# Planning a Transatlantic Voyage



## freetosail (Jun 28, 2009)

I joined this site to get connected with a community of people who can understand my dream. I have a dream to travel the world, and I plan to begin my circumnavigation when I turn 25. I understand that this is a difficult undertaking, but I believe that I have the desire and determination to make it happen. In preparation for this voyage I am planning to set sail on a transatlantic voyage directly after graduation. I've never left the United States (except for Canada, does that even count?) and am dying to see the world. As a student at an elite institution, I've always been told that I would be responsible for making a positive contribution to society. How can I make a positive impact on the world if I know nothing about what it is really like out there? I want to travel, to see the world, to learn different languages and experience different cultures. I want to see where and how I can make a difference first hand.


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## sck5 (Aug 20, 2007)

i saw on your website that you are going to spend $6500 on a boat to sail around the world. The boat you get for that much money is not one you (much less a crew of 6) will be able to sail around the world or across the ocean for that matter.


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## freetosail (Jun 28, 2009)

sck5 said:


> i saw on your website that you are going to spend $6500 on a boat to sail around the world. The boat you get for that much money is not one you (much less a crew of 6) will be able to sail around the world or across the ocean for that matter.


I've corrected the website to be a bit more clear. The needed amounts represent how much I need to fundraise above and beyond my available resources. It also doesn't take into account for the fact that I will have additional resources in the future that I will allocate between navigational equipment, safety equipment, mooring fees, insurance, voyage expenses... I need to buy this boat soon, but once I have it I should have most of the resources I need to get it ready for the voyage, and the rest ... that's why I'm fundraising. There's only so much I can do as a full-time undergraduate in addition to working part-time.

The boat I have in mind has already circumnavigated twice, and is valued at much more than 6500$. It is worth 72,000$ brand-new according to the survey, and it has been well-taken care of. I'm in contact with the owners and will be inspecting it soon, but I'm a few thousand short from being able to take this boat home, if it turns out to be what I'm looking for. I'm already working full-time and bringing in as much as I can. It's a proven 36' cruising sailboat with brand new sails and rigging, and if it'll be a little crowded at least I'll have gotten myself out on the open water. (btw the crew size isn't fixed, it's hard to get a fully committed crew until they see the boat in the harbor)

I'm doing the best I can to work within my means so that this voyage actually gets going and I'm glad to take any advice you can give me.


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

Six people is a lot on a small boat. Based on my experience, including a transatlantic, with crews from two to five and some single-handed hops I think three or four (including you) is the crew size that will most likely be successful.

The physical issues of the boat are relatively easy to manage. The interaction of crew is critical to a successful passage. People have to have a common understanding of expectation and a common standard for behavior and care of the boat.

Good luck realizing your dream.


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## catamount (Sep 8, 2002)

freetosail said:


> The boat I have in mind has already circumnavigated twice, and is valued at much more than 6500$. It is worth 72,000$ brand-new according to the survey, and it has been well-taken care of. I'm in contact with the owners and will be inspecting it soon, but I'm a few thousand short from being able to take this boat home, if it turns out to be what I'm looking for.


Asking price and selling price are rarely the same thing. Why not go ahead and make an offer that is consistent with your currently available resources? Maybe the seller will go for it... This is a buyer's market!


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

Oh geez...I can already hear the paypal register going kaching kaching.

A boat the owner paid 32K for and "invested" $17k is "WORTH" $72 grand in a depression/recession? Is math no longer on the curriculum? Are you that gullible? 
Now the owner is probably asking less than $32K and it looks like a catamaran...and 9 out of 10 says it will cost more to fix it than to buy it. And 10 out of 10 says it was never designed for windward passages for 6 in the high latitudes. There ain't a <$30 cat on earth that is.

Just WHAT have you accomplished that leads you to believe other people should fund YOUR dream instead of our own? 
Go to work and LEARN to sail...then fund your own dream.
After four (or more?) years at an "elite" New England institution I'm sure your parents are so proud that after a $200k education you can't seem to figure out how to make a contribution to the world without someone else funding a trip for you and 5 lucky friends.


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## night0wl (Mar 20, 2006)

Cam - you're saying exactly what I wanted to. Its unbelievable how many people come upon this forum and post that they're crossing oceans on a $10k boat that they've been watching on flea-bay

There is no "deals" in boating...there are so many (broke) people sharing the dream that you almost always pay market price


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## chall03 (Oct 14, 2002)

Free to sail. Welcome to Sailnet.

Firstly let me say that wanting to do something different from the norm with at least a portion of your life is a very worthwhile, admirable pursuit......your dream is a great one. 

Now Secondly, Cam's and other responses on here may seem cynical to you, however you have to understand that nearly every other month someone young comes onto Sailnet stating something along the lines of 'gee my dream is to sail the world, please donate on my site, so I can buy a boat and go snorkelling in Tahiti on your money'.

The problem with this is that alot of the folk on here are people who have just worked their asses off for most of their life, to now be able to enjoy their own dreams of sailing...

From your original post you seems like a great guy. I'm sure your intent is pretty innocent, but in short just be very careful about asking other people to fund your dreams.....

Let me say that the same people attacking you on here though, would also be the first to offer you help if you were in trouble 'out there'. 
Also if you figure out how to pay for your boat without paypal, these folk probably would also be the first to invite you onboard and offer you a drink in a anchorage.

Now A Cascade 36 in my fairly limited experience wouldn't be a bad boat to do it in......

5 people would probably give each other the poos before you even got a quarter of the way across the Atlantic......Do some reading on water tankage, and provisioning and you will see why this alone is going to make 5 people a bad idea. 

Best of luck with making your dreams come true.


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## freetosail (Jun 28, 2009)

I appreciate all replies that I get even if they're negative. Preparing for this trip is going to be a lot of hard work and require every dime that I earn this year, and I'm prepared for that. When I began my planning, I was determined that I could make this trip on my own limited funds, but as I continued to do research, I began to think that maybe a bit of support would be necessary. I've lived an extremely impoverished life up until this point, and after years of always being in fear of losing the roof over one's head one develops a unhealthy relationship with money and are often forced to resort to begging. I learned what it's like to work full-time to bring in the only paycheck when I was still in high school. So, I know what it means to work hard for what you want, which is how I became a student at MIT.

I apologize for making such a desperate move, I have to learn that I'm above such tactics at this point in my life. I've never banked on the help from strangers, and I will still accomplish my goal. I'll request to have this post deleted in a few hours, and focus on using this community to increase my knowledge of the open waters before I set sail.

Thanks very much.


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## Cruisingdad (Jul 21, 2006)

Sailing off around the world on some beatup cat with $6500 and the rest in borrowed money with a bunch of your friends (and no sailing experience for the most part) is not a life-changing experience... it is a life ending one. Perhaps a little research into the number of well found vessels and very experienced Captains that will never be seen again will enlighten you into the reality of your dreams.

There is nothing wrong with your dreams. I have been there too. Everyone has. It is the approach that needs some polishing - including educating yourself on the realities of what you are describing. It would be the equivalent of saying I am going to buy some boots at Walmart and go hike Mt Everest. If you said this on a forum of experienced Mountain Climbers, the response would be the same.

Unless your email address and other items are faked (which I suspect they are not) you DO have a very good educational background from a very fine school. I know a bunch of people from there. Use it to fund your dreams and future. Then, when you head off to the open water, you will have the skills, funds, and knowledge of knowing you (and no one else) made it happen. That knowledge going to sea is priceless and might just save your life.

My opinions (and I will leave this post up for reasons you can PM me for if you want).

- CD


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

When I was Freetosail's age I had a similar set goals although slightly less ambitious and four close friends from architecture school who seriously wanted to do it with me. At the time we approached this like a design problem, breaking the process into parts, the first of which was educating ourselves on what it would take to distance voyage. listed the areas of knowledge that we would need and assigned each topic to two members of our group.

If I were in Freetosail's shoes today, as my friends and I did back then, I would sit down and put together a list of all of the things that I would want to know before I set off voyaging such as:
· Boat handling,
· Boat husbandry, repair and maintenance
· Diesel maintenance and repair
· First aid
· Financial management from offshore
· Heavy weather tactics
· Legal restrictions on leaving and entering foreign countries
· Navigation, (Celestial, dead reckoning and electronic) 
· Provisioning
· Radio operators license exam requirements
· Safe and dangerous fish and seafood
· Sail trim
· Survival skills 
· Etc&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..

Once I had what I thought was a complete list, I would set up a schedule to try to develop those areas of skill that I was currently lacking. As much as possible I would try to involve all those involved in as many of those aspects as each is capable of understanding.

As a general rule, the traditional rule of thumb was that a boat capable of long distance voyaging required approximately 2 1/2 to 5 long tons per person (roughly 5,400 to 11,000 lbs per person). This has been stretched some by modern needs and modern equipment.

Good luck,

Jeff


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## Bellita (Jul 9, 2009)

on sailing around the world.....
I too had the dream in college. I bought my first boat - 3' draft, 24 foot alden sloop for $3K and sailed the snot out it, working on it to learn the systems, on a lake in Dallas. I learned a lot. I sold that boat and began moving progressively up in size and into the ocean - building more experience. After 10 years of planning and practicing offshore in progressively worse weather - some by design, others by freak accident, i acquired a beat up Morgan 41 - spent 4 months working and outfitting her and off I went to Puerto Rico. 
Most of the trip was magical - dolphins surrounding and playing with my boat in the middle of nowhere near sunset, etc. The parts that weren't were the days of 16 foot, short period seas and losing my steering in the midst of them.The experiences learned prior to this event saved my life and my boat - I knew what to do (as my butt severely puckered and my adreline went through the roof), how to control my panic as a single hander and how to rapidly assess my situation and get my boat out of a beam sea broaching situation and back to an island 9 hours away to affect repairs without additional help. I knew this because I had experienced progressively similiar situations in the prior 10 years; from practice and other things randomly breaking on other boats. I had worked on my boat and knew it inside and out and I had spent a lot of "what-if this were to happen to me, what would I do" time as I laid in bed at night.
Because of these things, my near disaster became nothing more than a really crappy day on an otherwise difficult, but great run down the thorny path. 

I now live and work in Puerto Rico and play in the waters I love so much. Never made it around the world, but I did make it to the part of the world I truly enjoy the most - the US/British/Spanish Virgin Islands.

It would not have been possible without the proper preparation. Nobody is trying to rain on your parade - just really help you understand the importance of knowing what raingear to wear when to join your parade. Rookies aren't often allowed in race cars for a reason - they tend to break expensive things and sometimes die in the process. Same with boats crossing oceans.

Keep your dreams alive!!! Live them and enjoy them, but gain the skill and confidence necessary to do it right. The life you save may be yours and the loved ones with you.

Best of luck realizing your dreams - plan it, properly prepare for it, then do it!


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## imagine2frolic (Aug 7, 2008)

Good luck with your dream. If you pay for it in whole by yourself. It will be that much more of a reward to you. At 58 I have learned in life that when someone hands something to someone. It's usually not well taken care of or appreciated to it's full extent. When they pay out of thier own pocket the item seems to be well taken care of.......*i2f*


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Hey free,
Just a suggestion, but maybe instead of just going whole-hog cross-atlantic take a smaller, but still quite considerable, step of buying a smaller boat and sailing down the atlantic coast and around the bahama isles. You'd get invaluable experience while still sailing to great destinations.

This guy did something similar instead of waiting for the "perfect boat" for world traveling and his story is pretty interesting:
AfterBlue blog


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