Off shore Sailing

[zoom rader]

How are you dealing with pirates? I know someone who has a sailboat and was moored somewhere in a bay in Magarita Island (this was way before all this confusion now in Venezuela) with other yachts and was boarded in the night by pirates.

I would assume that the pirate problem will not be isolated to Venezuela alone.

Been watching YouTube and I have listed the countries to advoid from other boaters. Mostly South American countries , East Africa, South East Asia.

[Redman]

Any offshore, sea sail boaters in here.

Planing to do a world tour, anyone done it in here ?

Lunacy.

But glorious fantastic lunacy.
Good Luck.Sincerely


I know one person who is in South, who has 50 years experience,,building and regional sailing...He is very well dialed in in the TTYA etc.
Perfect to get your info from..
If you so inclined I can pass one his number.

That sounds like Carvallo from Manjack St, I know the dude. Aka Santa.

If it is him, I know him personally and he already gave me pointers. He actually built a small boat for me awhile back.

But it's not lunacy, if you do your research and planning. I did the same on a bike ride across Europe

Carvallo himself sailed himself to South Africa in the 1970s and he did it on a whim

Not literal lunacy just a great wildly ambitious goal.

No the guys name is Val...from Point side originally.

and despite having done my fair share of diving wind surfing and sailing, you have my respect.

I eh doing that.

[rspann]

Laura Dekker was 14 yo when she did it . You should watch the documentary .

[Dizzy28]

Coincidentally a few nights ago Youtube recommended a vid of two British guys who rowed from NY to Devon in England for Cancer charity. They were struck by a storm in the mid Atlantic with 90ft waves. That's crazy and to be in it in a little 30ft rowing skiff was worse.

Cheers to whoever doing those activities.

[adnj]

My parents owned a 12 meter sloop and with a three man crew it was very manageable. I'm sure that you can handle a 40 foot boat by yourself with the proper gear.

[zoom rader]

My parents owned a 12 meter sloop and with a three man crew it was very manageable. I'm sure that you can handle a 40 foot boat by yourself with the proper gear.

You all did island hoping up the Caribbean?

[adnj]

My parents owned a 12 meter sloop and with a three man crew it was very manageable. I'm sure that you can handle a 40 foot boat by yourself with the proper gear.

You all did island hoping up the Caribbean?

Most of it was the Great Lakes. Also some sailing with other family in the Gulf and off the East coast near Connecticut.

[pugboy]

the german guy who owns Echo Marine(Jotun) Michael I think is his name
he came here solo and fell in love and marrid and end up staying here

them Germans different, they have the where withall to handle these things systematically

[Redman]

If you’re so inclined the book Godforsaken Sea...is a excellent read....about the Vendee Globe....solo race down west coast Africa, around Antarctica and back up to France

[pugboy]

a good book also is the "the long way - Bernard Moitessier"

man entered round the world race and woulda win but never bothered to stop at finish line
stopped here too.

amazing the braveness of those folks with old school navigation, no gps no nothing

If you’re so inclined the book Godforsaken Sea...is a excellent read....about the Vendee Globe....solo race down west coast Africa, around Antarctica and back up to France

[rspann]

Columbus din have no GPS .

[pugboy]

Neither the arawaks and Caribs in their canoes

Columbus din have no GPS .

[Dizzy28]

Neither the arawaks and Caribs in their canoes

Columbus din have no GPS .

At least the Caribbean Sea fairly protected. The Polynesians traversed thousands of kilometers in the Pacific in canoes

[rspann]

I wouldn't lie , boat is one of the nicest adventures but when you stop seeing land , is a different matrix .

[rspann]

Walk with books for when you reach the doldrums and you have to wait for days for wind .

[rspann]

Maps and compass and use of a sextant for celestial navigation must be studied for when the electronics fail . A good course includes all that.

[zoom rader]

Maps and compass and use of a sextant for celestial navigation must be studied for when the electronics fail . A good course includes all that.

I doing that all now , been reading up n YouTube.

[zoom rader]

I wouldn't lie , boat is one of the nicest adventures but when you stop seeing land , is a different matrix .

I got use to being away from land while working offshore at 3 weeks at time. This was in really cold waters up in the north sea

[slim1005]

Good Evening,

No expert on subject matter but I do have some advice that may or may not be helpful.

Getting involved in the local sailing academy and taking the adult classes that are offered on the weekends are a good way to learn the basics of boat handling, physics of sailing, boat balance/trim and overall seamanship. The classes are just over an hour long taught on a 2 person dinghy. After class reward yourself with a nice cold beer by the bar on the compound.

Once comfortable on the smaller boats, a good course to do is "RYA Day Skipper" it's a week long course and i recommend doing it in Antigua where you get to live aboard a 50' Open Water Cruiser. This course will give you the fundamentals in keelboat handling and basic coastal navigation, chart reading and GPS plotting.

To do what you have in mind a sail boat between 40' - 50' should good enough as you do not want a boat that is too big to handle single/double hand. Going out into blue-water is totally different from in-shore sailing so i suggest doing some transits up the islands before taking the big leap to cross Atlantic/Pacific.

Doing some offshore regattas will help in honing your seamanship skills as well as making you a better sailor overall. Go down to TTSA on Sundays and volunteer yourself for crew. The sailing community in Trinidad is very tight knit but always looking to welcome new people who are eager to learn.

I can offer more advice if you found this helpful.

[zoom rader]

^^^ I had this in mind to do the courses . Just waiting till covid over.

[rspann]

Excellent advice by slim , but I would stay below 40 ft.

[rspann]

There are lots of sailboats for sale right now. Pick up some free magazines by Budget Marine and check classifieds also notice boards in all the Marina's.

Try to avoid buying one outside because there is a huge cost attached to getting it here . Even going to inspect one in another country or getting it inspected by a third party has too much logistics.

Some of the Marina's and yards here have auctions on boats that are owing rent and they sell for small money. Peakes and IMS had auctions where good sail boats sold for less than $100000 ttd and as low as $25000 .

Coral cove , Peakes , IMS , Sailing Association and Power Boats are some good places to check.

[adnj]

In my experience:

You can do a lot of sailing on someone else's boat, no need to buy your own.

Many times people are looking for a crewman to go on journeys because they need the extra hand.

Knowing celestial navigation is a good idea. Having a floating marine radio and a floating handheld GPS tool is a better idea.

[zoom rader]

In my experience:

You can do a lot of sailing on someone else's boat, no need to buy your own.

Many times people are looking for a crewman to go on journeys because they need the extra hand.

Knowing celestial navigation is a good idea. Having a floating marine radio and a floating handheld GPS tool is a better idea.

I thought about doing this across the Atlantic. I saw on one of the boating forums a thread where they advertise for deck crew. It's free passage from Miami to the Mediteran, normaly back packers do this. It does look enticing to gain the experience.

[adnj]

I say give it a shot. You won't learn much more about sailing if you own your own boat except how much drydocking costs.

If you're willing to do some deck swabbing and brass polishing, you can get on a boat that goes to some very nice ports of call.

[zoom rader]

There are lots of sailboats for sale right now. Pick up some free magazines by Budget Marine and check classifieds also notice boards in all the Marina's.

Try to avoid buying one outside because there is a huge cost attached to getting it here . Even going to inspect one in another country or getting it inspected by a third party has too much logistics.

Some of the Marina's and yards here have auctions on boats that are owing rent and they sell for small money. Peakes and IMS had auctions where good sail boats sold for less than $100000 ttd and as low as $25000 .

Coral cove , Peakes , IMS , Sailing Association and Power Boats are some good places to check.

From what I read and saw, you find a boat and do you own inspections. Then if you like the boat it's best to get a boat evaluator who goes over every inch of the boat and gives you a report on all the faults. If its sea worthy he then does a sea trial. That report is then use to bargain with the seller on price, it is also used for the insurance. His services cost 30US per foot plus you will also have to pay to launch the boat if its in the dry dock. So total cost can be around $1000us. They say paying this money saves you all the headache upfront.

Most times the asking price is dropped when the report is produced, prices can be the cut by 2/3 to 1/2 cuase the insurance won't over valvue the boat.

Buying a used boat is one part the other part is refitting and repairing it depending on the report.

From what I saw you may buy a boat for 25K US and then have to spend 20k US to get it ready for sea.

[zoom rader]

I say give it a shot. You won't learn much more about sailing if you own your own boat except how much drydocking costs.

If you're willing to do some deck swabbing and brass polishing, you can get on a boat that goes to some very nice ports of call.

A good pal of mine did this when he wa s 20 he got on boat from Trini and ended up in South Africa. He hopped from boat to boat reaching Australia and back to trini. Guy is in his 70s now and said he would do it all over agian.

[ru$$ell]

[randolphinshan]

Well well well the ole Zoomie going boating, remember that real men do not carry life jackets

[rspann]

Zoom could take on randolph as a crew . A year together at sea . Only one coming back .