# Minimalist and ocean sailing



## JoCoSailor (Dec 7, 2015)

With great fascination I've been reading several threads about live aboard sailing and Minimalist living like "Are any still in business?", "Family aims to save planet&#8230;" and "Round the world in 80 days." There's another guy Roger Taylor that does this sort of thing. I never seen him mentioned here. He sails are far north has he can in an ACHILLES 24 (ACHILLES 24 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com). Talk about a minimalist. The only electronics on the boat are hand held GPS and running lights. He has a stove, but no sink nor head. He made his own sails, "rebuilt" the boat to be unsinkable. It's Junk Rigged with a mast he made from a lamp post. Since, I have no experience (nor desire) with live aboard sailing or Minimalist living. I like hear to what you guys think about Roger and his boat.


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## JoCoSailor (Dec 7, 2015)

Full Story (60 Minutes)


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## JoCoSailor (Dec 7, 2015)

Sorry the links did not post
MY SHIP IS SO SMALL: High-Latitude Micro-Cruisers








Full Story (60 Minutes)


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

I'd consider my second big boat pretty minimalist. Though a big boat, 65' it had few mod cons.
Launched in 1909 in Taunton Mass. as a gaff sloop she was a gaff rigged ketch when I bought her. Nary a winch to be found. Block and tackle galore. The only electric light aboard was the chart table light. Even the binnacle had oil lamps. Dusk arrives at sea and the running lights and binnacle oil lamps had to be lit. If one wanted light below, then one had to light a lamp.
Galley forward with the only access to fresh water was a 60 year old hand pump. It is truly a dying skill to wash both hands while pumping the water with one. Alcohol stove (the warm it up or have a fire type) and no refrigeration. An ancient Skipper head aft that worked better and more reliably than any head I've used since, including the systems on the mega-yachts I've skippered.
No GPS in those days and an actual lead line was our sounder. Not even a Windex. No autopilot, but she did have worm gear steering, so the helm remained where you put it. Manual windlass gave us 6" of chain for every 6' of handle throw.
The one concession to the modern world was an excellent stereo system. No 'cool head' of the 60's went to sea without his tunes, period. For navigational purposes I had to have a radio, but it was an antique Grundig. Lovely old thing.
As I said, except for her size, pretty minimalist, I think. Absolutely a magnificent way of life for a guy and his gal in their twenties.
Could I do it today? Sure, but I wouldn't. Well, maybe I could be bought, but at a hefty price.


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## amwbox (Aug 22, 2015)

Can't see this thread at all. Weird.


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## NHM527 (Nov 18, 2006)

Minimalist voyaging still interests me at age 66. It all started with a 48 foot Alden-designed yawl, built in 1921. That was minimalist! (See "capta" above.) When we used her in the 1958-1962 range, she was not considered minimalist but typical. We had an amazingly good time.

These days, I prefer a more modern vessel with few systems. I love the sail and the destination. After years as a professional skipper, I don't see systems enhancing either. I'm lazy so GPS is my favorite navigation system. We own a couple of handhelds and sextants and various almanacs. We have a depth meter and a lead line. 

The ocean is a beautiful place to be.


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## NHM527 (Nov 18, 2006)

Thetis of Cape Cod off Hatchet Bay, Eluthera, Bahamas 1961


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## NHM527 (Nov 18, 2006)

Averisera off Boston's Deer Island Light 2008.

A lot of beautiful sailing. Not so great at rest for a long time as we have no headroom. Once underway, wow! This is the boat I'd like to experiment with some minimalist cruising concepts.

blog at averisera dot com if you like such things.


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## albrazzi (Oct 15, 2014)

NHM527 said:


> Thetis of Cape Cod off Hatchet Bay, Eluthera, Bahamas 1961


Beautiful Boat, those were Hemingway's times ever run into him in you travels.


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## Slayer (Jul 28, 2006)

Capta.....sounds like a beautiful vessel and wonderful times!


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

It's good to see you got this thread working.

Yes, I like this guy's sailing style. I don't think I'm a minimalist, but I do appreciate having the right boat for the job. A lot of the big live aboard cruisers really don't make very good sail boats for gunk holing, day sailing, week ending or even coastal sailing, but they seem to be mostly what folks are buying right now. Eventually smaller boats are going to have to make a come back, as the big boats prevelant today just put too much strain on the available resources. If you have ever tried to find a seasonal dock for a boat over 35' in the 1000 Islands, you will know what I mean.

What I like about this guy is he ignores the marketing propaganda and he's a good enough sailor to know what kind of boat suits his style of sailing best.

It's nice to see sailing about sailing and not about consumption.


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

Good vids. Haven't heard of heard of Roger Taylor, but I love his approach and attitude. He's not a kook, or someone out to prove anything, he's just doing it. Love it.

I'm not really a minimalist, but I am guided by simplicity, quality, and going with the smallest boat I (we) can live with. At 37 feet our current boat feels right for now (actually she's 36' 9" - the exact same LOA as Spray ). I doubt we'll ever do what Taylor routinely does, but who knows. _If_ we make Newfoundland this coming season, I would definitely like to then explore up the Labrador coast a bit.

We'll see&#8230;


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## Rocky Mountain Breeze (Mar 30, 2015)

I think the real definition of minimalist would be defined as the folks the Kon-Tiki voyage was re-creating. Anything more is a forgery....


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Rocky Mountain Breeze said:


> I think the real definition of minimalist would be defined as the folks the Kon-Tiki voyage was re-creating. Anything more is a forgery....


There was another raft expedition across the Pacific, the Las Balsas Expedition. We encountered them some miles north of Bora Bora while sailing our 1909 gaffer.
Can you imagine what was going through our minds when *this* appeared over the horizon!


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## Rocky Mountain Breeze (Mar 30, 2015)

I think I saw a video on You Tube about that craft last year. My hat is off to anyone who challenges the open ocean in something like that.


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## amwbox (Aug 22, 2015)

Minimalism is what makes long distance sailing attainable without massive headaches. The point of sailing is to use the wind to move yourself about, ostensibly for free, considering the fair market value of wind. Spars and sailcloth and lines and a hull and away you go. It starts getting expensive, labor intensive, time consuming, and migraine inducing when we start insisting on bringing along the amenities. And engines, which these days basically nobody is willing to do without. Which is of course the difference between sailing for the sake of sailing and getting somewhere, or sailing as a comfortable and leisurely or even luxurious lifestyle. Wherever we fall on the spectrum, great. Personal preferences. But its frankly shocking, the difference in cost and aggravation between a smaller pocket cruiser that may not even have refrigeration, and a big boat that has complicated systems and exists in a highly corrosive environment. 

This guy goes all the way. Basically no systems, and a junk rig! A fine and pleasant misery, as they say. Comfort in discomfort. Probably does this for the same reason some people go camping in January.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

amwbox said:


> Which is of course the difference between sailing for the sake of sailing and getting somewhere, or sailing as a comfortable and leisurely or even luxurious lifestyle.


My boats have been my *HOME*, in one form or another, for over 50 years. I'm not one for camping out at home.
And it's not the "getting somewhere" that appeals to some of us about sailing, it's the going anywhere; the voyage.
I don't find minimalist sailing or sailors particularly admirable, just folks who are satisfied being less comfortable than others doing the same thing. They're the same folks who camp w/o a tent. Both campers may be in exactly the same camp ground, it's just that the ones w/the tent don't get wet when it rains.
On my circumnavigation the first and most important thing we wanted from folks who offered us help was a long, hot shower. Sure dinner at their home, doing our laundry, etc. were all wonderful, but it was the shower we really craved. Today I can have that shower, even several times a day, if I want, thanks to just three of those 'expensive, labor intensive, time consuming, and migraine inducing amenities' of yours, never mind the peace of mind in knowing I'll always have clean, safe drinking water at all times. That positively is *NOT* the case if one must take water from ashore.
And honestly, if one doesn't have all those 'expensive, labor intensive, time consuming, and migraine inducing amenities' to maintain, what is one supposed to do with all the time one isn't spending sailing? lol


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## amwbox (Aug 22, 2015)

Like I said, Wherever we fall on the spectrum, great. Personal preferences.

I'm not judging, or claiming one's preference as objectively superior. Different strokes. I _do_ find serious minimalism admirable, though not enough to want to emulate it. I personally try to find a middle path. I'll haul a dink around, but not an outboard and gasoline for it. I'll accept refrigeration, but don't mess with AC. I don't want to do long passages on a 20 or 24 footer...but as someone who typically single hands, a 30-33 footer would be great as opposed to 40+. I'll take running water in the galley, but it doesn't need to be hot. I want an enclosed head, but it doesn't need to have hot pressure shower or electric toilets. I'll take a couple solar panels, but I don't want enough electrical loads to necessitate a generator. And so on and so forth. This is not to say I don't consider AC and a hot shower on someone else's boat a completely _glorious_ thing. As for things to do when not spending time working on the boat? I'd probably start with a good book.

All that said...bringing a spouse or significant other along would probably require an additional order of magnitude or two in expense and complexity.  But there's still a lot to be said for the much cliched Go Small Go Simple philosophy, imo.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I definitely get a big complex boat for full time live aboard/long distance cruising purposes, like Capta practices. It's exactly the reason I have a 35' boat, my wife and young son needed a certain level of comfort for full time live aboard and cruising style voyaging that a smaller simpler boat couldn't offer.

However, my last yacht club (not so much my current marina) was full of 40+ foot name brand dock queens that were no more suited to 1000 Islands cruising than taking a 28' RV to the post office would be. 

For gunk holing, (which is my preferred voyaging style) I think a small, simple, robust, shallow draft boat really is the better boat. Having to rely on a gas powered rib to reach shore when gunk holing because the mother ship is too big and or fragile to even get reasonably close to shore is definitely not what I want.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I was goofing around on YouTube this evening and happened across this very impressive Slovenian Minimalist sailor. I watched all his videos back to back, he seems like an absolutely amazing sailor, especially for such a young guy.


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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

Back before You tube there were lots of BC minimalist sailors unrecorded. I cruised the BC coast for many years on a home made Spray. made mostly from demo'ed buildings and scrap metal,funded by beer bottle refunds and odd jobs Figure cost of about 12 grand when I wrote 'First voyage'.Click on my name to read. AS I consider myself pretty handy I had most of the bells and whistles and was licensed for 20 passengers as the years went by But you gotta start somewhere.


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## seabeau (Oct 5, 2014)

Capt Len said:


> Back before You tube there were lots of BC minimalist sailors unrecorded. I cruised the BC coast for many years on a home made Spray. made mostly from demo'ed buildings and scrap metal,funded by beer bottle refunds and odd jobs Figure cost of about 12 grand when I wrote 'First voyage'.Click on my name to read. AS I consider myself pretty handy I had most of the bells and whistles and was licensed for 20 passengers as the years went by But you gotta start somewhere.


 Well done sir! What a story. You accomplished what so many of us wanted to and succeeded at it quite admirably . The name Thane, did it come from some personage, from the early Saxon usage or was your vessel named after the historical Fife and Son vessel?


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## bristol299bob (Apr 13, 2011)

Theresa Carey: 





her TED talk:


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## willyd (Feb 22, 2008)

I stopped watching her stuff when I saw the $1,000 ship's chronometer.


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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

Thank you seabeau. Macbeth was the source for the name Boat names should be short , easily painted on hull, on paper work and hailed from beach or radio. 'Thane' worked well. If you're not tired of boat pics you can find Thane and more of my minimalist story .try three hour sail victoria .Many hits there by new owner and old ones by 'yours truly'


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

I like her approach, and her spirit. She’s a good communicator, and kinda cute in her demeanour, so fun to listen to. She seems to be a better marketer than “minimalist” cruiser though. That’s OK. I would if I could...


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