Sail Ready!

Invaluable information for people getting ready to go

cruising on a sailboat

Rod
Campbell-Ross
Sail Ready!

ISBN 0-9757928-0-6
Title: Sail Ready: What I Wish I Had Known Before I Went Sailing
Edition:
Author/Contributor: Campbell-Ross, Rod; Campbell-Ross, Sue (ed);
de Pauuw, Wendy (ill)

© Copyright 2005, Rod & Sue Campbell-Ross

Glen Tramman Cottage
Lezayre
Isle of Man

30 June 2005
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole
or in part, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission of Rod or Sue Campbell-Ross.

1
Foreword
A boat is, in my view, possibly the best platform for travelling. You are free to go to
travel wherever you want to (lots of places) and yet your home is always nearby. You
can get away from the madding crowd or you can join it. You will meet many people, a
few of who will become lifelong friends. (Most will be great friends while you are
cruising, and that is OK too). You will be a part of the yachtie community which will
support you, entertain you, teach you, guide you, advise you and be one of the greatest
gifts of the sailing life!

It is wonderful to enter a new bay and see many boats that you know and may not have
seen for a while, sharing a cold beer, discussing the last few thousand miles. These
relationships are extremely important; the yachtie community's success is built on
shared experience and mutual help and support.

In this world where the state has assumed the role of "nanny" it is refreshing to do as
one pleases (more or less) and to be responsible for your self. I suppose that one day
governments are going to decide that letting citizens sail off on their own into the sunset
is just too dangerous; and stop it.

This book attempts to provide answers to some of the questions you are likely to have if
you are thinking about going cruising. It is the book containing information that I wish I
had known before I started. It also contains the distilled information from many of the
wonderful friends we sailed with who kindly responded when I told them about this book
and asked them "What do know now that you wish you had known when it all started?".

The book is written to be used as a broad introduction to those thinking of going cruising
and is set up in an A-Z format for reference during the preparation phase before actually
setting off. Each subject is of necessity brief, an overview. Some subjects require a
complete book in their own right. It is also assumed that the reader is already a sailor,
can navigate and understands the sea. Therefore there are many references to other
books throughout this book and readers can choose whether they wish to know more
about a subject or not.

There are a few imperatives to be a successful cruiser:

• You must be able to sail and know how to practice good seamanship (see
"Experience").
• You must be "handy" and be willing and able to repair almost anything.
• You must have a good relationship with your partner, cruising will expose all the
weaknesses.
• You must be relatively healthy (see "Health').
• You must be able to afford it (see "Finances").

2
Contents
Life Raft 69
Lightning 70
Abandon Ship 5
Anchoring 6 Man Over Board 71
Autopilots 14 Medical 73

Batteries 17 Navigation 75
Becalmed 20
Boat (Choice of) 21 Outboard Engines 77

Checklists 27 Parachute Sea Anchor 78

Children 28 Pirates 80
Ciguatera Poisoning 30 Pumps 82
Computers 31
Containers 35 Radar 83
Cookers 36 Reducing Sail 84
Coral 37 Refrigeration 85
Crew 38 Rig 86

Diesel 40 Safety 87
Dinghies 41 Sails 90
Scuba 92
El Nino 43 Seasickness 93
Electricity (Mains) 46 Simplicity 94
Electrolysis 47 Smart Chargers 96
EPIRB 48 Solar Panels 97
Experience 49 Spares 98
Squalls 100
Fatigue 50 SSB Radio (HF Radio) 101
Finances 51 Storms 102
First Aid 52 Strobes 103
Fishing 53 Sun (Avoidance) 104

Gas 54 Taxes 105

Generators 56 Tools 106
GMDSS 57
GPS Failure 58 Voltage 109
Grab Bag 61
Washboards 110
Hatches (broken) 62 Washing 111
Health 63 Watches 112
Heave To 64 Water Turbine Generators 113
Holed! 65 Waterline 114
Water makers 115
Instruments 67 Weather 119
Wind Turbine Generators 120
Jack Lines 68 Wind Vanes 121

3
Abandon Ship!
Be ready to abandon ship in 30 seconds. Yachts can 30 seconds
go down that fast. Have a list of what to do and what
to get. Post a copy of the list near the chart table and
memorise it. Make sure all the crew memorise it well.

DO NOT PANIC! Keep thinking! Even though it is

terrifying to abandon ship it essential not to lose your Keep thinking
wits. Your life depends on it! Your crew are depending
on your lead and you must provide it.
Practice
Abandon Ship is a drill that must be practised
regularly, both during the day and night when
everyone is sleeping. Make it fun if possible but do it
and time it. If you take more than 30 seconds to
muster everybody and everything in calm weather that
is too long. If people muster without their lifejackets
they are not mustered.
List
Sample Abandon Ship List:

1. EPIRB
2. Hand held VHF
3. Grab Bag (see “grab bag’)
4. Passports and ships papers
5. Water
6. Sheath Knife off deck
7. Torch
8. Rescue Line and Quoit
9. Liferaft
10. Fishing gear
11. Children in life jackets
12. Flares
13. Emergency food
14. Dinghy (time permitting)
15. Outboard and petrol (time permitting)
16. Anything else time permitting (food, medicines,
kitchen implements, tools clothes)

In the liferaft:
1. Bailer
2. Leakstoppers
3. Repair kit
4. Survival and immediate action cards

Why the dinghy? Liferafts are manufactured to last Dinghy

between 20 and 30 days. There have been cases
where people have survived 40 or 50 days because Recommended reading: Survive the
they took the dinghy. savage sea, Dougal Robertson

4
Anchoring
Anchors
Good ground tackle is essential for a good nights’ Get good ground tackle
sleep When at anchor. Not only is it important to
having a good nights rest, but it is a vital piece of
safety equipment that may save you and your boat if
you find yourself in difficulty. You anchor could be
your last resort when on a lee shore or within a reef
and your engine dies on you. It should always be in
good working order.

You should have at least one spare bow anchor and a Spare bow anchor
separate stern anchor (kedge). If you are going to
cruise higher latitudes you may want more than this.
In addition you should also carry a dinghy anchor.

An anchor is designed so that when it is pulled

horizontally along the sea-floor it digs in. It is thus
critical that the anchors shank is kept horizontal. The
key to achieving this is laying down enough chain.
Your main anchor rode should be all chain and you
should carry a minimum of 100 metres. When 100m of heavy chain
anchoring you should work on a minimum scope of 3
and if possible lay more chain down. Generally work
on a scope of 4-5, you never know when the wind
might come up in the night. Sometimes if it is blowing,
or a blow is predicted, you will want to set down
enough chain for a scope of 7. Some people say you
can never have too much chain out and if a gale is
expected you may want to let all your chain out. 100
metres of chain will allow you (when it is calm) to
anchor in up to 30 metres of water, although there will
be very few occasions when you will find yourself
wanting to anchor in such deep water. There will be
several times when you will want to anchor in 18-22
meters of water. Having 100 metres of chain will give
you anchoring options many other boats do not have
because you still set an anchor in water 20m deep
and swing on a scope of up to 5.

If you use a chain and rode combination your

minimum scope should be 7. Note that nylon rodes
are not much use within coral reefs because they are
very likely to chafe.

Chain weight for size of boat should be as follows:

30-40 feet 8mm
40-50 feet 10mm
50-60 feet 12mm

5
These are not hard and fast. Experienced yachties will
tell you that laying heavy chain on the bottom is as
important as the weight and type of anchor. The
anchor should weigh at least the same in pounds as
the boats length in feet. But it can be bigger, up to 1.5 Anchor size (weight) = at
- 2 times that figure. Why not get a really big anchor? least the boats length in
Getting one that that is double the minimum, say the feet in pounds
same as the boats length in feet in kilograms will only
add 20-30 kilo’s, which is nothing when you are sailing
10-20 tons of boat. Note that the anchor and rode
together are a system and that they work together.
They are equal partners in helping ensure that you are
able to sleep peacefully. Do not save money here.
Invest in the right equipment, whatever the cost. One
final point: double tie the “bitter end” of your anchor
chain to the hull with two separate pieces of Nylon line Secure the bitter end well –
rated stronger than the chain itself. Tie the second off many a chain has
on a different link in the chain. You may need a disappeared over a bow
shackle to do this. If you need to you can easily cut roller
the line.

Mark your chain so that you know how much has been
let out. If you use paint use a bright colour such as
yellow. It will wear off very quickly anyway, but the
brighter the colour the longer you will be able to see
what is left. Cable ties are another method. Use a
system that is easy to interpret. You will be surprised
how difficult it is to see in the dark!

Most boats nowadays carry the plough type of anchor

as their main anchor with the second bow anchor
being a sand anchor. There are many types of anchor
and many brands. The famous plough type anchors
include the CQR "secure" and its copies as well as the
Bruce and a few others. There are some modern CQR or Bruce
anchors that are light because they are made of
aluminium. Their makers claim superior performance
for a variety of reasons. Indeed you will find copious
quantities of information about which anchor is best. In
truth some may be best in mud, some in sand etc.
You need an anchor that is an all rounder and you
should not go wrong with either of the two types
mentioned.

Entering an anchorage
When anchoring, remember that LIFO is the golden
rule of anchor etiquette: Last In First Out. If your boat LIFO
causes problems for other boats at anchor; and you
came in after them, you should leave or otherwise
ensure that your boat causes no further problems.

6
Scope: the amount of chain or rode between the Scope=rode
anchor and the boat, divided by the maximum depth of Depth
the water, taking the tide (and height of the bow roller
above the water) into account.

Finding a good spot to anchor is a skill, acquired with Find a good spot
experience. When anchoring in a crowded bay or
anchorage, look for a suitable "hole", a roundish gap
between the other boats. Manoeuvre your boat so that
it approaches the hole from downwind and stop more
or less on the stern of the boat at the extreme Windward edge of gap
windward side of the hole, or better, between two
boats on the windward side.

Knowing the depth, drop the anchor with sufficient Drop Anchor and fall back
chain for the anchor merely to hit the sea floor. At this smoothly
point it is important not to drop chain on top of the
anchor. If you do this, all you will achieve is a fouled
anchor that will not set. Reversing the boat slowly, pay
out the chain until you have a scope of 2. As the boat Set a scope of at least 3,
moves astern allow the anchor to "bite" momentarily, but work on swinging on a
and then continue to pay out chain until you have let scope of 5 in most
out sufficient chain to swing on your desired scope (at anchorages
least 3). My own minimum scope is 5 or at least 20m
(if anchored in less than 3m of water). After letting the
boat rest for a moment, reverse the boat slowly and
test how well your anchor is holding. Do this slowly
and smoothly otherwise any jerk may pull the anchor
right out of the bottom. In the tropics the water is often
clear and you can see the anchor on the bottom. If
you can’t see the anchor from the boat you can
reassure yourself by diving on the anchor to check it
and the lie of the land generally under your boat. After
a while this becomes second nature.

Let the boat settle and swing and ensure that you Let the boat settle and
have sufficient room to swing without alarming or check what is happening
touching other boats. Then set your anchor snub (See
“Anchor Snub”).

Boats in an anchorage will swing about and remain

clear of each other most of the time. Catamarans and Steer clear of catamarans
motor boats swing very differently to a monohull sail and motorboats
boat. Monohull sailboats also behave differently to
each other, some boats “sail around” at anchor more
than other boats. Hanavave Bay (Fatu Hiva) in the
Marquesas has gusts of wind coming off the mountain
sides in different directions. Sometimes the wind can
drop to a dead calm. All these factors will require that
more room is needed per boat in a bay than if the
wind is settled and the boats are fairly similar.

7
Fortunately in the Pacific anchorages are rarely
crowded.

One important point to bear in mind: Anchor tackle is

heavy and unforgiving. Keep children and hands clear
of moving chain and chain handling equipment
(rollers, windlasses etc). If you do get your hand
caught in moving chain it is likely that it will be badly
mangled. Your injuries could be very severe and you
could be a long way from help. Learn to operate your
anchor with children off the foredeck and keep fingers,
long hair and loose clothing well clear. Develop a habit
of considering the situation critically every time anchor
equipment is operated.

Anchor Snub
Setting an anchor snub is good practice. It makes your Set an anchor snub
boat quieter on anchor and if done well makes your
anchor more secure.

In any event, it is essential to take the load off your Take the load off your
windlass. Your windlass is designed to lift the anchor windlass
and to let it out, not to act as a cleat.

The main culprit, both for noise and for dragging is Snatching is noisy and can
snatching, especially in anchorages such is many in cause dragging
the Canary Islands that have vicious gusts of wind
known as wind acceleration. An all chain anchor
should have a good catenary effect* but adding one or
two rubber "snubbers" to give the snub extra elasticity
works extremely well.

8
The boat, swinging around, even quite violently, will
sometimes stretch the snub to the full extent possible.
Without the elastic snub the anchor may have been
pulled out of its holding and dragged.

*Catenary effect: the effect of the weight of the chain,

between the boat and the point at which it lies on the
seabed, that gives elasticity to your anchor.

Anchoring in the Tropics

In the tropics you can often see the bottom. Drop your
anchor in sand instead of on coral or rocks. Many an
anchor and chain get fouled in coral. Stay away if you can.

Secondary anchors
It may be necessary because of the weather, the
holding, or for some other reason to set more than
one anchor, or to tie yourself off to a tree or rock or
something on the shore in addition to, or instead of
using your main anchor.
2 anchors?
In a particularly tight anchorage, you might find a
small space that allows you no scope. The "Admiralty
Method" of laying two anchors may allow you to swing
on a scope of little more than the depth of water.

Some anchorages (e.g. Admiralty Bay in Bequia in the

West Indies) have poor holding and you may wish to

9
set 2 anchors from the bow. The 2 main ways of doing
this are either to set another anchor at approximately
30º-45º from the first, or to set 2 in tandem. Both
methods involve significant extra work and the
secondary anchor is more difficult to retrieve,
especially in a hurry. You may have to buoy the
secondary anchor off with a fender and drop it,
retrieving it later if you do have to leave in a hurry. The
golden rule remains: make sure your primary ground
tackle is good enough to rely on 99% of the time.

The 30º-45º anchor can be dropped either with a

dinghy or by the boat itself.

If with the dinghy, carry the anchor to the assigned

spot and drop it. Return to the boat and take up the
slack moving the boat to one side so that the anchors
lie in a 45º arc off your bow.

If directly from the boat let out additional chain from

your main anchor, allowing the boat to fall back. Then
drive the boat up to the selected spot and drop the
second anchor. Fall back paying out the second
anchor rode and adjusting the first until tension on
both is equal and the boat is lying with the anchors in
a 30º-45º arc off your bow. The advantage with this is
that the load is split, and should one anchor drag, the
other will (may) continue to hold until you have time to
fix the problem with the first anchor. If conditions make
it likely that you will swing this method is not so good.
You will achieve an unholy mess on your bow that
may well be impossible to unravel without cutting the
rode.

Another method of laying 2 anchors is to lay them in

tandem (our preferred option). The first anchor is likely
to be one of your spares. Using chain, shackle it to the
second anchor at the lifting point above the flukes.
Drop the first anchor and then, while reversing the
boat, pay out the chain until it hits the bottom or until it
is all paid out and then drop the second anchor. The
rest is then the same as for laying one anchor.

Stern anchors
The other essential anchor is your stern anchor. In a
blow you will want to secure the boat with all the
anchors you have. The stern anchor will hold the boat Set an anchor astern if you
steady, perhaps to the seas rather than letting her want to face the seas and
swing about, but you may need to loosen the rode if not the wind
the wind direction changes so that you can present
your boats bows to the direction of the wind. If you are
lying in a bay such as Taiohai Bay in Nuku Hiva in the

10
Marquesas or Friendship Bay in Bequia the waves
may be entering the bay at a different angle to the
wind. Work out where to drop the stern anchor,
allowing a scope of at least 7 if it is on a chain and
rode combination. Taking as much spare warp and
rode as possible pick a spot that will be up wind and
astern of the boat and drop the anchor. Using one of
the primary winches winch the rode in until your boat
is lying how you wish her to. You may have to take up
or let some of your bow anchor chain out.

Anchoring in Coral
Chains and anchors make a mess of the sea floor. Anchor carefully in coral, it
Coral is threatened all around the world by many is endangered and easily
factors. Try and minimise your impact on coral. Also, damaged
when anchoring in coral remember that coral is lethal
to hulls and anchor rodes: keep both well away. A
chain rode will not chafe and break, but it will scrape
all its galvanizing off and then rust.

If possible anchor during the day and drop the anchor

in sand well away from any coral heads. Be prepared
to dive down and check or free your anchor if
necessary. Coral bottoms are often hard and it is
sometimes difficult to get the anchor to "bite". This has
proved true with most plough type anchors in the
Pacific. It is good practice to dive down and to check
your anchor to make sure it has correctly set.

Anchor chain wrapped around a coral head

Anchor chains have been wrapped around coral
heads both horizontally and vertically. They are Coral wrap
impossible to lift or clear any other way other than
diving. A fit, strong swimmer can clear an anchor free
diving in 10m, but will be at the edge of their
capability. They will have very little time to work on the
bottom. Scuba tanks and knowing how to use them
are considered essential equipment by most serious
cruising yachties. They are essential to clear wrapped
anchors in depths greater than 10m. If you cannot do
it yourself you may find someone in the anchorage
willing to help.

Anchor watch
When you are in a poor anchorage you may need to Anchor watch
set an anchor watch. Not much fun, but you probably
will not sleep much anyway. Better to be up and alert
than wrecked. Note that the problem may not be
yours, at least initially. The boat upwind of you may
drag on to you, so watch boats upwind carefully! In a
really wild blow you may want to assist the anchor by
using the engine. This is not as easy as you might

11
think, your boat may be sailing about on her anchor
and you may be adding strain rather than alleviating it.
If you do try this try and work with the motion of the
boat. Another good reason for using your engine is
that if a boat upwind of you starts to drag you may be
able to move clear of it as it drifts by.

Turn "Track" on!

If you anchor within a reef system you will be unable Use "track" functionality in
to leave at night unless you can exactly track your reefs
route in and you can retrace your steps very
accurately. Some electronic/computer navigation
systems allow you to track your exact route. When
anchoring inside a reef system use it in case you are
forced to leave at night. In 2003 a $10m Swan 80
damaged her bow badly after she was forced to
abandon her anchor after it got wrapped around a
coral head and had no "give". She buoyed it off in the
middle of a wild night inside a coral atoll in the
Tuamotu's Having tracked her route into the Atoll she
was able to motor up and down the track for the rest
of the night. She survived!

Navigation in coral can be stressful. Unless you have When moving in coral try
an intimate knowledge of the area you are in, try and and do so between 10am
do it between 10am and 3pm when the sun is high. and 3pm with the sun
Pick your time to move so that the sun is behind you behind you
and post a lookout on your bow or better still sitting on
the spreaders.

Anchor marks and lights

Most yachts are fitted with an anchor light on top of Anchor lights
the mast. This probably complies with your insurers
requirements but may be of limited use in some
anchorages because it is too high and/or is lost in the
clutter of other lights on the shore. Set up an anchor
ball and light combination using one of the newer
combo rechargeable units combining a small solar
panel, Ni-Cad batteries and LED's. This could be set
up either on a line or on a short aluminium pole. One
of the last items on your anchoring routine will be to
set your ball/light combo up after which you can forget
it until you leave. It will draw no power and will
automatically switch itself on and off from dusk to
sunrise. Also, being just above the height of your
deck, it will be easily visible to dinghies and other
yachts and will illuminate part of your rigging or cabin.
Just make sure it is charged when first put up each
time you anchor.

Read Staying Put!: The Art of Anchoring by Brian

Fagan

12
Autopilots
This discussion is about electronically governed
mechanical autopilots, not windvanes.

There are a number of autopilots around. If in doubt

and you can afford it, buy the next size up. Treat claims by the
Manufacturers claims about how powerful their manufacturer with extreme
products are and especially, about how much power scepticism
they use should be treated with extreme scepticism. It
all comes back to what you will use your boat for. If
you are going offshore your autopilot should be
significantly oversized. The key variable you must Oversize your autopilot
cater for is whether it can handle your boat downwind significantly
in heavy weather when steering loads may be very
high.

Essentially there are three variants: Tiller pilots, direct

drive pilots and hydraulic pilots. There is some overlap
in sizes, however tiller pilots are generally smallest
and hydraulic are the biggest. Tiller pilots and direct
drive autopilots are not recommended for offshore
cruising yachts. A tiller pilot used as a backup working
in tandem with windvane gear (see below) is an
exception. Direct drive pilots will normally manage
boats of up to 45 foot in moderate conditions.
Personally I would always opt for an oversized
hydraulic option.

Automatic pilots "learn" your boats steering

characteristics. Unfortunately this means that they are
averaging conditions and responses and thus always
steering for conditions other than what the boat is
actually sailing in. When considering a pilot choose
one that lets you easily alter (ie these controls are not
buried in a complicated menu) the following variables:

• Sea State Control

• Rudder Gain Control
• Counter Rudder

Sea State Control determines how far off course the

boat is before the autopilot corrects it. In big downwind
conditions this should be set to minimum.

Rudder Gain Control determines how far the rudder is

swung in response to the boat being off course. In big
downwind conditions you will want to increase this
value, but note: your pilot will use more power.

13
However, in these conditions this will be a secondary
consideration.

Counter Rudder determines how much opposite

rudder is fed in to bring the boat back on course after
a course correction. On sluggishly steering full keel
boats this control may need to be increased.

Autopilots are completely dependant on power,

electronics and their mechanicals. Modern (i.e. in the
last 2-3 years) autopilots have become much more
accurate. A gyro is as important as a fluxgate
compass in maintaining course accuracy. The gyro
measures the rate of course change. Autopilot
accuracy is important at all times, but especially in big
following seas. It also cuts power consumption
dramatically and puts allot less strain on the autopilot
and all the associated mechanicals, including the
rudder. If you see your course marked by a wake that
looks like a series of large s-bends your autopilot is
not steering accurately enough.

This picture clearly shows the S shaped wake from a badly setup
autopilot. The windvane was not being used.

On an extended offshore cruise autopilots are An autopilot is essential

essential, because they do the work of one crew
member. This is especially important at night when
normal watch-keeping without an autopilot requires 2
on watch.

Autopilots are essential, they also have a reputation

for poor reliability, often because they are undersized
for serious blue water passage making. Carry spares,
or an alternative. Although wind vanes are notorious
for tracking badly downwind (see "Wind Vane") they
are an excellent alternative when they driven by a tiller

14
pilot. If your boat has a wind vane (see "Wind Vane),
take the vane off and replace it with the tiller pilot so
that the tiller pilot is tipping the steering pendulum
instead of the vane. The tiller pilot will work much less
hard than working the tiller of a small boat and will use
much less power than your "main" autopilot.

Practice steering, in all weathers and at night. It is too Practice steering

easy to become complacent. Steering is as much
practice as it is a talent. If you find yourself in rough
weather you will have to steer and the practice may
help save you and your boat. Do not automatically rely
on the autopilot in wild weather. You may want to
stand on watch by the helm to instantly take over
should the boat be threatened by a breaking wave or
imminent broach. This way you can use the greater
accuracy of an autopilot to good effect, only taking
over when absolutely required helping to conserve
your own resources in difficult conditions.

15
Batteries
There are many different types of battery. They fall Install as much battery
into a number of broad categories: capacity as you can!
1. Wet cell
2. Gel
3. Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM)
4. Other

Batteries are built for different purposes and thus have

different characteristics. Broadly they are
differentiated by their size and the maximum area of
metal presented to the electrolyte (acid). This area
determines the maximum output and is measured in
Cold Crank Amps. CCA for short. The size determines
the overall capacity and is measured in Amp Hours.
AH for short. Broadly speaking, batteries are starting,
mixed use or deep cycle.

Your starting battery should have a CCA rating as

determined by your engine manufacturer. Buy a
battery with a CCA higher than recommended, but
with at least double the AH.

Batteries are very heavy. They should therefore be as

close to the keel as possible. That is, close to the Batteries should be near the
centre of the boat, both laterally and longitudinally and keel in an enclosed
as low down as possible. If possible position them so ventilated container
that they become part of the boats ballast package.

They should be in a vented airtight container that is

very securely fixed to the hull. On no account should it
be possible for water to enter this container under any
circumstances. If you have wet cell batteries the vent
should be fan assisted and driven by a fan that is
rated spark free and switched on whenever the
batteries are being charged. This is because wet cell
batteries give off hydrogen and oxygen when they are
being charged. Hydrogen on its own is highly
flammable; hydrogen and oxygen together is an
explosive mixture.

Wet cell batteries require regular maintenance. Check Regular maintenance

them at least once per week by ensuring that each cell
has enough acid in it. Half an hour after a charging
run, measure the specific gravity of the electrolyte
(acid) in each cell. The readings between cells should
be very similar. If one cell is materially different try and
determine why, because the cell has most probably

16
failed. Check the voltage of the battery separately
from the others in the bank. If the voltage is down, the
cell and the battery have failed and the whole battery
should be discarded. If the whole bank is ageing, you
might have to discard them all because the new
battery will only last as long as the remaining batteries
in the bank.

Gel and AGM batteries do not need maintenance

beyond keeping the terminals clean and lightly
greased.

Capacity
How much battery capacity do you need? As much as Work out what your power
possible is my answer. The available literature on the requirements are and then
subject advises one to work out a theoretical double it. Even that will not
maximum daily usage and double it in order to be enough.
determine the size of the battery bank needed. Many
people find this is not enough and have to charge their
batteries every day for far longer. Every yachtie out
there wishes he could find space to double his battery
capacity.

Usage
So how do you work out your usage? Do this Calculate usage
assuming you are on passage, unless of course you
think you consume more at anchor, in which case do it
for that! Using a spreadsheet (or pencil and paper)
write down every piece of electrical kit you have on
board. Find out what its rated power consumption is.
Some items may have 2 ratings. A good example is
your autopilot. It will use more when it is actually
moving your boats rudder than at other times. In the
next column write down how long you think it will be
on per day in hours. Multiply the consumption by the
number of hours for the worst case and put the results
into the last column. Add them all up and you will now
have a total. Multiply this total by 1.2 to allow for errors
and inefficiencies. This figure is your average daily
electricity consumption measured in amp hours at 12
or 24 volts.

12v or 24v
Note that the measurement "Amps" is a measure of 12v or 24v
electrical current. For these purposes the number has
a direct inverse relationship with Volts. Volts times
Amps equal Watts, a measurement of energy. A 24v
boat draws half the Amps of a 12v boat. The main
advantage with 24v is that wires carrying the electricity
are more efficient at higher voltages because
electrical cabling has resistance. The higher the amps,
the higher the resistance, and therefore you will suffer

17
more energy loss in the form of heat in your boats
circuits at the lower voltage.

Sizing
Assuming you want to run your generator/engine for
no more than 2 hours per day you will need to size
your system as follows: Your generating capacity (that
is the maximum amps you can deliver to the batteries
from your alternator or genset) should approximate
your daily usage in amp hours (ie, if you are using
200AH, you will need a 200amp alternator) and the
usable portion of your batteries should be double that Sizing your system
amount. The usable portion of your batteries is 50% of
their rated amp hours if they are mixed use batteries Alternator in amps = daily
and 70% if they are deep cycle (traction) batteries. usage in AH
Thus you will need a rated capacity 4 times usage
with mixed use batteries and 3 times usage with deep
cycle batteries. Using this formula should allow you
room for errors and increased usage. Note also that Mixed use battery capacity =
most batteries can only accept a charging current of 4x daily usage
15-20% of the rated capacity. Thus a 400 AH bank of
batteries can only accept 60-80 amps, whereas an Deep cycle battery capacity
800AH bank will accept 120-160 amps, nearly the = 3x daily usage
rated capacity of the alternator. There are new
batteries that can accept very high charge rates for
most of the charging cycle called AGM or Absorbed
Glass Matt batteries. These are more expensive, but
worth it if they reduce your engine or genset hours
significantly.

During the charging period you will note that the

batteries initially will accept very high current loads,
but that this rapidly drops back to approx. half the
maximum. It will then maintain that level for a longer
period before gradually reducing to 2% of the rated
capacity when they are about 95% charged. There is
conflicting advice on this issue but that final 5% can
take a very long time. I go with the advice that it is
better to shut off when this stage is reached. Once a
month or so perform an equalisation charge when you
over-charge at higher voltages (15v (12v) or 30v
(24v)) for a short period.

Take expert advice

Seek and take advice from an expert, this section is
intended to give you sufficient information to ask the Take expert advice
right questions for your circumstances. The topic is
too broad and specialised to provide a customised
blue print for every conceivable combination of
circumstances. Look at http://www.vonwentzel.net for
an excellent discussion on batteries.

18
LED's (Light Emitting Diodes)
This is a new technology using substantially less
power than standard incandescent or fluorescent
lights. Nav lights, the anchor light and cabin lights are
all available in LED now. A single unit is available as LED’s use much less power
an anchor light combining a small solar panel, Ni-Cad
batteries and LED's. Check that it can be remotely
switched off as it will not be wanted on passage!

Example of a Usage Spreadsheet

19
Becalmed
Is being becalmed worse than being in a gale? Tricky Becalmed!
question, you could be fighting for your life in a gale,
but there is no doubt that being becalmed can be
frustrating.

How far is it to your next port? Work out how much Don't burn all your diesel
diesel you need to maintain your electrical
requirements, plus a little bit to get you into harbour
and then you will know how much motoring you can
do. If in the middle of one of the major oceans with
1500 miles to go, it is unlikely you will have sufficient
diesel to motor all the way.

Do not leave your sails up unfilled. They will flog Drop your sails, don't leave
themselves to death. It is far more damaging than them up to flog
keeping them filled in a decent breeze.

Watch your supplies of fuel, water and food. Watch your provisions,
especially water
Maintain watches. Just because you are going
nowhere does not mean that shipping has also Maintain watches
stopped! You might have to start your engine and
drive out of the way.

20
Boat (choice of)
There are thousands of different permutations of Which boat?
cruising boat and the choices are endless: Monohull
or catamaran? Sloop, cutter, schooner, ketch or yawl?
Wood, steel, GRP, ferro-cement or aluminium? Hull
shape, in particular depth of forefoot, beam,
overhangs, keel type and rudder configuration. Do you
want 12v or 24v? Engine power? Fuel and water
capacities? Colour? The list is endless.

This is an example of how you could specify your How Big?

primary requirements along the following lines:

1. Safety: minimum Cat I offshore

2. Watertight crash bulkheads fore and aft.
3. LOA approx 40' - compromise between space
and handling/maintenance.
4. Speed - at least 150 nm per day on passage.
This means LWL min = 37'
5. Must be set up for single handed sailing
6. Engine – minimum 60 HP
7. Metal hull
8. Displacement to hull length ratio min 250
9. Stability curve: over 120 A volume manufactured
10. LOA to displacement ratio: 16-18 boat?
11. LOA to beam: min 4
12. Keel – fixed and no wings or bulbs
13. Rudder – skeg hung

You no doubt will have your own list, start with a few
simple statements that will dramatically narrow the
field.

Most boats "out there" are sloops, made of GRP and

are in the 40-50 foot range. Size does seem to be
increasing and 50+ footers may be the average soon.
The volume advantages of a 40+ foot boat when
compared with a 30+ foot boat are dramatic, so they
are when comparing 50+foot boats with 40+ foot What about a Cat?
boats. 50+ footers generally have large capacity water
makers, gensets and other "luxuries" such as washing
machines. However, cost climbs exponentially for
every foot added and your ability to manage a bigger
boat needs careful consideration. Keeping your boat
in good seaworthy condition impacts safety
dramatically. Generally, the bigger the boat, the more
maintenance required.

21
Fewer of the boats “out there” are made by the
volume manufacturers, whose design criteria are
driven by volume considerations: most sailors are
weekend sailors, lots of sailors go chartering. The
volume suppliers do their job very well. That is not to
say that the volume suppliers products are not “out
there” at all, they are.

Yachties in a bar generally hold that the volume

manufacturer's products are too light, and that they
are only suitable for Sydney Harbour, the Solent or
Long Island Sound on Sunday afternoons, not being
sailed in all conditions for thousands and thousands of
miles.

It is worth spending a few minutes on Catamarans vs.

Monohulls. Any boat can capsize or pitch pole, the
major difference being that a cat will not right itself.
Fair enough. A monohull if holed badly enough will
sink. A cat will not, or will not sink as fast. Cats and
monohulls are equally dangerous in catastrophic
circumstances for different reasons. The catamaran
manufacturer Lagoon has not had a single capsize.
Modern cats are built with much wider beams. They
are much safer than older cats.

So, what are the issues? Cats are faster, are more
comfortable at anchor and they have a lot more room.
They draw less and they can be beached. But their
motion can be more uncomfortable under way, they
are not as sea kindly and they cost twice as much to
berth in a dock. Contrary to what you might expect
they are generally no faster on passage than a decent
monohull. Interestingly, we met a number of people
who were on their second circumnavigation, the first
being completed in a monohull. They were all in cats
on the second time round.

Think very carefully about choosing a boat under 50 Can you stow the dinghy on
foot with a cutter rig. The inner forestay means you deck?
may not be able to stow a dinghy on the foredeck.
This in turn means that you cannot have a RIB, so you
are forever assembling and disassembling a soft
bottom collapsible dinghy. Hard work! It also means
punctures and cuts in coral areas are a worry. Stowing
a dinghy on davits is not the answer for yachts on long
passages. If you are caught in a storm you may lose it
and it can be dangerous.

22
You will choose your own boat based on your own Criteria to choose:
criteria. Some important criteria I suggest are:

• New or second hand New or used

• Strength and rigidity (some volume boats and even
some not so volume boats are not all that rigid - Strength
Test the boat! Look for lockers and doors that
either will not open, or will not stay shut when
heeled in moderate seas)
• Hull shape underwater. A flat bottom, particularly in Hull shape
the forefoot will mean a lot of pounding, especially
when going to windward, but it is faster downwind
and will steer more easily.
• Keel: Depth, shape, ballast and how attached. Keel
• Bulb keels and winged keels do have performance
advantages, but if you are ever in really shallow
water the act as an anchor whereas a simple keel
could plough through.
• Spade, keel or skeg hung rudder? A rudder that is
fully, or partially hung on the keel, or on a skeg, is Rudder
very strong, but what happens if it is grounded? If
the bottom hinge of the rudder is loose it will swing
about and possibly hole your boat. A half skeg with
a balanced portion of rudder? Lines and weed can
and will easily get snagged. A large well balanced
spade rudder with extremely beefy stock and load
bearings may be the answer. Make the bottom half
sacrificial, if you do ground it you will lose half your
rudder but you keep your boat and half your
steering capacity.
• Draft: Where are you going to sail? If that is
predominantly the Bahamas you will need a boat Draft
that either has a lifting keel or one which draws
very little by design.
• Service access (particularly to engine, water
Service Access
maker, electronics, plumbing, wiring and genset).
You will spend allot of time servicing, make sure
you can get to it easily. Safety is affected by
design in this area.
• Rig (sails on a ketch are smaller and easier to
Rig
handle)
• Deck layout (Aft cockpit or centre cockpit), comfort
of cockpit both underway and in harbour. Generally Centre Cockpit?
a big cockpit is desirable in harbour (i.e. most of
the time), but a smaller cockpit is desirable under
way (when things might be most difficult).
• Has the boat got a good fitted sunshade (bimini), is Shade
their space for one if not?
• Safety considerations. A good watertight bulkhead Seaworthiness

23
 forward may save you and your boat if you hit a
container. What if your your rudder is damaged so
badly either by grounding or by striking something
heavy that the boat is holed? A watertight
bulkhead aft will also save the boat.
• Strength: has the boat got reinforced scantlings Strength
(the rounded bilge areas amidships likely to take a
pounding) if the boat does go aground?
• Seaworthiness. Spend some time on this topic Seaworthiness
before choosing your boat, but these are some of
the fundamentals:
o Stability Curve. Offshore boats should be up
above the 120 -130's. Another stability measure
is the CCA Capsize Screening Formula (beam Stability
v displacement), look for values under 2. Note
these two measures are not mutually exclusive,
look at both.
o Displacement to hull length ratio. A lighter boat
needs a lighter rig and vice versa. Handling is
also substantially different. In addition to the Displacement ratio
safety and seaworthiness considerations a light
boat is not as durable and may not take kindly
to days of upwind pounding. Look for values
above 260, but less than 330. This holds true
unless you buy a boat built to similar design
criteria with Steve Dashew's Deerfoot or
Sundeer boats. Check out www.setsail.com for
a completely different approach to yacht
design.
o LOA to beam ratio determines how fine a hull
is. Finer boats have an easier motion; where as
newer boats favour wider hulls. They sail flatter LOA to Beam
and are faster on a reach and running. Look for
minimum values of 3-4. Steve Dashews boats
are around 4-6.
o Comfort Factor (Ted Brewer) should be 30-40.
Racers may be less than 20, where as a full Comfort factor
keel Colin archer design could be 60.
o Watertight bulkheads, especially forward.
Imagine it is pitch dark and you are sailing at 10 Watertight bulkheads
knots in a decent breeze in an area where you
know there are whales (e.g. Tonga in August).
Of course there maybe a container lurking
within those same waters in addition to the
whales. Suddenly a watertight bulkhead makes
allot of sense!
o Sail area to displacement ratio determines
power. Look for a value around 16. Sail Area to Displacement
o Hull speed is a function of LWL. The longer the Ratio
boat on the waterline the faster she will be.
Note that engine size is almost irrelevant to top Speed and LWL
speed above hull speed unless you have

24
 sufficient to make the boat plane.
o Large windows are nice, but how much
strength has been compromised?

• Volume and cabin layout. A cabin in the forepeak

may look great at the boat show, but will be Large Windows as in “Deck
unusable at sea. However, cruising boats are only Saloon”?
at sea 10% of the time. An owners cabin forward
means you can get the best ventilation on the boat Cabin Layout
at anchor and you are in the best place to hear the
anchor dragging. As long as you have some good
sea berths amidships or aft, this is probably the
best location for the owner’s cabin.
• Swim/boarding platform. If you are cruising in the
tropics, you will spend much time swimming off
your boat. easy access for boarding or
disembarking from your dinghy, is important. A
boat that is easy to climb up on is also important Swim/boarding platform
when recovering an MOB

Many people will recommend a metal boat. The risks

(relative to a plastic boat) are: hitting a whale or Metal Boat?
container, going aground either on a beach or reef
and collisions with ships.It is probably true that a metal
boat is safer in all of these calamities; however with 3
of these, you, as skipper, have some control. If you hit
a container at speed it probably does not matter
anyway because a metal boat is as likely to sink in
these circumstances as a plastic boat. This is when a
watertight bulkhead will save the boat irrespective of
its construction material.

Many modern plastic boats, especially from the

volume manufacturers, suffer from a lack of hull Many modern plastic boats
stiffness. Making way across large oceans in biggish are simply not up to long
seas will expose this problem very rapidly. Locks and term cruising.
cabin doors can jam shut or pop open on their own, as
the hull flexes. Some of the “so called” better brands
had this problem in the 2002 ARC. One owner even
shipped his boat back to Europe claiming it was not fit
for an Ocean Passage! Another boat had to be
scuttled 1400 miles from St Lucia after her rudder
stock broke. It was made of glass fibre, not steel! So,
choose carefully and do not be seduced by fancy
bathrooms and "Hilton Hotel" interiors. Choose
strength and seaworthiness.

Make sure that you understand and trust the Understand as much as
engineering underlying the hull generally, but possible about the
especially the rudder, keel, mast and rigging. engineering underlying the
design of your boat.

25
Buy your boat at the most basic level possible and Buy the most basic boat and
then fit it out yourself with bigger and/or better sails, spec it up yourself.
winches, engine, anchors, gensets, water maker,
autopilot etc.

26
Check Lists
Checklists are an important safety tool. Prepare a
number of check lists. Treat these in this book neither
as exhaustive or cast in stone.

You will need a list of all your checklists as there are

checks to be made both periodically and before
certain events, such as a long passage.

Some check lists that need to drawn up:

1. Standing Rigging
2. Deck Equipment
3. Running Rigging and Sails
4. Safety Equipment
5. Abandon Ship
6. Mayday
7. Pre-passage check
8. Electrical Circuits, Lights and Batteries
9. Engine, gearbox and transmission
10. Underwater
11. Provisions
12. Water maker, plumbing and pumps

The Challenge organisation checks their rigging once Rigging checks

a week, even at sea, but they are sailing to weather in
the southern oceans. If you are sailing in high
latitudes, rigging checks should be more frequent.
Coconut Run cruising area conditions are less
demanding, so I found that a rigging check once per
month was sufficient. Check it before a blow, if you
know one is coming. Check it again after the blow.
Choose your intervals so as to ensure the optimum
safety and comfort for the boat and crew.

Prepare your lists and adjust them if need be. Print off
a few copies and physically tick each item off as it is
checked. Your pre-passage checklist should include
all your periodic checks, such as doing a standing
rigging check, making sure your boat is in tip top
condition before you go.

When drawing up your checklist remember to make it

as comprehensive as possible. Standing rigging is
particularly demanding. Each stay has something like
10-15 components, any one of which can fail, possibly
resulting in the loss of your rig. A full standing rigging
check means checking 100-200 individual items even
on a smallish boat.

27
Children
If you have children on board you will be known as a Kid Boat?
"kid boat". You will seek out other kid boats and they
will seek you out. Adults decide to go cruising, some
with kids, most without. Kids just go along for the ride,
mostly having a good time.

They need two things not normally actively provided

full time by their parents: To socialise with other kids
in their own age group and entertainment.

Depending on their age you will also want to consider

education. If you are going to be out of the school
system for a long time you will need to plan for
education. If they will be out for a shorter period it may
be better just to let them enjoy gthemselves.

Finding other kid boats is the only way for them to

socialise with their own age group. Even so they will
spend allot more time with adults than their landlubber
friends. This is beneficial in many respects but to little
time spent with their own age group can also be
harmful. They really do need to learn how to get
along with their peers otherwise they may have
difficulty readjusting once they start living ashore
again.

Education is a big enough subject for a book in its own Education: when they rejoin
right. Your objective should be to have them settle into school they should not be
school within their own age group with ease when behind
they return to land based school. This means different
things depending on how old the kids are, but
generally does not mean pushing them.

One approach is to try and concentrate on numeracy, Numeracy and Literacy

literacy and science from material you take along.
Learn languages, history and geography according to
where you are.

Entertaining kid's means having a wide variety of

books, toys, movies and a computer games. Try and
concentrate on toys that are "constructive" such as
Lego and Playmobil, but above all bring the toys your
child loves best at home – if she loves dolls and
barbies bring those, if he likes cars and trucks and
things that go, pack those.

Going on a boat is a good opportunity to let them grow

up in a Huckleberry Finn sort of a way. Bring plenty of

28
books, sports and snorkelling equipment and games.

Children's safety needs separate planning from

normal adult safety on a boat. Kids can easily fall
between life lines, so most “kid boats” rig netting in the
life lines. You will need kid size lifejackets depending
on their age. If your kids cannot swim well, you will Children's safety requires
need to have a lifejacket that they can wear while in separate planning
harbour, in the dinghy or at anchor. One rule that
should be instilled in children is that while on passage
kids should only be allowed down below, or in the
cockpit. If the boat is underway they are not allowed
on deck. You can invite them on deck in exceptional
circumstances, such as to watch dolphins swimming
in the bow wave.

29
Ciguatera Poisoning
Ciguatera is a toxin endemic within tropical reef areas,
particularly in areas that have been damaged by
storms, volcanic activity and construction.

It is ingested by eating tropical fish that have

themselves accumulated the toxin. Although fish
accumulate it, they appear not to suffer from it.

Ciguatera may be cumulative, your body cannot get

rid of it and every time you ingest more, you suffer
more. It can cause long term harm.

Avoid tropical fish caught anywhere within any reefs, Avoid reef fish in the tropics
especially those reefs that have been damaged by
storms, construction or French nuclear testing. Red Avoid predator fish near
Snapper are allegedly the worst culprits. Avoid ALL tropical reefs
reef fish and all predator fish such Tuna, Wahoo and
especially Barracuda caught in the vicinity of reefs.
Avoid Barracuda, especially big (i.e. old) ones even if
they have been caught in deep water, far from land.

If you do eat a ciguatera infected fish, you will know

quite quickly. You will feel awful and you will have odd
nervous responses. These could include inverted
responses to temperature, hot feels cold and cold
feels hot, etc.

If you are worried about Ciguatera at a dinner do not If you are worried do not eat
eat it. Eat the chicken! the fish!
If at any time you think you may have Ciguatera Seek medical help
poisoning seek medical help as fast as possible.
Mannitol treatment is recommended at the rate of 1gm
per kg of body weight. This can take up to 4 hours to
administer; and must be done under medical
supervision.

For a full description of Ciguatera poisoning go to

http://www.rehablink.com/ciguatera/poison.htm

30
Computers
Most cruising books and advice will tell you that you Most boats have at least one
should never rely on a computer on your boat. That is computer
a point of view and every body is entitled to a point of
view. It is nice/useful to have one on board and many
cruisers think that they are essential. There are now
probably few cruising boats that do not have at least
one computer on board. As almost everybody has
one, they must therefore be an imperative and I doubt
that you would consider going to sea without one.
PC's are now widely used for communication (email),
navigation, planning, administration and
entertainment.

So instead of nodding solemnly and agreeing that the

traditionalists are right, I would advocate setting up
your computer equipment so that it is as robust as
possible and so that you can mitigate failure.

Backup
The only area where non-computer backup is Backup is essential on land,
essential is with navigation. Carry paper charts for and vital in a boat
each passage and know how to use them, at least
with "traditional" navigation techniques and practices If you are relying on
for coastal navigation and with a GPS for ocean electronic navigation have a
passages. To avoid buying paper charts, take a printer paper backup
and print paper charts from your electronic charts
covering every conceivable navigation requirement of
each passage, long and short, before leaving. Discard
these self printed charts after the passage or when
they are no longer needed. All one needs to cross the
Atlantic is a detailed chart of your departure point, an
A4 chart for the middle 3,000 miles and a detailed
chart of your possible arrival points. It is possible to
survive without email, planning, administration and
entertainment! Email is a backup emergency service
because data transmits better than voice. You may be
able to bang off an email with your longitude and
latitude before you abandon ship.

Laptops vs. Desktops

All computers will fail. Laptops are no exception and All computers will fail. You
will fail too. Because laptops have their own model can fix a desktop easily
type screens, keyboards, DVD and floppy drives that anywhere in the world. It is
are brand and country specific they are difficult and far more difficult and much
expensive to repair when not in the laptops home more expensive to fix a
country. By contrast desk top PC's are built from laptop.
components that are internationally interchangeable
and cheap. You might find that the only keyboard

31
available where you are is Spanish, but at least you
can get it and it will work! Use desk top PC's on board.
If you must take a laptop, make sure that you keep it
in a secure, dry environment.

Fitting
Fit your desktop computer somewhere dry, but close
to where you are going to want to use it. As one of the
places is normally the chart table area this may not be Fit your desktop computer
as dry as you would ideally want, so try and place it in somewhere dry
a locker or behind a bulkhead. Fix it so that it cannot
move, but make it easily accessible for repair! Disable
the soft on/off function (the button on the front of the
case - see your motherboard instructions) and fit a
switch/circuit breaker for the PC on your main switch
panel. You will also need to set your operating system
power options so that it does not turn the computer off
when logging off.

Case
Aluminium and plastic cases are available. Check the
fixings used by the manufacturer, change to
aluminium or stainless steel where ever possible.
There are lots of different case types and shapes.
Rack mounted PC's are available and may also work.
The ultimate may be to build a "pc locker" into which
all the various bits are fitted. You may be able to
install the guts of a computer (i.e. without the case)
into the area behind your instruments. If so make sure
it is dry and well ventilated.

Corrosion
Corrosion occurs in conditions where damp salt laden Stop corrosion by fitting a
air is prevalent. Salty water condenses on to PC small lamp inside that is on
components causing rapid corrosion and shorting. when the computer is off
Prevent corrosion by keeping the PC warmer than
ambient temperatures, even when it is switched off.
One way of doing this is to fit a relay to the PC's
power input circuit that switches on a small lamp (2½
watts) fitted inside the PC. The relay turns the lamp on
when the PC is switched off. Fit the lamp inside the
case of the PC near the bottom. This will keep the PC
and all its components slightly warmer than its
surroundings helping prevent condensation landing on
the inside components of the PC. Of course the lamp
should be capable of being switched off separately as
well.

12v and 24v DC power

Power supplies are available for
Powering the PC at first sight is difficult. Most desk desktop computers
tops come with AC power input and high street

32
computer shops have never heard of DC power
supplies, but they are available, for both 12v and 24v
boats. Look on the web. At the time of writing
www.powerstream.com was advertising DC power
supplies. It is even possible to find PC's designed for
police and emergency services vehicles running on
DC, but they are expensive and their components are
not as readily interchangeable. An interesting
development is that in-car PC’s are now becoming
available that are used for in car entertainment and
electronic street maps.

Power
Look at the power consumption of the CPU. Intels are
quite power hungry. Eden make a chip that uses less
power, but check out component power consumption
at the time you buy the PC.
Carry a lot of spares
Spares
Carry spares of everything! Have two identical PC's
that have different primary uses, e.g. navigation at the
chart table and DVD movies in the saloon, but make
sure that you can do everything on both PC's. Fit two
hard disks to every PC on board. Fit the second so
that it is separately bootable in a different partition.
Maintain an up to date copy of everything on the
second drive. Even then carry every component of the
PC as a spare. This includes a screen, keyboard,
mouse, hard disk drive, DVD drive, motherboard,
memory and CPU. Usually these parts are delivered
vacuum packed in plastic. Do not open them before
you leave. Keep spares in a sealable plastic tub with
suitable drying agents in the tub.
USB
USB
USB ports are great! These days, you can plug almost
anything into them. Mount a separate (USB) DVD
drive on your chart table panel in addition to the one in
the case. Mount a USB hub on the panel. Make sure
all the USB stuff you buy is on the USB 2.0 standard.
Then you can easily plug most peripherals in directly.
As with everything else, take a spare hub.

Keyboard and mouse

"Wireless" keyboards and mice are available now.
They are not expensive and work well on a boat, when
not needed they can simply be stowed somewhere
convenient. However you may not want yet more RF
straying around the boat. Take spares! A good
alternative to the wireless keyboard is the
"indestructible" keyboard. Made of a rubbery material
it is completely waterproof and can be rolled up. When

33
choosing a mouse get one of the newer optical types.
They do not have a moving ball mechanism and so
are less prone to failure.
Get an external Hard Disk
Backup Hard Disk Drive
Buy a hard disk enclosure that runs off USB and use it
for back up. Get a USB memory stick; they are
available in various sizes that should easily cope with
your requirements. These are great for going to the
internet café, but beware, many internet cafés in
remoter corners of the world are still running Win 98
and these memory sticks only work with XP. You may
need to make a floppy to take to the internet café, so it
would be a good idea to have a USB driven floppy
drive as well.

Screen
Find a 12v LCD screen. It can run directly from your
boats DC supply and does not need AC. They are flat
and can be screwed onto any flat surface. You can
even buy a switch that will let you choose between 2
different screens, one for the chart table and one for
the saloon area to watch movies.
Be a techie!
Be a techie!
Before you leave you should strip down and
reassemble a desk top PC at least once, if necessary
under supervision. You should also know how to
reload Windows (or Linux) and all of your software
and data. Like every thing else on your boat, it is your
responsibility and you are going to have to do it
anyway.

34
Containers
Containers lost off ships are horrible. Most sink If you hit a container at
quickly, but some, full of cargoes that are buoyant do speed you could sink in 30
not sink, but remain awash invisible both to the eye seconds
and to radar. It is rumoured that an average of 1000 a
year fall off ships all around the world. We never saw
any and we certainly never hit any. Neither do most
people and you would be very unlucky to hit one.

If you do hit a container at speed the result is probably

going to be catastrophic. 10-20 tons of boat slewing
down the corner of a waterlogged container – you can
just imagine the result. Be ready to abandon in less
than a minute. See "Abandon Ship"

35
Cookers
Cookers are available that run on gas, diesel,
kerosene and electricity. Electrical cookers are more
likely to be restricted to cruise ships and super-yachts.
Most yachts have hydrocarbon fuelled cookers.
Having gas on board means complying with all the
safety requirements of gas and is yet another fuel type
to find and store. Gas cookers are cheap and
efficient, whereas the diesel and kerosene variants
are more expensive, less efficient and smelly, but you
do not need gas.

If you buy a gas cooker, get one that works equally Propane vs. Butane
well with propane or butane. Many places supply one
or the other, not both. On a catamaran the cooker
does not need to be gimballed. An ordinary domestic
cooker is usually better and many times cheaper than
marine cookers.

Always carry a backup cooker that uses a different Have a backup computer
fuel source. Most cruisers carry petrol for their dinghy that uses a different fuel
outboard engines. Small petrol cookers are available source
from a company called Coleman. They can be found
in camping shops. They are really just cooking rings,
not a spare stove

If you do have a gas cooker you should be aware that Treat gas with the utmost
butane and propane gas are heavier than air and sink. care
If there is a leak, the gas will sink into the bottom of
your bilge and an explosive mixture can form very
quickly. The RNLI (lifeboat service) in the UK report
that their most common call out concerns fire. If you
do suffer a gas explosion on board, the result is likely Gas is heavier than air; it
to be catastrophic. If there are people on the boat at will sink into your bilge and
the time of the explosion it can be fatal. If you have a then has the potential to
bilge blower, make sure that it is rated spark free. blow your boat up.
Bellows type bilge pumps made by Henderson,
Plastimo and others, pump air and gas, as well as
liquid. If you spill gas, or you think that you may have
spilled or leaked some gas pump it out BEFORE If you spill some gas do not
throwing any switches, either on or off. When using a throw any switches - on or
manual bilge pump consider that the pump chamber off
may have a capacity of one litre. Work out how many
litres of air/gas there is in the bilge. You need to pump
for quite a long time! Also open hatches and vents and
try and get air flowing through your boat as well.

36
Coral
Coral is delicate and in many parts of the world Coral is threatened and
threatened ecologically. It is threatened by dying, treat it with respect
temperature change, chemicals, dirt and pollution,
anchors and chains, diving and other water sports. It
is the habitat for millions of fish and other animals who
rely on it for safety, shelter from predators and food.
Treat it with respect and enjoy its beauty.

Not only is it is not advisable to drop you anchor in

thick coral, but it is extremely damaging. Your anchor
and chain can cause immense damage on the
seabed, in addition the chain will rapidly lose its
galvanising and then it will rust. Bonaire does not
allow any boats to anchor anywhere around the island
in order to preserve its coral and under water habitat.
They have set up mooring buoys everywhere one
could possibly want to anchor and the sea floor is in
very good condition.

When diving and snorkelling treat the coral with care

and respect. Just a touch sometimes is all that is
needed to damage it.

37
Crew
Many boats want crew, especially for longer passages
and watch keeping. There are lots of people wanting a Do you need crew?
taste of the cruising life, but who do not yet have the
means to afford it in their own boat. They can be
found in ports such as Las Palmas and Balboa,
Panama trying to catch boats bound for distant
shores. There are also web sites and agencies where
crew, whether paid, unpaid or paying can be found.

The choice between paid, unpaid or paying crew will Paid, unpaid or paying?
depend on the relative positions of the owners and
prospective crew. Generally, crew with good
experience and the certificates and references to back
them up will find well paid professional opportunities.
They will work very hard.

At the other end of the scale is the ocean going back

packer, people bumming a ride on the ocean wave in
exchange for a little work. Owners sometimes
persuade these types to pay for their food and/or
towards the upkeep of the boat.

Some tips:
Any boats, even quite large boats, are very small
places. The same physical dimensions will seem even Be very careful
smaller if people on board cannot stand each other.
The rank atmosphere will pervade every corner of the
vessel ruining what otherwise should be a pleasant
voyage for all on board. If a major fall out occurs 400
miles downwind of the Galapagos you can either beat
back to drop the crew off or sail on for the remaining
2500 miles to the Marquises. Neither choice is good.
Choose your crew very carefully on criteria that you
are happy with. Do not leave it until the last minute.
Try and establish a working relationship a good few
days before you leave and require the new recruit to Establish a working
help you ready the boat for the passage. That way you relationship before you
will get to know them, understand their work ethic and leave
become aware of irritating personal habits that might
come to light. It would be far better to tell the recruit
"Sorry, but I do not think this is going to work out"
before you leave. Of course the new recruit might say
it to you! Even so, it is still better not to have the
recruit on board.

Make sure that the new recruit's passports, visas and Check passports, visas and
documentation are in order before you leave. Skippers documentation very
normally hold all passports on board and you can carefully

38
perform this check without embarrassment.

Enquire of new recruits about any medical conditions. Medication

If they have any and they require medication, either
regularly or when something happens (e.g. bee stings)
ensure that they have sufficient medication until the
next place on your route where a new supply is
available.

Try and satisfy your self about drugs and terrorism. Drugs!
Skippers are responsible for all crew on board and if
you take on an ocean going bum carrying drugs, you Terrorism!
will pay the price first, the crew second. Some
skippers even perform searches, though this a
personal choice and is likely to be extremely difficult.
Skippers are not normally skilled at searching for
drugs and weapons and the resulting embarrassment
may well be pointless. Nevertheless the risk remains.

Some countries require that all inbound tourists have Departure deposit - get it
either a valid outbound air ticket, or that they pay a before you leave
deposit. Know the rules for the countries you intend to
visit and request that the new recruit gives you the
deposit for safekeeping along with his/her passport
when they board the boat. Tell them the rules for the
refund of these deposits, some countries pay them
back only after you have left, so they will need a bank
account unless you are willing to handle the
processing yourself.

39
Diesel
Diesel comes in varying qualities "out there". Get a Always use a Baja Filter
Baja filter; they have traps for solids and water.
Always add a biocide on every fill up, but beware, too
much biocide can form a sticky deposit that can cause
the very problems it is designed to stop.

Fit 2 separate fuel feeds from the same tank or fit a 2 feeds to the engine
gravity fed day tank. Ideally the feeds should be
capable of switching automatically. When the engine
dies, it dies suddenly with almost no warning and
when it does so because of fuel starvation, you will
have to bleed the fuel system. Needless to say, this is
going to happen somewhere embarrassing where you
will not have 10 minutes to unclog the filters and bleed
the fuel system. Each feed should have at least one 2 Racors
Racor filter in line before it reaches the engine. Some
boats fit 2 Racors in line, the first with a 10 micron
filter, the second with a finer filter.

Boat tanks get dirty over time. If you get diesel bug*, Diesel Bug - Oh Dear!
your tanks will get very dirty, very quickly. Hope that
the diesel bug only clogs your lines and filters before it
gets to the engine. If it does get there you may need
the injectors and pumps changed and/or serviced on Biocide
top of all the other trouble. Repeating: Always add a
biocide on every fill up. If you get diesel bug and then
add a biocide afterwards in the hope that it will fix
everything you kill the diesel bug, but its remains stay
in the tank and continue to clog your lines and filters.

It is possible to clean a tank without dismantling the If your tank has been
boat. There is a service available in many places that infected have it cleaned
puts 3 pipes into your filler. One pipe is a compressed even if you have killed the
air pipe that jerks about inside the tank stirring it up. bug with the biocide.
The other two pipes, hopefully at diametrically
opposite ends of the tank then pump the diesel around
and around through a large filter. Over a period of a
few hours all the debris in your tank is removed.

*Diesel Bug is a bacteria that lives in water, but feeds

on diesel. It multiplies quickly and manifests itself as
slime. Various manufacturers make biocides that kill
Diesel Bug. Always use the biocide!

40
Dinghies
Dinghies come in all shapes and sizes, though it is fair The RIB is without doubt the
to say that the most common is now the RIB (Rigid most popular choice afloat
Inflatable Boat). The next most common is the today
collapsible or roll up dinghy, chosen by those whose
boats cannot stow a dinghy on deck or because the
owners prefer clean decks while under way.

Some boats had swim platforms large enough to

accommodate a dinghy. This is a great solution if you
can find such a boat. Alubat in France make a boat
called a Cigale that can stow a dinghy on the swim
platform. The Hanse 53 can stow a 2.7m dinghy inside
a locker on the transom.

Other types (remaining 10% or so) include various

traditional and other dinghies made from a variety of
materials and some non-inflatable collapsing dinghies.
Some even have masts and sails, great for teaching
kids how to sail or for having a little fun in an
anchorage.

The great advantage of the inflatable dinghy is its RIB's and inflatables are
stability, safety and versatility. There are various stable, safe and versatile
brands available, with price corresponding fairly
closely to quality, however they fall into 2 categories:
those made with Hyperlon and those made with PVC.

Hyperlon is vastly superior and should be chosen

even though you have to pay more. Insist on knowing Get a Hyperlon dinghy (NOT
what the dinghy is made of inside the shop before PVC)
handing over your cash and do not believe any tales
about PVC being as good, or the latest PVC is as
good as Hyperlon etc. PVC Dinghies tend to
disintegrate more quickly, their joins come apart and
their fittings fall off.

A great fitting for a dinghy is wheels fixed to the Fit wheels on the transom,
transom for hauling it up a beach. These need to fold they make hauling the
so that they can remain out of the water until you dinghy up the beach easy
approach the beach when the dinghy should be
slowed and the wheels lowered for driving onto the
beach. You have a choice: bigger wheels that are
lower than the propeller allowing you to drive right up
onto the beach which is great for heavy surf; or as
minimum one or two small wheels, perhaps
permanently set like in a suitcase, on the keel or just
below the transom. Either way it makes hauling your
dinghy up the beach easy.

41
Your dinghy is your connection to the shore when at
anchor. Even in port you might have occasion to use it
if the port is large or spread about such as Las
Palmas and Papeete. Look after it, many a dinghy has Look after your dinghy:
been stolen or simply just blown away after being - Double tie it on
carelessly tied on to a boat or not secured on a beach. - Set its anchor on the
Fastidious types double tie the dinghy to the boat and beach
always tie it on to something or set its anchor if hauled - Lift the dinghy at night
up on the beach. In certain parts of the world you
should lift it at night. Set up a bridle that you can easily
attach to a halyard and lift the dinghy to rail height.
That way it is much more difficult to steal.

42
El Nino
The Coconut Milk run is the name giving to cruising in
the tropics, so called because one generally sails
westward about the globe, staying on the winter side
of the equator within the tropics. That’s where all the
coconut trees are. In some years the Pacific is Unpredictable weather
affected by El Nino. This can lead to unpredictable
weather disturbances along the South Pacific Hurricanes in July? In Bora
Convergence Zone (SPCZ). A few years ago Bora?
hurricanes were reported in Bora Bora in July. The
Coconut Milk Run was renamed the Coconut Milk
Shake that year.

It is difficult to predict an El Nino year. If you are sitting

in Panama about to set off to cross the Pacific El Nino
should not stop you because the information about
whether it is an El Nino year will not be certain. The
Australian weather service watches El Nino closely
because it impacts climate in Australia. This is what
the Australian Bureau of Meteorolgy has to say:

The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) is calculated Southern Oscillation Index

from the monthly or seasonal fluctuations in the air (SOI)
pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin.

Sustained negative values of the SOI often indicate El Watch for sustained
Niño episodes. These negative values are usually negative values
accompanied by sustained warming of the central and
eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, a decrease in the
strength of the Pacific Trade Winds, and a reduction in
rainfall over eastern and northern Australia. The most
recent strong El Niño was in 1997/98.

Positive values of the SOI are associated with

stronger Pacific trade winds and warmer sea
temperatures to the north of Australia, popularly
known as a La Niña episode. Waters in the central
and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become cooler
during this time. The most recent strong La Niña was
in 1988/89; a moderate La Niña event occurred in
1998/99, which weakened back to neutral conditions
before reforming for a shorter period in 1999/2000.
This last event finished in Autumn 2000

Check out
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/glossary/soi.shtml for
more information on this subject.

43
Electricity (mains 110v/220v)
Mains electricity is very useful on a boat and can be
supplied from one of three sources:

Shore Power
An AC genset
Inverter

Mains electricity, even if supplied from your genset or AC is dangerous, even more
inverter is still mains electricity and is dangerous. so on a boat because there
Treat it with the same respect you would on land. is no earth
Because you are in a marine environment you have
salty water in close proximity. Salty water is highly
conductive (much more so than fresh water), so one
should be doubly careful.

On land a power station earths the neutral side of the

AC circuit. In addition there is a spare “earth” circuit on
most electrical equipment. On a boat neutral is floating
and not earthed. In addition your electrician may not
provide an earth for the same reasons that the US
Navy does not. All your AC mains equipment must be
in good order, checked frequently and you should
always exercise the utmost care. A good earth
leakage unit, adapted for use on a boat will mitigate
the risks.

An isolating transformer is essential for using shore

power if you are on a metal boat. On any other boat
an isolating transformer is highly recommended.

44
Electrolysis (galvanic corrosion)
This subject is a “black art” and there are widely A black art
divergent opinions. The US Navy for instance
constructs its ships with a floating negative (more
below) in all its on-board electrical circuits. The US
Coast Guard bonds negative to the hull at a single
point. Who is right?

When two dissimilar metals are connected and placed Dissimilar metals in sea
together in an electrolyte (e.g. sea water) an electrical water
current will pass between them based on the
difference in their “potential” voltages. This current is
lethal to certain metals.

Electrolysis is a significant issue on all boats, but it Aluminium boats

assumes critical proportions in metal boats, especially
aluminium boats.

From here the discussion separates into two issues Two issues:
that need to be thought about and planned for 1. no stray current and
separately: Electrolysis with stray electrical current 2. stray current induced
and electrolysis without stray electrical current.

Lets deal with electrolysis without electrical current

first. All boats have a number of dissimilar metals in
contact with salty damp conditions, salt water, actually
immersed in the sea, or connected to a metal
component in the sea (eg your engine is connected to
your propeller which is in the sea).

There are two ways to deal with this problem: Separate dissimilar metals
separate the metals if at all possible (above the
waterline) and fit anodes below the waterline (and in
any keel sump).

Your mast and boom (and other areas of the boat) are
likely to be aluminium with many stainless steel
fittings. Where care is not taken to separate the
metals the aluminium alloy in the spar corrodes
leaving a larger hole than originally drilled for the
fixing. Ultimately the fixing will work loose and fail.
Separate fittings on spars with plastic and/or silicon.
Use fixings that are the same as one of the metals
and try and separate the fixing from the other metal.
Again, the use of plastic and silicon is very helpful.
Some fixings can be supplied with plastic lugs or
sleeves. Use the same principle where all other
dissimilar metal components connect and join.

45
Underwater you should place a number of zinc Anodes (zincs)
anodes around the hull, on the keel and rudder.
Additionally, one should be placed inside any bilge
sumps. Place an anode on your prop shaft and if
possible on the propeller itself, normally this is done
on the hub.

The second issue is electrolysis induced by stray Stray current induce

electrical current. galvanic corrosion

Stray electrical current can arise from a number of

sources. Again, let’s split this subject in two: Shore
power and on-board power. The ultimate aim with
both is the same: to isolate all power sources from the
hull. Whether you bond to a metal hull or not is up to
you. Personally I would not.

With shore power you have the problem that the shore
based power station has earthed the neutral side of Is you boat a super-anode?
their network. The live side of the circuit is looking for
a way to ground anyway it can. If it comes onto your
boat through that innocuous box on the pontoon your
boat could become an instant super-anode. The
problem is made several times worse by other Isolating transformer
dissimilar metals nearby: other boats, the pontoons,
piles, debris on the bottom etc.

The solution to all this is a transformer. A rather

special transformer called an isolating transformer.
Normally they are supplied with both 110v and 220v
input and 110v and 220v output. What the isolating
transformer does is that it isolates shore power from
the boats onboard circuits. Shore power is converted An isolating transformer is
into magnetic energy in the transformer that is then essential on a metal boat
converted back into electrical energy on the boats
onboard mains circuit. With only one connection on
board, shore power is very unlikely to stray. Highly
recommended on all boats they are 100% essential on
a metal boat if you are going to use shore power.

Just placing an isolating transformer on board does

not absolve you of any further responsibility. From an
electrolysis standpoint you still need to be as careful
of on-board mains power as any other power. One
more thing: on board mains power is still mains power
and still dangerous. See “Electricity (Mains
100v/220v)” for more information on this topic.

The second source of stray onboard power is the Stray DC is more insidious,
boats own systems and this is usually a DC problem, it will probably go on for
although as I stated above this section also applies to longer and you may not
the boats on board AC Mains circuit. detect it

46
The first item to consider is bonding. Are you with the
US Navy or with the US Coast Guard? If these two
highly professional organisations cannot agree what
chance do you have? On a metal boat a floating
negative is maintained throughout the boat, the hull is
NEVER used as a common earth such as on a car. The hull cannot be a
The bonding question on a metal boat is this: do you common earth
connect the boats negative circuit to the hull or not?
It’s up to you and your electrician.

Typically problems arise when a fault occurs in an Items in the bilge are prime
item in the bilge such as a bilge pump. Power then candidates
drains via that item into the water in the bilge
completing the circuit causing very rapid galvanic
corrosion in your hull.

Make sure that all your items that could have any
contact with the hull are serviced regularly. Compile a
list of every item that could possibly be affected and
check them regularly. The list will be quite long. See
check lists.

Use di-pole switches – that is the switches with circuit

breakers on both sides of the circuit so that both
positive and negative circuits are broken. This will help
reduce the risk of stray currents and help you track
down stray current in the negative circuit if you ever
need to.

The last item in the list of defences against electrolysis Stray current meter
is a stray current meter. Have it properly installed and
know how to use it.

47
EPIRB
The EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio An EPIRB is vital
Beacon) operating on 406 MHz is a vital piece of
safety kit. It works by sending a signal containing your
information to a number of satellites. The system
triangulates your exact position and then relays both
that information and your EPIRB details to a control
centre from where the alert is relayed to the nearest
sea rescue authorities. Some 406 EPIRBS include a
121.5 homing signal as well.

There are also personal EPIRBS on the market. The Personal EPIRB
boat will need a homing receiver, however these are
an excellent idea for MOB recovery. See “MOB”.

Will you be rescued? Authorities outside first

If you are in North American, European or world waters have ignored
Australasian waters, or nearby, you stand a good EPIRB alerts
chance of rescue. If not, you stand some chance of
perhaps being rescued. There have been disturbing
reports where an authority on being passed the
information about an EPIRB in its area of operation
has ignored the information because "rescuing some
tourists on a boat" does not warrant the cost. This
happened to a boat called Leviathan off the coast of
Africa a few years ago.

Switch on and off every 2 hours

Once activated, unless it is switched off, it will transmit In an emergency switching
for a number of hours. This is a vital statistic, compare your EPIRB on and off every
different models battery life expectations. If you do 2 hours extends the battery
use your EPIRB you can double the time that it and tells the authorities the
transmits by switching it off for an hour or two and rescue is real
then switching it on again. Each time it is switched on
it should be left on for at least two hours as it can take
this amount of time for the alert to fully go through the
system. Turning your EPIRB on and off does
something more than simply extending its battery life:
it tells the authorities about your direction of drift and
speed and it also tells them that the emergency is real
and that there are survivors.

When you buy a boat that already “owns” an EPIRB, Be sure to register your
or when you buy an EPIRB it is VERY IMPORTANT EPIRB
that you register it with the authorities in the country in
which the boat is registered. The boat and owner must
be identified in the national EPIRB records in order to
co-ordinate the best response to any emergency.

48
Experience
How much experience have you had? How much do
you know? Do not be put off if you have not done
much sailing, although it does help. Do a few courses,
sail as much as you can and when you do actually set You will learn more in your
off, do it in easy stages. You will learn far more in your first 3 months of cruising
first three months cruising than you did in all your than you would in a whole
previous sailing experience, even if you sailed life of club sailing
regularly. You will also do stuff that you hardly ever do
in club sailing, like regular passages at night and lots
of anchoring in different conditions.

I did quite allot of sailing when I was much younger Take it in easy stages when
growing up in Cape Town. I owned a Hobie Cat and I you start: Build your
sailed and raced as foredeck crew on a 32 foot sloop. confidence
Then I stopped sailing for 15 years. When we decided
to do our voyage to Australia I wanted to update my
knowledge. I started with a day skipper course and
did several specific courses on subjects such as VHF,
first aid and radar use. The last course and test was
for my coastal skipper certificate. Armed with all this
new found knowledge I set off for Australia. My
overall aim at the beginning was to keep my family
confident. We hired a professional skipper to take us
across the English Channel. We then entered the
French canals where we got used to handling the boat
in very easy circumstances. When we arrived in the
Med we started with easy day sails. We slowly built
our confidence so that by the time we set off to cover
the 600 nautical miles from Gibraltar to Lanzerote we
did so confidently. By the time we set off from the
Galapagos on the 3000 mile crossing to the
Marquesas, we did so as if it we were just setting off
for a jolly, little day sail. It seemed so matter of fact, so
ordinary.

An essential certificate is the International Certificate Get an ICC, some countries

of Competence. Have it on board otherwise some require it.
authorities may stop you going any further without a
"qualified" skipper on board.

49
Fatigue
Fatigue is something that must be actively managed. Manage fatigue
Seasickness can induce deep fatigue that is difficult to
lift oneself from. As skipper the best remedy for
seasickness is to have the crew lie down and close
their eyes. Sleep helps defeat fatigue and if you need
the crew you will have them back more quickly by
sending them to their bunk.

Another form of fatigue is when short handed and you Maintain a workable watch
are struggling to maintain an adequate watch. roster
Maintain a workable roster and stick to it. Being kind is
not helpful. Allowing your partner to be kind is
shirking!

The last relevant form of fatigue is that when you are In bad weather actively
caught in a storm and you have to fight to keep the manage fatigue: rest when
boat and her crew safe. Getting cold and tired, fatigue possible and eat well.
can be deadly if you need all your wits about you as
you hand steer through a gale. Take shorter watches,
eat or drink warm food. Try and put on dry clothes. Try
and get a nap. Heave to for a rest. Set a sea anchor
and get some sleep.

50
Finances
Cruising and yachts cost money. Lots of it. There is no
getting around that fact. There are 6 basic costs
involved:

1. Purchase of yacht
2. Fit out for cruising
3. Maintenance
4. Regular expenses such as insurance, fuelling,
communications costs, port fees etc
5. You will have regular expenses back on land
such as life insurance, storage and property
costs
6. Your living costs

In addition, to go cruising you have the costs of

closing down your old life on land and establishing the
new life afloat. You then have day to day living costs,
some airfares home and when it is all over you have
to face the cost of re-establishing yourself on land.

Work out what your resources are first. Then, as

accurately as you can, try and draft a cruising budget,
more or less under the headings above. You will need
to add items such as car hire and airfares back home
because you will find that you need to do these things.
Assume your food will cost what it is costing you now,
some places are cheaper, and some are more
expensive. They will balance out. Add in a margin for
error and hopefully you have enough money to do it!

A very good approach would be to split all of the

above between capital and current accounts. In other
words put all the major assets and liabilities into the
capital account and put all of your income and
expenses into the current account. The difference
between the two is that that the items under capital
are enduring and long term in nature. It will include
such items as house, value of boat, investments etc.
The current account will include your income: rent,
interest, dividends etc and your expenses such as
provisions, repairs, flights etc.

The aim is not to allow any leakage from capital into

current. It is imperative to your future happiness on
land when the whole adventure is behind you that
your capital remains intact.

51
First Aid
First Aid a specialised topic deserving not only a book Do a First Aid course, also
or two in its own right, but as much training as you can learn how to do intravenous
get. Even if its not yacht related, such as an ordinary injections, sutures and
St Johns Ambulance First Aid course, it is an essential setting fractures
thing to do. Obtain very detailed diagnosis literature
on certain common illnesses such as appendicitis.

Essential on board reference books include:

The Ship Captains Medical Guide.

A good First Aid guide.

52
Fishing
Fishing is a personal topic and rods and reels are
expensive. What is your objective? Game Fishing? On
a sail boat? Or is it meat collection?

On the coconut milk run your main catch will include Catch fish, on a long
Tuna of various species, Dorado (also know as Mahi passage it could be your
Mahi and Dolphinfish) and Wahoo. You may get a few only fresh food
others such as Jack, Snapper, Barracuda, and Shark
and if you are really lucky you might catch one of the
bill fish (Marlin etc). While we used a rod and light line
we lost a lot of tackle and a lot of fish.

Our final set up consisted of a plastic hand line reel, Hand line reel, heavy line
70m of 200kg line and 3m of 10mm shock cord. The and shock cord
lure was a plastic squid on a 1 metre steel trace (125
kg) attached to the line on a heavy duty swivel. We
never lost tackle once this fishing rig was
commissioned and we lost very few fish.

The lure was a plastic squid approx 20cm long on a

small weight. The hook was a double hook set at 45º
approx 5cm in length along the shank.

Once a fish is hooked it cannot get off because of the

shock cord. In the beginning we sometimes did not
know a fish was on the line and only found out when
we were pulling the line in for some other reason. If
you see a fish take the lure, just watch it. It will thrash
around and tire itself out. Do not be tempted to pull it
in too early, because if it has enough fight left it can
shake itself off just as you want to land it.

Take the line in at night, you will not want to be

grappling with a large fish in the dark.

53
Gas
Gas, for the purpose of this discussion means Gas explosions kill
propane or butane. These gases are heavier than air
so any leakage inside the boat will sink into the bilge.
In the bilge the gas can rapidly achieve explosive They also will destroy your
proportions and all that is needed for a catastrophe is boat in less than 1 second
a tiny spark. Gas explosions on boats are horrible,
possibly resulting in death and/or destruction of your
boat. The RNLI in the UK report that the second most
common call out after false alarms is fire, some of it
gas related.

Gas detection devices are prone to sea water Do NOT trust a gas detector
damage, and as they live in the bilge they are
exposed to sea water periodically. There is a body of
opinion that believes they can actually contribute to
the danger because they encourage a false sense of
security. It is far better to set your boat up to minimise
the danger and to adopt a "safe practice" routine.

Have your gas installation performed by a qualified Gas installation by a

gas technician to conform to local marine/gas qualified person
installation standards. Keep your gas bottles in a
sealed locker with overboard drains. Fit a solenoid
type gas valve in the gas locker. If power is cut, the
gas supply is cut off too. Fit circuit breakers for the
solenoid next to the cooker and on the main switch
panel. Fit a light next to the circuit breakers to remind
crew that the gas is "on". If you fit a bilge blower, fit a
certified "spark free" blower high up, near its exhaust.
Any gas in the duct will remain at the bottom; any
spark escaping from the blower when it is switched on
will then be harmless.

Gas safe practices on a boat: Maintain good gas practices

1. Turn off the gas using the valve on the bottle if
leaving the boat for more than a few hours.
2. Turn off the gas after using the cooker every
time. Adopt the habit of only turning the gas on
when cooking.
3. When turning off the cooker turn the gas supply
off first and then the cooker.
4. If there is any malfunction of gas equipment,
immediately stop using it until it is repaired.
5. Keep the boat well ventilated, and when
returning to it after a few days ventilate it well
and clear the bilges.

54
Gas (continued)
Manual Bilge pumps also pump gases. Manually
pump or blow your bilges every day, even dry, to
remove any spilt gas. If you spill gas (when your
cooker does not light first time, for example)
immediately manually pump or blow your bilge as well.
In this situation when you know there is gas in the
bilge do not throw any switches, especially for
equipment in the bilge.

55
Generators
Generators come in many guises. The most common Small petrol gensets are
is the AC "genset" generating upwards of 2 kvA (2 very cheap
kilowatts). Many of the smaller and cheaper ones are
petrol powered, while the marine ones tend to be Diesel gensets are more
diesel powered and water cooled. expensive
There are also DC gensets, some that are Combo water maker/genset
combination water makers and gensets and some that
use different technologies such as the Wispergen that Whispergen
uses a sterling motor. Fuel Cells are being talked
about at the time of writing, but it will be some time
before they are competitive, both as regards their
initial price and their fuel consumption. In addition to Battery management
the genset you will require a sophisticated battery
management system

There is a genset on the market called Whispergen

that uses a Sterling Motor (external combustion) that
runs on diesel and delivers a constant 800W (33 amps
at 24v, 66 amps at 12v) using 0.8 litres per hour (at
full capacity). A set up where the Whispergen is run
just at in the evening for eight hours or so may be
sufficient on its own to keep up with all the power
requirements of the boat and also allow the owner to
install a smaller battery bank.

Wind & Solar

You may want to add a wind or water generator and/or Wind & Solar – surely all
solar panels. Do not rely on the input from any of those yachties cannot be
these devices when sizing your system. They merely wrong!
make it more efficient. Note that a good wind
generator does not work when sailing downwind and
will cost about USD $1,500. That amount could buy
about 750 gallons of diesel. A 75 watt panel costs
over $500. Water generators are good on passage
except that they slow the boat down (by an average 1
knot on a 40 footer). In addition the average cruising
boat is in port or at anchor 90% of the time. In
summary these devices are expensive, do not
generate much power and rely on the elements to
work. Unfortunately there is no substitute for burning
diesel.

The only real alternative to using your main engine for

power generation is a genset. There are a few boats
"out there" that rely completely on wind and solar. I
admire them very much and it shows that it is possible
to survive on much less power.

56
GMDSS
GMDSS has been obligatory from 1 February 2005 for
recreational craft and it is used mainly in developed
nations and this means it is certainly operating in
European and US waters. No watch is now being
maintained on VHF 16 or on 2182 (HF) or on any of
the other MF/HF frequencies. The problem is that
GMDSS is effectively not used across most of the
Pacific or most other non first world seas.

When qualifying for your SRC (Short Range

Certificate) and or your LRC (Long Range Certificate,
or equivalent) you will learn extensively about
GMDSS. Find out about where it is effective and
where it is not.

If fitting new equipment compliance with GMDSS is

probably going to be determined geographically. It is
probably best to comply anyway if you are fitting new
equipment now.

GMDSS requires all vessels to be able to transmit a

Distress alert from two sources. A DSC controlled
VHF is normally the first method and an EPIRB
usually provides that second method.

As with everything else work out a plan around the

Pacific GMDSS issue.

57
GPS failure
In the event of GPS failure, either of your own unit or The GPS CAN fail
the system as a whole, you may need to navigate by
using traditional means.

If you are within sight of the coast you can take

bearings on land marks and plot your position
manually. At this point paper charts are probably best.
You can also use your radar if you know what land or
buoy the radar is seeing.

Dead reckoning
Always keep a record of your voyage as it progresses. Always dead reckon
Dead reckoning is good practice in any event. If in the
ocean, at least once a day (preferably more) record
your position, course and speed. If you are close to
the coast keep the record much more often, perhaps
every hour, or more. That way you can use dead
reckoning to help corroborate any position you
calculate using any other means.

Celestial Navigation
Celestial navigation is a skill that can be learned in a You can do celestial
few days. It is a good idea to do it. Carry a sextant, navigation: heres how...
sight reduction tables and an almanac, just in case
you need to. Of course, you might just find it
interesting to put your skills to the test on passage.

Basic Celestial Navigation

If you are well off the coast, you may have to resort to Keep a couple of spare
basic celestial navigation without a sextant. A digital watches on board
methodology for doing this is described below. Note
that this is not accurate and could be 20-50 or more
miles out. It should be used only if you have no other Note the time when you
means of knowing where you are, but in those record the suns zenith
circumstances this will be much better than nothing!

Modern electronic watches are very accurate. Make

sure you have a couple spare and that you check their
accuracy regularly.

The sun moves from one solstice to the other in a

highly predictable manner in a period of 182½ days. It
moves from equinox, when the sun is directly over the
equator to each solstice in approx. 92 days as follows:
First 20 days before/after equinox 8º
2nd 20 days before/after equinox 7º
3rd 20 days before/after equinox 5º
4th 20 days before/after equinox 3º
Final 12 days ½º

58
By way of example if your GPS fails on 21 April you
could work out where the sun is. The solstices are on
21 June and 21 Dec and the equinox is on 20 March
and 23 September. So, for 21 April first work out how
many days since the equinox (31) This is 20+11
adding up to 8º+11/20x7º or 11º 51' north.

Measure the angle of the sun

Now comes the difficult part. How do you measure the
angle of the sun from the horizon with any degree of Measure the sun
accuracy? This can be done quite well with a piece of
rectangular cardboard (or a locker door) and help from
one of your crew. The cardboard must be absolutely
rectangular, that is its opposite edges must be parallel
and its corners must be exactly 90º. Mark a line
exactly 1cm from one edge and bend the edge of the
cardboard over exactly on the line. The edge facing
the horizon must be the bent edge. If you are using a
locker door a pin or nail stuck in vertically is a good
alternative. Line up the base of the cardboard with the
horizon in the direction of the sun so that the bent
edge casts a shadow on the card board (do not look at
the sun as you may damage your eyes) as near to
midday as possible. Have your crew helper mark on
the opposite edge of the cardboard the edge of the
shadow that is cast. Do this a few times and use the
measurement with the greatest angle. Have the crew
write down the exact time of each measurement as
well. The angle from the top edge of the piece of card
board to the corner marked by the bend is the angle of
the shadow and can easily be measured using your
navigational plotter.

59
To calculate your latitude a diagram may help. It need Draw a digaram
not be accurate, but must be sufficiently approximate
to help you visualise accurately all the angles.
Hopefully you will already know your rough latitude.
Draw the earth and your piece of cardboard in about
the right place remembering that because you lined
the cardboard up with the horizon that the bottom
edge is in fact a tangent and is at a right angle to a
line drawn from the centre of your earth to the edge of
the cardboard . Now draw in the theoretical position of
the sun from the centre of your earth (11º51' north in Work out your latitude
our example). This is called the suns declination.
Draw a parallel line to that of your sun that intersects
the corner of your cardboard. Pencil in the angle of
your shadow. You may have to add or subtract the
suns declination, but it will now be apparent what your
laititude is and it should correspond with your known
approximate latitude.

To determine your longitude you now need to work on Work out your longitude
the time you recorded when the sun was highest. That
is your local midday. Work out the difference from
UTC (GMT) in minutes. Your longitude in degrees is
the time difference in minutes divided by 4. (12 hours
x 60 mins per hour divided by 180º). Again this
should correspond with your known approximate
longitude.

Again I remind you. This is not accurate, it should only This is NOT accurate, you
be used as a last resort. An error of 1º equates to 60 could easily be out by less
miles. When you calculate that you are near land or than 2 degrees: that's 100
navigational hazards such as shipping lanes, rocks miles!
and reefs etc you should become much more alert.
Stand off if you have to. Heave to* over night as they
used to in the good old days if unsure. Use your depth
sounder to try and find a contour. Try and find
landmarks or buoys that you can identify on your
chart. Call other ships on your VHF. Use all available
information.

See "Heave to"

60
Grab Bag
This is the bag you grab on your way out of the boat
as you abandon ship. Its contents need careful
thought. Consider for the type of cruising that you are
doing how long you might need its contents:- in the
Mediterranean it is arguable that you might
conceivably have to last a week. If you are crossing a
major ocean you may need to survive considerably
longer. Make sure it is waterproof and that it floats.
Putting a lanyard on it and tying it to the life raft will
help prevent its loss.

Example list of items for your Grab Bag:

Food
Clothing
Water in containers strapped to the lifelines
Medication
Fishing tackle
Multi-tool
Spare GPS (one pre-loaded with basic charts)
Relevant charts folded and stored in a waterproof zip-
lock bag
Handheld VHF that runs on batteries
Batteries
Torch (waterproof)
Books
Pencil & paper
First aid book
Knife
Glucose tablets
Sunglasses
Hats
Sunblock

61
Hatches (broken)
Carry plywood boards for every size of hatch and Strong boards may save
window on board. Hatches break and boats have your boat
been lost as a result.

The boards should cover the hatch/window

completely. Drill a 1cm hole in the middle, or two if the
board is long and narrow. Leave a loop of line in the
hole a little bigger than the depth of the window. Have
a piece of planed timber ready to place in the loop that
can be tightened by turning. The intention is to have
something that stops the ingress of most of the water.
It will leak and be uncomfortable but water ingress
through a broken hatch will not then overwhelm the
pumps. Once the weather has settled, if you are still at
sea, make the repair to the hatch or window more
effective. Replace the twisted line with screws or bolts,
try and make the repair waterproof. Try placing some
waterproof fabric over the hatch and securing it with a
line tied around the hatch.

62
Health
Cruising is healthy, there is lots of physical activity, Guard your health
little stress and a great lifestyle. Two things: When far
from western style supermarkets pay attention to
getting a balanced diet. $1 for 1 apple might slow
down the fruit intake. It may stop altogether because
there is none. When you suspect that this is true take
a good multivitamin with high RDA's (Recommended
Daily Allowance) of all the essential vitamins.

Colds and flu are rare in the tropics, but sores, Take special care of cuts
particularly sea related sores can take a long time to and grazes
heal. Carry the appropriate anti-biotic, 1000mg
Vitamin C tabs and treat all cuts carefully. Wash them
thoroughly in an antiseptic wash and then treat them
with Bactroban. Hydrogen Peroxide is an antiseptic
and it fizzes satisfactorily on cuts and scrapes.

Watch for tropical diseases, particularly Dengue fever, Malaria

Malaria and Yellow fever, all carried by mosquitoes. Yellow Fever
Cover up, wear bug repellent and be inoculated Dengue
against Yellow Fever. Malaria and Dengue fever are
more problematic. With Malaria it depends where you
are as to what type of anti Malaria treatment you might
need. You can take tablets and there are various
courses available.

Dengue Fever is unpleasant. At the time of writing

there weren't any vaccines or remedies for Dengue
Fever. Recovery from Dengue normally takes 2
weeks. Each time you catch it, it gets worse.

Do as much research as you can on government Check out govt websites.

websites and then see your doctor for advice. The US The US and UK sites are
and British government websites are particularly good good
on this subject.

63
Heave To
Heaving to is one of the great sailing tactics that is
being forgotten. To heave to, simply put the boat
through a tack, but leave the headsail backed. Leave
the helm lashed to windward and adjust the mainsheet
until she is comfortable. The boat should be making a
little leeway and perhaps a little way forward. Every
boat is different and will behave differently in different
conditions.

Having Hove-To, everything will go quiet. Heaving to

is a good tactic for all sorts of things: for simply having
a rest, to ride out a storm, to stop the boat quickly in a
MOB situation. Practice it a few times in different
conditions.

64
Holed!
Carry a spare electric bilge pump and several float Maintain your bilge pumps
switches. Test regularly. Carry service kits, especially
for your manual bilge pumps. Consider carrying a
spare manual "roving' bilge pump mounted to a board
and fitted with sufficient hose to drain over board, say
out of a hatch and over the side. When you really
need to pump you can never have too much capacity!
Other emergency measures include taking the engine
cooling raw water hose off the seacock (after closing
the seacock!) and pumping from the bilge, using the
water maker pump (fit suitable diversion valves and
hoses before you next go out), using the lavatory
pump and in dire emergency pumping your fresh
water out, the tanks make good buoyancy. Remember
the hoary old adage: "The best bilge pump in an
emergency is a frightened man and a bucket".

There is a device available now that operates a bit like

and umbrella, you stick it through the hole and then
open it. Its usefulness will depend on the location of
the hole and whether it can be deployed.

Put the boat on the opposite tack and heel her if

possible so that the hole is above water.

If possible, try and get something on the outside of the Try and cover the hole from
hull, it is more effective than anything you try and stuff the outside.
into the hole from the inside. Carry some suitable
material that is reasonably stiff, but also that is quite
pliable that you can place on the outside of the hull
(you will need to go overboard). There are adhesives
that work under water. People have saved boats by
tying a sail around the hull.

If stuffing the hole from the inside you will need to

maintain pressure on the "stuffing" to keep it as
effective as possible. Find something that can be
wedged in place.

If you are building a new boat from scratch, or if you Water tight compartments?
can do it, a longer term precaution may be to try and
set up one or more watertight compartments on your
boat. Amel’s come pre-designed with watertight areas.
The most common area for collision damage is
forward in the bow area. At the stern a common cause
of sinking is holing when the rudder is damaged or Even if a watertight
failure of the prop shaft seal. Check the design of your compartment does not save
boat. If it has bulkheads in approximately the right the boat, it might save you

65
places consider how you could make a watertight
compartment. The bulkhead will need to be sealed
very effectively, including all service ducts and the
bilge. The design of any door into the compartment
will need special attention.

If building a new boat consider whether it is possible

to integrate water and fuel tanks into the hull
construction. This will in effect give the boat a double
skinned hull. This approach, if used in tandem with
watertight compartments will make your boat
considerably safer.

Some yachts have gone down in less than a minute.

Even if your watertight compartment is not perfect it
may still save your life by adding several minutes to
the time you have available to abandon ship.

66
Instruments
A number of manufacturers make good, reliable There are lots of
instruments. This section is not intended to instruments available
recommend one, rather it is intended to provide you
with some issues you need to think about.

The really key instrument is depth. If all you buy is the Depth is key
depth sounder you will have realized 80% of the value
with the purchase of your instruments. Your GPS
provides you with speed over the ground (not boat
speed or speed through the water). In addition an Boat speed is seldom
impeller driven boat speed instrument is not very accurate
accurate. Its performance is greatly impacted by any
weed that has grown on the impeller and hull, its
position on the hull and its calibration. It does have
limited use when sailing in a current. The windex on A windex is generally better
the top of the mast and a quick glance at the sea will than the wind instrument
provide better wind information than a wind
instrument. Many manufacturers sell a combo boat
speed and depth pack.

The salesman may try to sell you a plotter. This is

essentially a computer screen adapted for use in Do not be seduced by a
conjunction with the manufacturers instruments on a sweet talking salesman
boat. It can usually provide a customised series of
readouts including instrument data, chart information,
radar plots, engine status and other interesting things.
These plotters are very expensive. In addition you
have to buy the manufacturers charts and once you A dedicated chart plotter
have bought the plotter you are tied to his prices for ties you to their charts
the charts. On top of all this all the electronics behind
the plotter need to be interfaced and then it all needs
to be maintained.

What are you trying to achieve? Think about what Depth, a GPS repeater and
information you actually need on the helm. Eyeball your autopilot controls are
mk1 is the best instrument that you have, after that needed on the helm.
depth, heading and speed are useful. Your autopilot
controls must be at the helm in order to be able to
instantly disengage it when required. The rest is
probably superfluous. Radar information is useful, but Autopilot controls must be
very seldom required at the helm in the tropics. at the helm
A combo repeater in your cabin is very useful. At
anchor or underway when not on watch you can Combo repeater in your
quickly check (some) things without getting up. cabin
A good alternative to the instrument manufacturers
plotter is a PC and PC based charts. See the sections
on “Navigation” and “Computers”.

67
Jacklines
Jacklines are lines that run up and down the boat Webbing jacklines
allowing crew to clip on and yet to move the length of
the boat without unclipping. The best jacklines are
webbing because webbing is flat and strong. I have
seen ordinary stainless steel cable used, but it can roll
underfoot and be dangerous.

Webbing jacklines should be regularly checked and Check webbing jacklines for
renewed if necessary because of the UV damage they UV damage
constantly suffer weakens them.

In the ARC 2002 a crew member died even though he

was clipped on. Most jacklines run along the outside Set jacklines as far inboard
deck so that if you fall on a 90cm harness you could as possible.
be hanging in the water. If the boat is moving fast,
especially in anything more than moderate seas, you
will not be able to climb on board. You may not even
be able to shout for help. You could drown because of
the way you fall with the drag of the water holding you
under.

It is far better to lay your jacklines as far inboard as Shorten your harness
possible so that if you fall you hang near the top of the
life lines. That way, even if you are injured you should
somehow be able to get back on board and call for
help more easily. Shorten or double up the harness to
shorten its length as well.

68
Life Raft
Purpose made, self inflating, life rafts with enough Make sure it is in date
capacity/places for everybody on board should be on
board. Life rafts must be securely stowed on or below
decks but must be capable of being deployed in half a
minute or less. All life rafts should have a survey
certificate signed by an authorised servicing agent
valid at least for the period of the intended voyage.

Life rafts come in various grades (prices) according to There is very little included
quality, brand and equipment on board. You cannot inside - prepare your grab
supplement the on-board equipment, but the bag
manufacturer should have supplied you with a list.
The on-board equipment list is normally very limited.
Do not be tempted into thinking that you can rely on
this, even for a short period of time.

Make sure your Grab Bag (see “Grab Bag”) contains

everything else you want/need.

An expensive addition to a Life Raft is a SART

(Search And Rescue Transponder). It provides a very
distinct “echo” on a radar screen and is used fro short
range SAR. It is unlikely that many yachts will carry a
SART.

69
Lightning
Lightning can ruin your day! Quite apart from the fact Lightning can destroy all
that it probably will occur in an "attention getting" your boats electronics and
storm, the likelihood is that it will destroy all your electrics
electronic and electrical equipment. A direct hit is not
necessary to destroy everything as an
electromagnetic pulse from a strike close by may be
sufficient.

Lightning is frightening and unpredictable, very little is Steer around electrical

known about it. Theories abound and levels of storms
authority are determined by geography. Americans
believe in lightening dissipaters, but Europeans
believe they attract lightening. What is absolutely
certain is that the sea is flat and low and your mast is
metal and high! Steer around electrical storms!

Extraordinary things have happened on boats hit by

lightening. Some boats have reported all or some of
their electronics and electrics being "cooked". One UK
boat reported that it blew its keel bolts off and sheared
the bolts holding the chain plates fast. Start your
thinking from a "worst case scenario" where lightning
is concerned. You might even be forced to abandon
ship because of fire or some catastrophic failure.

The best advice is to try and avoid it. Steer away from
electrical storms, even by 180º. If you are caught in
lightning there are a few tips that might help:

1. Keep a spare GPS in a small metal container. Remember the Faraday

(Faraday principle: A metal container (such a principle
tin, car, aircraft or metal boat) will protect
people and things inside from lightning and
electromagnetic pulses.) Spare GPS in a metal
2. Put as much as possible that is electronic into container
the oven in lightning
3. Turn as much as possible off and isolate as Put Electronics into the
many circuits as possible. Disconnect as much oven
of your electronics as you can (unplug
computers etc). Isolate circuits
4. Start your engine if you are in an electrical
storm. If it is diesel it probably will still be
running after the hit and that will give you more Start your engine
options than if it is not running.
5. People on deck are unlikely to suffer direct hits
because the mast and rigging is protecting
them, but on no account should any standing Crew down below
rigging be touched. It is far safer below.

70
Man Over Board
Yachtsman's nightmare. If you go over and you have Do not fall overboard!
not been seen your chances of surviving are very slim.
In some conditions even if you are seen you could still
die. The rule is not to go overboard!

Personal EPIRBS are available operating on 121.5

MHz. Together with a homing receiver in the boat this
would be a very valuable addition to personal safety. If
you can find one that incorporates a strobe light and a
proximity alarm that sounds as soon as its goes out of
range this would be even better. As with many other
technology solutions it should not substitute for good
practice.

How to prepare: Practice your man overboard drill at Practice MOB recovery in a
least once a month. The standard bucket and fender variety of conditions
drill is best. Tie them together and throw it overboard.
Then shout "MAN OVERBOARD".

The MOB procedure goes as follows:

1. Immediately stop the boat by turning it into a 1. Stop the Boat
heave to*.
2. Appoint a crew member whose sole job it is to 2. Crew to watch MOB
keep the MOB in sight at all times
3. Throw out the Dan Buoy/Light/Horseshoe 3. Dan Buoy
combination
4. Start the engine and furl/drop the headsail. 4. Engine and Headsail
5. Have a crew member sheet the main tightly 5. Sheet Main amidships
amidships.
6. Have a crew member set up a line with one or 6. Recovery lines and strops
two strops to haul the MOB on board**
7. Steer towards the MOB, do not hit him/her and 7. Go upwind of the MOB
place the boat up wind of the MOB

Let the boat drift down to the MOB and ask the MOB Remember hydrostatic
to set the strops, one around his body, under the arms pressure
and the other under his knees.

If the MOB is unconscious the skipper must make the

unenviable decision about whether to risk another
crew member’s life to rescue the MOB. If so he/she
will need to be prepared as well as possible
(wetsuit/survival suit, life jacket and harnessed with a
line to the boat). The strop used to lift the MOB could
be prepared so that both crew members can be
winched out at once.

*See "Heave To" and know how to perform this

71
manoeuvre in the boat you are sailing in.

** A potential problem with pulling a MOB on board

vertically, especially in conditions where the MOB may
be hypothermic (Always assume this if the water is
cold) is heart failure caused by a drop in hydrostatic
pressure. If there is any danger of hypothermia try and
set 2 strops, one under the arms and the other under
the knees. If the MOB has a harness on use that.

*** In big seas it is best to rig the line up amidships

where the rise and fall of the bow and stern are least.
A halyard is then not suitable as the rolling of the boat
will mean that the top of the mast is swinging through
a large arc. Rig the line as low as possible.

72
Medical
The bottom line is this: if you are not a doctor, or at Practice and learn before
least a nurse, there will be times when you feel very you go
alone. Practice and learn as much as you can before
you go. Definitely do a first aid course. Extend the
course with some practical learning and/or experience
doing some basic procedures such as:

Setting a splint
Intravenous injections
Sutures

Split your medical kit up into 4 components: Split your medical

equipment into 4 boxes:
1. Basic first aid: Plasters (get the English cloth
variety "Elastoplast" plasters in a variety of 1. First aid
shapes and sizes. American "Band Aid" type 2. Over the counter items
plasters are useless on a boat), head ache 3. Prescription/professional
tablets, sea sickness drugs, Antiseptic in both 4. Refrigerated items
liquid and lotion forms and other "every day"
items. "Bactroban" is essential in the tropics as
are multivitamin tablets. Take extra vitamin C.
Food resources, especially in the remoter
reaches of the world can be less than fully
balanced.
2. The next box should be a more comprehensive
medical box containing more serious drugs
such as diarrhoea treatments, anti-histamines,
treatments for eye infections etc. The contents
will essentially be over the counter, as opposed
to prescription drugs.
3. The third box should be the box that you give
the doctor, or the box that you open yourself
only in dire circumstances: It will contain
hypodermic syringes, saline drips and other
specialist medical supplies that are normally
only available in the medical profession or on
prescription.
4. The fourth box is a tupperware, kept in your
refrigerator containing any drugs that may need
to be kept cool. Anti-biotics fall into this
category.

73
What drugs and medical supplies?

A: Over the counter, non prescription drugs covering

every possible over the counter necessity?
B: Prescription drugs including a variety of anti-biotics.
These need to be broad spectrum as well as a few
specific types such as those that help infections
caused by cuts and associated blood poisoning, eye
and ear infections and chest infections. Have some
prescription pain killers. These can fall into certain
countries listed drugs so they must be declared when
entering new countries. You need to have enough
really strong pain killers and tranquillizers in case
someone on board suffers a fracture at sea. There
may be a few days before you can reach help and the
patient may need to be sedated until he/she is treated.

Consult a doctor about a medical kit that suits you and

your cruising circumstances. If you are cruising the
Med between France, Italy and Spain only, you will
need a different medical kit from a boat leaving
Panama to cross the Pacific.

74
Navigation
A PC and GPS together provide an excellent means Electronic navigation?
of navigation. They're usually completely accurate,
that is they are accurate 99.99% of the time. There
are some occasions when they are not 100%
accurate. For instance, in Tonga, some charts were
“wrong” by 600 meters. Remain alert for any Be sceptical and alert
discrepancy and maintain a healthy attitude of
sceptical curiosity on your position at all times. When
you are sailing near the coast you should always
confirm your position with at least one other piece of Electronic charts make
information: depth, bearing on a known landmark, navigation much easier
proximity of a navigational aid or a radar bearing for
instance. BUT
You will find that the ease of using electronic charts Complex chain of equipment
and the ease of drilling down to more detail (that you
probably do not have on paper) makes the use of
electronic charts very compelling. You are relying on a
complex chain of equipment to carry on working
(power, PC, software, GPS, all linkages) so you must
have an adequate backup if it all stops working.

Another issue is that electronics are being used as a Do not rely on electronic
substitute for navigation skills. This is not a good idea charts instead of navigation
at all. Do some manual navigation using tides, paper skills
charts and a plotter every now and then just to keep
your hand in.

Electronic charts are great for coastal cruising, but

less useful when crossing large oceans. A blank piece
of paper may be sufficient. Sketch in some longitudes,
latitudes and your key waypoints and the main
navigational hazards you are likely to encounter. You
could even draw this diagram in your log book to keep
as a permanent record. Record your daily position at a
specific time.

Do not attempt to navigate through reef systems on

your blank piece of paper - use the charts and your
head as to when the blank piece of paper approach is
appropriate.

There are illicit, but nevertheless excellent, copies of

electronic charts and navigation software circulating
amongst the yachties. It is up to you whether you use
them.

75
Backup
The only area where non-computer backup is
essential is with navigation. Carry paper charts or
chartlets for each passage and know how to use
them, at least with "traditional" navigation techniques
and practices for coastal navigation and with a GPS
for ocean passages. To avoid buying paper charts,
take a printer and print paper chartlets from your
electronic charts covering every conceivable
navigation requirement of each passage before
leaving. Discard these chartlets after the passage or
when they are no longer needed. All one needs to
cross the Atlantic is a detailed chartlet of your
departure point, an A4 chart for the middle 3,000 miles
and detailed chartlets of your possible arrival points. If
headed to the West Indies from the Canaries you will
want detailed chartlets of your intended destination
plus the Cape Verdes (for emergencies), Barbados
and other possible arrival points in the West Indies.

76
Outboard Engines
There is a trade off between power and weight. The Get two! 3HP & 15HP
ideal solution is probably 2 outboards: a 3HP for small
anchorages and a bigger engine (8-25HP) for large
anchorages. The key issue with the choice of bigger
engine is the ability to plane with all your regular crew
onboard. Being able to plane will keep you drier. Yamaha is the most
common in remote areas
The big brands all make excellent quality products.
Yamaha is by far the most common in remote areas
and is the natural choice in the third world where the
Yamaha "Enduro" brand is ubiquitous. Anecdotes
abound as to why the Enduro is not sold in some first
world economies. I have heard it said that local
dealers have asked Yamaha not to sell it, because
they need virtually no maintenance and very little
replacement.

Because Yamahas are so abundant everywhere, you

are more likely to find repairs and servicing available What about 4 stroke?
for them.

The big brands are all offering 4 stroke engines now.

They are more expensive, but use less petrol.
Because they only fire on every second stroke they
have been accused of being more difficult to start.

One important issue to consider is using the outboard

as a back up. You might want to consider a bigger
engine than 15HP if this is the case. That done you
will next need to consider how to apply the power.
Some boats have a levered board on the transom on
which the outboard is normally stored. This board can
be lowered to the right height above the waterline to
place the outboard screw in the water. It is additionally
fitted with a method for securing the throttle arm. Your
boat is then steered using it’s own rudder. This
method would allow you to get the outboard motor
running very quickly.

Our boat has a bolt on board made for our transom

that was fitted with four bolts. We never tried using it,
however it would have taken something like 20
minutes to set up the outboard engine to work there.

77
Parachute Sea Anchor
The Australasians argue that a parachute sea anchor What are you going do as
is an essential survival item. With the Southern Ocean your last resort?
as their back yard, they may have a point! Not only will
they hold the boats bow to weather, but it is claimed
that they disturb the internal geometry of waves
leaving a "slick" of relatively calm water to lie in.

When setting one it is critical that it is not only

weighted, but floated as well. If not floated, it will sink
with possibly catastrophic results. It could sink the
boat. Imagine the parachute set vertically, it will
prevent your bow lifting!

Rode
You will also need 100+ metres of nylon rode. This
rode should have built in elasticity of 40% or so.

Bridle
It is recommended to set up a non-chafe bridle at the
start of the passage so that the sea anchor can be
easily deployed from the safety of the cockpit. Bring
the bridle back to the cockpit securing it with cable ties
along the toe rail. Chafe is a big problem in these
conditions. Ensure all connections are either metal to
metal, or line to line. Where line does join metal it
should do so in a thimble.

Setting
It must be set to windward. If you try and set it to Always set a sea anchor to
leeward you will quickly find yourself in allot of trouble windward
with a tangled parachute and several lines fouling your
keel, rudder and prop in terrible conditions. Pay it out,
snubbing it occasionally to help it set. Let out all the
rode so that it sets in the in the wave behind the one
immediately in front of the boat. It is said that a Sea
Anchor mitigates much of the power in a wave by
disturbing its internal geometry? Practice setting it in
calm conditions first and then in more "boisterous"
conditions.

Experiment with how the boat lies.

Chafe
Check it often (at least once every 1-2 hours) for
chafe. Adjust the bridal if necessary or with a separate Watch for chafe
line or lines attached to the bridal with clove hitches
try and take some of the strain off it if necessary.

78
Retrieval
Most have a retrieval system making this easier,
however if you have to move while it is set in a storm
you are unlikely to be able to retrieve it, you will just
have to cut it loose.

Shipping
If there is any shipping in the area you need to Be aware of shipping
carefully consider whether you can use a parachute
sea anchor as altogether the anchor and the boat can
take up nearly 200 metres of sea room and there is no
way to alert the master other than by VHF which he
may not respond to.

If you do set a sea anchor you should maintain an Maintain an anchor watch
anchor watch, both visually and using radar. Show the
day shapes and lights "Vessel not under command".
As you probably do not have these, fire white flares if
you see a ship or try and attract the attention of the
ship in some other way.

79
Pirates
Your exposure to pirates is determined mainly by Pirates are in specific areas
where you are. The worst areas are the South China – know the risks before you
Sea and the entrance to the Red Sea. In addition get there
Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador have all attracted
some bad press recently. Research any area you are
entering and find out as much as you can.
Forewarned is forearmed.

If you are in an area where there is a concern about Stay offshore

pirates stay well offshore if you can. If they cannot see
you, or see you on radar, they will not know you are
there. If you are approached by a boat or a number of
boats turn and run. If you already have a few miles on
them they may give up.

If a boat does catch up with you have your engine Keep moving and keep your
running early, do not stop and try and keep your stern stern presented to them
presented to them. Let your headsail sheets fly –
heavy flogging lines are a deterrent, the unsheeted
headsail will also allow you more manoeuvrability.
Sheet your main hard amidships. Have other crew go
below and try and prevent anybody from boarding.

If they have weapons and you are not prepared to If all else fails – cooperate
engage in a floating firefight you will have to
cooperate. It is not worth risking your life when they
might only steal your things and ransack your boat.

If you carry guns you must be prepared to use them. There is no point in guns
This means seriously injuring or killing someone else. unless you are prepared to
If you cannot do this then do not carry guns. They will use them
be more trouble than they are worth at best and may
be turned upon you at worst.

If you do carry guns you will need to declare them Guns will be a huge
every time you enter a new country. You may have to overhead when entering
place them into the safekeeping of some countries new countries
authorities. The cost and paperwork will be onerous. If
they have been placed into safekeeping you may
need to exit that country out of the same port.

One final thought about guns – in certain parts of the Pirates probably have more
world pirates will carry military assault rifles. You will firepower then you
not be able to match their firepower and your weapons
may trigger a worse response.

Not having guns does not mean you don’t have any Not having guns doesn’t
weapons. You have flares and possibly a spear gun. mean you have no weapons

80
You probably have petrol and a bottle. You can also
ram their boat. A flare shot into a small boat will
distract its crew, as will a spear shot from a spear gun
into a rubber dinghy. A Molotov cocktail will definitely
slow them down. It all depends on the circumstances
and how far you are prepared to go.

81
Pumps
Try and standardise on board pumps, so that you only Standardise on pumps
have to carry the spares and service kits for one type
of pump. The other advantage is that you also only
have to know how to strip down and fix that one type
of pump.

Fit your fresh water pump in a position where you can Make sure that all your bilge
hear it cycling. It is better to be alerted that your fresh pumps work at all times and
water is being pumped out than to lose all your fresh carry spares
water.

Fit a number of bilge pumps: one or two high capacity

electrical pumps and a number of bellows type
(Henderson or Plastimo) pumps. Fit one bellows pump
near the companion way and one in the cockpit,
operable from the helm with hatches and the
companion way shut. A roving bilge pump fitted with
2m of hose on the suction side and 5m of hose on the
outfall side is also useful. Bilge pump handles should
be secured with a lanyard to prevent accidental loss.
When you really need it you can not have too much
capacity.

82
Radar
Radar is an important piece of safety equipment. If If you have Radar on board
you have it, it must be used and therefore there must at least one crew member
be someone qualified to use it on board. Radar must be trained to use it
assisted collision is a well established phenomenon.
However, thankfully, there is little fog in the tropics. Radar assisted collision
Use it at night. It will give you advance warning not
only of ships, but also of squalls. You can also see a Radar is good for squalls
"map" of squalls around you which will give you a
chance to zig and zag through them (or into them if
you are collecting rainwater. On clear nights without Do not set the radar alarm
squalls, set the alarm for shipping. Do not rely on it, and then go to sleep!
just accept that it is another set of eyes looking out for
you. You cannot delegate watch keeping to a
machine.

Radar is available from a number of manufacturers in

varying quality. Many are now integral or can be
interfaced with electronics allowing a variety of
supposedly wonderful possibilities. Rather than
investing your money in the latest electronics,
consider whether to put extra money instead into a
bigger radar array. It will provide you with much more
accurate echoes and (provided you can get it high
enough) extra range. A mizzen mast is an excellent
place to place the array if you are on a ketch.

83
Reducing Sail
When the wind comes up, best practice is to reduce Reduce sail as soon as you
sail early. As a general rule take a reef in when you think of it
first think of doing it and leave it in for half an hour
after you first think of shaking it out. Shake the reef out half an
hour after you first think of it
Most boats will not sail any faster if over canvassed,
unless they begin to plane. Being over-canvassed
stresses the rig and crew unnecessarily.

Sailing Catamarans must be done strictly by numbers. On a Cat sail strictly by the
There will be a precise table of wind speeds, points of book
sail and which sail to set. Follow it precisely or even
conservatively.

84
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is the subject of many text books. Purists Separate fridge and freezer
will scare you about how much power they consume. I
agree, you can sail around the world without cold
beer, but what is the point? Have a separate fridge
and freezer run with separate compressors. That way
if one breaks you still have the other. You will not use
any more energy. In fact you may use less, as a
dedicated freezer that is opened less often will usually Insulation is critical to
use less power than a combined unit. successful refrigeration
Meal planning is an important issue. Take frozen food
out of the freezer say once every two days and place
it in the normal refrigerator until it is needed. It will
help cool the refrigerator and the freezer stays shut
longer.

If you are considering building refrigeration into your

boat yourself, research insulation materials carefully. Consider water cooled
There are excellent modern materials, but you must refrigeration
get it right, otherwise you will run your engines much
more than you initially planned.

Water cooled refrigeration is also available. It keeps

the heat out of the cabin and seawater in the tropics is
generally cooler than air. Some models pump sea
water around and some have clever heat exchangers
built into thru-hull fittings.

85
Rig
Sloop, ketch, schooner, yawl, junk? Which rig? There Which rig?
are devotees to all, but without doubt the sloop is the
most common rig out there. The cutter rig is very
similar to a sloop. Next is the ketch. All the rest are
peripheral, but good to spot when you see them.

The main advantage of a ketch is that its sails are

smaller and therefore easier to handle, the centre of
effort is lower down and you have more sail
combinations to choose from.

Furling headsails are the norm nowadays, hanked on

headsails in the cruising fraternity have become a What will you do if the
rarity. More common, but still not firmly entrenched, is furling stops working?
the furling main. In mast furling was the only option
until recently, however now, in boom furling is
available. The main problem with furling is what
happens when it does not work. What then will
happen in a squall or gale? If you have reefing
cringles and in boom furling you have another option if
the furling system fails. You will have to have a
system set up for the reefing pennants. A permanently
set cheek block and cleat on both ends of the boom,
in addition to the reefing points on the sail and a
designated line that fits may be sufficient.

One thing is for certain: Lifting your main is an Lifting the main is hard work
energetic activity. You are far more likely to set your
main if it is furled in the mast and (as on an Amel) you
only need to push a couple of buttons to set it.
Nevertheless, many cruisers would still choose a slab
reefed main/lazybag and furled headsail combination.

Power winches? Have one to lift the main if you can. Power winches? Maybe one
Many boats sail around with only their headsails set to lift the main
because of the work involved in lifting the main.

If you lose your rig you are likely to do so in quite

difficult circumstances, say after a capsize. Saving the How will you clear the rig if
rig is likely to be your last priority and most likely you lose your mast?
getting rid of it will be near the top of the list. Boats
have been lost after the mast, broken off in a capsize, Bolt cutters are unlikely to
but still connected to the boat with its rigging has pile work but are better than
driven a hole through the hull. A large pair of bolts nothing.
cutters (more than 3 feet long) is the stock solution,
but their effectiveness is doubtful. A grinding tool may
be the most effective tool in this situation but it might
have to work in wet conditions.

86
Safety
Safety is not a long list of equipment, important as the Safety is a state of mind, a
right equipment is, it is a state of mind. It is a constant constant awareness
awareness of the capabilities of yourself and your
boat. Putting to sea is a calculated risk involving many
different variables, many of which you have little or no Calculated risk
control over. Being prepared involves knowing
yourself and your boat very, very well. Know your
boats limitations and weak points and mitigate them.
What are the key systems in your boat? How reliable Know yours and your boats
are they? When did you last check them? When were limitations
they last maintained? Have you got all the safety kit?
Does it work? Is it “in date”? What procedures do you
have on board for pre-passage checks? Watches?
Weather? Navigation? Comms? etc etc. Have you
practiced drills for MOB, Abandon Ship, Fire? Have
you practiced these drills regularly? Safety is a state
of mind, that is only acquired with experience.

Build a safety checklist and run a check along with all

your other pre-passage checks.

The catch 22 with safety is that you cannot get the

experience without actually doing it. True, do not Checklists
attempt too much before you have got a few cruising
miles and months under your keel. However, you will
learn more in three months cruising than you can in a Experience
whole lifetime of weekend sailing. You can mitigate
inexperience with training, the RYA Yachtmaster
programme or its equivalent is excellent. Do it!

Radio Equipment
A 25 watt VHF GMDSS capable radio transceiver VHF
should be permanently installed. A cockpit speaker is
recommended. Masthead antennae are best, but carry
an emergency antenna as well. You will need a Short
Range Certificate (SRC) or equivalent to legally
operate it in some countries.

For extended cruising an HF radio is considered an

obligatory safety tool. In addition to voice, it is very
useful for receiving Weatherfax and email. You will HF/SSB
need training in propagation and in some countries
you will need a Long Range Certificate or equivalent
to operate it. Because it is impractical to have an
antenna array for all the different wavelengths, Marine
HF transceivers are supplied with an Antenna Tuning
Unit (ATU). The transceiver, ATU, antenna and
ground must all be correctly installed.

87
EPIRB:
Carry an Emergency Position Indicating Radio
Beacon. A Satellite EPIRB transmitting on 406MHz or EPIRB
an Inmarsat type "E" EPIRB should be carried and be
registered to the boat with the appropriate authority.
See "EPIRB".

Navigation lights:
Navigation lights should be fitted and working so that
the boat complies with the International Regulations Nav Lights
for Preventing Collision at Sea (Colregs). Maintain two
sets of navigation lights, each on their own dedicated
fused circuits. Most yachts carry deck level nav lights
and a masthead tricolour navlight. Standardise your
nav lights so that they all use the same bulbs and
carry several spares.

Radar Reflector
Fit a permanently mounted radar reflector at least two
thirds the way up the mast. An echoing area Radar Reflector
equivalent to 10sq.m. is recommended.

Flares:
Carry flares in a watertight container and have the
following types: Flares
6 white hand flares
6 red hand held flares
8 red parachute flares
4 orange smoke flares
The container should be stowed so that it can be
accessed quickly and easily. It is one of the items you
should take with you when abandoning ship.

Lifebuoys:
Lifebouys or rings should be stowed within reach of
the helmsman so that they can be deployed instantly. Lifebouys
They should be stowed securely, but be capable of
being used instantly.

One lifebuoy, equipped with a drogue, a self igniting

light,a whistle and a danbouy (pole and flag), all
permanently attached with a lanyard or an MOB Lifebouy, drogue, light and
Module (now available as a single self inflating unit) danbouy combo
should be mounted on or near the stern rail.

Another lifebuoy with a drogue, a self igniting light and

a whistle, all permanently attached, or a lifesling
(without a drogue) should also be mounted on or near
the stern rail.

88
The lifebuoys should have permanent foam buoyancy,
unless they are inflatable in which case they should be
tested at intervals in accordance with manufacturer's
instructions.

Each lifebuoy should have the yachts name

permanently marked. They should be fitted with Yachts name permanently
marine grade retro-reflective material. marked

Harness:
If separate from a combined lifejacket/harness, the
safety line should not be more than 2 metres long with Keep Harnesses short
a snap hook at each end. Every harness should have
a crotch strap. Have a harness and safety line
provided for each member of the crew. Where/when
possible keep the safety line as short as possible. Do
this by doubling the safety line back on itself and
snapping it back onto your harness. This is easier to
perform than snapping the harness onto the jackline,
and it permits you to move more easily along the jack
lines.

Lifeiacket/Combined Harness.
Every Lifejacket/combined harness should be fitted
with a whistle, a light, yacht name, retroreflective tape, Lifejackets
a crotch strap and a safety line not more than 2
metres long (preferably much shorter) with a snap
hook at each end . Every member of the crew should
have their lifejacket/combined harness that is "theirs"
for the duration of the voyage (i.e. it has been put on,
at least once, and been checked to fit snugly, but
comfortably; and not have any defects. If gas operated
it should have a certification that it has been checked
and serviced within the proscribed service interval).

Heavy Equipment
All heavy equipment (i.e. batteries, gas bottles and
stoves) should be firmly secured to prevent damage Firmly secure heavy
from possible knockdown or capsize. equipment

89
Sails
Cruising in the tropics is mostly downwind running Running only please!
West. Occasionally you will have to go to windward
and it is invariably a rude shock when this happens.
How dare the wind not be from the East! The perfect
long distance passage making wind is 20-25 knots
from the quarter. It is fast and comfortable, but you
must have the correct sails for all these conditions.

Downwind
Sailing thousands of miles downwind is comfortable.
The wind across the deck is reduced by the boat
speed, and the rig is not under any great strain. You
ride with the seas so may suffer some rolling, but
there will not be any pounding.

Broaching to is a problem especially when running Do not broach to

downwind. This occurs when you have too much effort
aft (the main is the problem), too little rudder effort and
is caused by a complex series of interacting forces
caused by the wind and waves. A mild broach-to will
lay your boat on her beam and give you a nasty
shock. At worst you could lose your rig and suffer
other damage.

Two poled out headsails on

a boat running west north of
South America.

So, you want to sail easily with a minimum or effort for

the auto-pilot and crew: Choose a well balanced and
well designed boat. Hoist your canvas as far forward
as possible. Because of the distances you are
travelling and the likelihood that you are sailing short
crewed, you will not want to be on the helm steering
an unbalanced boat hour after hour, day after day.

90
A good rig for downwind cruising is a boat equipped
with two roller furling genoas mounted on twin fore Choose a well balanced boat
and aft forestays, one just aft of the other. The inboard with a big strong rudder
sail will be your everyday sail, the one that you will
also use for reaching and beating. It will of necessity
be slightly smaller than the forward headsail and
perhaps be self tacking. These sails must be quite
heavy and hard wearing. They can be used in winds
all the way up to gale force.

You will need a large code zero for lighter airs, say 10
to 18 knots or so. If your code zero is built with heavier
sailcloth you can fly it in more wind. You will need 2
poles. These should be permanently mounted on
tracks on the mast.

Mainsail and other sails

Your main should be as heavy as possible and, if not
of in mast furling variety, should be equipped with at
least 3 reefing points - one of which is very deep.

Consider carrying storm sails: a trisail and a storm jib.

If your main has a very deep third reef it may suffice. Storm sails are seldom used
Practice setting these sails in calm conditions. Setting on the Coconut Milk Run,
the trisail in heavy conditions may be impossible but what happens if you
without a second track because you will need to need them and do not have
remove the main from the track first. Mount a second them?
track or have a gate fitted above the main so that the
trysail can be set without the need to take the main off
the track.

Sail repairs
You will need to repair your sails. Chafe is a big
problem with downwind sailing, both of your sails and
your running rigging. Keeping your sails in good order
can save you trouble and money later.

With chafe you will need to sew patches of heavier

fabric and/or leather onto specific chafe points.
Maintain a constant awareness of chafe and as you
check you sails and how they are set through the day
watch for chafe.

If you tear your sail you may need to repair it until it

can be attended to professionally. Tape is good for
repairing sails. Your loft or chandler can supply sail
repair tape that uses an adhesive that results in a
stronger repair than if the sail had been sewn
together. The parts that are being repaired must be
clean, dry and free of salt for the adhesive to work.

91
Scuba
Scuba stands for Self Contained Underwater Carry SCUBA kit
Breathing Apparatus. This is very good equipment to
have on a cruising yacht. Learn to use it and consider
doing a dive course before you leave. You will need a
compressor on board and the overall investment is
considerable.

In addition to the recreational benefits of having scuba

kit, it is also considered vital by many cruisers. You
will need to clean the bottom of your boat from time to
time and you will want to check underwater fittings.
You will want to check how your anchor has set and
you will need to free it from coral a few times. Having
the scuba kit in these circumstances will make your
life much simpler.

92
Seasickness
Sea sickness is horrible. It is also sexist. Without Seasickness is sexist: Most
doubt, most men do not get sea sick, but some do. women suffer.
Equally most women do get sea sick, but some do
not. Most people who do get sea sick are sick for the
first 3 days of any passage, and then recover, Some
do not and are sick for the whole voyage. There are
many sea sickness remedies on the market, most are
chemical: you swallow them.

There are magnets and other more exotic "voodoo" Get is sorted before you go
remedies. Find out what suits you with trial and error,
because everybody is different. Many people find that
sea sickness drugs are mind altering and make them
feel very depressed. What is the point of doing the
cruising if it is a horrible, depressing experience? Find
the drug or remedy that suits you, that has the least
side effects.

One remedy recommended but untried by the author

is for the victim, as soon as they begin to fell seasick,
to take 3g (3000mg) of Vitamin C.

Deciding to simply just cope with seasickness is not

really satisfactory. The milk run in the tropics only has
two really long passages: the Atlantic and the Pacific
between the Galapagos or North America and the
Marquesas, both nearly 3000 miles. The rest is made
in hops of 3 to 7 days or less, so if you do recover
after 3 days it is normally just as you are entering the
next port!

93
Simplicity
Keep It Simple Stupid! The KISS principle. If there are KISS
two choices, a simple approach and an automated
approach, select the simple one.

In mast furling, electric winches, automatic

watermaker, hydraulic boarding platform, tied
electronics, computer this, computer that – is any of it
necessary?

It is said that cruising is a fixing your boat in exotic Cruising is fixing your boat
places. Certainly that is true and inescapable. The in exotic places………
issue is how much fixing you will have to do. As a
general rule, the more complicated your systems, the
more fixing you will do. This is not just because of the
added complexity and increased maintenance that
flows as a direct result, but because you will be less
intimate with your equipment. With an automatic
watermaker, for instance, you might not even switch it
on and off. It simply senses the genset is on because
voltage is up, it switches itself on, waits until the water
is fresh, fills your tanks, flushes itself and turns off.
Brilliant you think. Wrong! What if the sea water your
boat is in is dirty? What if something is wrong and it is
not alarmed? What if something does not quite work
and it fills your tanks with salt water?

If you have to physically switch the watermaker on, Know your equipment
adjust the back pressure manually (checking the
pressure dials), check the product freshness by
tasting it, you can also inspect for wear and chafe,
especially in the high pressure lines, check for leaks
and hear any odd noises – every time you make
water. You will know and understand your system
inside out and will be able to pre-empt many
problems.

Here is another example: there is a very great Keep electronics simple –

temptation to tie all you electronics together. Wrong! resist, if possible, the urge
Keep them separate, it is simpler. When one of them to connect them all.
stops working the others will still work. Why enable
your boat to automatically steer to a waypoint? Yes, it
is possible to do. So what? You do not want to sail like
that anyway. When you have a GPS waypoint, you will
have a constantly updated bearing to that waypoint.
Your GPS will also give you your course (COG). It is
simple to adjust your autopilot to the course you need.

94
The principle is the same with all your other systems.
If in doubt keep it simple. If you can, before you leave,
sail your boat frequently in lots of different conditions.
Live aboard for weekends and holidays. If possible,
live aboard for a couple of months. You will learn two
things: there are lots of things you thought
indispensable that you can easily live without, and
there are things you did not consider that you will find
that you need. Far better to spend your money and
time on the latter!

95
Smart Chargers
Smart chargers were developed to manage large Get a smart charger
battery banks more effectively than the simple
automotive regulators found built into most alternators.
The latter will rapidly charge a depleted battery bank
up to about half and then trickle charge it. This fine is
if the battery is being used as in a car. This is not the
case on a boat. Plenty of experience has been gained
in this area and fitting a smart charger is a smart thing
to do. As with the rest of your electrical power
installation the smart charger is merely a single
component and must be chosen to compliment all the
other components in the system.

An alternative is to fit a regulator bypass. Fit it with an Regulator bypass?

audible alarm and bright flashing light. Cut back to the
regulator when the battery bank voltage regains 14.3v
(28.6v in a 24v boat). If you forget and let the
alternator feed unregulated power into your batteries
for too long, you could boil them and cause severe
damage and quite possibly a battery explosion and/or
a fire.

96
Solar Panels
Solar panels can deliver a good deal of power, A supplementary power
however you will need several to make a difference, source
so you will need a large area to mount them. Cats
generally have a suitably large area, whereas a
monohull may be able to fit 4 to 6 above the bimini or
on the rail. The same comments generally apply to
solar panels as to wind turbines, the power they
provide is supplementary and cannot be relied upon. It
may sound obvious, but solar panels do not work at
night and unless they are in direct sunlight they do not
work very well. If you do have solar panels you must
fit a diode in the circuit otherwise they will drain power
at night.

Solar panels are very expensive (over USD $500 for a Solar Panels consume more
75 watt panel) and it is rumoured that they require power to make than they
more power to make than they will produce in the generate in their whole
whole of their operating lifetime. Economically working life
speaking it will undoubtedly be cheaper to run your
engine or genset a little longer.

97
Spares
So you are going cruising. Where? If you are heading It depends on where you
off down the Solent for a day or two, perhaps even want to go
across the channel or down Long Island Sound, you
could probably get away with a spare fan belt, impeller
and a couple of shackles. Italy and Spain are quite
challenging ship chandlery wise, (Gibraltar is great)
but much further away and you are beginning to need Have a comprehensive
to consider your spares inventory very carefully. The inventory of spares
Caribbean serves its large fleet of yachts well, but the
Pacific only has pockets of availability (Papeete and
Noumea) and very little in most places.

The starting point is to look at your boat and consider

all her systems. All of them in their own way are
probably vital, or at least very important. A dud shower
drain pump mid Pacific is not life threatening, but it is
very irritating. Mid English channel it is just vaguely
annoying.

Some principles:
1. Carry spares for every system/item on board.
Prepare a list.
2. Try and standardise with various items. Standardise to reduce
a. Winches: do not have more than one spares
brand. The Lewmar service kit covers
quite a few sizes.
b. Fresh water pumps: try and standardise
on brand/type instead using identical
service kits rather than having several
different types.

Specifics:
Engine: Impellers (several), fan belts, all service Engine
items, timing belt, water pump, jubilee clips (several
for every size on the engine - never use jubilee clips
twice, always discard and replace).

Electrics: If you are a 24v boat and you use a voltage Electrics
dropper for your 12v equipment, carry a spare! Fuses
of every type and variety used on board - Make a list.
Light bulbs of every type and variety used on board:
make a list. Try and check what connectors are used
on board and carry a comprehensive spares kit. You
could be surprised when the lack of a small 10c
electrical connector stops you in your tracks! A
comprehensive selection of "chop blocks" is also vital.

98
Batteries: A large stock of all the various sizes of
alkaline batteries that you use will probably be Batteries
necessary. Invariably this means lots of AA and quite
a few D size batteries. The multi-meter probably uses
one of the smaller 9v "square" batteries.

Fresh water system: hot water tank pressure relief

valve, pump service kits, spare hose (every size and Fresh water system
type on board), various sizes of hose couplers
(including at least 2 of the type that have multiple
sizes), jubilee clips (a large selection of different
sizes), spare valves.

Bilge: Spare electric bilge pump and several float

switches. Test regularly. Service kits, especially for Bilge
your manual bilge pump

Carry a large stock of spare fluids: engine oil,

pneumatic fluid, battery water, whatever your boat Fluids
needs.

Rigging: Carry a large variety of shackles, blocks, etc.

Look critically at your rigging. Can you make Standing and running
temporary repairs to a broken stay? rigging

99
Squalls
Squalls in the tropics are mini weather systems. Most Squalls are mini weather
are just a bit of cloud, some rain and a gust or two of systems
wind. Some can be quite large, containing torrential
rain and/or vicious gusts of wind.

It can be quite exciting to have your sails set for 15 Squalls are usually benign,
knots of wind and then be confronted with 50 knots. just occasionally they may
When that happens, luff up into the wind, just contain vicious little 50kn
maintaining headway on the same tack and ride it out. wind systems
The noise will be terrible, but there should not be any
harm done.

If you are running poled out, furl those sails before it Treat every squall with
hits! respect

Do not fly your Code 0 in squally conditions. If you are

caught, let the tack fly and get it in.

You can see squalls visually during the day. The radar Your radar is great for
is great for tracking squalls during day and especially squally conditions
at night. Sometimes there will be a few squalls around
you that join forces. You can see them all bunching
together on radar.

Shipping probably will not be visible under a squall on Shipping may not be visible
radar. Keep a good look out, especially as visibility under a squall, even on
reduces. radar.

100
SSB (HF radio)
The installation of your SSB is critical and should be Installation is critical
done by a qualified person who understands them
very well and has used them extensively.

The most critical parts are the ground and the aerial.
The ground needs to be excellent. If you have a metal
boat, the hull is a good ground (through a capacitor to
keep the DC circuit isolated). If not, then a sintered
copper plate is probably the answer.

The aerial starts on top of your ATU. It must be as

straight as possible from there up to the top of the
aerial. Have the ATU as close up to the deck as
possible and have the connection to aerial come
straight through the deck and then straight up onto the ATU fitting is critical
aerial, all in a straight line. Kinks and bends massively
reduce transmitting efficiency. If the person fitting your
HF radio does it any other way get someone else.

SSB radios are very useful for receiving weatherfax

and email from services such as Sailmail Voice
(www.sailmail.com) and Kielradio (www.kielradio.de). Weatherfax
Sailmail has a wealth of information available for Email
download by email daily, including the weather and
the news.

In order to receive email you will need a modem.

Pactor II modems are available from www.scs-
ptc.com. There are a number of versions of the Pactor
II available. Get the cheapest one that manages
frequency selection on your SSB. Other than the
management of the SSB they are all identical. The
Pactor III upgrade is $150, but worthwhile, it is several
times faster than Pactor II. When you try and get the
SSB, the Pactor and your PC to work all together for
the first time you may find it challenging. Turn
everything else that is electronic on your boat off. We
cooked an Inverter and a Navtex with stray RF. Email
transmission really is incredibly noisy radio wise, you
will swamp all HF voice transmissions in the
anchorage or port and other boats that are nearby will
report strange electrical fluctuations.

Data transmission is better than voice transmission,

so should be able to remain in contact by email, even
when you are 1500 miles from land.

101
Storms
Storm tactics are the subject of several books. It is
very worthwhile deciding what your tactics will be,
thinking them through and then practising the drills.

See Lynn and Larry Pardy: Storm Tactics

Adlard Coles: Heavy Weather Sailing
Linda & Steve Dashew: Surviving the Storm

102
Strobes
Have personal strobes on board for those on watch at Personal strobes for those
night. An MOB with a strobe will be visible for a couple on watch
of miles, perhaps even over the horizon. Make sure
they are attached to lifejackets and are easily used,
otherwise they will be in a locker when you have an
MOB.

Fitting a strobe to the top of your mast is not a good Not on top of the mast
idea. It is illegal and will disorientate you. Shipping
might mistake you for a North Cardinal mark.

103
Sun (mainly its avoidance)
The sun in the tropics is relentlessly hot and it goes Stay out of the sun
without saying that you should stay out of it as much
as possible. If you are staring out of the window as
you are reading this on a rainy day in November
somewhere in England this may sound hard to
believe, but it is essential. No matter how hard you try,
you will be exposed to alot of sun.

Make it a habit to put sunblock on every day. Sunblock every day

Fit a good sun shade/bimini on your boat. One that is
sturdy enough to withstand a moderate gale, or one
that is easy to stow away. Then stay under its shade Fit a sunshade
as much as possible.

Always wear a broad-rimmed hat and wear sun

glasses.
Cruisers do not lie in the
Where a T-shirt or other protection, even when sun
swimming.
Hats and sunglasses
Sun Glasses are mandatory. Polarized sunglasses are
useful for helping cut reflected glare. When buying
sunglasses buy several identical pairs so that you Shirts, long shorts
have several spares on board. If the sunglasses are
identical you will have a supply of spare parts as they
break, get scratched or damaged in some other way. Polarized sunglasses help
you through reefs
Attach one of those strings that go around you neck.
You will lose fewer pairs and you can let them just
hang if you need to remove them temporarily. Spare sunglasses

104
Taxes
Generally you will not be required to pay taxes on any Check the rules for each
vessel that is in transit. The problem arises should you country
wish to stay longer than a specified period in any
country in which the tax has not been paid. Check the
requirements of the country you are visiting.

Europeans should be aware that VAT may become VAT: 3 year rule
payable on their boat if it has been absent from the
EU for longer than 3 years. France is known to be
aggressive with boats that may have not paid VAT.
Boats registered in Gibraltar, Jersey, Geurnsey and
other tax havens should travel warily. On the other
hand France can be useful. Visits to French overseas
territories such as French Polynesia and Martinique
may count as visits to the EU, though this may be
changing.

105
Tools
You will need a good toolkit. Maintain it meticulously
and replace items that are lost, borrowed or sunk,
promptly. Your toolkit is part of your safety equipment.

Split into various categories:

Roll and tie up tool rollin. Oil this lightly to help stop
your tools rusting.
• Adjustable spanners, one large and one small
• Hammers, large and small, a rubber mallet
• Pipewrench
• Pliers, carry a wide selection of sizes pointed,
circlip and conventional
• Screwdrivers, carry a wide selection of Phillips and
flat, long and short and of various sizes. Carry a
screwdriver that can accept a range of heads and
carry a comprehensive selection of odd heads for
odd fastenings. Screwdrivers do not swim and
other yachties who borrow them do not always
return them. Carry spares of those used most
often, ie. mid range sized Phillips, and flat and a
small one for electrical work. Carry at least two
very large screwdrivers for adjusting your rigging.
• Socket set, small with a set of sockets from 5mm
to 10mm. This is very useful for hose (jubilee)
clips.
• Common size spanners, both Metric and imperial
(AF); US equipment is still lmperial.
• Stanley knife or similar and several packs of spare
blades.
• Medium sized Vicegrips
• Small hacksaw
• Small and medium flat files
• Small metal measuring tape, both metric & imperial

Electrical
• A good digital multimeter is vital. Get one that can
measure voltage, amps and resistance.
• Soldering Irons, 240v, 12v and butane
• Die for crimping copper and telurit connectors
• Combination wire stripping and crimping tool
• Two lengths of thickish cable with a crocodile clip
on each end. These should be long enough to
reach from the batteries to the chart table, and/or
the alternator, and most equipment nearby. They
will be invaluable for checking suspect circuits and
equipment.

106
Secondary toolbox
• Pipe wrench
• Larger vice grips
• Impact driver
• Comprehensive selection of files and rasps, flat,
rounded, small round, small triangular
• Sharpening stone
• Tenon & Coping saws
• Hand drill
• More/backup screwdrivers and pliers
• Wood chisels
• G-clamps (one small, one medium)
• Large adjustable spanner
• Large and small hacksaws, lots of spare blades
• Palette knife and Putty knife
• Several plastic and steel scrapers - for cleaning
the bottom of your boat. Drill holes in the handles
for attaching a lanyard that can be tied around your
wrist for underwater work.
• Circlip pliers
• Small and large, straight and bent, artery forceps:
• Glass fibre measuring tape
• Bradawl
• Screw Extractors
• Dental and make-up mirrors for seeing behind
things and around corners

Speciality tool kit

• Gauges for refilling refrigerant
• GRP matt roller
• Set square
• Bolt cutters for clearing a failed rig (grinder?)
• Sail repair/sewing kit

Power tools
• Chargeable hand drill/ screwdriver, 12v so that it
can be charged directly from your boats DC
circuit. Carry spare batteries.
• Grinder
• Jig saw, variable speed with a variety of blades for
steel and wood
• Orbital sander
• Power drill with variable speeds and reverse.
Include the following:
o Right angle or flexible chuck
o Sanding discs and selection of discs.
o Cutting wheels
o Grindstones
o Wire brushes

107
Mechanical
• Allen keys, both metric and imperial.
• Hexagonal wrenches, metric and imperial.
• lmpact screw driver for loosening seized bolts and
screws with a variety of heads
• Socketset, both metric and imperial. Sockets
ranged from 4mm to 23mm and the imperial
equivalents. The case should hold all its
components securely in order. Keep the set lightly
oiled to help avoid rust
• Wire brushes, large and small, both brass and
stainless steel
• Find out from your engine manufacturer what tools
are needed for your type of engine. Carry them all.
• Vernier calipers, some plastic and at least one
good quality, made of steel
• Tool for removing an oil filter

This list is not comprehensive. You should carry tools

and spares that are needed for every item of
equipment on board.

108
Voltage
The chances are that if you are buying a boat new, or
used, that your voltage is already determined and you
will have to live with it. If not, or you are doing a very
substantial refit, or you are building your own boat you
can choose your voltage.

I recommend 24v because of the efficiency gains you 24v is probably best
enjoy over 12v. Items such as your windlass or power
winches are much more efficient at 24v because they
use half the current of 12v equipment. The higher the
current, the greater the energy loss suffered from
resistance in the circuit. You will still need 12v for
some of your equipment, but that can be supplied
from a voltage dropper and normally is limited to your
radios. There is nearly as much equipment specified
in 24v and generally the advantages of 24v outweigh
the disadvantages.

If you do opt for 12v some of the inefficiencies can be

mitigated by placing a battery near the equipment (eg
near the windlass). The battery is then charged by a
separate circuit connecting it with the house batteries.
Put a diode in this circuit to prevent it feeding the
house bank "backwards". Having several batteries
around the boat is not a good solution however.

109
Washboards
Washboards should either be the attached
permanently/sliding variety or be tied on with a
lanyard. Boats have sunk because a washboard was
lost, perhaps in a capsize. The crew have then been
unable to save the stricken vessel because they could
not slow the flow of water in through the companion
way.

110
Washing
Washing is the bane of the cruising lifestyle. Smart Not having a washing
boats have washing machines. Most people hand machine is more expensive
wash and frequent the laundromats. If you do not
have a washing machine, you will spend several times
the cost of a machine in laundromats, so do not think
that by not having one that you are saving money!

The issues determining whether or not you have a If you have space, fit one
washing machine on board are number of people on
board, space, water, power and whether you want to
load your boat with yet another system.

If possible find a secure place to fit a washing

machine. If you are sailing with kids I would suggest
that a washing machine is essential. A washing
machine will not use much, if any more water than
hand washing. If you do fit a washing machine make
sure it is securely fitted, a flying washing machine
would be most undesirable in a capsize.

111
Watches
When sailing or coastal cruising short legs it may be
possible to not set a formal watch (everyone is on
watch) or to operate an ad hoc watch system, but as
soon as you go further off shore or the passage is
longer than 12 hours you should set a formal watch. Set a formal watch if a
The watches should cover the whole 24 hour period voyage is overnight
and still allow everybody ample time to rest.

Watches are more and more difficult the more short Very difficult to keep if short
handed you are. If single handed, you have no choice handed
but to sleep. Many couples who sail alone, or with
their kids, find it difficult to maintain a complete watch.

Be aware that a fast ship can speed from under the A fast ship can run you
horizon to running you over in about 10 minutes. Have down in 10 minutes
a "watch watch" with an alarm that can be set to
sound every 10 minutes. When it sounds, scan the
horizon from right to left. Your eye is trained naturally Get a watch watch
to scan from left to right and you are more likely to
miss something. Beware of squalls. See "Squalls"

Some tips:

1. Adjust the watch to suit the conditions. At the

extreme watches can be as short as 20
minutes if on the helm and exposed when Watches must suit the
beating into heavy weather in intense cold. conditions
2. The traditional 4 hours is too long at night, but 6
hours may be OK during daylight.
3. Many boats adopt a 3 hour watch pattern at
night.

Crew on watch at night should wear a lifejacket and If alone on watch wear a
be harnessed on, especially if they are alone. lifejacket and harness on
Anything can happen and if the rest of the boat is
asleep an MOB may be in the sea for several hours
before someone else wakes up. It is desirable that Mandatory harness on if
crew should also be harnessed on to the boat when crew go on deck, especially
on night watch even if in the cockpit. Make it at night
mandatory that crew are harnessed on if they leave
the cockpit for any reason, even if the sea is flat calm.

Use the radar, especially at night. Set the alarm so

that it sounds from about 10 miles. You will find that Radar supplements, but
the alarm is set off by squalls reducing its usefulness does not replace watch
on squally nights. Do not rely on the radar, you cannot keeping
delegate watch-keeping to a machine. It is there to
assist you, not replace you!

112
Water Turbine Generators
Water turbine generators are very effective and can Very efficient
provide all the power needs of a boat under way. But
you do not get the power for nothing, they will cost you
up to a knot in boat speed. Across the Atlantic this They slow you down
could be 2 days!

They obviously do not work at all at anchor. They do not work at anchor
Considering the statistic that cruising boats are at (duh!)
anchor or in port 90% of the time one needs to work
out whether the cost of the water generator is justified.

Another problem is that big fish and sharks will eat the The turbine gets eaten
turbine, so carry spares!

113
Waterline
If you are buying a boat to go cruising, or you have a
boat already that you are preparing to go cruising,
raise her waterline by 6 inches (15cm). Yachties
typically load something like 1½ tons of personal
belongings on to their boats. You are probably also
going to be loading the boat with extra equipment. On
long passages you may pile another ton of provisions
on board.

114
Watermakers
Watermakers (desalinators) are becoming mandatory Not really expensive
on modern cruising boats. Having unlimited water is
great in the tropics. You can wash yourself and your
clothes frequently! Run a washing machine! They are
also not all that expensive.

There are a number of watermakers on the market.

They come in many brands and sizes. Branded
watermakers generally cost a lot more than building
your water maker yourself.

All water makers require a minimum of 4 elements:

The high pressure vessel and membrane, a high
pressure pump, a low pressure feed pump and filters.
Within those parameters there are dozens of choices!

The high pressure pump does come with some Clark or CAT?
choices. There is Clark technology where the feed
pump provides the energy for the high pressure (HP)
pump. This technology relies on several chambers to
"intensify" pressure sufficiently for the water maker to
work. Sealing is critical in a Clarke pump, so make
sure you carry spare seals and know how to fit them if
it stops working. They do stop working! The other type
of pump is a normal piston (plunger) type pump, of
which CAT is a good example.

Water makers require the following pre-filters as a Excellent filtration

minimum: a raw water sea strainer similar to that on
your engine, a 20 micron filter (or a combo sea
strainer/20 micron filter) and then a 5 micron filter.
You could also add an oil from water separator after
the 5 micron filter.

It is good practice not to run your water maker in

areas with "dirty" water. Never run it in port. Only run it
out at sea or in clean anchorages where you can see Only run your water maker
the bottom. at sea or when you can see
the bottom
Now, back to choice of water maker. You can build
your own water maker delivering 160 litres per hour
for about $2,500. Or you can buy a branded water Build or buy?
maker delivering a third of that for $6,000. The latter is
easier to install because the manufacturer does it and 150litres per hour $2500
it has fancy controls, whereas you need to design and 60litres per hour $6000
fit the former and it has a few low tech controls. So,
how do you choose? What are the issues?

115
High pressure vessels and membranes are
mandatory. There is very little to choose from in This is how to build your
functionality and they all work the same way. Choose own
the type you like that offers the best price/performance
equation and that delivers the production capacity you
require. You will need to match the capacity of the HP
pump to the input capacity of the membranes. Also, it
may be better to split the production capacity across
two or more membranes which can be isolated with
valves to provide some redundancy should one fail.
Remember that this part of the system is operating at
60bar. Evaluate the robustness of the different types
and brands on offer. See www.wateranywhere.com.

Controls: fancy controls will break down. If you buy a

branded water maker keep it as simple as possible. Fancy automatic systems
will break down
Power: you will almost definitely have to be running
your genset or charger when you do make water, so
the issue of power consumption is probably not Power
relevant because your engine/genset is running
anyway. Generally you will make water at the same
time that you charge your batteries. Therefore you
could fit the HP pump directly to your genset (if
possible) or engine. A better alternative is to run the
pumps off a dedicated electric motor operating at an
exact RPM. The Clark pump is probably only available Clark technology?
from the branded water maker suppliers.

The conventional choice is a CAT pump. You will

need a CAT 247 or 277 model pump (Check the latest
info on these model numbers). Have a mechanic fit it
to your engine driven through an automotive air
conditioning clutch or to a dedicated DC or AC electric The CAT pump is the
motor – this is probably the better solution because conventional choice
engine revs are not a problem. The CAT pump still
requires a feed pump matched for throughput.

From the seacock, install a sea strainer in front of the

feed pump. After the feed pump fit the 20 micron and
the 5 micron filters. Fit a low pressure gauge in front of Filters are critical
these filters to tell you when your filters are dirty.
Connect the clean water side of the 5 micron filter to
the input for the HP pump.

If you are using a CAT pump connect the HP pump to

the pressure vessel using a high pressure hose. A
second high pressure hose should exit the pressure
vessel and go to a ball valve (the back pressure valve)
fitted to a skin fitting so that the waste is pumped
overboard. Install a high pressure gauge just in front
of the membrane.

116
One boat had built a water maker by using a high
pressure cleaning system bought in a supermarket, a
solution that was innovative and cheap. Because the
cleaner was not salt water rated he flushed it every
time he used it.

Extras you can add for very little more include a 20

litre tank, well secured, for flush water. This means
you can put dock water in your main tank and not
worry about it (using chlorinated water as flush water Fit a flush water tank
will destroy your membrane). You can put a Y valve in
line to the tank for sampling. Add a flow meter in the
production line that is visible from where you operate
the back pressure valve so that you can set the back
pressure correctly. Add pressure sensors in line as
safety cut outs.

All High pressure hoses should be rated at least at

150 bar. Before you use them (and all the other hoses
and fittings) you should thoroughly clean them with hot
water to ensure all dirt and oily residues are flushed
out. Use 20 bar hoses in all areas other then for the
HP hoses. Any metal to metal joins should be of the
same metal. They should not be sealed with
"plumbers tape" because it disintegrates and will clog
your filters and membrane. Use Locktite or similar.

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Operation is simple:
1. Set your inlet Y valve to select raw sea water.
2. Open the back-pressure valve completely
3. Set your output Y valves to close the lines to
the flush water tank and main water tank and
open the sampling port. This is because the
first few litres of production water will be salty. If
you are making water for the first time after
pickling the membrane flush it for approx 30
minutes or according to the manufacturers
recommendations.
4. Turn on your watermaker or engage the clutch
with your genset or engine running
5. After letting any air out, slowly close the ball
valve until the high pressure guage reaches
approx. 60bar. At this point you should be
making water. This is the point of maximum
fresh water production and increasing the back
pressure any further will not make any more
water, but it will damage your membrane.

If you make water every day there is no need to flush

the membrane. Flush it if you will not to use it for more
than 2 days. If for more than 2 weeks you must pickle
the membrane - that is you must add a preservative.
Follow the membrane manufacturers
recommendations and instructions.

Flushing
Always make some flush water for the flush water tank
first. To flush the system do as follows: while the
watermaker is running set the inlet Y valve from raw
sea water to flush tank. Then when the flush tank is
almost empty, turn the whole system off. To pickle the
watermaker simply add sufficient chemicals and
perform a normal flush.

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Weather
You need to be able to accurately interpret met charts Know how to interpret met
and you will want a reliable source of weather charts – do a meteorology
information. The good news is that there are lots of course
resources and you can generally access sufficient
resources to keep your boat and crew safe. Bear in
mind that an ocean weather forecast covers a vast Ocean forecasts cover vast
area and is quite generalised. Within the forecast area areas
you are likely to find conditions that can vary
considerably from those forecast. That is why you
need to be able to interpret met charts. In the tropics,
especially in areas affected by phenomena such as
the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) there
are often squalls. These are small weather systems in
their own right that can contain torrential rain and/or
strong gusting winds up to 40 or even 50 knots. Your
weather forecast may not make any mention of these
squalls, however you should expect them. They will be
visible either visually or on your radar.

Understand how the weather works in the areas you Know the weather patterns
intend to sail in, especially if you intend to sail in the in the area you are sailing in
more "interesting" areas of the world. The North
Atlantic, the English Channel, the Tasman, The Cape
of Good Hope, Cape Horn, Bering Sea and North of
Venezuela all deserve special mention in this regard. I
am sure there are many other places that have
equally special weather patterns. The SPCZ has
already been mentioned and prior swotting up on the
weather and how it works in the area you are sailing in
will provide a good context for understanding the
weather reports you receive.

If in the tropics, stay on the winter side of the equator. In the tropics stay on the
This generally will help keep you safe, but note: there winter side of the equator
have been out of season storms and some areas can
have tropical revolving storms (TRS) at any time of
year. Repeating: know what to expect in the area you
are sailing in. If a TRS is brewing, run for the equator,
unless that is absolutely is not possible or it is too far.
Read up on this topic and have a strategy in mind for
the area you are in if you are caught.

Popular weather resources include:

Weatherfax, Sat C area forecasts, Navtex, Ordinary
land based radio stations, Marinas, The Internet Weather resources
(bouyweather.com, weatheronline.co.uk and others)

Sailmail have several weather resources - check their

list if you are a subscriber.

119
Wind turbine generators
Wind turbine generators are a popular way of adding
to your boats power resources. New ones typically
can provide up to 400 watts. They work in wind from
about 10 knots up to 25 knots after which they cut out.
They have a lot of disadvantages:

1. Many are very noisy

2. You cannot rely on any power they provide.
What ever they do provide is purely
supplemental.
3. They do not work while sailing downwind, if you
seek quiet anchorages they will be less
effective and you will not need one in a
harbour.
4. Always be very careful of the turning blades,
they are very dangerous
5. They are expensive
6. They must be tied down in a gale

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Wind vane autopilot
A number of manufacturers make wind vane It is worthwhile considering
autopilots, but they have largely fallen into disuse a windvane
because electronic autopilots have replaced them.
The advantages of a wind vane are considerable,
however, and it is worth considering one. The principle Use no power
advantages are that they use no electrical power and Strong and silent
they are silent.

The arguments against them are also considerable

and you need to be a committed wind vane person to But…..
overcome them. The principle disadvantages are:

1. It is a big ugly appendage on the back of your Ugly

boat that uses important space that you may
prefer to use for a boarding passerelle and/or
swim platform.
2. You will need to route lines to your tiller or Lots of lines and blocks
wheel. These lines, led by a system of blocks
clutter your decks and cockpit areas.
3. The more downwind you sail the less accurate Not accurate downwind with
they are. This problem can be overcome by a standard vane
increasing the size of the vane. The mass of
the vane is extremely important and so you will
need to work out what you are doing carefully
and maintain the correct weight of the vane.
However by doubling or tripling the size of the
vane with some polystyrene they can be made
to work quite effectively downwind.
4. They are more complex to run than an
electronic pilot and require a degree of
"fiddling" before you get it right.

One great advantage is that you can set up a wind Connect a tiller pilot to a
vane to work electronically. The smallest tiller pilot will wind vane – if you already
tip the pendulum easily (you take the actual vane itself have a windvane it is a very
off, leaving the mechanism and paddle). This is a cost effective autopilot
great backup system, or possibly the wind vane solution
operating normally, supplemented by a tiller pilot is
your main system.

The way a wind vane works is elegantly simple: When

the boat is off course, even by only a few degrees the
vane is tipped by the wind flowing past it (or the tiller
pilot) one way or the other depending which way you
are off course. The action of tipping the vane turns a
paddle set in the water which forces the paddle up to
one side or the other. This force is very strong, even
at low speeds. As the paddle is forced up, lines

121
attached to the paddle alter your helm to correct your
course. This correction will be an over-correction and
the same process will then repeat, but in the opposite
direction. This constant process of over-correction
means that you sail in a series of S-curves. The
extent of the over-correction depends on a range of
factors including: how well balanced the boat is, how
she performs on that point of sail, how well you have
set your wind vane up, the gearing designed into you
wheel (or how far along the tiller you set the lines) and
what type of rudder you have.

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