273 replies, posted
What if you guys got attacked on the sea by pirates/jack sparrow? What do you guys have to defend yourselves? Axes? Flare guns? This?
[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-7/767317/SHIPS1724CANNONSIDVW%20001.JPG[/img]
Did you see anything strange out at sea?
Can I be a part of this gold member cruise too? :v:
My friends dad had a small boat that I was able to sail.
Isn't it very tiresome to use the sails for several weeks. My friends took me out on their boat and god damn only 1 day of sailing really leaves marks on the hand. And I didn't do much. Pulled some ropes and crap.
And not to mention the tilting when you are sailing towards the wind direction.
Peak of the my trip:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/et9XM.jpg[/img]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/hVie9.jpg[/IMG]
Sailing the pacific is my greatest aspiration.
did you get a lousy t-shirt when you got back?
does it ever smell in the middle of the ocean?
sounds awesome! I want to do something like this some day but maybe not as large a challenge as this.
What happens if you get attacked by pirates?
Not the cool kind, the shitty kind that kill people
OP,
How do you trade with the locals? obviously you can't just whip out your debit card, right?
[QUOTE=Smoot;30388247]OP,
How do you trade with the locals? obviously you can't just whip out your debit card, right?[/QUOTE]
what the fuck, do you think the people are cavemen or something
I sail a 2 man Enterprise, and absolutely hate it, spending that amount of time out at see must suck.
[QUOTE=Handsome Pete;30385796]Seeing as how you've been a sailor for so long, have you [i]ever[/i] had the fear of the boat sinking and/or being stranded in the ocean?[/QUOTE]
Not really. We have so many emergency/safety systems that even if our boat got obliterated, we would be rescued within 12 hours.
[quote=Ignhelper]What if you guys got attacked on the sea by pirates/jack sparrow? What do you guys have to defend yourselves? Axes? Flare guns? This?[/quote]
We have some emergency flare guns, yes. But you really don't have to worry about pirates nowadays, except around panama and the caribbean.
[quote=Apache249]Did you see anything strange out at sea?[/quote]
A few things, yes. The coolest was an Ocean Sunfish (aka Mola Mola).
[quote=polarbear.]does it ever smell in the middle of the ocean?[/quote]
If seawater has much of a smell, yes. Other than that, there are no smells. When you get within 30 miles of land, you can actually smell it before you see it. It's incredible.
[quote=Smoot]OP,
How do you trade with the locals? obviously you can't just whip out your debit card, right?[/quote]
In the smaller villages we trade fishing line, rope, chain, engine parts, toys, clothes, etc for food. In most villages we are able to pay for things with the native currency, french polynesian francs. (About 85 francs to the dollar)
[editline]11th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=AlphaGunman;30395249]what the fuck, do you think the people are cavemen or something[/QUOTE]
He's actually right. It's very rare to be able to pay by credit/debit card.
[editline]11th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Fatal-Error;30395939]I sail a 2 man Enterprise, and absolutely hate it, spending that amount of time out at see must suck.[/QUOTE]
Not really. It's quite fun, and sometimes thrilling. Plus, I get to tell people about it afterwards.
Did you ever come across an island of cannibals?
[QUOTE=Angry Pineapple;30396225]Did you ever come across an island of cannibals?[/QUOTE]
We came across several islands that had cannibals centuries ago, but cannibals are nonexistant in this world now. As a matter of fact, the tiki in the picture in the OP was carved by ancient cannibals.
[QUOTE=DeadCow;30396244]We came across several islands that had cannibals centuries ago, but cannibals are nonexistant in this world now.[/QUOTE]
Interesting..
Did the tribals do anything..weird?
EDIT: If they were tribal people
[QUOTE=Angry Pineapple;30396257]Interesting..
Did the tribals do anything..weird?
EDIT: If they were tribal people[/QUOTE]
Yes they did. We visited an ancient plaza where they used to sacrifice up to 20 people per day. They kept prisoners in an underground "prison cell" that measured 3m long, 3m wide, and half a meter high. The worst thing about this prison cell was they crammed 40 people in there at a time.
Yes, they were tribal.
[QUOTE=DeadCow;30396316]Yes they did. We visited an ancient plaza where they used to sacrifice up to 20 people per day. They kept prisoners in an underground "prison cell" that measured 3m long, 3m wide, and half a meter high. The worst thing about this prison cell was they crammed 40 people in there at a time.[/QUOTE]
Well, good thing they didn't sacrifice you...
[QUOTE=DeadCow;30396316]Yes they did. We visited an ancient plaza where they used to sacrifice up to 20 people per day. They kept prisoners in an underground "prison cell" that measured 3m long, 3m wide, and half a meter high. The worst thing about this prison cell was they crammed 40 people in there at a time.
Yes, they were tribal.[/QUOTE]
Your quest was to save them, didn't you get the memo
You have to go back
Never mind, read "used to"
you're too late, quest failed
Do you actually help sail the boat or do you just sit and do nothing?
[QUOTE=Sharker;30396572]Do you actually help sail the boat or do you just sit and do nothing?[/QUOTE]
I resent that. I honestly doubt they could have done the trip without me. I did tons of work.
Sailing has always terrified me, but I'd love to go to somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
Interesting story, OP, keep us updated.
Also I love how it says you're posting from French Polynesia. Probably been answered, but do you have an internet signal on the boat?
[editline]11th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Sharker;30396572]Do you actually help sail the boat or do you just sit and do nothing?[/QUOTE]
And he explained that he's been sailing and going to sailing school for ages, how could you miss that?
[QUOTE=Mr. Bleak;30396644]Sailing has always terrified me, but I'd love to go to somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
Interesting story, OP, keep us updated.
Also I love how it says you're posting from French Polynesia. Probably been answered, but do you have an internet signal on the boat?
[/QUOTE]
I will try my best to keep yall updated, but I doubt I will be able to do it often after I leave this atoll.
We occasionally find wifi signals in relatively large towns in these islands.
Thanks for the new 5 year plan.
How quickly and easily could a big dumb mammal learn to competently handle himself on a sailboat, assuming he had access to a sailboat?
Is it terribly complicated work, or is most of your time spent sipping martinis and watching women sunbathe? If it's the second thing, I think I could [i]already[/i] be a fantastic sailor.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;30396993]How quickly and easily could a big dumb mammal learn to competently handle himself on a sailboat, assuming he had access to a sailboat?
Is it terribly complicated work, or is most of your time spent sipping martinis and watching women sunbathe? If it's the second thing, I think I could [i]already[/i] be a fantastic sailor.[/QUOTE]
It's actually pretty easy. I've done sailing on small tiny personal sail boats and it is a tone of fun, even on a small lake. You can learn all the nessicary knowledge and knots you need to tie to run your own personal small sail boat in a day's worth of class or hands-on teaching.
For bigger sail boats and/or boats designed to cross oceans you'll probably want to develop some good level of experience, or hire someone with more experience to help out. Or have a friend who knows the ins and outs of larger-scale and long term sailing.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;30396993]How quickly and easily could a big dumb mammal learn to competently handle himself on a sailboat, assuming he had access to a sailboat?
Is it terribly complicated work, or is most of your time spent sipping martinis and watching women sunbathe? If it's the second thing, I think I could [i]already[/i] be a fantastic sailor.[/QUOTE]
A little of both :)
How much trouble are you in for having weed on the boat?
[QUOTE=World Eater;30397294]How much trouble are you in for having weed on the boat?[/QUOTE]
I was in a shitstorm of trouble. It's kind of forgotten now, but when they found it... holy. fucking. shit.
They are super right-wing christians so...... Yeah. Imagine their reaction.
[QUOTE=DeadCow;30397323]I was in a shitstorm of trouble. It's kind of forgotten now, but when they found it... holy. fucking. shit.
They are super right-wing christians so...... Yeah. Imagine their reaction.[/QUOTE]
I don't know much about international customs policies, but they could also be freaking that were that to be found by a law enforcement agency, you could all potentially be locked up in another country. But damn, that must have sucked.
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