Planning Your Sailboat 'Adventure of a Lifetime' Voyage

Setting sail in your own sailboat and voyaging across the many oceans of our planet and visiting the myriad fantastic destinations en route is the easy part of your adventure.

Planning ahead of time to get it right is the more difficult of the two, so you need to begin well in advance of your actual departure date. Depending on your own situations, that period could be months or even years. No matter what your time frame is, the more detailed your planning is, the better you will cope with all the situations that the sea, Mother Nature and human elements will throw at you (and they will) during your odyssey. In the event you will be amazed at the variety of events you will encounter along the way. They will range from the fantastic to the bizarre, monotonous to exhilerating, scary to exciting, and sometimes downright challenging. This is all part of the experience, but in the main these experiences will be wonderful and uplifting and once again you will surprise yourself at just how simply, many adversities you will overcome with your own gathered knowledge and ingenuity.

An 'Old Salt' once said to me when I was in the early stages of planning my odyssey: 'You may not be fully qualified/experienced when you set sail for the first time and leave port, but you sure as hell will be whenever it is that you return!'. Never truer words were spoken and I can assure you that the unbelievable storehouse of knowledge and experience that you will build during the time you are away will be a constant source of amazement to you and on which you will forever be able to draw upon.

So, now is the time to begin. It does not matter whether you actually own your own sailboat yet, that will happen as part of the process. This a good place to start - draw up a thoughtful and lengthy list of your criteria for the sailboat of your dreams.

A few headings could be:

Class - sloop, ketch, schooner etc.

Size - length, beam and draft.

Keel - long, deep, bulb, retracting etc

Deck layout - aft or centre cockpit, single forestay, cutter rig, running backstays etc.

Cabin layout - how many berths, master cabin fore or aft.

Electronics - radar, GPS, plotting, hf radio, computer with weather software, and now, AIS.

These will keep you busy for a time.

Depending on the level of your sailing skills, you can take any number of sailing courses, however, make sure they include more practical sessons than theory - you can read all the books on sailing technique etc. in the world, but nothing beats getting out on the water and putting sailing miles under your belt. Go down to the local sailing club and get yourself a regular crew position on a club racer.

If you live by the water you can buy a small and inexpensive sailing dinghy and get all the fun and experience you can poke a stick at.

Then you can go on and book yourself into a 'safety at sea' course.

Also, during this time, book yourself into a local 'First Aid' course. From my own experience of a crew member fracturing a couple of ribs mid Pacific, I can tell you it is invaluable knowledge to have. It will also assist in deciding the make up of your medical kit.

Next, study navigation. With all the electronics nowadays, this is an area that tends to be left aside more and more, leaving the electronics to take care of it. This fine as they do a wonderful job, but what if they all go down for some reason? lightning strikes, knockdown, flooding or other damage. You need to have navigational skills to be able to navigate if this adversity strikes. Also, include a course on astro navigation as this is a marvellous feeling, when mastered, being able to use a sextant and make a plot within a nautical mile or two of your GPS readings.

You will need to take a course and get your ticket for HF radio. Along with this you will get call signs etc. for your boat.

Get a two metre length of supple line from your local chandler and set it up on a convenient bar/rail at home somewhere - in your office, the bed end, back of a chair and constantly practice your knot tying until you can tie them automatically. The knots you will use the most will be bowline, clove hitch, fishermens bend, rolling hitch - become proficient at these and as many others as you can.

Study charts and all their markings, buoys, rules of the road and ships lights.

Flags of all nations is a fascinating subject, along with nautical flags and what they mean.

You are going to be busy fitting all this in and my suggestion is to start as soon as possible and get as much out of the way prior to actually purchasing your dream sailboat. As your 'set sail' date moves closer you will find a myriad other things need your attention and it is easy to put learning some of these other skills aside - so get as many under your belt as you can well ahead of time.

Finally, when you do have a few minutes to spare, read any sailing material you can get your hands on and especially don't miss 'Sailing Alone Around the World' by Capt. Joshua Slocum.

Good luck and exciting and safe sailing.

You can read much more about cruising and passagemaking in my ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship 'Tere Moana' downloadable from my website http://www.sailboat2adventure.com/

Propspeed Antifouling for Sailboats

There has been much discussion of late about these revolutionary applications for better antifouling of props, shafts and any under water metal fittings of a sailboat or yacht. There are various products on the market, but one that appears to stand out is a New Zealand product called Propspeed which has been developed by Oceanmax International of Auckland, New Zealand.

Everyone is looking for improved product performance and also applications that are environmentally friendly and do not leach or allow toxic chemicals into our oceans.

Propspeed works on the principle of the silicone polymer finish being so slick that all those little guys that want to clamp themselves onto your running gear just cannot get a toehold, fall away again in frustration, leaving your prop, shaft and any other metal skin fittings underwater, clean. We all understand the benefits of clean running gear - no fouling, increased speed of your vessel and the corresponding saving of fuel. With Propspeed we can add the additional benefit of no detrimental effect on the environment.


Having looked at all these possibilities we decided it was time to do something about it and as the boat was going to be hauled anyway, get the Propspeed application to see how effective it will be between now (early spring) and when the boat will be hauled again in March 2010. That will be seven summer months (warm water temperatures, higher growth) from now and will certainly show a result in that time frame.

Propspeed can be purchased directly with the application carried out by yourself, but then you have no guarantee if things don't work out. By commissioning your local boatyard to do it, you know that with their experience of doing many already, they are going to apply the product professionally, and you can also discuss some kind of warranty situation with them to cover any future problems that may arise.


The other downside to doing it yourself is what to do with the materials that are left over? for an average sized sailboat (30 - 40ft) you would use approximately half of the pack. Once opened it would not keep for a year, so that means disposing of it or finding some other boat owner willing to do the job at the same time as you - and you know how tricky that can be!


Having Propspeed applied professionally is the manufacturers'recommendation. This was the route we chose and it proved to be a relatively painless operation. We sanded down the shaft and prop so it was clean and shiny when the man arrived from the yard. We were just a little taken aback when on setting to work he took a much coarser grade (80 grit) of emery paper and roughed up these parts again.


Two coats of etch were then applied with suitable drying time in between. It is the etch that is coloured (yellow, image above). The topcoats of Propspeed Clear were applied with a fine brush and left to dry for several hours before re-launching the boat. The whole job took one hour approximately (above) and when finished a modest bill of $150.00 was proffered - good value indeed if it works.


The two other images here show Propspeed applied to two different vessels showing very effective results. The multi blade prop is after thirteen months and several thousand sea miles. The other prop had Propspeed applied to the outer section of the blades and shows a marked difference between them and the inner areas where there was no application.



You can find out more about this product at the Oceanmax website www.propspeed.co.nz/index.html and find a professonal applicator in your area.


Two lower images courtesy Oceanmax International Ltd.


You can read more about anti fouling of sailboats while cruising in my ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship 'Tere Moana' downloadable from my website http://www.sailboat2adventure.com

Ultrasonic Anti Fouling for Sailboats

Our post back on 11 April 2009 featured a range of ultrasonic anti fouling systems that have come onto the market in recent years. Since posting, I have been contacted by a German company, Impact Tec, manufacturing a similar product, pointing out that I missed them off the list. So, under the heading of balance, the following is an extract from their website:

Your sailing yacht is your pride and joy! No matter how small or big your yacht is, algae, shells and other small animals do not stop from clinging to your favorite. The fouling of the hull is unfortunately not just a visual problem. Sustained algae on your hull can damage commonly used materials and finishes, in the worst case, making them brittle or cracked. In addition, the "beard algae" and mussel fouling deteriorates the lubrication of the hull through the water, resulting in loss of speed, and when motoring, reflecting a higher fuel consumption.

The variety of protective coatings are the traditional way to deal with this problem. Moreover, today there are still many antifouling paints containing toxic ingredients such as copper powder, herbicides and fungicides, which are extremely harmful to the environment.

Is there anyone who has not already had their eyes startled when the bill arrives for the anti-fouling of their sailoatboat? How much money or just work and sweat has already gone into your protective coating?

Fig.1 shows the "Why Knot '2006 with heavy algae growth on the hull.

Fig.2 taken in 2008 shows the significant difference with 2006.

The Transducer - Ultrasonic generator emitted a multi-layered ultrasonic pattern. In each of algae is a microscopic fluid bubbles called vacuoles. Our digital ultrasonic pattern brings this to vibrate, this leads to the collapse of the vacuole and eventually to the dying algae.

With our Tec Marine Product range, Marine Tec 60-AC, 40 - AC, 20 - AC and AC - 10 it is possible to permanently stop the growth of algae on the ship's hull. Already infested hulls can be treated with this technology. As the algae are killed off by the ultrasound, they are easily wiped off from the ship's hull.

You can save yourself costly Antifouling expense and the associated incoming order to stay in dry dock.

By stopping the algal fouling on the hull, your boat glides through the water better and it also saves more fuel. Even the cleaning of your rotating ships log is no longer so often necessary.
Do something for the longevity and value of your yacht.

Extract and images courtesy Impact Tec website

The four models listed above feature six, four, two and one transducers depending on the size of your vessel, and range in price from Euros 1195 to 4999. You can visit their website on http://www.impacttec.de/ to learn more about these products.

You can learn more about anti fouling your sailboat when cruising in my ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship 'Tere Moana' downloadable from my website http://www.sailboat2adventure.com/

Buying a Sailboat on the Internet - Pitfalls and Dangers

The internet is a great and wonderful thing where you can find out just about anything you want to know and purchase anything you want.

However, when it comes to investing in your dream sailboat, it pays handsomely to be very cautious and thorough before going ahead with a purchase. And remember, that boats like cars, often look much better in a photographic image than in reality!!

The following is an extract from my ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship 'Tere Moana' and is very much a cautionary tale of a real life situation I came across in Papeete, French Polynesia.

........'It is at this point our crew are joined by an Australian yachtsman slowly working his wayback to New South Wales. They first met him at the Balboa Yacht Club in Panama. His is an excruciatingly painful account and worth repeating here as a cautionary tale.

Some eighteen months previously he had purchased a sloop, by private sale, on the internet. It was 'laying up' on Mystic River, Connecticut, in the USA. He arrived there to discover that the boat was in far worse condition than he had been led to believe. He spent the whole winter working and living on board in freezing conditions preparing it for the voyage.

Imagine waking every morning with ice hanging from your moustache and
having to crawl out of your bunk, climb down the ladder, trudge through a foot of snow to the ablution block, re-climb the ladder, and begin the days work with fingers that will hardly move, and brain numbed into lethargy from the cold. For an Australian raised in the warmth of NSW it must have been soul destroying.

During that period he spent more on the craft than what he had originally paid for it. This was not part of the plan!

Finally setting sail, his trip to date had been one disaster following another – too many to repeat here, and too depressing to contemplate. The last news our crew had of him was here in Papeete. He had arrived under sail as his engine had seized up completely several days out of Tahiti, and he had been told the required parts would be five weeks in coming. He was fast running out of funds and still three thousand nautical miles from home.

Visiting him aboard his boat the next day, our captain and sibling crew could not believe the appalling conditions in which he existed. The boat was dark, damp, and quite chilly, despite the warmth of the Tahiti sun. The smell of mould and dry rot was almost overpowering and after a short chat and looking around at his many problems, our crew manage to winkle him ashore to a warm and sunny café for an obligatory Hinano. Here, his glum outlook brightens somewhat as the amber liquid takes effect.

A respectable time later, they make their departures, waving cheerily as he disappears back down the dock toward his boat, no doubt to stare once again at the overwhelming number of things to be fixed before he sets sail again.

As at the time our little ship departed Tahiti, his parts had yet to arrive and he was never heard of again – he had a vhf radio on board but it was ineffectual at best.

From time to time his name came up in conversation as to his possible progress and whereabouts, but not having any means of contact, our crew could only suppose what and where.

There being no reports of vessels sinking or missing during the next six months or so,they could only assume that he finally did make it back to Australia – any prayers that went up to ‘the one who made us’, for the safety of sailors at sea, would hereafter have his name on the list.'

Extract from my ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship 'Tere Moana'

Hybrid yacht image courtesy FreakingNews.com

The moral of this story is never part with any money on the internet for any vessel before an inspection by yourself and also preferably by an authorised marine surveyor. If you are going to go cruising offshore for extended periods you want to know that she meets your criteria and is going to be able to stand up to the sometimes tough conditions you are going to meet along the way.

Best practice would be to use the internet only as a search tool to locate the vessel which fits your needs and then put into motion a detailed and strict procedure which you follow rigidly.

This will ensure that when you are competely happy and arrive at a point to negotiate a price, you are comfortable with your position. Ideally, you will agree on a price with the seller, pay a deposit, with the balance payable on delivery.

By following this procedure stringently you will finish up with a well found vessel that will give you many happy years of sailing and that will take you to many of the wonderful cruising grounds of this earth of ours.

You can learn more about planning your offshore cruising adventure in my ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship 'Tere Moana' downloadable from my website http://www.sailboat2adventure.com/