"Eddie" wrote in message
...
I got a son-in-law who is a little bit disillusioned. He thinks he
can go out and buy a 40' sailboat and sail it to the big island of
Hawaii. He's never been on a sailboat, much less sailed one.
He's a plumber, makes good money, and plans to spend around $200K for
a yacht to sail there. He's a nut case imho. But was wondering,
assuming he learns to sail, how many crew members does one need to do
this in such a large boat? I know this is a motor group, but I'm sure
someone could help.
In the meantime, I'm trying to talk him out of doing this dumb thing
unless he gets a lot of sailing experience, like starting out with a
16 footer. In any case, he ain't taking my daughter with him until he
proves to me he's an experienced sailor. I figure about 5 or 6 years
of practice. Maybe by then he'll get a little sense in his head and
flys there instead.
Thanks
Eddie

Eddie,
Buy him, as a gift, some US Sailing lessons covering Basic Keelboat, Basic
Cruising, Bareboat Cruising, Coastal Navigation, Coastal Passagemaking,
Celestial Navigation, and Offshore Passagemaking. It won't be inexpensive,
but I'm certain that your daughter is worth every penny! After completing
these courses and getting some experience relative to each course level
under his belt, he will be well prepared for making an intelligent decision
about his goal.

Once educated and experienced, he can make the trip solo or with a full
crew; whatever floats his boat! Yeah, pun intended.

After the first 4 courses I listed are completed he would make a great
addition to the crew and could join a boat making the passage.

Once he completes the first 4 courses and gains the experience associated
with each, he will be a lot smarter about his options.

Support him along this path and you can trust your daughter and
grandchildren under his care. If he decides to wing it, tell your daughter
to stay home, and take out some really good life insurance.