Once in port, these newfound ocean sailors have the added benefit of organized parties and events where they can share the joys of their first ocean passage with others. You can be a part of the increasing popularity of cruising rallies, and many of the organizations behind the logistics maintain websites and crew registers. The Carib , for example, is perhaps the most popular cruising rally on this side of the Atlantic, with close to 50 boats, all over feet and many much bigger , sailing non-stop from Norfolk, VA to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.
The rally occurs after hurricane season and before the onset of winter, in early November. They also organize a return rally in May, from Tortola to Bermuda.
From there, the boats split up and head east to Europe or back to the U. Many captains, including myself, require at least one if not two professional or very seasoned sailors to join them on a major ocean crossing.
However, like me, many are more than willing to take a few extra inexperienced sailors or intrepid adventurers along for the ride and are often willing to instruct them along the way. The key to finding a boat to sail on is to present yourself as a trustworthy person eager to join the trip.
Ulterior motives are often very apparent, and no captain is willing to take along someone just looking for a free ride. The work aboard an ocean sailing boat is difficult, tiring, and unending. Everyone shares in all the duties involved in running the boat, from standing watch in the rain at 2 a. Then you must clean up upon arrival when the boat is in shambles and you have not had a freshwater shower in two weeks. Life at sea is incredibly raw and incredibly basic.
Your world shrinks to the three miles or so you can see in every direction before the horizon curves out of view. A passing freighter is often the most exciting thing to happen on a given day.
The intense discomfort of being salty and sticky for two weeks is offset by the rewards of a cloudless night watch under a new moon. The sky is so dark you can scarcely see your hand in front of your face, yet the stars fill the night sky all the way to the horizon, like an enormous diamond exploding in the center of the universe, sending fragments to every corner of space. Though the smallest boat to ever cross the Atlantic had just a bit over five feet. Now I understand you aren't asking how big a boat can be to circumnavigate, you are asking how big it should be.
But the reason I started with explaining that even small boats can do the job is that sailing around the world can get pretty pricey. I wanted to make sure you know that even if your budget isn't the largest, so you can't go for a bigger boat, that shouldn't necessarily stop you from getting what you want. With that in mind, let's kick this off with what it means to sail around the world on a small boat and work our way up in size.
Such a vessel will take you from point a to point b successfully, but you might face issues when it comes to its speed. There is a thing called hull speed, something too complicated for my simple mind to understand beyond this simple statement:. So a mile crossing with a 20 footer will be significantly slower than with a 50 footer, even with the same weather conditions.
If you are in a hurry, take this into account. Also, take it into account when planning the logistics. If your passage takes more time, you will need more supplies, for which you need more space - and on a small boat, that spells possible storage space issues. Dried meat and oatmeal isn't particularly bulky, but water volume is non-negotiable.
And you need at least a couple of liters per day. Even if comfort is not an issue for you and you don't mind spending a few months in a tiny warehouse full of provisions with not much room for yourself, supplies, paired with all the necessary equipment you need, become heavy and a small sailboat can find itself being quite overwhelmed by the weight, becoming more difficult to maneuver.
Which is the last thing you want when facing the Poseidon himself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Just calculate the weight of water you will need for a four-week crossing - something you may easily encounter when sailing around the world. Even if you minimize the freshwater use and have it for drinking only hello salty showers you will easily get to nearly a hundred kilos, and that's just for one person. On an average 5, lbs 20 footer, you might end up in a passage situation where just water for two people makes up 10 percent of the boat's weight, which isn't ideal.
Last but not least, small boats will be influenced by the waves more than larger ones would be. Again, they can deal with them, but the question is if you can. The constant up and down movement can wear even an enthusiastic explorer down. I understand that this is a matter of comfort, something which many of you hardy ones won't need. Just putting it out there to warn you ahead of time.
What you ideally want is to have your boat be around 40 feet, give or take five. Domestic chores and food sharing can be a flashpoint. Some may need [a contribution] to make it happen. Some may want to create a line. Additional costs depend on how you want to live ashore. This is a once in a lifetime trip. My reasoning was I may never get the chance to visit most of those places again.
Experiences are what count in life. Crewing can offer unbeatable life experiences at relatively little cost. Sailing around the world is by no means a vacation in the conventional sense. Whether skipper or crew, long-distance sailing is almost a job. Martin and Helen have now returned to work. In work you can be used to ticking things off and getting things completed, but on a boat you always have something on.
To help on the crossings, he and his wife have taken on ten different crew, mainly found through the Ocean Crew Link website. The rows late at night coming out of that cabin were horrendous. You have to be pretty thick-skinned. And if someone goes sour on you, take the first opportunity to put them off. The owners of Lagoon Kirlana are offering just that in between their own sailing trips.
In the meantime, they are talking to friends and acquaintances who may be interested in borrowing the boat on a long-term basis. And if we rent it to someone we can invest the money. But it definitely makes sense, and anything up to two years would be OK.
Skip to content ». Sometimes, even an inexperienced sailor can find a boat just by walking around at the docks. If you live in or near a sailing town, you might be able to find a boat very quickly. Present yourself as a likable and trustworthy person, and you have a chance of getting on a boat with no sailing experience. After you get on a sailboat for the first time, you will probably decide you love it. You will love the escape from ordinary life, and how the night sky looks away from street lights.
You will not usually think sailing is difficult or slow-paced. Hopefully, you can meet the right people and learn enough about sailing that you are included on a trip around the world when someone you know decides to go. You do not need to go on a lot of shorter sailing trips before you sail around the world; you just need some rather than no experience.
If you already have a boat, then you can get to the fun part a lot more quickly. There are still things to take care of in advance and to be mindful of while at sea, but you can get to your adventure sooner rather than later. Usually, people sail around the world on an eastward route. An eastward route is with the wind, so a westward route is more difficult.
You can choose to take whatever route you want, but most people take an eastward route and follow the wind. An eastward route means that you will sail from west to east, so you will be sailing west on an eastward route. If you are setting sail from the United States, you will first sail to the Panama canal and then sail west from there across the pacific.
After crossing the pacific, you should be north of Australia. Sail from there across the Indian Ocean and around the cape of good hope. From the cape, you can sail northwest again, eventually reaching the United States. You can choose to sail to many other places as well, depending on how long you want to be at sea.
For example, you could choose to sail from southern Africa up to Europe and the Mediterranean before returning to the United States. One common alternative to the typical eastward route is to sail through the red sea and the Mediterranean rather than around South Africa. This is a somewhat faster route than sailing around the cape of good hope. Don't attempt this unless it is currently safe, as there are pirates off the coast of East Africa.
If you are looking for a more challenging route, you could sail under south America instead of using the Panama canal. A more daring option is to take the northwest passage and sail around North America. These routes take longer, and if you take the northwest passage, it is risky to sail through the arctic water.
You can sail around the world in about 15 months, but it's better to spend a few years at sea and not rush the trip. If you try to make the trip in less than two years, you will not be able to stop anywhere for any length of time, as any delay means that hurricane season will cut you off for the rest of the year.
You will also have to buy equipment, which adds to the cost of your boat and the daily cost of living. You will also run into other fees while you are out to sea. You will also have to pay for storage, and you will run into other fees at ports.
Take everything into account, or else your expenses may be higher than you planned. You might rent a car when visiting a country, have to pay for medical expenses, or go to bars and restaurants. Expenses can appear suddenly and unexpectedly. Some people also like to fly home during the middle of a long sailing trip. They want to get away from the sea for a while and then return to their boat and continue. Flying home only once or twice might not make your trip vastly more expensive.
A sailing trip around the world has to be taken seriously and planned out properly in advance. You want to see as much of the world as possible on your adventure, so plan accordingly. When heading across the pacific, most sailors want to see Bora Bora, Tahiti, Samoa, and other famous pacific islands. You should make a timeline even if you do not stick to it. You should know roughly where in the world you will be during each week or month of your journey.
Without knowing where in the world you are going to be each month, it is not even easy to know how long you will be out to sea for. Timing is also crucial for avoiding hurricanes.
Sailing is an adventure in part because it is fairly dangerous. Don't make it any more dangerous than it typically is. You absolutely have to avoid sailing through hurricane-prone parts of the world during hurricane season. Hurricanes can and do kill foolish sailors.
You must time out your trip so that you sail through hurricane-prone parts of the world when there is no risk of a hurricane that time of year.
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