Certainly Scout... I've done it myself in open water. Mind you I had a high
speed inflatable to make the passage and eased the sails to reduce speed.

Have you ever sailed an "Articulated Schooner"..... it's what we call it
when you arrange to tow another boat behind you [upwind only] ... both
vessels under canvas, no aux... and you'll want to trim the aft vessel to be
just slightly slower. You do have to board and trim on tacks but the effect
is eye catching! Best we've done is 3 boats...

CM


"Scout" wrote in message
...
| Bart,
| Ok, so you're sailing offshore, way offshore. You're sailing single-handed
| but with another boat doing the same; your friend's boat is a few hundred
| yards away. There are no other boats around for at least 50 miles. You
need
| some item (e.g., a cold beer or a torque wrench, doesn't matter) and it's
on
| his boat. How do you get the item? Would you ever abandon your boat to
raft
| over to him? Under any circumstances?
| It's a purely theoretical in the places I sail, but I'm wondering if ocean
| sailors ever leave their boat to autopilot.
| Scout
|
|
| "Bart Senior" wrote in message
| t...
| Anyone every sailed in a fleet of boats?
|
| On Thursday, I balanced the boat on a close
| haul and snuck up on the kids sitting in the bow
| while the boat steered itself, and waited to see
| how long before they noticed no one was
| driving.
|
| It took about 3 minutes.
|
|
|
|