In article ,
says...


That must rank as about the most informative and helpful reply I've
had thus far. You've sold me on the idea of crewing first at least -
and maybe saved me a lot of money and trouble as well!

You don't KNOW how much, yet. And thanks too Larry. I know you wrote that one
off the top of your head in I am sure a lot more than twenty minutes. Your
comments are not only for newbies.

in message , New
Conservative ') wrote:

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 22:32:34 -0500, Larry W4CSC
wrote:

Hi Larry,

[survey info snipped]

Makes no difference. You get there when you get there, if you get
there at
all. You are at the total mercy of wind and waves and storm fronts
and your own incompetence.....

You have two problems. Single handed isn't really legal by
international law as you must "Maintain a Sharp Lookout" so you don't
run into anything. Around The World Alone races are simply overlooked
because they move lots of expensive products with the
gunwale-to-gunwale advertising, so they get
away with it. NEVER SAIL TO SEA ALONE is good advise. I don't care
if you're a world class triathelon champion, the sea will wear your
ass down in no time at all and you'll think you just can't lift
another arm or take another turn on a winch, having given up hours ago
because your arms feel like lead and you can't keep your eyes
open.....This is why we stand 2 hour watches with the OTHER CREW
MEMBERS who've been tossing and turning in their almost sleep trying
to get some sleep before it's their turn, again.

By day 6, noone talks to anyone any more. They're all too tired from
being
thrown about, 24/7 for 6 days to talk. If it's calm and everyone gets
to rest, we don't GET ANYWHERE just sitting there with all the dirty
laundry
flapping restlessly NOT pulling the boat through the water. If it's
windy, it's rough and sleep is hard, even though you're exhausted.

Now you put it like that, single-handedness is losing its appeal...

The trouble with newsgroups is that you have to judge for yourself to
what extent the people on it know what they're talking about.

Yes, there is a question mark over the legality of single handed
sailing, because of the watch keeping issue. There always has been -
this isn't some new rule. In practice, if you're sailing a small boat,
this isn't a problem.

If you have reasonable self steering gear the boat is going to look
after herself a great deal of the time. In my (limited) experience, the
main problem with cruising single handed is taking enough books to
read. Yes, there will be some days of bad weather, and you will need to
know how to look after your boat through those. Yes, there may be some
days of flat calm, which are pretty trying in my experience. But going
to sea is not generally some dreadful experience, and the people who
are claiming it is have probably never tried it. If your boat isn't
comfortable, that's your problem for having chosen the wrong boat or
for not having equipped her right.

I would not advise you to buy a boat and immediately sail across the
Atlantic single handed. In fact, I would very strongly advise you not
to. I'd advise you to go sailing with different people on different
boats to learn what sort of boat you like and to gain experience before
you buy anything at all.

But if sailing across the Atlantic without experience is what you want
to do it is not /outrageously/ unsafe. You have a better than evens
chance of making it, and, in my opinion, a better than 90% chance of
surviving it. You'll also learn a lot about yourself in the process.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Anagram: I'm soon broke.

New Conservative wrote in
news
That must rank as about the most informative and helpful reply I've
had thus far. You've sold me on the idea of crewing first at least -
and maybe saved me a lot of money and trouble as well!

Many thanks, Larry.



Crewing is great....er, ah, especially the part where I go over to the
marine store to spend someone ELSE'S money...(c;

I think it's better to crew than to own your own boat. It takes little
money, you don't HAVE to go if you don't want to, and there's no monthly
money flow. I get a great feeling out of helping someone else fixing their
stuff. Spent all morning, yesterday, with another ham friend re-installing
a new radar dome, some halyards/blocks, a new Windex and checking out the
VHF antennas atop the masts and lighting. He had to go to work at 1 so we
couldn't hang around the boat all afternoon and drink beer....darn it.

Maybe later this afternoon....(c;

New Conservative wrote:

First of all, what's a "survey" - when is it necessary and how much
does it cost?

What it costs depends on the surveyor and the size of the boat.
Usually is priced per foot of length. It something like what we over
here call a home inspection and is done any time you are paying more
for the boat than you can afford to lose if it turns out to have
serious problems that you didn't see.

Next: How long would it take to sail single-handedly from S/England to
the Windward Islands given average weather conditions at a reasonably
favorable time of year in a Contessa 32 or Nic 32?

No idea.

Next: If one ends up in some distant safe harbor somewhere abroad;
what right (if any) does one have to simply tie-up at a convenient
mooring and go to sleep for say 24hrs? I'm thinking here about an
analogy with a deckchair dude; do you just 'park-up' and wait for
someone to charge you for your stay? And what prospect of getting a
space in such a harbor?

When you go to a foreign country you need to be prepared to check in
through customs and immigration. Part of being prepared is knowing
what the requirements are for that country. It's different in
different countries.

You probably can't just take a mooring. Sometimes you can anchor
while you take care of business but sometimes you have to tie up to a
quay or dock (and pay for that).

Usually you have to check in within 24 hours, and it is usually better
to do this during business hours.

For instance.

If we go from the US to the Bahamas, we come into the harbor (one of
the harbors that has officials available - you have to check on this
in advance to know which ones are possible) flying the Bahamas
courtesy flag and the Q flag (the quarantine flag which is yellow and
indicates that we have not yet checked in).

Then we tie up to a dock one person (the captain) goes to check in for
everyone with the documents (like passports) of the crew and all the
other persons on board with him/her. After the documents have been
checked and approved, and the entry fee has been paid then you can
take down the Q flag and the other persons can go ashore.

Finally, what's the difference between a "berth" and a "cabin"?

A berth is usually the bed and the cabin is the room it is in. A
cabin may or may not have a berth in it.

A berth can also be a place for a ship at the dock, or a job. You can
say "I have a berth on that ship as a cook" That's not referring to
the place you sleep, but to the job..

Also sometimes people refer to the forward cabin in the bow as the
V-berth. That's because it is V-shaped and has one or two beds in it.

I realize these are stupid questions, but beg your indulgence.

grandma Rosalie

Next: If one ends up in some distant safe harbor somewhere abroad;
what right (if any) does one have to simply tie-up at a convenient
mooring and go to sleep for say 24hrs?

After you've sailed for a while and got some education under your belt
(isn't that what everyone recommended for your last post?), hopefully
you'll know to look in the "Coastal Pilot" to find out specific
information on anchorages and mooring restrictions.

--

=-------------------------------------------------=
Renewontime
A FREE email reminder service for licensed mariners
http://www.renewontime.com
=-------------------------------------------------=

"New Conservative" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

First of all, what's a "survey" - when is it necessary and how much
does it cost?

Next: How long would it take to sail single-handedly from S/England to
the Windward Islands given average weather conditions at a reasonably
favorable time of year in a Contessa 32 or Nic 32?

Next: If one ends up in some distant safe harbor somewhere abroad;
what right (if any) does one have to simply tie-up at a convenient
mooring and go to sleep for say 24hrs? I'm thinking here about an
analogy with a deckchair dude; do you just 'park-up' and wait for
someone to charge you for your stay? And what prospect of getting a
space in such a harbor?

Finally, what's the difference between a "berth" and a "cabin"?

I realize these are stupid questions, but beg your indulgence.
--

"Suffer no one to tell you what to think."
Martin Smith, the New Conservative Party.

http://www.newconservativeparty.org

Take a sailing course and all theses and other matters ( on which your life
may depend ) will come clear. Don't attempt it until you have done a LOT of
sailing.
Do I gather from your spelling of harbour that you are American ? (If so it
explains a lot).

Duncan, are you still be ****ed about losing the colonies?
JR

Duncan Heenan wrote:
"New Conservative" wrote in message
...

Hi all,

First of all, what's a "survey" - when is it necessary and how much
does it cost?

Next: How long would it take to sail single-handedly from S/England to
the Windward Islands given average weather conditions at a reasonably
favorable time of year in a Contessa 32 or Nic 32?

Next: If one ends up in some distant safe harbor somewhere abroad;
what right (if any) does one have to simply tie-up at a convenient
mooring and go to sleep for say 24hrs? I'm thinking here about an
analogy with a deckchair dude; do you just 'park-up' and wait for
someone to charge you for your stay? And what prospect of getting a
space in such a harbor?

Finally, what's the difference between a "berth" and a "cabin"?

I realize these are stupid questions, but beg your indulgence.
--

"Suffer no one to tell you what to think."
Martin Smith, the New Conservative Party.

http://www.newconservativeparty.org


Take a sailing course and all theses and other matters ( on which your life
may depend ) will come clear. Don't attempt it until you have done a LOT of
sailing.
Do I gather from your spelling of harbour that you are American ? (If so it
explains a lot).

"JR Gilbreath" wrote in message
.. .
Duncan, are you still be ****ed about losing the colonies?
JR

So you ARE American, and that DOES explain a lot!
PS How do you like owning Afghanistan and Iraq?

Fine. How does it feel being a lap dog?

Duncan Heenan wrote:

"JR Gilbreath" wrote in message
.. .

Duncan, are you still be ****ed about losing the colonies?
JR


So you ARE American, and that DOES explain a lot!
PS How do you like owning Afghanistan and Iraq?

JR Gilbreath wrote:

Fine. How does it feel being a lap dog?


this coming from someone living in an economy so ****ed it depends on former
commie pinko *******s the chinese to bankroll them while being forced to
engage in illegal acts of war against sovereign states to secure a supply
of oil in the meantime.

hand on heart with absolute honesty, for MANY years I would have gladly
swapped UK citizenship for USA citizenship, now, you probably could pay me
to work there, but not in dollars....



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Internal from £30 External from £75 (trade)
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