So tell me about boats.

[Itchy]

A wise man once said if it flies, floats or fornicates rent as it ends up being cheaper in the medium to long run.

Boats in particular seem to be ravenous money pits.

So I'm looking at something ocean going as I felt it might be funny to sail/motorboat from Shenzhen to Liverpool across the Pacific and get gouged going through the Panama canal and there's less pirates going that way round.

Since I know nothing about boats and some of you do know stuff about boats it might be a good place to ask.

I have very limited sailing experience any ideas?

Thanks
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[Diggs]

One assumes you are going to qualify before you do this, or are to be crew?
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[stinkwheel]

Not an expert, just hang about the marina a bit with my canoeing club.

I think "Get some sailing experience" would probably be the first step. A lot of it if you want to sail halfway round the world.

Start small, the principals are the same. Maybe a local sailing club? Go out in a wee one-hander to learn how things sail, progress to a two hander then maybe something bigger? The more you hang about boats, the more you'll pick up.

In the UK they have formal qualification and training schemes with the likes of the Royal Yachting Assosciation which would potentially lead you onto getting a crew/skippers ticket and occasional job as crew? Then you not only don't have to buy a boat, but you get paid.

There will be people who own a boat but need help to sail it. If you are hanging about a marina a lot, you'll get word of such things. I know friends of mine land up getting into sailing because a mate has said stuff along the lines of "I need to get my boat from Maryport to the Isle of Mull but it takes two of us to sail her, are you free next week?".
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[Easy-X]

Nice. Pick a topic as big as err... an ocean

I know some people who sail clippers across the Atlantic but the Pacific is a whole different... kettle of fish

<addendum> oh, and I wouldn't do it in a boat, you want a ship
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[Poseidon]

Several friends of mine have owned boats over the years, I even had the pleasure of being crew for the odd jaunt. They all say the same thing...

[Polarbear]

Don't. Simple as that. With little or no experience we would most likely never hear from you again.

You need to learn to sail, then you need to lean to sail a large yacht. Then you need to learn to sail a large yacht in bad weather. You need to learn how to navigate, and not just GPS but actually using a sextant and compass.

You need a boat with autopilot for when you are asleep. You need to understand the 'Rules of the road', navigation lights and how to read them, shipping lanes, radio etiquette, emergency procedures etc. etc.

A decent ocean going yacht will cost you a mint. Yes you can buy some second hand small one for 10 grand or so, you'll probably have it over first storm. You need one that can survive DESPITE what you do.

It's not all calm seas and sunsets. A typhoon in the Pacific in a sailboat is not fun. FFS it's not fun in a 300m long tanker.

Learn to sail a dinghy. Then, if you enjoy that move up to a larger boat that you can sail single handed. Learn to coastal sail and then and only then think about going deep sea in a suitable yacht.

I can sail, I know how to navigate but i would still think twice about solo ocean voyages in a yacht. I have friends who are experienced yacht deliverers. There isn't one that I know who hasn't had to call for emergency assistance at one time or other.

So, if you want to, take it one step at a time and do it properly.

Edited to add, those yacht deliverers never sail solo. Always a minimum crew of 3 with one awake at all times.
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[Ste]

Learn to sail a topper dinghy around a lake before planning any trips to other continents.

https://www.rya.org.uk/courses-training/courses/dinghy-multi-keel/Pages/adult-beginners-courses.aspx

[Diggs]

Follow the bear... what he says is correct.

Borrow a dingy, prat about, capsize it and then decide whether you really want to add waves and traffic to the equation. I used to mess about with floating stuff as a kid and never got past the 'annoying in a dingy' stage because it is expensive, dangerous and requires mates with loaded parents to progress...

Don't do anything without speaking to this lot...

https://www.rya.org.uk/COURSES-TRAINING/COURSES/Pages/hub.aspx
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Now - Speed Triple, old ratty GS550, GSXR750M
Gone (in order of ownership) - Raleigh Runabout, AP50, KH125, GP125, KH250, CBX550, Z400, CB750FII, 250LC, GS550, ZXR750H1, Guzzi Targa, GSX750F, KH250 x2, Bimota SB6R and counting...

[stinkwheel]

You don't need THAT big or expensive a boat to cross oceans. A friend of mine was sailing his 21ft yacht across to the West indies on a regular basis well into his 70's, crewed by him and his wife. He still has it in Derwent Water and spends half the summer living on it and pootling about the lake.

You do however need to know what you're doing.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Polarbear]

[Shaft]

^^^^^^
^^^^^^

And then, apart from all that, getting through the Panama canal looks interesting, although not neccessarily 'fun'..........

https://www.yachtingworld.com/practical-cruising/through-the-panama-canal-everything-you-need-to-know-119045
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[Polarbear]

As we are talking about sea going sailing boats....

After learning how to sail small boats, dinghys, whalers, cutters and the like I learnt deep sea sailing on this boat, Sail Training Ship Tectona owned by Plymouth Nautical college.

I did 3 trips on her as cadet. one along the south coast, one across the channel and local channel ports and a long one down across Biscay and into the Meddy. There were 14 of us on her and as she had no electric or hydraulic windlasses it was all manpower to raise and lowers sails.

Going across Biscay had half the crew throwing up, and that was just the swell, it was a calmish day.

Great fun though and if you do it, good on you.

https://i.postimg.cc/MTDHhc2n/M3FJKY.jpg
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[Robby]

I get the feeling it would be easier, safer, faster and quicker to do it in a light aircraft. Probably the other way round though, seeing as it's a Very Bad Idea to fly any distance over water with a single engine.

Still expensive, pointless and bloody stupid. It's just that I get the feeling that the sea will actively try to kill you for several weeks. In the air if it all gets dodgy (unless you actively decided to fly into a storm), the advice for getting into a safe configuration is to take your hands off the controls and let the aircraft sort itself out.

Whatever you decide to do, I'm sure it will be amusing.

[Easy-X]

The only upside I can see versus trekking across a continent on a motorbike is going to sleep in the middle of nowhere to wake to the sound of crickets, a cool breeze and a beautiful sunrise... 'cos some fuckers' nicked your tent and bike in the night!
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[wr6133]

[Nobby the Bastard]

Try and get one that floats.
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[RhynoCZ]

Open sea boats, eh?

Imagine you're fully clothed, having a very, very cold shower while you stuff bank notes down the drain with your foot. That's what owning such boat is like.
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[chickenstrip]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

[mentalboy]

PB has it fairly well covered. RYA offer loads of good courses in the UK, and I believe some other places abroad. If you plan on doing a trip in the very near future by yourself then you will likely end up as one of those PB mentioned that end up in Davy Jones locker.
I managed a Biscay crossing in almost continuous force 8, many moons passed, three of us in a forty footer - we didn’t need assistance but did end up dumping it in, what was then, the brand spanking new marina at Villamoura, Portugal because the bloody thing needed an hour pump out every morning and was getting iffy for hard weather. Later learned that it sank in the marina and the harbourmaster was proper pissed. 😆
Finished the trip back to the UK in a much more sensible 60 footer.

It was a lot of hard work for three of us and, as the twenty year old whippersnapper of the three, I had the least experience - I’d only been sailing for five years and instructing for two.
Trans-pacific solo, you have to be a certain kind of mental case for that, I’d probably have a crack at it if I were a few years younger but nowadays fuck that for a game of toy soldiers. Singlehanded you could probably do it in a specially equipped 35 footer, anything bigger will be more comfortable but require more expensive gizmos to aid solo.
Best advice I can give you is find a twenty something fuck buddy that knows how to sail and make sure she accompanies you...

Edit: Make that two fuck buddies, then one can be on watch while the other is servicing you.
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[Polarbear]

^^^ Spot on ^^^

Except I very much doubt the OP would be in a fit state to service two ladies after a few days in a force 5+.
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[Easy-X]

The only time I've driven* a boat was from Swanage to Bournemouth on a works jolly and that was nerve-wracking enough! (Although parking just off the shore and swimming to the beach had a certain kewl factor.)

If the training sounds daunting then just crew on someone else's boat. Roger the Cabin Boy...

*Semi rigid speedboat, I don't think you sail those as such.
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[Fisty]

You will need swim trunks and flippy floppies.

https://cdn.lowgif.com/full/f0970c533d64d4ae-i-m-on-a-boat-gif-tumblr.gif
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[BigTim]

Many years ago i read a couple of Sir Francis Chicesters sailing books, i always fancied a go at sailing on the open sea, life got in the way.

if you have a chance to do this, go for it!
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[stinkwheel]

The reality is of being barely in control.

My first experience of sailing an actual sailing boat (rather than sailing a canoe) was in a laser 16 on a lake in a force 4-ish. Capsized it in the end (also self-rescued). My lasting memory is of everything going far faster than was comfortable and being only marginally in control of what was going on.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.