Harry Krause wrote:
RCE wrote:
"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.


Is his nickname "Skipper"?



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.

Five sailors would be a reasonable and safe crew, with each person
standing a six hour watch and another person "up" to spell the
watchstander and help out with any sudden adjustments of sails. It could
be done with a smaller crew, but then the voyage becomes more of a
challenge and less of a pleasure

Embarking on such a trip, however, requires several crew members with a
high level of sailing and navigational skills, and a stout, ocean-going
cruising sailboat up to the task. An awful lot can go wrong very quickly
out on the ocean, with deadly consequences.



The most common crew for a 40' boat would be 3 (4 if it is two couples).
Probably, the most common watch is 4 hrs, but I prefer a 3 hr. watch.
The last hour can go very slow at night and a 3 hr watch rotates the
watches so every day your watches are at a different time of day. With a
autopilot or windvane, it allows the person on watch to make any minor
adjustments in the sails. If you update your weather faxes, you get
very few unexpected wind changes.

--
Reggie
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That's my story and I am sticking to it.

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