Any sailing ops on Sundays? That’s my only day off. My dad and I used to sail a little Sunfish and I’d love to get back on the water.
Well, not related to this but about sailing anyway: I will be sailing in January from Ensenada to La Paz in the Sea of Cortez via Bahia Tortuga and Bahia Magdalena, skipping Cabo San Lucas due to the high number of wankers there. About 900 NM. Then after checking systems and everything else that may break, will head to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, French Polynesia in March, about 3000 NM or about 32 days. Then from there to Nuka Hivu, Rangiroa, Moorea (side trip to Papeete by ferry for paperwork and supplies), Huahine, Bora Bora then to Penryhn, Suwarrow, Western Samoa, Fiji and then will decide whether to head for Tonga, N.Z. (New Zealand for Almas John) or New Caledonia.
To date have installed radar, autopilot, SSB radio, extra batteries, wind generator, two solar panels and chargers, new stove (gimballed) new propane tanks and sniffers, sprayhood, lifeline netting, LED interior lights and a multitide of other things that must be done before heading offshore. Also accumulated spare parts for everything as well paper charts from here to the Australian coast. The radar doubles as a chartplotter and is connected to fixed mount GPS. The radios are all connected to the GPS for DSC functionality meaning that if the distress button is pressed location reporting is automatic as is voice channel switching. Also have an EPIRB. I have a large sail inventory (11 in total), dinghy, outboard, Viking 4 man liferaft.
To date, outfitting has been hugely enjoyable, quite difficult at times but rewarding; there is no better way to get to know your vessel than by doing it yourself. When stuff works it is very satisfying. You also know where any fixes may have to be made when things work loose. It is also a very steep learning curve.
The boat is a Westsail 32. Cutter-rigged, long Keel, canoe stern, tiller steering, heavy displacement (10 tons - 12 fully laden with provisions). Not fast, but seakindly. I’m in no hurry.
Sailing is great. Life on board is bloody marvellous.
BroonAhoy
[quote=“BroonAle”]Well, not related to this but about sailing anyway: I will be sailing in January from Ensenada to La Paz in the Sea of Cortez via Bahia Tortuga and Bahia Magdalena, skipping Cabo San Lucas due to the high number of wankers there. About 900 NM. Then after checking systems and everything else that may break, will head to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, French Polynesia in March, about 3000 NM or about 32 days. Then from there to Nuka Hivu, Rangiroa, Moorea (side trip to Papeete by ferry for paperwork and supplies), Huahine, Bora Bora then to Penryhn, Suwarrow, Western Samoa, Fiji and then will decide whether to head for Tonga, N.Z. (New Zealand for Almas John) or New Caledonia.
To date have installed radar, autopilot, SSB radio, extra batteries, wind generator, two solar panels and chargers, new stove (gimballed) new propane tanks and sniffers, sprayhood, lifeline netting, LED interior lights and a multitide of other things that must be done before heading offshore. Also accumulated spare parts for everything as well paper charts from here to the Australian coast. The radar doubles as a chartplotter and is connected to fixed mount GPS. The radios are all connected to the GPS for DSC functionality meaning that if the distress button is pressed location reporting is automatic as is voice channel switching. Also have an EPIRB. I have a large sail inventory (11 in total), dinghy, outboard, Viking 4 man liferaft.
To date, outfitting has been hugely enjoyable, quite difficult at times but rewarding; there is no better way to get to know your vessel than by doing it yourself. When stuff works it is very satisfying. You also know where any fixes may have to be made when things work loose. It is also a very steep learning curve.
The boat is a Westsail 32. Cutter-rigged, long Keel, canoe stern, tiller steering, heavy displacement (10 tons - 12 fully laden with provisions). Not fast, but seakindly. I’m in no hurry.
Sailing is great. Life on board is bloody marvellous.
BroonAhoy[/quote]
Have you got a genumphenstat?
That big and tiller-rigged. Interesting. Is an autopilot any easier an installation for tiller-rigged?
[quote=“BroonAle”]Well, not related to this but about sailing anyway: I will be sailing in January from Ensenada to La Paz in the Sea of Cortez via Bahia Tortuga and Bahia Magdalena, skipping Cabo San Lucas due to the high number of wankers there. About 900 NM. Then after checking systems and everything else that may break, will head to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, French Polynesia in March, about 3000 NM or about 32 days. Then from there to Nuka Hivu, Rangiroa, Moorea (side trip to Papeete by ferry for paperwork and supplies), Huahine, Bora Bora then to Penryhn, Suwarrow, Western Samoa, Fiji and then will decide whether to head for Tonga, N.Z. (New Zealand for Almas John) or New Caledonia.
To date have installed radar, autopilot, SSB radio, extra batteries, wind generator, two solar panels and chargers, new stove (gimballed) new propane tanks and sniffers, sprayhood, lifeline netting, LED interior lights and a multitide of other things that must be done before heading offshore. Also accumulated spare parts for everything as well paper charts from here to the Australian coast. The radar doubles as a chartplotter and is connected to fixed mount GPS. The radios are all connected to the GPS for DSC functionality meaning that if the distress button is pressed location reporting is automatic as is voice channel switching. Also have an EPIRB. I have a large sail inventory (11 in total), dinghy, outboard, Viking 4 man liferaft.
To date, outfitting has been hugely enjoyable, quite difficult at times but rewarding; there is no better way to get to know your vessel than by doing it yourself. When stuff works it is very satisfying. You also know where any fixes may have to be made when things work loose. It is also a very steep learning curve.
The boat is a Westsail 32. Cutter-rigged, long Keel, canoe stern, tiller steering, heavy displacement (10 tons - 12 fully laden with provisions). Not fast, but seakindly. I’m in no hurry.
Sailing is great. Life on board is bloody marvellous.
BroonAhoy[/quote]
A westsail 32 is a solid, dependable, if slow way to make passages. No one ever drowned on one, but some may have starved to death.
But how will you know which is the pointy end? And will there be room for all that gear, your pots of filthy lucre, and your own good self too? You might have to swim behind, or in front pulling it all with a rope between your teeth.
Don’t go to New Zealand. There’s nothing there for a man of your tastes.
Sure there is. Why do you think New Zealander’s are such good sailors? They love to stare at the woolies.
Loretta, how long will the voyage from Jilong to Gaoxiong likely take? I assume now there are no vacancies? It does sound interesting, especially when some sunshine returns…
I prefer tiller steered boats because that is what I am used to. They are less complicated and more sensitive than wheel steering. When hand steering you can immediately ‘feel’ the boat’s movement. Autopilots are also simpler to install as the steering mechanism is basically an hydraulic arm mounted in the cockpit and connected to the tiller. That is then connected to the course computer, control panel, and a fluxgate compass installed below the waterline and along the centreline of the boat about halfway along the length. However, as it is power dependent, I also have an Aries windvane self-steering unit mounted on the stern which steers a course relative to the wind. This will work better in heavy weather, uses no power but does not function as well when running before the wind, hence the autopilot. As well as that, I also was given a small back up autopilot (Simrad) which can be used together with the windvane although rigging that up in conjunction is something I haven’t figured out yet. I agree with the comments about the boat being slow but that is what I like. It is designed and intended for offshore cruising over large distances and as such has a lot of storage capacity; more than any other boat of its time and length. I am over 6’2" and have no trouble standing below for most of the cabin’s length. I have about 100 gallons of fuel tank capacity plus 30 in jerry cans. 150 gallons of water plus another 40 in jerry cans. The auxiliary engine is a dependable 50hp Perkins 4-108 diesel and has not failed me yet. It is a bit noisy but reassuringly so at 1600rpm at which rate it is happiest and pushes me along at around 4 knots. Battery charging is with the 100 amp alternator, a 400W Air-X wind generator mounted on the stern and 2 65W Kyocera solar panels with a duel charger for the two battery banks; one house bank and one engine bank consisting of a total of 6 gel batteries. This gives me about 440 amp hours but 220 amp hours of daily usable capacity which is plenty. For example, the small portable fridge (Engel 35) only uses around 20 amp hours. and as long as the beer is cold, I am happy. As far as speed is concerned, I estimate that in the trades across the Pacific, a reasonable average cruising speed of 3.5 to 4 knots is attainable so plus/minus daily passages of 100NM are do-able. That will get me from La Paz to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas in about 30 days. But there will be enough stores on board for double the estimated passage time. If anyone is interested and they like butter, there is an excellent tinned butter called Red Feather from New Zealand which requires no refrigeration and has no expiry date. I have 96 cans of the stuff and lots of room to spare for all the other food items; tinned pork, beef, turkey, beans etc. With the stove, I can make pretty good bread to go with all the bloody butter. The old ice box is reserved for mostly cans of beer and although I haven’t fully loaded it yet, I think I can squeeze about 200 33cl cans in there. Beans, rice, flour canned goods are stored low in the boat and lighter items higher up. Potatoes, cabbage, onions are stored in well-ventilated areas in the cabin in crates, tied down suitably and in netting slung across the cabin at various odd angles. For those wondering about washing facilities, I only have two fresh water manual pumps, no pressure water and only a solar shower. The toilet is a manual Jabsco with a hand pump out either overboard or to the holding tank. I have no water maker or water heater as I don’t deem these particularly necessary. Water makers always break and I don’t have room to fit it anywhere. Pressure-water would also result in a lot of wasted water.
Loretta, you will be comforted to know that there are no reefs in the Marquesas and the entrance to Atuona is clearly marked at night but I shall be prudent and stand off until daylight.
BroonAboard
(but typing from a hotel in Tijuana after a night on the piss - 10 drug related murders this weekend, down the street, 74 in the last 9 days according to the news. I hope the car is still there)
That sounds like a good set-up. As a youth I did a lot of passagemaking on my families 43 boat, (a 1969 lead-mine), and some other CCA type yawls. Jokes aside, even in a Westsail 32, days in excess 4kt should be easily achievable.
One of the more inteligent thing we did on our boat was stick repeaters for the instruments at the foot of the pilot bearths with an inclinometer & compass in the cabin so you could get a good idea of what was going on even off watch.
A “baha” filter is something also good to have when you can’t be so sure of the quality of the fuel and a leadline to test anchorages also come in handy. Buy yourself a decent used sextant and some casio digital watches. It is nice to have just in case and making calculations in base 60 helps to kill time.
[quote=“Elegua”]That sounds like a good set-up. As a youth I did a lot of passagemaking on my families 43 boat, (a 1969 lead-mine), and some other CCA type yawls. Jokes aside, even in a Westsail 32, days in excess 4kt should be easily achievable.
One of the more inteligent thing we did on our boat was stick repeaters for the instruments at the foot of the pilot bearths with an inclinometer & compass in the cabin so you could get a good idea of what was going on even off watch.
A “baha” filter is something also good to have when you can’t be so sure of the quality of the fuel and a leadline to test anchorages also come in handy. Buy yourself a decent used sextant and some casio digital watches. It is nice to have just in case and making calculations in base 60 helps to kill time.[/quote]
My instrumentation consists of some Raymarine ST60+ Wind/Speed&Log/Depth transducers and displays. Two of the three are repeated through a Raymarine ST40 Bidata repeater. I have just conected the lot using “Seatalk” and all the information, including the autopilot can be read and for some functions controlled through a Raymarine C70 Display. This small screen also functions as the radar and the chartplotter. The latter uses navionics charts and although I have paper charts, I like the way it can estimate passage times, sound alarms at reaching waypoints and though I was sceptical at first, these charts are amazing. You can get the nearest pub’s phone number from a bloody waypoint/destination. The Admiralty just doesn’t do this, as good as their charts are. Plotting virtual circumnavigations with the inbuilt world chart are fun (especially with the abundant local herbs to aid the imagination). I also have a Davis 25 plastic sextant and a book on sextants and celestial navigation. Basically, all the steering, power and navigation systems have a redundancy in case of failure. Ultimate failure such as hitting a reef and sinking the boat could be dealt with the liferaft, EPIRB, DSC VHF/HF Distress and ditch bag. All done and ready and registered with MRCC’s. Inside, I have already installed a Plastimo Iris 100 hand bearing compass and bracket above the port sea berth. As you seem to understand the sailing characteristics of the W32, you appreciate that an inclinometer is less of a concern. 24 Tecates and a spirit level velcro’d to my gimballed beer gut will do. The main, cockpit mounted bulkhead compass has one though.
Right now am wrecked in a TJ hotel putting all the projects into perspective and getting the final to do list finalised. May get munchies very soon.
BroonArellanoFelix
P.S. It’s “Baja”
Dear BroonAground,
Yes, I was going to caution you to leave enough room aboard for Yen notes for Nipponese Coast Guard bribes…apparently they don’t take sake, either…
[quote=“BroonAle”][quote=“Elegua”]That sounds like a good set-up. As a youth I did a lot of passagemaking on my families 43 boat, (a 1969 lead-mine), and some other CCA type yawls. Jokes aside, even in a Westsail 32, days in excess 4kt should be easily achievable.
One of the more inteligent thing we did on our boat was stick repeaters for the instruments at the foot of the pilot bearths with an inclinometer & compass in the cabin so you could get a good idea of what was going on even off watch.
A “baha” filter is something also good to have when you can’t be so sure of the quality of the fuel and a leadline to test anchorages also come in handy. Buy yourself a decent used sextant and some casio digital watches. It is nice to have just in case and making calculations in base 60 helps to kill time.[/quote]
My instrumentation consists of some Raymarine ST60+ Wind/Speed&Log/Depth transducers and displays. Two of the three are repeated through a Raymarine ST40 Bidata repeater. I have just conected the lot using “Seatalk” and all the information, including the autopilot can be read and for some functions controlled through a Raymarine C70 Display. This small screen also functions as the radar and the chartplotter. The latter uses navionics charts and although I have paper charts, I like the way it can estimate passage times, sound alarms at reaching waypoints and though I was sceptical at first, these charts are amazing. You can get the nearest pub’s phone number from a bloody waypoint/destination. The Admiralty just doesn’t do this, as good as their charts are. Plotting virtual circumnavigations with the inbuilt world chart are fun (especially with the abundant local herbs to aid the imagination). I also have a Davis 25 plastic sextant and a book on sextants and celestial navigation. Basically, all the steering, power and navigation systems have a redundancy in case of failure. Ultimate failure such as hitting a reef and sinking the boat could be dealt with the liferaft, EPIRB, DSC VHF/HF Distress and ditch bag. All done and ready and registered with MRCC’s. Inside, I have already installed a Plastimo Iris 100 hand bearing compass and bracket above the port sea berth. As you seem to understand the sailing characteristics of the W32, you appreciate that an inclinometer is less of a concern. 24 Tecates and a spirit level velcro’d to my gimballed beer gut will do. The main, cockpit mounted bulkhead compass has one though.
Right now am wrecked in a TJ hotel putting all the projects into perspective and getting the final to do list finalised. May get munchies very soon.
BroonArellanoFelix
P.S. It’s “Baja”
[/quote]
Chartplotter are great tools. Every once in a while you’ll find a place where the chartplotter doesn’t equal reality. In Newfoundland we found a place where the charplotter would have had us 1/4 mile onto the bricks. Mostly we made due with state-of-the-art 1969 B&G instruments. The inclinometer was more about maintaining an efficient amount of sail - which in your case will be everything you got 
. On passage we had a sea anchor and bridal under the companion way, a tri-sail on a separate track on the mast and a storm jib on a removable stay. We had a radar, but rarely ever used it. Offshore we had almost nothing electric running. Our power system was not as advanced as yours. The liquor cabinet was our entertainment center. We always rigged full length jacklines anytime offishore and usually had lee-cloths rigged with breakable line.
Perkins 4-108/107s are great engines. I got to know ours very well, especially the sea water pump. Essentially you can fix everything on it except for the injectors.
By what you’ve said so far, I can only assume you are well prepared in terms of ground tackle.
Anyway…sounds like life is truly treating you roughly. Enjoy.
:raspberry:
I have a storm jib and tri-sail. There is a secondary track on the mast as well as main one which I had changed. The main is fully battened in a stack pack with lazy jacks. I have a picture somewhere of the speed instrument reading 5 knots in 13 knots of wind which given the sluggish reputation of the boat is pretty respectable. Plenty of ground tackle; two anchors on rollers at the bow, 300’ of chain and a stern anchor as well as a parachute anchor. Re: injectors, they were replaced a while back after one of the cylinders was found to lack compression. I know what you mean about the sea water pump and impeller. It clogs up with salt easily but fortunately it is easily accessible and the impeller is easy to replace. Bleeding is relatively simple as the fuel tanks sit higher than the engine and that gravity feed means less bother with fuel uplift pumps. Have lots of fuel filters cartridges and spare filter units. I won’t rely solely on the chartplotter that would be silly hence the paper charts too. Everything requires redundancy. Ultimately, if absolutely lost, simplest will be to just sail west into the sun and sooner or later, you will reach land. Most likely later but that’s where having all those provisions come in handy.
Finished my list, nursing a hangover going to take a leisurely drive down on the back road from TJ to Ensenada in about 5 minutes. Actually listing all this stuff here in a rather off-topic context has helped my final master list come together. That and the weed.
BroonAfloat
P.S. Elequa, I could send some pics if you are interested and PM me your email address. I don’t know how to do it on here.
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LL, nice hand, very even tempo with consistent weight between dits and dahs.
BroonAshore, you haven’t mentioned crew… a “training class” of senoritas to tinker with your Spanish gyro?
Also missing is AJ’s treatise, “Drinking at Sea”, which would have been O’Brian’s 22nd novel. And that brings up what musical instruments you will have aboard. I recommend Tokai copies of Fender guitars, as they are easily field repaired and more disposable. And it you don’t strum or toot, what sound system? Hopefully more than earbuds, the Destroyers of quality.
Any Inmarsat terminal or just a sat phone?
I’d love to get some pictures & updates. It something Ive always been planning to do once I get rich and famous. The wife has been put on notice and the children have been informed that they will pay for university.
Don’t forget the polystyrene foam for the boom. No point in having a jacuzzi in your EPRB Single-Side-Valve DOHC liferaft if you end up getting knocked unconscious into the South Pacific whilst changing gin and tonics mid-gybe.
When leaving Taiwan in a sailboat to Japan, i was told customs staff come on board to check passports. Do they take passports back to their office to stamp them or do they just do a visual inspection? Line id: bryanbryin