Caroline's Voyage
Chapter 6
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Chapter 6.
I need to spend some time making a list of gear that I’m going to need. Some of this will already be on the boat I’m getting, but a lot will not, because very few boats are outfitted to do what I’m going to do. And I’ve got a weight problem. A 31 foot Trimaran cannot carry a big load and still sail to its designed limits. So traveling light is the deal.
The first really important piece of equipment is the self steering gear with replacement parts and a back up electric system. There are reliable choices for me to make. I’ll need to get a that fits the boat. My author friend Tristan Jones wrote that a trimaran needs an electronic auto pilot. I’ll need to do some research. One thing I know is that I can’t steer the boat for 40,000 nautical miles.
“Just don’t fall overboard,” my boss at the yard says, “because she’ll keep right on going until she hits land somewhere.”
Some sailors trail a long line aft attached to the self-steering. In case they fall overboard they can grab the line and cause the boat to head up into the wind and stop. I don’t think I’ll do that. Too many things can go wrong. Besides I’ll be connected to her with a lanyard anytime I’m on deck.
Sails are my engine, so they’ve got to be well made and strong. The broker promised to have my sails made specially to make this trip, and I’m sure Betsy’s father will make him stick to it, and he knows “sails”.
My intention is to spend as much time in the trade winds going from east to west as possible, so I’ll need two sails up front and two stays to hang them on. These will balance the helm and put less strain of the self-steering.
Trouble is the trades are in the tropics, and that means a high number of rain squalls, some of which will hit during the night hours. They are sudden and can bring very strong winds. So . . . I need to be able to rearrange this sail combo quickly and easily, or we might break something when one of these hit.
We’ll do this by taking down the inner sail and rolling up the most forward one, but I can’t do this all from the cockpit, because I’ll need to take down the two poles that keep the sails winged out o either side. And I’ll need to rig some gizmo to make sure I wake up in time. This is something I worry a lot about. It’ll get better after I’ve done it a few times.
That reminds me, one of the annoying things on my racer and on a sloop rig like on Betsy’s father’s boat, is when the wind goes very light and you’re out in the ocean where there’s a big swell, the boat rocks back and forth spilling what little wind there is out of the sails. But . . . not so much on a Trimaran which is much steadier due to its wings. I know sitting out there in light air, rocking back and forth, is very frustrating. Ring up another plus for the Trimaran.
Okay, so what’s next? Every long distance sailor writes that wear and tear – they call it “chafe” – is your worst enemy. Add UV damage to the equation and there are many things to protect, lines, sails, all the standing rigging which holds the mast in place and the pulleys and winches which allow you to raise, trim and set the sails. I used two rolls of duct tape on my racer last year just sailing around here, so I can imagine what I should have onboard. How am I going to keep her light?
An asymmetrical spinnaker might be a worthwhile luxury for those beautiful days with the wind aft of the beam when I really need to make time. I’ll put this on my last to look at list, and see how much room (weight) and money I have left. The only time I can think of that I might really need this speed-up device is racing a big storm into port, or trying to reach the safe (safer) side of a hurricane or typhoon. I’m going to try to avoid those situations. We’ll see.
I’m going to take the lightest anchor with a short length of chain that the experts say will hold under most conditions. I hope to get away with a 15 lb. fluke-type, five feet of chain and 100 feet of good nylon line. I wonder? Should I have a back up?
Hey, A Seven gave me some good advice. I'm going out tomorrow and get a book on anchoring in heavy weather. I'm going to need a longer anchor line and a back up. But how am I going to carry all that weight?
I’m going to take three relatively simple hand held GPS units that work on regular batteries of which I’ll have plenty, two of these will float and be water proof. I’ll also have a stationary GPS antenna tied into my laptop computer which will have all the charts in the world on it. Some of them will even be accurate. I’m not taking a sextant. I don’t know how to use it, and if everything else goes I’ll revert to what the ancients did, and sail by latitude estimates. No radar, too expensive and I’ve done okay so far without one. I’ll have wind speed and direction instruments, binoculars, a magnetic compass, and a handheld VHF radio (for short distances near land).
Here’s a big question: do I set up a long distance radio capability or rely on a satellite phone? Both are expensive – very; but just last week a middle-aged man sailing from California around Cape Horn on his way around the world lost his masts and was in big trouble way down at the bottom of Chile near Cape Horn. He was saved when he connected with his girl friend in California on a satellite phone and she called the Coast Guard, who called the Chilean Navy. So maybe a satellite phone is the way to go. It might give me an e-mail capability. I need some way to get reliable weather reports, and without an interent connection, a SSB or ham radio, I’ll need a dedicated weather fax receiver. There’s room at the nav station for what I need, but all these units are so expensive.
Next comes the cooking and water equipment. The boat comes with a propane stove top, but I’ll need a kerosene one too, in case I can’t find propane in all the places I go. No freezer, but some battery driven refrigeration, three fresh water tanks and a hand operated water maker as well as a rain catch, a hand and foot pump in the galley and in the head to save battery use, a marine toilet (that uses a hand pump and sea water to flush), solar panels to charge the batteries, a complete medical kit, including surgical equipment, and instructions how to use them.
Another big decision: no guns! I don’t even want to talk about it.
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Chapter Comments
- I have a similar dream but I will have a monohull. Once a cat or a trimaran tips over that is where you are. A truly seaworthy monohull will stand back up within a few seconds if you really mess up. A multi hull cannot. So what if it's full of water. The sail works much better in the wind than in the water. Better figure out some way to keep it there. Regardless!!
Posted By Anonymous on November 30, 2007 @ 6:04 PM
- Caroline should absolutely have a backup anchor, if not two. She should also have a minimum of 300 feet of line for the main anchor plus another 300 to add in an emergency, along with 150 feet of line for each of the backup anchors. I personally would carry 500 feet with another 500 in reserve, but that's just me. I would also recommend more than 5 feet of chain, maybe more like 15 or 20 for a storm anchor. The backup anchors, rode and chain can be stowed below with only the working tackle on the bow.
The above recommendation should be considered a minimum. Most blue-water sailors carry significantly more than 20 feet of chain, some even carrying all-chain rodes. Most of course are monohullers and therefore aren't as concerned about weight.
Entire books have been written about anchoring in storms and I'm sure there are some specifically for multihull sailors. Caroline should add one of these to her library because she is dangerously uninformed if she thinks 100 feet of anything will suffice.
~ ASevenPosted By ASeven on October 31, 2007 @ 5:24 PM