[Kale_anonymous]

Just so you players know-

looks like this guy got some good sailboat sex as well


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RylPp6lkBw

[NASA Test Pilot]

As you spend more time with the sailboat on the lake, it is natural for you to want to become the master of what you are doing. Part of this is going faster, part of it is mastering your ability to maneuver by doing things like making tighter turns (coming about), part of it is trying to do many things at one time with little time to react (as the boat is approaching the shore line and you know that you need to act before the shit hits the fan). This is adrenaline and self-mastery at its finest as you get constant feedback from the boat and your environment. As corny as it may sound, this is part of being (and becoming) a man. The level just increases as the boats get bigger, the rigging is more complex, and the environment is more challenging.

After you have some initial lake experience, you may consider some racing in something like J-22´s as you hone your tactical skills. Racing is usually a team effort (especially if you move to 12 meter ocean racing). The level of certitude does not exist in racing (much like it does not exist in the middle of an ocean) as you are continuously forced to play off one potential gain vs. another or sometimes one type of loss vs. another type of loss. Sometimes you decide to trade the potential loss of speed in order to traverse a shorter distance, but then the wind changes. You must make up your mind prior and then act, deal with the consequences of your decision, adjust and make the next decision. This happens frequently as your environment (with other boats, the wind, and shoreline) is regularly changing. You are given constant feedback as you see how your decisions play in relation to where your boat is compared to another boat, a landmark, or a buoy. Following your instinct is normally better for an experienced sailor than a calculated decision. The goal then is to hone your instincts and racing will do that.

We left off in the other post at the 20-24 foot boats. Next we move to the boats that are 26-30 feet. These are better boats for large lakes and having a motor will be normal. You can use these boats on the great lakes, but I recommend the 30-34 foot range. You will have more deck as well as more room below. It is possible to take a boat like this on the ocean, but I would not make that recommendation. If you have strong experience, maybe for sailing in bays, or near shoreline. I would normally max out a lake boat in the 35-39. As mentioned before a Hunter is a good all-around moderately priced boat for lakes or on the ocean; it provides value. This is also the length where I recommend you begin true open water ocean sailing. For really comfortable big lake sailing, you can go in the 40-41(45) foot level. This is normally for comfort and because you just feel like having a bigger boat.

A good place to begin your ocean sailing is in a coastal bay that opens into the ocean. For me it was Chesapeake by in my late teens and early 20´s on 27 footers then 36 footers. San Diego, Tampa (I do not have experience here), San Francisco, Massachusetts bays also come to mind. If you are in Europe, head to the Mediterranean; Greece would be a nice place to start as would the Adriatic. When you move to ocean sailing, it is not like the transition from a motorcycle to a car, it is like the transition from a driving a car to flying an airplane. The skills required increase significantly, particularly in the area of decision making and safety. A boat captain, like an airline captain earns his money in an emergency or when there are problems, not in the routine sailing/flying. You may cross an ocean in the 26-30 foot range, but it will probably be very uncomfortable for most and a greater challenge. The 30-34 will be less uncomfortable and 35-39 feet doable. The issue is when you do not have fair weather and you want a wider beam (width of boat) and a deeper and heavier keel. We are talking monohulls so far. For ocean crossing, I normally would not go less than 40-44 with a preference for 45-51 feet. Realize that as a boat gets bigger, it is more difficult for one person to sail. There is a lot of rigging and the mast is taller to accommodate the larger sails need to move the boat forward. Hoisting that big ass main sail is serious work. At 51-55 feet for a monohull you are normally past a one person minimum unless you have significant experience.

Moving to catamarans. I have been sailing ocean cats for the past 17 years and I will not go back to the monohull. I enjoy the monohull and occasionally miss the rocking, but the catamaran is significantly more stable (with some rocking). The difference is like night and day. They are more comfortable and have more berthing area (area below the deck). The state rooms are bigger and the main salon (kitchen, eating area) is significantly larger. The surface area of the deck is greater and there is a nice wide trampoline (net) on the bow for lounging or sleeping. Also the women adapt to the ocean in half of the time on a catamaran than a normal monohull. Translation, she gets into you quicker and therefore you get into her (more often as well as) quicker.

The catamaran (the forward part of each hull is for extra storage) can hold more equipment (to include water, provisions, and fuel). Bad news, they are significantly more expensive. There are two engines, which on the plus side gives you greater safety and reliability (like an airplane flying over the ocean with two engines, one is engine over water in a plane is generally a no no), on the down side you have twice the maintenance and cost and use more fuel. The engine will be the single largest cost due to maintenance and overhaul. You can sail the ocean on a 38 foot cat, but I recommend the 40-44 as your first ocean cat and the 45-49 as optimal from a second or third. This will be maxing out your workload for sailing solo at the 45-49 and this is where my personal preference is. The 55 foot catamarans are nice and more spacious, it is a luxury like the 40 footers on a lake.

You will most likely want a first mate at 55+ level. When a sailboat is over 65 feet (20 meters) feet you will have a more difficult time around the world with slips (where you park the boat) in the marina, where you anchor as you will need a lot of lateral space to set the anchor (the boats run a black pennant while anchored to show their length (hey look at me) and to warn other boats that their anchor chains extend out and can be lengthy. Usually a boat lays out 7 to 1 or more scope for anchor chain/rope to length of boat. Big boats with all chain may go 5 to 1). You will become aware that as the wind moves, the boat will move/spin around the anchor). A sailboat over 65 feet is considered something like a truck rather than a car as a crude analogy. Some other examples include that you are supposed to have a bell aboard in addition to a whistle to produce sound (for signaling when you overtake or in an emergency…at over 100 meters you are supposed to have a gong). I have sailed a 72 footer with a friend for a while and that was an adventure. He liked to charter it to all female groups usually with 10-15 women. Sometimes these were day trips, sometimes the trips were for 3 to 6 days where we taught them to sail and they helped to maintain the boat. Talk about seeing women competing at their finest. A week on a boat like that was like 6 months of gaming. This idea is worth consideration.

Remember the women can to basic things…even on a boat. An extra set of eyes and hands can be useful before, during and especially after sailing. You want to have an ergonomically designed cockpit for all of the lines. Hoisting that big ass main sail up a mast that is almost 80 feet in the air will a light luff in the sails can be a bitch and I have a strong back from swimming and I am using a winch. I enjoy the challenge, but I will get a self-furling sail (it automatically comes out of the mast) on my next boat. Having a person at the helm to keep the boat into the wind as the other raises the main sail takes effort.

The fuel tank on this level of cat is usually 400 or so gallons (of diesel), so filling your tank is more than a few dollars. Normally your tank will be around 150 gallons (100-200). Gas at marinas around the world is generally inflated and not the same as your local gas station. Depending how much you motor sail (use your engine while one of your sails is out) because you want to get there faster or the wind is not in your favor and you have a time constraint, or your sailing experience is lacking on that day; you will probably use a tank of gas a week unless you are continuously under sail (day and night) on the open ocean. Normally you will still use your engine (at idle) twice a day, one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening as you need to recharge the boat batteries and run the refrigeration unit. I will make separate posts on a normal day on a boat and another for normal operations on a boat.

I plan to talk more about buying a boat, costs and locations in the next post; after that I will move to some dangers and unique parts of the sailing world (maybe with a story or two mixed in).

[Kale_anonymous]

(02-26-2016 10:51 AM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  

As you spend more time with the sailboat on the lake, it is natural for you to want to become the master of what you are doing. Part of this is going faster, part of it is mastering your ability to maneuver by doing things like making tighter turns (coming about), part of it is trying to do many things at one time with little time to react (as the boat is approaching the shore line and you know that you need to act before the shit hits the fan). This is adrenaline and self-mastery at its finest as you get constant feedback from the boat and your environment. As corny as it may sound, this is part of being (and becoming) a man. The level just increases as the boats get bigger, the rigging is more complex, and the environment is more challenging.

After you have some initial lake experience, you may consider some racing in something like J-22´s as you hone your tactical skills. Racing is usually a team effort (especially if you move to 12 meter ocean racing). The level of certitude does not exist in racing (much like it does not exist in the middle of an ocean) as you are continuously forced to play off one potential gain vs. another or sometimes one type of loss vs. another type of loss. Sometimes you decide to trade the potential loss of speed in order to traverse a shorter distance, but then the wind changes. You must make up your mind prior and then act, deal with the consequences of your decision, adjust and make the next decision. This happens frequently as your environment (with other boats, the wind, and shoreline) is regularly changing. You are given constant feedback as you see how your decisions play in relation to where your boat is compared to another boat, a landmark, or a buoy. Following your instinct is normally better for an experienced sailor than a calculated decision. The goal then is to hone your instincts and racing will do that.

We left off in the other post at the 20-24 foot boats. Next we move to the boats that are 26-30 feet. These are better boats for large lakes and having a motor will be normal. You can use these boats on the great lakes, but I recommend the 30-34 foot range. You will have more deck as well as more room below. It is possible to take a boat like this on the ocean, but I would not make that recommendation. If you have strong experience, maybe for sailing in bays, or near shoreline. I would normally max out a lake boat in the 35-39. As mentioned before a Hunter is a good all-around moderately priced boat for lakes or on the ocean; it provides value. This is also the length where I recommend you begin true open water ocean sailing. For really comfortable big lake sailing, you can go in the 40-41(45) foot level. This is normally for comfort and because you just feel like having a bigger boat.

A good place to begin your ocean sailing is in a coastal bay that opens into the ocean. For me it was Chesapeake by in my late teens and early 20´s on 27 footers then 36 footers. San Diego, Tampa (I do not have experience here), San Francisco, Massachusetts bays also come to mind. If you are in Europe, head to the Mediterranean; Greece would be a nice place to start as would the Adriatic. When you move to ocean sailing, it is not like the transition from a motorcycle to a car, it is like the transition from a driving a car to flying an airplane. The skills required increase significantly, particularly in the area of decision making and safety. A boat captain, like an airline captain earns his money in an emergency or when there are problems, not in the routine sailing/flying. You may cross an ocean in the 26-30 foot range, but it will probably be very uncomfortable for most and a greater challenge. The 30-34 will be less uncomfortable and 35-39 feet doable. The issue is when you do not have fair weather and you want a wider beam (width of boat) and a deeper and heavier keel. We are talking monohulls so far. For ocean crossing, I normally would not go less than 40-44 with a preference for 45-51 feet. Realize that as a boat gets bigger, it is more difficult for one person to sail. There is a lot of rigging and the mast is taller to accommodate the larger sails need to move the boat forward. Hoisting that big ass main sail is serious work. At 51-55 feet for a monohull you are normally past a one person minimum unless you have significant experience.

Moving to catamarans. I have been sailing ocean cats for the past 17 years and I will not go back to the monohull. I enjoy the monohull and occasionally miss the rocking, but the catamaran is significantly more stable (with some rocking). The difference is like night and day. They are more comfortable and have more berthing area (area below the deck). The state rooms are bigger and the main salon (kitchen, eating area) is significantly larger. The surface area of the deck is greater and there is a nice wide trampoline (net) on the bow for lounging or sleeping. Also the women adapt to the ocean in half of the time on a catamaran than a normal monohull. Translation, she gets into you quicker and therefore you get into her (more often as well as) quicker.

The catamaran (the forward part of each hull is for extra storage) can hold more equipment (to include water, provisions, and fuel). Bad news, they are significantly more expensive. There are two engines, which on the plus side gives you greater safety and reliability (like an airplane flying over the ocean with two engines, one is engine over water in a plane is generally a no no), on the down side you have twice the maintenance and cost and use more fuel. The engine will be the single largest cost due to maintenance and overhaul. You can sail the ocean on a 38 foot cat, but I recommend the 40-44 as your first ocean cat and the 45-49 as optimal from a second or third. This will be maxing out your workload for sailing solo at the 45-49 and this is where my personal preference is. The 55 foot catamarans are nice and more spacious, it is a luxury like the 40 footers on a lake.

You will most likely want a first mate at 55+ level. When a sailboat is over 65 feet (20 meters) feet you will have a more difficult time around the world with slips (where you park the boat) in the marina, where you anchor as you will need a lot of lateral space to set the anchor (the boats run a black pennant while anchored to show their length (hey look at me) and to warn other boats that their anchor chains extend out and can be lengthy. Usually a boat lays out 7 to 1 or more scope for anchor chain/rope to length of boat. Big boats with all chain may go 5 to 1). You will become aware that as the wind moves, the boat will move/spin around the anchor). A sailboat over 65 feet is considered something like a truck rather than a car as a crude analogy. Some other examples include that you are supposed to have a bell aboard in addition to a whistle to produce sound (for signaling when you overtake or in an emergency…at over 100 meters you are supposed to have a gong). I have sailed a 72 footer with a friend for a while and that was an adventure. He liked to charter it to all female groups usually with 10-15 women. Sometimes these were day trips, sometimes the trips were for 3 to 6 days where we taught them to sail and they helped to maintain the boat. Talk about seeing women competing at their finest. A week on a boat like that was like 6 months of gaming. This idea is worth consideration.

Remember the women can to basic things…even on a boat. An extra set of eyes and hands can be useful before, during and especially after sailing. You want to have an ergonomically designed cockpit for all of the lines. Hoisting that big ass main sail up a mast that is almost 80 feet in the air will a light luff in the sails can be a bitch and I have a strong back from swimming and I am using a winch. I enjoy the challenge, but I will get a self-furling sail (it automatically comes out of the mast) on my next boat. Having a person at the helm to keep the boat into the wind as the other raises the main sail takes effort.

The fuel tank on this level of cat is usually 400 or so gallons (of diesel), so filling your tank is more than a few dollars. Normally your tank will be around 150 gallons (100-200). Gas at marinas around the world is generally inflated and not the same as your local gas station. Depending how much you motor sail (use your engine while one of your sails is out) because you want to get there faster or the wind is not in your favor and you have a time constraint, or your sailing experience is lacking on that day; you will probably use a tank of gas a week unless you are continuously under sail (day and night) on the open ocean. Normally you will still use your engine (at idle) twice a day, one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening as you need to recharge the boat batteries and run the refrigeration unit. I will make separate posts on a normal day on a boat and another for normal operations on a boat.

I plan to talk more about buying a boat, costs and locations in the next post; after that I will move to some dangers and unique parts of the sailing world (maybe with a story or two mixed in).

"The best part of wake'n up is Nasa Test Pilots posts in my cup"

Bravo Nasa Bravo

[el mechanico]

If any of you are looking at boats I'll tell you a catamaran is going to increase the amount of ass you're going to get X4

First off, there's more room to party sailboats are narrow and awkward most chicks will get bored second they draw too much water a cat can pull right up to the beach where all the ass is at.

My buddy has a cat and has legit parties on it every weekend you would need a sailboat 4 times the size to do the same.

   

[Kale_anonymous]

(02-26-2016 11:38 AM)el mechanico Wrote:  

If any of you are looking at boats I'll tell you a catamaran is going to increase the amount of ass you're going to get X4

First off, there's more room to party sailboats are narrow and awkward most chicks will get bored second they draw too much water a cat can pull right up to the beach where all the ass is at.

My buddy has a cat and has legit parties on it every weekend you would need a sailboat 4 times the size to do the same.

wow mech that thing is bad ass as fuck. jealousy coming at you from the midwest for getting to party on that thing with hot bitchs.

just wow


ya fuck a sailboat- this thing is ideal!


where do you/can you park that thing? How much to just park it

[el mechanico]

(02-26-2016 04:40 PM)Kale_anonymous Wrote:  

(02-26-2016 11:38 AM)el mechanico Wrote:  

If any of you are looking at boats I'll tell you a catamaran is going to increase the amount of ass you're going to get X4

First off, there's more room to party sailboats are narrow and awkward most chicks will get bored second they draw too much water a cat can pull right up to the beach where all the ass is at.

My buddy has a cat and has legit parties on it every weekend you would need a sailboat 4 times the size to do the same.

wow mech that thing is bad ass as fuck. jealousy coming at you from the midwest for getting to party on that thing with hot bitchs.

just wow


ya fuck a sailboat- this thing is ideal!


where do you/can you park that thing? How much to just park it

That's not his boat it looks the same though we're surrounded by water here so parking it is probably 150 a month.

[Onto]

(02-24-2016 09:44 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

Definitely plan on making an ocean voyage at some point - maybe even buying one to live on as an end-game or part-time end-game would suit me.

If anyone is going on a mission and wouldn't mind someone on board who'd love to pitch in a couple hands while he learns the ropes, let me know!

Count me in!

   

[NASA Test Pilot]

Thanks for all of the positive PM´s and comments. I am happy to be adding value to the forum.

My catamaran is set up for battle on the ocean. I have a deeper, more moderate type of ballast keels (for a cat to include dagger boards) for the foul weather across the oceans, but there is a trade-off with speed, maneuverability, fuel consumption and cost. A normal ocean cat will draft (depth of water you will occupy due to your keel and dagger boards) 4-5 feet, where an ocean monohull is more likely to be 6 or 7 feet.

A catamaran like el mechanico posted will put you in a different category. This type of cat, and other trimarans have a very wide beam with a lot of natural stability that lends itself to being a party boat. They are often used as boats for day sailing with large groups. It is a better boat when the weather is generally good and the oceans are calm as you sail in the bay or on the ocean while you are within sight of land, to include some island hopping especially when you can visually see the island you are leaving and the island toward which you are sailing. In terms of pulling the chicks, you will be in another category with a zero draft cat pulling up to the beach to unload and pick up the scantily clad temptresses. The possibility of encountering an orgy on this type of boat is much greater. This is not necessarily the same dynamic as a threesome. The possible issue becomes having too many people and too few staterooms. For some this will not be a concern. This is type of catamaran would be better for a group of good friends who could own and/or use it together because of cost, sailing and shall we say…social dynamics.

[GeneralMacDaddy]

Many thanks to Nasa Test Pilot, great posts and really right on. I have been sailing on / off for about 8 years now and have owned a boat (sold last year and looking for another one soon), so I will give a brief bit of my sailing background for people thinking of getting into the lifestyle, maybe this will be helpful.

I started just as NTP suggests, on freshwater in 420s, Lasers, and later Mercurys. Learning on freshwater in these small boats really is essential and its a lot of fun + very affordable. All the skills you pick up there will apply as you move to bigger boats. After those I got experience on the midrange boats, 30-39 foot monohulls for sailing in the bay and near the coast. They are great boats, although not quite "bluewater", but a coastal sail, especially one of several days to a week long, can be plenty fun and challenging and comes with a variety of other factors besides sailing such as provisioning, serious navigational planning, and emergency preparations that could really mean the difference between life and death.

For those thinking of going to the next level and getting in on a bigger boat, I highly recommend joining a sailing club. If you are in a large city near the ocean/ large lake, you can often find a club that will train you and let you rent out the boats at your skill level for about $500-$5000 a year. $5000 sounds like a lot, but thats all in usually including fuel, lessons, and use of premium class of boats up to 40 feet for several week long trips a year. There are always multiple levels in these clubs with the more you spend, the better boats you can access. To get started you only need the basic level. Anyway after some time on the small boats you can step it up and get trained for $1000-$1500 on a basic coastal sailing / cruising / navigation course and then do the kind of bay sailing or near coastal sailing that really is an adventure and I think many men would enjoy.

After two years of the club and I was ready to purchase my own, having learned the skills (and put begginer wear and tear) on somebody else's boat. I found an excellent but old Ericson 38, still very seaworth, and that really treated me well for the 3 years I owned it. I had to sell due to my travel plans, just wasn't worth keeping it but I will probably get into something similar next time. I have been eyeing Cat's recently also, especially after my experience in the Caribbean where they are worth their weight in gold in many locations, but they may have to wait everything about them is so much more expensive I'm not sure its worth it or not quite yet. As I get older though, the comfort of a Cat looks more and more appealing.

I also have friends who have gone in and purchased a boat together, although I wouldn't consider that kind of thing unless you really know those people well and understand what you are getting in on. As others have pointed out you can get a reasonable 30-36 foot boat which is suitable for most purposes around 30-60k, depending on how new and how many bells and whistles you really need on it, so many men can afford this level without partners which is what I would recommend.

Once you get into the boating "scene", you will meet all kinds of interesting people that normally, you would have never crossed paths with. Besides the anthropological / entertainment value of this, you can make some great connections for both personal or business life. Plus, you can find adventures.

Last year, I got invited by sailing buddy down to his boat in the Caribbean. He knew of me because we had sailed together a few times and knew people in common. We got along and next thing you know, I stayed on his boat over 4 months down in some of the most beautiful islands in the world. We completed a major sail through the Caribbean with 2 other guys who all became good friends. His boat was large and we each had a private cabin, made many port calls and had a blast in each one. It was a journey of a lifetime. I also learned a ton, and although is boat was completely the wrong boat for the Caribbean (deep draft), and details which will have to be saved for a later post, it was an incredible journey nonetheless.

The other comment I would really like to echo is how much sailing can improve so many aspects of your life, not just gaming. Sure, girls love the boat and having what is essentially a waterfront condo makes dating so much easier, especially for the post drink "Want to see my boat" line which hardly ever fails. But what really is amazing is the personal growth which sailing can force you to undergo. You must develop skills as a handyman, engineer, mechanic, and weatherman, and of course develop the #1 skill sailing requires: self-reliance. I have never felt more alone then out at sea, no vessels around on the 24mile radar, coastline over 300 miles away, just sailing through a whole lot of nothing. Truely amazing feeling, a little scary at first, but also pretty kickass when you take it all in.

There is another famous saying regarding boating something like "that if it flies, floats, or fucks you should rent, not buy". I guess there is some logic in that, but for those of us drawn to the sea there really is nothing like owning your own boat. Your boat is something that allows you to focus your masculine energy, to learn and grow in ways you may not expect when you first get started, something you build and maintain and fix yourself, something you can safely navigate over long distances and in crazy weather, it can be your home or your toy, but almost always the boaters I meet are proud of their boat and have invested a lot of themselves into it. There is nothing like it and renting simply won't do. But renting (by way of sailing club if possible) IS the way to get started and see if its something you may like to get into.

[Disco_Volante]

These small, affordable boats look cool but I don't think you could really party on them.





It would be cool for like a month then the novelty would wear off and girls wouldn't want to be in your cramped little room.

[CaptainChardonnay]

Watched All Is Lost tonight because of this thread. The ocean has always frightened me so I've never thought about sailing but this thread has changed that.

[Jnx]

I understand the allure of living on a sailboat and gaming, but it sounds awful to me. I'm a career "sailor" working on merchant vessels and this shit gets really old after awhile. Not setting foot on or seeing land for 40+ days at a time sometimes, no internet connection or cell phone service for weeks on end, no girls or parties around, 12+ hours of work everyday are just a few reasons that have ruined it for me, I think. Then again, maybe puttin around on a small sailboat with margaritas and babes galore would quickly change my ideology.

[el mechanico]

(02-27-2016 04:41 AM)CaptainChardonnay Wrote:  

Watched All Is Lost tonight because of this thread. The ocean has always frightened me so I've never thought about sailing but this thread has changed that.

You have good reason to be frightened. Go take a sailing class or rent a sunfish.

[GeneralMacDaddy]

So some people have asked about costs of maintaining a boat or docking a boat.

There are several things to consider here, and I will focus on sail boats since that is really all I'm familiar with. I think maintaining a power boat will actually end up a bit cheaper as they are less complicated, but I'll have to let somebody else speak to that. Certainly any costs savings on maintenance will be long gone the first time you fill up that 400 gallon tank and burn it in a weekend.

Dockage Fees
These will vary of course depending on your location, and if you are permanent or transient. Permanent is much cheaper of course, but you need to sign a lease just like renting an apartment. Usually it will be for the season, or for 6-12 months, etc. Transient fees will vary widely and are usually charged per night / week / month etc with longer stays being cheaper.

Where I had my boat in a large tier city in the US, the cost was about $9-$14 a foot / month for a slip, on a 12 month contract, depending on Marina quality and location. This was fixed or floating dock at a well run marina that had a gate, security, usually a clubhouse, power and water. So for my 38 foot sailboat, it would be $342 to $532 a month to the Marina. On top of that was the electric bill which was separate metered and based on use. I used very little electricity, just to charge the batteries when the boat as tied up and run the house lights etc, so figure $20-$30 a month something like that. If your boat has AC, obviously that can be much higher. Some marinas, especially those in the Caribbean or in more remote locations, will charge per gallon of water used as well, but where I docked water was included as much as you wanted.

Now I lived in a place where we could dock and operate the boat all year, fees might be different if you only dock your boats for a season. In that case, you have to take into account winterizing costs to flush the systems, remove the sails, maybe wrap the whole thing, or if your boat is small enough perhaps even haul it out and store it on land which will incur additional costs.

Liveaboard Fees
The above mentioned fees are not for "liveaboard". aka living on your boat full time. If you want to live there, more than 2 nights a week, the fees go up. usually double or thereabouts depends on the marina. In my case the fees would go from $11 a foot to $20 a foot / month for liveaboard rates. I have never lived aboard, expect when I take the boat for a trip, so I can't speak too much to that lifestyle although I know a lot of people who have done it.

Mooring Ball
The cheapest option for docking your boat is to rent a mooring ball. These are fixed anchors usually in a bay or other semi-protected location, but have no dock. So you can hook up to the ball, then you need to use your dinghy to get to shore. This is a major pain in the ass, which is why the mooring balls are cheap. Also, there have been numerous cases of stolen dinghies in these situations so you need to be very careful. But, can't beat the price. In my location there were many mooring balls available for $80-$120 a month, fixed price regardless of length. Obviously the other disadvantage to these is no power or water either. This is bare bones for sure, although some people still do liveaboard on these I don't see that appeal at all.

Insurance
On top of the dockage fees, you are going to be paying either monthly or yearly for insurance. This is quite cheap, all things considered. I got mine through progressive. It was about $150 a month for a decent policy.

Sailboat Maintenance
OK so your baseline costs if you add up the above are going to be about $500-$750 a month if you don't liveaboard, and probably about $1000-$1250 if you do. At least where I was living. Not exactly cheap. But wait, there more! You still need to factor in regular maintenance.There are entire books written on this subject, I can't possibly do it justice. I'll just try to give you an idea of what I spent. This can be broken down into two categories, just like a car. Expected Replacements / Wear items, and unexpected failures. It may be non-obvious, but the sails and rigging on your boat (what holds the sail up and allows you to produce power with the wind) all wear out. They have a limited life-span and must be replaced every decade or so, depending on use. So if you buy a used boat, a big question is the last time the rigging was replaced. Having this done will vary in cost but for a 30-40 ft sailboat you are talking about $5,000-$10,000. Plus sails wear out, and can either be repaired or replaced. $1-$3k per sail depending. Engines need regular maintenance as well, but most small sailboat diesels are pretty strong and only need an occasional oil change, new thermostat once in a while, and make sure to stay on top of fuel filter replacement etc.

Then there is the stuff that breaks, or is about to break. Sailboats are incredibly complex machines, and there is often something going wrong all the time. Too many to list. Just set aside a few hundred bucks a month for parts, and prepare to learn your boat intimately as you crawl around trying to figure out each problem. Incredibly frustrating, but feels great when you fix it. The more you learn about your boat as time goes on, the easier it gets to fix.

Other Costs - Fuel
The last biggie of course is fuel. Some people mentioned this earlier, like it could be $200 in gas just for a trip. In power boats, easily. Some power cruising yachts can easily burn 60 gallons+ per hour, and larger yachts burn way more. But that is not our concern today. Since you are running a sailboat, this is hardly an issue. My boat sips fuel at half a gallon per hour, doing about 6knts, so I would rarely need much more than one tank a month even when sailing a few times a week. Fuel costs are minimal, maybe $50 a month tops probably less. Most sail boats you are only running the motor in and out of the marina and the channel, and you are only sailing on good weather days so fuel is a non-issue. On a week long sail it could be a different story, as you may have to motor through some spots to get to where you are going on time, but still at .5 gallons an hour that fuel lasts a damn long time.

OK I couldn't cover everything, but I hope that gives you an idea of the cost baseline for operating a 30-40ft sailboat. Of course, your costs may vary depending on your specific location

[Cortés]

(02-25-2016 05:13 AM)Malone Wrote:  

(02-22-2016 04:39 PM)Atlantic Wrote:  

(02-22-2016 03:47 PM)Chaos Wrote:  

Awesome. Sailing around the world must be one of the most amazing things to do in a lifetime.
That said, I have zero skills or experience of anything sailing related except for buliding yachts.

I wouldn't hesitate a second if I had the chance to participate in a long sailing trip as a crew member or whatever. Is that even possible?!

Any sailors here on the forum?

There are lots of sites where you can sign up to work on a sailing boat for very little or zero pay. Sometimes they will cover your expenses other times you contribute a small bit yourself. You will also have to fly yourself to a sailing hot zone to start such as the Caribbean, France, Sydney.

Different seasons have different routes which are more busier than others. Has to do with trade winds and weather. If I have time later I will try link one of these sites but not too hard to find.

I'd be interested - are these kind of sites appropriate for newbie wannabe sailors?

There was a post about this on the forum a while back

thread-45706.html

[Cortés]

(02-27-2016 03:05 AM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  

Thanks for all of the positive PM´s and comments. I am happy to be adding value to the forum.

My catamaran is set up for battle on the ocean. I have a deeper, more moderate type of ballast keels (for a cat to include dagger boards) for the foul weather across the oceans, but there is a trade-off with speed, maneuverability, fuel consumption and cost. A normal ocean cat will draft (depth of water you will occupy due to your keel and dagger boards) 4-5 feet, where an ocean monohull is more likely to be 6 or 7 feet.

A catamaran like el mechanico posted will put you in a different category. This type of cat, and other trimarans have a very wide beam with a lot of natural stability that lends itself to being a party boat. They are often used as boats for day sailing with large groups. It is a better boat when the weather is generally good and the oceans are calm as you sail in the bay or on the ocean while you are within sight of land, to include some island hopping especially when you can visually see the island you are leaving and the island toward which you are sailing. In terms of pulling the chicks, you will be in another category with a zero draft cat pulling up to the beach to unload and pick up the scantily clad temptresses. The possibility of encountering an orgy on this type of boat is much greater. This is not necessarily the same dynamic as a threesome. The possible issue becomes having too many people and too few staterooms. For some this will not be a concern. This is type of catamaran would be better for a group of good friends who could own and/or use it together because of cost, sailing and shall we say…social dynamics.

Obviously, a catamaran that you can throw parties on would get you laid like a rock star, but could you still pull babes with a boat like the guy from the video?

[NASA Test Pilot]

Of course you can still pull in the babes brother, but do not use it as a crutch. As I mentioned before, ¨I am of the opinion that you should get what you want based on your skill level, desire, and purpose. If she is along for the ride and is not happy, you tell her to exit stage left and swim back to shore. Most girls 19-27 will be thrilled that it is a boat and it will probably be their first experience, so make it memorable as this is key to repeat business and spreading the word (or legs).¨ There is no substitute for your gaming skills, this will give you another venue and in general will be a demonstration of high value. You are not an extension of the boat. You need to maintain your frame and let the boat be an extension of you.

[NASA Test Pilot]

There I was today, living my life like I normally do and surfing some nice glassy lefts, when I paused in between sets. I was sitting on my board and I was recalling some of my past, which is common place. I was thinking how could some of my past operational experience (as a military commander and a corporate executive) be useful in a larger framework to talk about sailing on the forum.

I am going to organize my ideas as they relate to the sailing theme here in a larger context. The notion of if it flies (planes), floats (boats) or fucks (females)…rent it, brings back some memories as that is an old adage. So I am going combine a few ideas that I once taught to my students at one of the military Command and Staff Colleges. I have rented and owned both airplanes and boats, and I have rented females. My goal is to give you an alternate way to examine things and make application if you find it useful.

When looking to rent or buy consider the following process, it is not linear but has connections between the nodes like a 3 dimensional sphere with each point being a node on the sphere. I will describe the nodes in terms of action.

Acquire Asset, Configure Asset, Operate Asset, Optimize Asset, Supply Asset, Maintain Asset, Dispose Asset. The Asset is the plane, boat or female. Next are four outcome measurements and they are, Performance, Cost, Time, Safety.

Performance is a quality measurement and when you look at performance over time you have reliability. In general reliability can be broken down to MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure), MTBUR (Mean Time Between Unscheduled Removal). We are talking about boats and we want to measure the boats quality and we can look at a part in the Maintenance Process. Let say the electrical generator. In Maintenance it is more effective to look at the consequence of failure. For example, what is the consequence of the generator failing (or a light bulb, or a radio, a weather radar, or an engine, etc.) Some will have no consequences, some economic consequences, some will have operational consequences and some may have safety consequences. With an economic consequence you may just say, let it fail, so what when it (a light bulb) fails we will simply replace it. If it is a radio, it may be operational, if it is the weather radar, it could be safety. Our generator provides a means to recharge the boats batteries (you have many batteries on a boat, not just one) and without it, there no sustained electrical power. If we have a wind generator on the boat (you should) or a solar panel (you should for ocean crossings), then it may not be safety, but rather operational, or perhaps no consequence. But it is a generator. When you change the way you look at things, your course of action can be altered (for the better).

Cost, this can be in terms of dollars, it can be related to your time (life), it can be other types of (in) tangibles as well like relationship trade-offs. What does it cost me? Short term, or life-cycle. Recall we are making the application to renting or buying a boat here, but we can also apply this to planes or females…and you will probably discover other things as well. Returning to our generator issue in maintenance; what does it cost me if I fix this now, if I do not fix this now? What if I fix it in the next port or at a port where I know the people? Perhaps parts are not here (there) or the labor is not available to fix it (correctly). If I do it in port X and the job (part) is crap, will I need to do it again in short order (perhaps at some other port that is inconvenient where it will cost more)?

Time. Your time is limited so use it wisely. You should consider the total time (lifecycle), turn time, time in segments (per day, week, month, year). This will naturally tie into the other three measurements. In our generator issue in maintenance, how much time will it take to fix it, how long will my boat be out of service, what else can be done or what can be done instead of this. What are the time constraints and trade-offs.

Safety. What is the level of risk? What is your tolerance for risk? In general with our example in maintenance, if the risk (of failure, or failure to do the maintenance) is greater than one times ten to the minus 9th power (one in a billion), and the consequence of failure is a safety issue, you are risking your life. Take a breath and re-read this part again. It is part of what I did for a living and the applications are staggering.

It is not about any one of the four outcome measurements, rather it is about the value equation of all four taken together.

Let us begin with Acquiring the Asset, which in this case is our boat. How are you going to measure performance when you acquire the boat? What are your expectations of how it should perform? Is it speed, durability, maintainability, ability to pull in chicks, ocean crossing, cruising, comfort, ability to explore your world, privacy, independence, etc., etc. You must make this determination.

In general when you acquire a boat you should have a survey done by (a) professional(s). You will not survey every boat, simply the ones in which you have the greatest interest in purchasing (like your home). Pay the money to have them examine the boat from stem to stern and report on the flaws of the particular boat. It will save you a boat load of money when you look at the lifecycle costs of the boat, especially if you need to re-configure or if serious maintenance needs to be performed.

Time, how long will it take to acquire the boat? Will there be a connection between (re)configuring the boat and/or maintenance. Are you going to install a different type of generator because you want to have air conditioning installed below deck? Do you that wind generator, or an upgrade of that generator? Do you want a solar back up or perhaps as the primary? Does the boat need to be moved (re-positioned) from a location somewhere else in the world?

Cost, what is the basic cost of the boat? How much is the Dingy (the little motor boat that you drag behind your boat or hoist on the stern). The dingy is a one of the more practically important items as you will use it constantly to go back and forth from your boat to the shore for provisions, exploring as well as safety. Do not cut a corner here with it or the outboard engine on the dingy. What about safety equipment? Will you be sailing into the big blue or near the shoreline? What type of lift raft will you have (they can be rather large and enhance survival should you be out in the Pacific or Indian Ocean for days or weeks because your boat got deep sixed? Depending on the survey, what will be my additional maintenance costs? The boat was cheap, but the engine(s) need to be overhauled in 50 -100 hours, so that gives me X amount of sailing/operating time before the probability of engines problems increase. What is my cost to do it before I acquire the boat? What will it cost me after I acquire the boat? How about that generator or the addition/alteration of the wind generator or solar panel set-up? Electronics (radar, navigational, auto-pilot and many others) are generally the most expensive parts after the engine. As a general rule of thumb, for a new ocean going sailboat I use $9,000 - $10,000 per foot for Catamarans and $6,000 - $7,000 per foot for monohulls. The variation is plus or minus $1,000 per foot depending on accessories. This is general as there are different brands. How will I pay for it, how will it be financed, what about insurance?

Safety. How safe do I feel acquiring the sailboat in ´this´condition to sail it to my home port, or to a place for (re) configuration/maintenance or to sail on my first outing? What are the risks I would be taking financially? If you do not feel safe, do not do it until you have more experience and are able to manage the risks with less consequences due to potential failures.

The goal is not to overwhelm, rather simply inform, organize and assist so that you can make a better decision that will help you get what you want, and fulfill your needs and/or dreams.

[Chauncey]

(02-27-2016 10:24 PM)Cortés Wrote:  

Obviously, a catamaran that you can throw parties on would get you laid like a rock star, but could you still pull babes with a boat like the guy from the video?

(02-26-2016 01:34 AM)Kale_anonymous Wrote:  

Just so you players know-

looks like this guy got some good sailboat sex as well


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RylPp6lkBw

This guy is similar to the oil rig sailor. He had a job in tech, bought a sailboat (53 ft Amel Super Maramu), and has been sailing around the world for around 5 years.

Started out just him and his brother, then they picked up a Swedish girl and a Kiwi chick they met on the islands to sail long term with them. Their videos have more of a party vibe than the Aussie couple, they have chicks sailing with them pretty much non-stop, but it appears more of a relationship situation than new girls at every port.

You can probably pull hot chicks at any port to hang out on the boat but I imagine it takes a certain type to be willing (and tolerable) to sail longer distances.

[NASA Test Pilot]

First a note about quality of experience vs. quantity of experience; if do you something for one year (fly, sail, fuck) and then you repeat the exact same thing year after year for twenty years, that does not give you twenty years of experience. The gives you one year of experience that you have repeated 20 times. The point is not to make a value judgment of you (or me), but to have you (me) reflect on your (my) own limitations. If you are out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in foul weather in the black of night and you have only done day sailing in a bay or maybe up and down the coast during daylight hours, you will receive a rude introduction to cause and effect that may cost you your life.

Configure the boat. In general think along the lines of a portable house. After the engine(s), the next high ticket items are the electronics (if you have enough electronics it can be more costly than an engine) and then the sails. I am an old school type of sailor out of Annapolis who believes that you should be able to do things with your brain and basic instruments (to include using a sextant for navigation) and the electronics are used as a back-up, not a crutch. This takes a large investment of your time and attention over the years to learn and apply. Others may choose the electronic path directly with the notion that they can use the time saved in other pursuits as the electronics (and back-up electronics) are sufficient (with an associated dollar cost). The point is well taken. I mention it as it is something that you should consider especially as you keep in mind the difference between learning a principle and memorizing one. In the end I consider three points: 1) What do I do if I have no electrical power; 2) What is the probability that I will be in a position with no electrical power; 3) What are the consequences if I have no electrical power.

Electronics include; (high power) radar (monitoring weather as well as finding ships, rocks and even tracking your competition). Weather radar is a must for ocean going sailing (even up and down the coast for longer trips); this is after you have studied your meteorology, have a weather report before you go out sailing, and have a barometer and temperature indicator on board. Height is the key with the placement of your radar unit, but you also want to consider boat motion (heel, yaw and pitch). A good radar/sonar will cost you 3-5K (up to 8K with a glass helm), 2-3K for moderate radar, cheaper but doable 1-2 K. When I go around the world and plan to cross multiple oceans, I have two radars (the second is a back-up). The normal types of radios include UHF (hand held), VHF (marine radio), HF (more likely on aircraft), HAM, satellite (phone). There are electronic instruments for boat speed, ground speed, heading (you should have a minimum of one mechanical compass in front of the helm with a back-up for long ocean crossings) to include direction you are travelling (tracking) in the water and the course you are tracking over the ground (you will need to be aware of ocean tides and ocean currents as the ocean carpet is moving), wind direction (indicated and true), wind speed, depth of water, GPS, auto-pilot (Otto is a good friend that provides for a more restful sleep on long ocean crossings). Electronic clocks, energy monitoring, and bilge alarms. There are electronic nautical charts and electronic navigation software and chart plotters. If you are sailing worldwide and you have an issue with this, watch out. Manual nautical charts and traditional nautical instruments are critical especially when plotting your navigation. There are engine and fuel monitoring systems and displays as well as water monitoring systems and collision avoidance systems. These should be back-ups for the mechanical indicators and the use of your eyes. The trade-off that you will make for using all electronics will be saving time in the short (and medium) term at the expense of long term dependence, loss of situational awareness (SA) from not honing your physical senses and capital expenditure.

There are also advanced instruments and software that allow the sailor to deal with motion correction (rolling and pitching), advanced calibration for true wind correction, performance wind filtering, polar tabular calculations that allow you to compare theoretical optimum performance with actual performance, and tactical planning for tidal information.

If this is too much information, simply ignore parts of it for now and store it to be retrieved at a time when it is more useful to you.

The basic instruments (which come standard on almost every boat) are not meant to replace your senses rather to enhance and validate them. With your electronics the most important qualities are clear, bright displays with visibility from many angles that can be read in bright sunlight or the dark of night with blowing rain.

The next consideration with the configuration of your boat is the sails. Part of this depends on the type of boat. On a normal sloop you have mainsail and a jib. The greater the surface area of the sail, the faster you will normal go across the sea and you will cover more nautical distance in the same time. A nautical mile is a mile over the surface of the earth taking onto consideration the curvature of the earth which is 6076 feet, where as a statute mile (without the curvature) is 5280 feet. If you are driving a car over land, your measurement is in statue miles, when you are flying or sailing your measurement is in nautical miles. Similarly, you speed is based on knots (1.15 to 1) in an airplane or boat.

In general a set of sails (and basic rigging) will last 5-10 years if you are doing moderate sailing. You may spend 20 K for a set of basic sails (5-12K for the mail sail and 4-10 K for the jib/genoa depending on the surface area, cut, weight, type of material and stitching. Where you buy the sails will have a large impact on cost. If you are purchasing a sail in Europe, it will generally be 80% more expensive than in China. It would be cheaper if you rig it yourself, but you need a moderate to high level of experience for this. Add another 13-15K for a self-furling system. The more sunshine and UV´s in the tropics means a shorter sail lifecycle. Light sailing would be in bays, heavy sailing would be continuous blue water ocean sailing.

How do you get into and out of the water on the boat? You can just jump in, you can use a ladder, but if it is designed with sugar scoops (the curvature of the stern or aft hulls on the catamaran), it will be easier to enter the water for swimming, snorkeling or scuba diving.

Moving into the types of sail on your boat; firstly is the main sail. This is the large sail located behind the main mast (you have two masts on a ketch, with the second being the mizzen mast). The jib is the triangular sail that is ahead of the mast. A headsail is forward of the mast, the most common type of headsail is a staysail such as the jib or genoa. They provide for speed, but also stability. A genoa (also known as the jenny) is a similar type of staysail with a surface area that is larger (a number 1 genoa is normally 155% larger; a number 2 genoa is the more common type which is 125-140% larger) and you will normal see them on ketches and yawls as well as larger sloops (different types of boats). Recall, it is like another language in the sailing world, I am attempting to minimize, but eventually you will just dive in and learn.

Then you have the spinnaker which is that huge puffy colored sail that you will see in pictures that is flown outside of the jib/genoa in the front of the boat. The spinnaker is a foresail. The Spinnaker is a lot of work and is only used on a run (where the relative wind) is behind you because the speed of the boat is normally very slow and you need this sail to maintain your speed. You also have an asymmetrical spinnaker (also known as an asym or aspin) which is more used in racing and gennaker (cross between a genoa and spinnaker) used when sailing between downwind and close haul (beating into the wind) also used more in racing. These last three types are more advanced and you can easily sail without them. As a side note, catamarans are relatively more difficult to sail up wind (beat) than are monohulls. Generally beating into the wind will put you in irons and you need to turn on your motor or fall off and tack in a different direction. Safety might become an issue when the sails are old and particularly when the rigging is weak. When you see the sales prices of a boat and it seems cheap, you may also need new sails, rigging as well as (a) new engine(s).

How many staterooms do you want, how many people do you want to be able to sleep aboard? Depending on the type of boat you can easily have double beds on a catamaran that will sleep two, or three if they are friendly with each other. The galley table can be lowered and the seat cushions used as a bed (one or two people), or you can use the cushioned galley bench to sleep one. You have the trampoline on the front of a cat that is usually in two sections that can sleep one or two on each side comfortably (depending on the beam of the cat) as well as the bench seating in the cockpit (with seat cushions that provide two single sleeping areas). Do you want your boat air conditioned in the salon and in the staterooms? You might then need a bigger generator. At a minimum you want small to medium boat fans. How many? I would put one small fan in each stateroom, one or two in the main salon and one by the chart (navigation) table. I have had both (air conditioning and fans), and I prefer fans using my hatches as scoops to catch the wind.

The three elements as they relate to heat are temperature, humidity and air flow. You can live moderately with any one of the three. With zero of three, it is uncomfortable, with one of the three is moderate, with two of the three it is cozy, with all three; you are living on easy street. If you are in the tropics, you will have moderate heat and humidity during the day with less in the morning and much less at night. It can actually get chilly on the bow (front) of the cat in the tropics sleeping on the trampoline with a moderate wind; that you need to have a sheet or blanket under you on the trampoline due to the condensation and chill.

A wind generator for back-up power in case of generator or battery issues will cost 1-3K depending on how much power you want to generate Perhaps a solar array (varying with amp hours needed) that can power part or most of the boat accessories is something that you want for 2-3K. You can also consider hydro power generators that produce power if the boat has a minimum speed. They are a bit more expensive than solar but are handy on cloudy days and produce more power for 3-4K; perhaps a combination of back-up power systems. What the heck, one of each, me likey extra power. What about a water desalination system (water maker)? It is a nice thing if you are in the middle of the ocean and your run out of water because the shower was leaking or someone made a major boating no no and did not shut the water off completely. Or perhaps you do not want to purchase water on shore. Depending on the type of reverse osmosis system, it will cost 3K-8K. All of these things are great to have, but there is an associated dollar cost as well as taking up space and adding weight.

Other considerations in the configuration of your boat are things such as (potable) water tanks, kitchen counter tops in the salon, type and size of gimbaled oven, materials for your cabinets, mattresses. Your toilets are very important, do not cut the corners here, invest wisely. Hatch covers (keep the interior of the boat cool and reducing hazing and cracking of tempered glass; thicker antenna wires or circular antennas; smoke/fire detectors, anchor watch alarm. The list could be as long as your Johnson. Think of your boat like a floating house and configure it like you would a place where you may live.

Examine the details of all of these extras listed above that you want configured with your sailboat in terms of Performance, Cost, Time, and Safety. Look at them in a valuation equation as there are trade-offs. It is easy to say, I want all of the toys on my boat, so fit them in there Q and send the bill to M., but that is not how the real world works.

[Orson]

EXCELLENT sailing primer, NASA test pilot.

I did freshwater sailing for about 20 years, a 23 footer on major rivers, maxing out at 35ft on Lake Superior.

For a further frame of reference, the Beneteau Cyclades 43 was newly priced at $362,000US, circa 2005. It was designed for ease of maintenance and single sailing, with optimal interior room.

SEE here for a review.

Consider the drop from 362K to less than 100K these days - a steep depreciation - a cost to heavily figure into your entry boat owning plan, people.

As NTP mentions, you largest expense will go into fuel, maintenance, and overhaul of your engine....except for depreciation (depending on the age and condition of your purchase).

What I found intriguing from a quick google, is that there a few places where you can rent a Cyclades. Try before you buy is DEFINITELY recommended.

This boat was designed for first 40+ foot ownership.

[Onto]

As I've been exploring the world of sailing I'm getting very excited about it. Some questions have been coming up for me.

1) Bringing a foreign girlfriend who has no passport to other countries for traveling purposes or even back to your own country for a while (US). Is this possible without having to go through a checkpoint of some kind? If it were possible but you get caught would you be in serious trouble? (Human smuggling charge).

2) What about bringing stuff on your boat from your country to another country? Do they search your boat for cash, weapons, art, musical instruments, etc? I imagine you could create some kind of hidden compartments/safe for valuables?

[NASA Test Pilot]

Sure you can bring anyone you want on your boat, but unless they are a citizen of the country you are entering, immigration will frown on bringing them in the country without going through customs first. The reality is; they want to control. If they catch you, there could be more severe consequences to include having your boat impounded or spending a hiatus in the pokey; it depends on the country and the people. When you hop island to island that are different countries, you are supposed to go through customs clearance on each island (recall Soper´s Hole as it is one of two in the BVI´s). There is a dock and a customs clearing building (usually it is small). Normally you will tie up to a mooring ball in the harbor and take your Dingy into the dock, tie it off and go it to get the necessary forms. It is a good idea to bring everyone with you or at least their passports). These countries have patrol boats in many shapes and sizes. You will not frequently see armed patrol (with a single or twin .30 or .50 caliber mounted on the bow (although they may bearing arms). Countries with longer coast lines have more coastal area to patrol, and they use radar more. Some countries in the Caribbean at one time only required your birth certificate and you did not need a passport.

I plan to cover a number of things with a few ´operate asset´ posts. You can bring stuff on your boat, but they may inspect your boat. If your boat is ported in Tortola, for example in the BVI´s, you are less likely to be inspected in nearby countries; as the other countries know that you area most probably just another Popeye taking his boat for a spin and they are not going to take the time. As a rule, I would count on being boarded 100% of the time and give yourself ½ of a day for customs. My experience is that it is normally takes one to two hours with the dingy rides back and forth. Other countries that have a substance reputation are a different story. Another example would be that for many countries in the Caribbean it is not legal to have ammunition on board (but I want to protect myself). I may talk about these types of things as I have some wacked out sea-stories. There are publications that talk about entry requirements for most every country on the planet. The best ones are published monthly and pilots (some sailors) mostly use these references.

[Robert Plant]

I grew up sailing small boats on lakes and working on boats in the summer. In my early 20s I broke my offshore cherry by helping someone deliver their boat to the Caribbean from the East Cast. Soon after that I bought a 30 foot sailboat for $12,000. For the next few years, I lived on and off on the boat and outfitted it. I was planning to go solo but I met my now ex-wife and we cruised down the U.S. East coast and around the Caribbean for a little over a year. We budgeted about $1000 a month and that was fine for 2 people and our modest boat. Some highlights include...

-Exploring, surfing, free diving and spearfishing in the outer islands of the Bahamas. At times the visibility was over 100 feet and the reefs were absolutely teaming with life. It was a rare day that I couldn't shoot some dinner.

-The Dominican Republic. We spent about a month and a half off the boat exploring the Island. It was awesome.

-When our engine died in the BVIs, we spent about a month under sail power alone and sailing in the Eastern Caribbean is awesome.

-Although it seems impossible now given the dragon like nature of my ex-wife, we had some amazingly primal, sweaty sex sessions on deck in the hot Caribbean sun.

For anyone thinking about adopting a cruising lifestyle here are the pros and cons as I see it.

Pros...
+You are living on your own terms.
+Sailing my own boat thousands of miles and being forced at certain points to make (virtually) life or death decisions turned me into a man and gave me inner confidence which I still carry.
+Your life is one big adventure. It always felt like I was living the way a man is supposed to live, close to the earth (sea) and in tune with the elements.
+You get to follow a natural cycle based on the sunrise/set, tides and wind.
+You are traveling at a slow pace so you see and experience stuff you never would in more conventional travel. I once had a big ass Bahamian guy approach me with a machete on an isolated beach. I half thought he was going to chop me up. It turned out he just wanted to show me how to clean my conch.
+You learn a ton of cool ass skills.
+You are literally living on the sea!!!

Cons...
-Taking care of your boat becomes a main priority. This has many implications, one of which is that you can't leave your boat for more than a few hours at a time. This would be different if you had the kind of budget that allowed you to put your boat in a slip.
-Most of the other people cruising in sailboats are older couples in their 50s and 60s. They are usually nice, but in my 20s, I did not have a lot in common with them.
-Cruising would make game logistics very tough. There are some exceptions like Cuba and the Dominican, but most of the good places for sailing are off the beaten path, far away from pussy paradises.
-There can be days and days of discomfort. I remember towards the end of my cruising really looking forward to living a normal life on land.
-It can get boring. Imagine being stuck in a place you don't want to be for 2 weeks waiting for a weather window. One day about a month before the end of my cruise, I had nothing to do and spent the day (starting at 10:00 AM) ashore, drinking with a sailing budy. Not wanting to become an alcoholic, I decided it was time to sell my boat and take up cruising again in my 50s or 60s.

Overall, I would recommend cruising for a guy that really wants to do his own thing and isn't afraid of some hardships, deprivations and discomfort. The caveat is that unless you sail to less than optimal cruising grounds, your access to women will be limited.

[NASA Test Pilot]

Now that the boat is configured, we can talk about operating a boat. What is it like on a normal day on the boat? The thing about it is that there really is not a normal day; this is actually one of the best things about sailing and being on a sailboat. Each day is an adventure. I will talk about some of the routine things, but there are numerous outcomes depending on a few factors. I probably make a few operational posts.

A day at anchor. Anchoring the boat is critical and we arrived yesterday so we start our next day with no hassles. The easiest way is to pick up a mooring ball or anchor buoy. They are those (yellow or white) balls that you see all over the harbor with a moderate sized line with a loop on the end. The loop is to put around the (horn) cletes that are around the perimeter of the boat (used to tie the boat off). You will use a bow (horn) clete (this is normally for the head line when you are docked at a pier). The good thing about a mooring ball is they have been surveyed and are secure with room to swing around in the night. Mooring closer to shore forward or laterally generally gives you better protection. A mooring buoy will usually be between $20-40 (per night) and someone with a dingy will usually come out to get your money and give you a receipt. If you are in a harbor with a pier, oftentimes the mooring buoy fee includes water for your boat and you can drop of your garbage. You would go into the pier the morning before you set sail and fill up you tanks with water (they have a hose attached and you run it under (not over) the life (safety) lines (that are around the boat perimeter) and into the water tank) as well as get fuel (expect to pay 1.25 – 1.35 times the normal price for fuel). Sometimes they will even give you a bag of ice or two. At other places dropping off garbage might be $1-3 per bag.

If you are anchoring the boat normally with the anchor; you should plan to be at your anchorage (spot) 2 hours before sunset. Anchoring in the dark is a challenge and can cost you money if you need to repair your boat because it hit another boat or some rocks or the shoreline because you were not anchored properly. Invest the time and learn how to do it correctly, it is cheap insurance. Your anchor line needs to be of sufficient length with a fair amount of chain. Galvanized anchor chain (BBB, High Test, or Proof Coil) is significantly more expensive than rope. It is heavy (and keeps the boat from drifting) and it works the anchor windlass (motor for the anchor) harder. I carry 150 feet of 3/8 inch thick (boats greater than 50 feet can go to 7/16¨ and you can go down to 5/16¨ from 30-35 feet) attached to another 100 feet of rope (usually a 65-75% good ratio for length of chain to total length, close to 75% when your total length is shorter). For every foot of water in which you are anchored you want 7 feet of chain (line) out with the anchor. We are anchored in 12 feet of water and that is 84 feet, if it is 15 feet then we want 105 feet. This is called scope. If you are anchored in more than 20 feet of water, it is usually too deep unless you have the experience. You can use more than 7 to 1 scope as this is considered a minimum (you can go 5 to 1 in the day and some places when you are experienced with no one else around and you know the bay like the back of your hand, but these are exceptions). You must be aware of other boats as you can move in an 84-105 foot circle at night. Sometimes you will also put out a smaller anchor off of the stern (a Danforth/fluke type or a Bruce (which is usually a type for the dingy) is so that the boat does not back wind into the shore or another boat and you will have very little lateral movement.

When you anchor the boat you want the anchor in sand, not grass. It is an art, you will back the boat a little with the motor in reverse to drag the anchor and dig it in. You always need to check the anchor physically and make sure it is dug in the sand. If not, you need to go down and move the anchor (by hand) so it is ready to be dug in and then get back on the boat and slow reverse to dig it in; then check it again. Failure to have your anchor dug in can be costly. Always check the anchor physically with your hands. On a catamaran you have a Y harness off of the bow that you attach to the anchor chain for stability. Normal boat anchors are a plough or CQR type and the weight of the anchor is proportional to the tonnage of the boat; generally one pound of anchor for every foot of boat. A general rule of thumb is that a sailboat will be 1,000 pounds per foot between 40-65 feet (plus or minus 10%) and 35+% less when the boat is 20-35 feet. A better type of anchor for grass, particularly in the Mediterranean is the Spade. Do not have a cheap anchor on your boat as these low quality anchors are made from cheaper metals and an inferior casting process; which might cost you a 100 times more in repairs to the boat. As the wind speed increases and storm intensity increases, the amount of force on the chain can be 3 to 4 times greater than its workload on a difficult night or 10 times the force from a breezy evening.

We are anchored in the middle of some beautiful turquoise bay in the Caribbean about 100 meters from the golden sand at a depth of 12-15 feet. We arrived the day before. After you have been on a sailboat for only a short period of time it is natural to wake up with dawn or at near sunrise, unless you partied like a maniac the night before then you might sleep in until 8 or 9. Your body gets into a natural rhythm after about 6-8 days, it will be the same for your female guest as well as I mentioned previously.

If I am sailing with a companion(s) I roll her arm off of me and head to the stern (back) of the catamaran as it is fairly wide and almost the entire beam (width) of the boat. I will stretch me arms and let out a loud noise type howl (screw it, it is my ocean) and yawn. I will drink a glass of (pure) orange juice and maybe have a banana and shortly there-after, dive in the water. I will play around for a few minutes, hell sometimes it is longer as I am in no rush. After I climb aboard, I do a visual inspection of the port engine for general condition and check the oil, this takes 2-3 minutes and I try to be conscious as it is an important part of the morning routine. I then start the engine and after about 5 minutes I turn on the refrigeration unit (usually for 45-60 minutes, and check the batteries to make sure they are charging. If she (they) was (were) not up, which 80% of the time she (they) is (are) already, she (they) will be now. She may have her coffee or juice and then it is time for her to swab the deck. If there is more than one, the other is prepping for breakfast. This is a morning ritual that I will do when I am alone, but when a female is there, I teach her how and it becomes one of her duties as the first mate; I know delegation is a wonder thing as the captain.

Swabbing the deck is taking one of the rubber buckets on board that is tied to a 6-8 foot piece of line with a few knots, throwing it into the sea to fill up with water and then hauling it back onboard using the water to moderately scrub the deck with a broom type of cleaning brush. You do this around the entire boat and it takes 15 minutes depending on how thoroughly you swab, as well as the size of the boat. Sometimes it takes them 25-30 minutes, seriously. It actually keeps the chicks upper body in shape as it is like a moderate weight (8.5 lbs. per gallon of sea water times 1-2 gallons) being hoisted over and over. While she is doing this I stretch and get ready to go for a swim.

If we arrived at the island the day before and there are waves I will eat a little and then I am surfing; all day long brother if the waves are there. I will take my first break after 2-3 hours for a late breakfast. If no waves because we are on the other side of the island, then I may kite surf for a few hours as the wind is probably offshore or I will do my swim-snorkel. The swim-snorkel is bread and butter for me and this is how I build first-hand experience of the islands. I have my swimming goggles and I am going to hammer 8-12 km swimming along the shoreline to see the marine life, pausing to see the cool things or check out caves. If I need to cover the distance quicker, I will put on my fins. If she wants do some exploring in the morning I will swim on one side of the bay then head back to pick her up, shut down the engine and take off my fins and make sure she has her fins on and we will start on the other side of the bay. When we come back, it is time to make breakfast. I like a nice hearty breakfast and then if we did not play hide the salami in one of the caves or beaches, after breakfast festivities are in order.

After this, sometimes a little rest, or if there are waves, rest for 10-15 minutes and back to work; it does not pay well, but I have the best view on my surfboard. After the second surf session it is lunch time and maybe time to take care of a thing or two around the boat. There is almost always some type of maintenance that needs to be done on a boat (more about that in another post). Doing one or two things here and there keeps the list manageable and not a burden. Around mid-day I make it part of my routine to do a visual check of the solar panels and make sure that I am getting a charge. In the afternoon it is more surfing, until my arms a rubber. If the waves are dying down and there will be no afternoon surf, we may get a scuba adventure in after lunch. If there is no scuba adventure, we might go to the beach for lunch. If there is no afternoon surfing I may instead head out into the bay for an afternoon swim. If there was no surfing in the morning I am going to crank out an 8-10K workout hard. I will go back and for the across the bay like it is a large pool and do intervals. The girl(s) usually hang out on the boat and sun themselves or read.

If I am resting in the afternoon, I may read or do some maintenance, but usually we will go to the island and it is time to explore. The island exploration is a good thing after a lunch at the beach; it may be for 2 hours it may be for 4 or 5 hours depending on what is happening after lunch. On a big island and a hot day, we might do island exploration in the morning when it is cooler. If I am alone, I will swim in with my aqua shoe and goggles and I go exploring like that. I live in my swim suit or surf shorts. I (we) explore an island like a kid(s), I am sticking my head almost everywhere, which has gotten me into trouble on more than one occasion; but it has also gotten me laid. The types of people that you meet and the details of the situations that you become wrapped in on these excursions are so rich that it makes you wonder sometimes what the heck happened to you between the age of 18 and your current age to make you forget this type of adventuring or make you want to do something simply to survive and not thrive.

I try to be back on the boat an hour or so before sunset as I want to clean all of the salt and sunscreen off and prepare for dinner while there is still light. I also start the other engine (starboard) after I do my visual inspection and check the oil. I let it run for 45-60 minutes and run the refrigeration again.

Dinner time on the boat is a great time. I reflect on all of the cool things that I did during the day as I am watching the sun go down and snack while she is preparing the meal. If alone, then I am doing the cooking. The oven on a boat is gimbaled so it swings with the boat and I also have a barbeque on the stern. This is quite handy. I always eat well at dinner and a big meal is prepared. Dinner is long on a boat as a lot of socializing begins and the alcohol often comes out. It is like in Italy when the meal may last a few hours (although it begins earlier). Then it is time for clean-up and evening activities. Depending how long she has been on the boat, salon nookie (main area of the boat by kitchen) is common after dishes. Sometimes it is night game ashore as I take the dingy in, or it is reading and/or star gazing. I have shown a number of women how to locate stars that they should have paid me; well actually they did...in trade. This is a great way to break down any last minute resistance, especially if I picked them up on the beach that evening or met them earlier in the day. When a woman comes aboard your boat at night to see the stars, it is for sex and not being able to close with her means that you should check your breath in the mirror to make sure you are breathing.

I actually do not seem to get tired of looking up at the stars at night as I lay on the bow trampoline; it stirs something deep inside. I take it for granted from time to time, like being on the ocean each day. The southern hemisphere will be a real treat if you have not been there. Sometimes, I just go to bed early (8-9) if I was really active and I sleep like a rock and wake up at dawn or sunrise on the next morning.

Next time will be a day sail, island hopping or moving around to the other side of the island and some operational necessities.