Planning and Preparing for an Extended Cruise
Amanda Swan Neal is co-owner of Mahina Expeditions and leads sail-training expeditions worldwide, with a focus on teaching ocean passagemaking and navigations skills. She is a popular guest lecturer at Strictly Sail boat shows across the country and conducts offshore cruising seminars.
Q: How much sailing experience is needed prior to taking an extended cruise?
A: For an extended coastal cruise, having well honed skills in sail handling, navigation and anchoring are necessary. Both US Sailing and ASA (American Sailing Association) have very practical, well-documented courses that make gaining these skills easy.
Q: How can you gain sufficient sailing experience to prepare you for an extended cruise?
A: Starting with instruction really makes more sense and is a lot more fun than learning by trial and error. There are lots of ways to build sailing experience without spending a lot of money. Community boating clubs, yacht clubs and sailing clubs provide the opportunity to get to sail on different sailboat designs and with different skippers. Yacht racing also sharpens your skills.
Q: How do you know if you and your crew are ready for this level of sailing activity?
A: The simplest way is to complete the US Sailing or ASA courses up through Coastal Passagemaking. This will provide you with a solid base of knowledge before sailing off into the sunset!
Q: How do you plan in advance for wind, weather and currents over an extended length of time?
A: There are more sources than ever for obtaining weather information! For coastal sailing, up to 40-60 miles offshore, the NOAA continuous VHF marine weather broadcasts are amazingly accurate. For extended offshore passages, the ability to get updated weather information at sea is very helpful for avoiding bad weather. Taking an intensive course on marine weather really helps!
Q: What are the best tools and equipment for navigation?
A: Accurate charts and practice in plotting a course and your present position is really important. For equipment, in order of priority: compass, GPS, depth sounder and if your budget allows, radar.
Q: What types of safety and communication equipment are important for an extended voyage?
A: MOST IMPORTANT SAFETY EQUIPMENT:
- Personal Flotation Device (PFD). We like combination safety harness/auto-inflation collar type PFD’s.
- Life raft and signaling devices including an EPIRB (emergency radio)
- First aid kit
- Waterproof handheld VHF radio
- Lifesling Overboard Retrieval System (requires practice!)
COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT:
Some type of long range communication sure makes an extended voyage easier. One of the simplest ways is utilizing a satellite telephone. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Swann Neal sent this article via email from her boat in New Zealand and noted that it wouldl take less than a minute and cost $1, using the Iridium satellite system!) We also use this for receiving free NOAA 10 day GRIB weather charts at sea and if necessary, requesting a customized weather forecast from a commercial weather routing service.
Another option is to use a marine radio and a modem to send and receive emails. Q: How do you prepare your boat for extended cruising?
A: Wow, we spend an entire one to two days in our Offshore Cruising Seminars addressing this question alone … so answering in a couple sentences is a real challenge, but here goes!
First, the safety of the boat and crew are paramount, so the safety equipment we just mentioned comes first. Then physically checking, updating and upgrading the boat systems comes next. For a used boat, this includes removing and checking the mast and rudder, making sure the electrical system is safe and has sufficient power generation and storage capacity, carefully evaluating the engine and assembling spare parts, and very important: checking and upgrading your sail inventory. Dedicated storm sails are important for offshore passagemaking, and having them aboard is also a good idea for coastal cruising.
Q: How do you know how to provision for an extended cruise?
A: First read my book, The Essential Galley Companion. I would also invite anyone interested in provisioning to attend one of my “Galley Essentials – Provisioning and Dining Afloat” seminars at many Strictly Sail boat shows. These seminars are always packed.
Q: How do you budget accurately for an extended cruise?
A: Start with the necessities, like food and boat maintenance. Boat and health insurance are optional, but nice to have. I did a survey of cruising boats in Tahiti a couple years ago and the average couple was spending $1200 per month for living expenses. The smallest budget was a Danish family of four cruising on $700 per month. They didn’t eat out much, or have fancy side trips, but they were having a great time and their children loved the adventure.
Q: How important is having the right mix of people aboard for the journey?
A: I think the “people component” is one of the most important of all! Having someone or people to share the adventure of sailing and exploring makes cruising so much more enjoyable. But remember: “If mama ain’t happy….nobody’s happy.” So, plan accordingly!
Q: Short of selling everything and buying your own boat, are there other ways to experience long-range cruising?
A: It makes a lot more sense to try out coastal or offshore passagemaking on someone else’s boat, ideally with organized, documented instruction to see if it’s your cup of tea before making the time and financial commitment to do this on your own. There are several options including our program, as well as any number of reputable sailing charter programs and courses.
Q: What is the biggest benefit of long distance cruising? A: Extended cruising allows you to live your dreams and experience your own adventures. The friendships you make are long lasting and you’ll see our planet in a whole new light!
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