http://www.bigoceans.com
Bump. ;)
My cousin sent me an email, and he'll be meeting Nick (the sailor whose blog this is), in St. Martin (hopefully, of course). Don't worry, I will get him to take some good pictures. :)
His boat is a contess 26. I tried to buy one once but could not swing it. Nice boats with hard chime.
I just emailed the guy, be iteresting to see if he answers back.
Thanks for linking me guys!
Marc, thanks for the email, dutifully responded to ;)
I'm still here in Gran Canaria, patiently awaiting for items to arrive via post. Hopefully I can start my Atlantic crossing in the next week or so. Really frustrating to be sitting here twiddling my thumbs, I just want to start sailing!
nick (the guy who's blog is linked at the beginning of this thread)
Welcome aboard, Nick, and a Grog for ya! ;D
It might sound funny, but I wish *I* had your problems! :D :D :D
Hope you'll like the site, and that it'l give you some reading while you wait for the post to come through. Feel free to jump on into any of the discussion.
BTW, I think you are the first Contessa owner we've had on here, oddly enough... Those are grand boats, high on my own list of preferred small vessels. :)
Welcome aboard Nick,
Glad to have you onboard & look forward to hearing about your voyage.
Grog to yah nick, for the Portugal Canaries passage. Best of luck on the rest of your travels as well.
So how is life living aboard a small boat?
Cheers!
Living aboard a small boat... Well, it's not all easy, I must admit. I'm not particularly tall (just shy of six foot I believe), and the Contessa has no standing headroom. Under way, a boat of this size is great - Easy to handle, responds well to the sea, and is an excellent boat to sail. It's the bits in between, when you're simply 'living' that things can be quite uncomfortable. I've been living permanently onboard since May of last year, having spent only ten nights in a 'normal' bed since then. I'm now used to sleeping with my legs straight-out in the quarter berth, but still, boy, what I wouldn't do for a king size bed with enormous pillows!! In fact, in 'the next boat', I intend to make the entire inside of the cabin, a giant comfy bed, with lee cloths every metre ;)
...For years to come, people will say, 'why has that guy got a 48ft floating bed?'.
And only small boat sailors will know, that it was the result of too much time spent alone in a 26ft boat!
Anyway, I think the key to small boat sailing, is to not try and be too 'tough', because eventually, it will tire you, whether you're made of steel or not. In Holland I went for weeks without a stove, in Spain I suffered from severe condensation problems, being constantly wet. Luckily I got out of the northern latitudes before the deck began freezing, but nevertheless, I had several below-zero nights, forging on down the coast of Spain at 4am wondering what the heck I was doing out there, sopping wet, with two sets of wet weather gear on. Neither of them working.
I think if I had my time again, or if I had some money, I'd make the effort install a spray hood, to create a double-bed in the forepeak (for sleeping in harbour), install silly things like a radio with speakers in the cockpit, and heaven forbid, maybe even a DVD player. It's a curious thing, but loneliness only sets in once you're in port, and at least a few creature comforts make all the difference... If you can't make yourself (or don't want to) comfortable with an enormous boat, go to the effort of doing what you can to make life easier with little things.
I wouldn't give this up for the world, but I do think it's important to mention that long term small boat sailing is very difficult, yet incredibly enriching.
nick!
"standing headroom" - We have a whole thread on that topic alone! lol
Like you, Nick, my first boat was a "croucher". When I got a bigger boat - all 1' 7" of it ;D - standing headroom was an essential, and Thankfully, the Ariel does have that.
Regarding berth size - I guess that's an individual thing. I sleep quite well in a 24" single. I made the v-berth into one large bed for about 4-5 months last year, and while it works and is comfortable, I didn't see it as a long-term solution for me.
Have you tried making up a bed *across* your cabin? That's what Craig and Rose on "Faith" have done with their Ariel, and I think they like it and it works well for them. I tried that, too, and it was nice, but again, for the long term, I decided I could use the space better for me.
How are you equipped for listening to tunes? Are you using a 'boom box' or an mp3 player or something? If you have an mp3 player, what about speakers? (Aha! I might know what to send with my cousin... ;D )
PS - I am going to edit the name of this thread.
to be alone without being lonely......probably the toughest part of solo travel/sailing (for me), especially after bashing into a slip at then end of a long haul, sleep deprived with a crowd of onlookers. vj
Quote from: vinegarj on February 14, 2008, 03:34:35 PM
especially after bashing into a slip at then end of a long haul, sleep deprived with a crowd of onlookers. vj
Is there any other time you will bash into a dock except with a crowd of onlookers?
Corollary: Will there be anyone around when you make that PERFECT docking under sail alone?
Yes, the seagulls will be happy to watch, and then as soon as you're finished tying up to the dock, happily poop all over your boat. :)
Quote from: Captain Smollett on February 14, 2008, 03:49:19 PM
Is there any other time you will bash into a dock except with a crowd of onlookers?
Corollary: Will there be anyone around when you make that PERFECT docking under sail alone?
Yes, sideways is a good idea, I had thought about it - The only problem is you basically 'disable' the interior of the boat while your bed is setup. My forepeak has two singles, they just need to be joined and I'd have a perfect bed up the front. One day... When I have tools... And some money, I'll do it!
As for speakers - I just have an old iPod with headphones. I've been casually looking at PC speakers, especially ones with 12v transformers, so I can hardwire them.
I met a guy today who crossed in a Bristol 28, in ... 21 days. He seems to think I could get a similar crossing time if I work hard - I have a Gennaker with a 24ft luff, and will fly that during daylight hours in fair winds, so we'll see...
nick
QuoteYes, sideways is a good idea, I had thought about it - The only problem is you basically 'disable' the interior of the boat while your bed is setup.
Rose and I have been living with this set up for 8 months (cruising, 9 months living aboard) and it is still working out well for us. We have even taken to leaving the 'bed' made up on passages, and sometimes during the day. It does hinder having anyone come below, but it really is not all that big of an issue (for us). Both of the sette births have lee cloths, but stretching out flat across the big bed is a pretty comfortable way to get a nap off watch in all but the biggest seas. This is probably due in part to the comfortable motion of our boat, but I am sure your Contessa would be well suited to the arrangement. Might try to set up something temporary as an experiment?
QuoteAnyway, I think the key to small boat sailing, is to not try and be too 'tough', because eventually, it will tire you, whether you're made of steel or not. .....
I think if I had my time again, or if I had some money, I'd make the effort install a spray hood, to create a double-bed in the forepeak (for sleeping in harbour), install silly things like a radio with speakers in the cockpit, and heaven forbid, maybe even a DVD player. It's a curious thing, but loneliness only sets in once you're in port, and at least a few creature comforts make all the difference... If you can't make yourself (or don't want to) comfortable with an enormous boat, go to the effort of doing what you can to make life easier with little things.
Good stuff... ;)
Hadn't heard it mentioned, so I thought I'd bring up that Nick is a couple of weeks into his transatlantic crossing. He's been posting two or three minutes podcasts every few days via sat phone...
http://www.bigoceans.com/category/podcast/
Looks like Nick will be in the States tomorrow - way to go, Nick! 8) ;D 8)
His last comment:
Quote2008-06-23
Comment: Eddy the eddy smashed! Wild squalls this morning. 60 miles to NY - awesome!
Lat/Long: (39.87, -72.76)
Latest entry:
Quote2008-06-24
Comment: Safely anchored in Sandy Hook Bay, NJ. Dense fog on entrance. Web access tomorrow.
Lat/Long: (40.41, -74.02)
Welcome to the States, Nick. :)
Thanks guys!
It took me awhile to get here... But I made it, eventually ;)
I'm in Long Island Sound now, heading up to Greenport.
Having a great stay here in the US, and it's only been a week!
nick
Nick, glad to have you aboard the S/V America... ;)
Reading your website this AM with coffee, saw this, and have to share it with the folks here:
QuoteDay 6
For the first time, maybe in my life, I don't want to be doing anything else: What's here, what's now, is finally enough. And it's funny, because what's around me is on the one hand, a complete void, yet this nothingness is rich in everything. As if nothing were everything, and vice versa. It's taken nearly 11,000km's and over 250 days en route for this feeling to arise, and I think it was worth every terrifying, frustrating and difficult moment (of which there were many)t. I know this won't last; it's a passing occurrence, but a worthy one no less.
Kudos, my man. :) (and Grog)
PS - Nick, the fish you have a Flick'r photo of - looks like it's an Amberjack. Certainly a Jack of some sort...
Nick
If you find yourself in Boston let us know. We have some cruise planned, too, so look out for an Aphrodite 101, Averisera. We are conspicuous because of our lack of head room... and freeboard. White with a red and grey stripe
Norman and Elizabeth
Oh no... From Nick's website:
QuoteTwitter Update: Engine well and truly dead! Popped injector or worse. Limped into Greenport blown genoa no lights pumps broken... 5th July 2008
Twitter Update: Sailing to Port Jefferson, Long Island 2nd July 2008
You gota whatch that water in the fuel crossing oceans.
hey all,
yeah, i've clocked up some serious mileage, and it wasn't until long island sound that everything went to heck. i already had a cracked boom, and in the sound, the engine blew a huge puff of white smoke, and died. i can restart it, but it idles roughly for a few seconds and then dies. blow head gasket? cracked head? not sure. all my lighting electrics have fused, bilge pump crapped out, and i sailed right up to the entrance of the greenport marina, before getting towed in at midnight.
i'm here for the summer at least, with full access to mechanics, a complete (wood & metal) workshop and lots of advice. By the time I leave the US, Constellation will be back to new. We're putting on a furler, a new boom extrusion, new genoa, the works.
i now just have to figure out how on earth i'm getting into the pacific. i still want to tow the boat across the continent - so if anyone comes across a trailer able to carry a boat like mine, i'd be interested to hear from you. also if you hear of anyone throwing a big truck away (4x4) i'm on the hunt for a gas guzzler for towing.
nick!
(amberjack? looks pretty close on a google search... either way, it tasted good!)
you could try UShip.com. They have a cost estimator. About $ 2 USD per USA mile.
Might be cheaper than buying and then trying to resale.
Quote from: nick on July 20, 2008, 08:28:54 PM
hey all,
yeah, i've clocked up some serious mileage, and it wasn't until long island sound that everything went to heck. i already had a cracked boom, and in the sound, the engine blew a huge puff of white smoke, and died. i can restart it, but it idles roughly for a few seconds and then dies. blow head gasket? cracked head? not sure. all my lighting electrics have fused, bilge pump crapped out, and i sailed right up to the entrance of the greenport marina, before getting towed in at midnight.
i'm here for the summer at least, with full access to mechanics, a complete (wood & metal) workshop and lots of advice. By the time I leave the US, Constellation will be back to new. We're putting on a furler, a new boom extrusion, new genoa, the works.
i now just have to figure out how on earth i'm getting into the pacific. i still want to tow the boat across the continent - so if anyone comes across a trailer able to carry a boat like mine, i'd be interested to hear from you. also if you hear of anyone throwing a big truck away (4x4) i'm on the hunt for a gas guzzler for towing.
nick!
(amberjack? looks pretty close on a google search... either way, it tasted good!)
Hi Nick,
Wish I could help you with the move across the US, but I live 1000 miles from the east coast. I do have a trailer and truck that would do the job. I trailer my Bristol 24, which weighs about 6000 pounds.
one option, if you have enough cash to spare...look for a trailer, in good shape, in the auctions, craigslist, etc. Also a truck, (doesn't have to be 4x4 to do the job. a good F250 works fine.) that is in good enough shape to make the trip, can be had for 5000.00 sometimes. You can then sell the rig, when you get to the west coast. You might not even lose much of the value when you sell. If you rent, or pay a shipper, it will cost thousands.
okawbow, where do you live exactly? one of my problems with this scheme, is that i'm not a US citizen, and getting a car in my name, along with insurance etc, is going to be virtually impossible. it's also going to be hard to find a crazy enough person who has spare time on their hands to spend weeks driving to and from san francisco!
i may be able to strike a deal with a company to truck it for me in the off season? or, thinking out loud, how often do you use your trailer? would you even consider 'loaning it' for a month, if i picked it up and returned it? then i'd just need to find a truck and driver, or a truck i could borrow and be signed on as a co-driver? you never know, maybe there is someone out there with a big dodge, or one of those ford f250's you mentioned.
i even have other thoughts about bigger boats... but i'll save that query for another thread!
nick
You know, Nick, getting a car here might not be as big a deal as you think. Here in Maryland illegal (excuse me, the politically correct term is Undocumented) aliens are driving all over the place. Heck, in Maryland you don't hardly need any documentation to get a drivers license (just remember which side of the road to drive on!). Registering a car should be even easier. Not sure about insurance; but i doubt it would be a big deal.
All it takes is money.
Actually, driving in the United States isn't all that difficult, provided Nick has his driver's license in his home country. He can get an international driver's license, which, when carried in conjunction with your native driver's license, allows you to drive in the USA legally. BTW, you can get the international driver's license at any AAA office.
Buying a car isn't a problem, especially if you're paying cash for it... but getting it registered might be, unless you have a legal address in the USA. Insurance really isn't a problem, but also requires a legal address in the USA.
Ok, so say I can get an international drivers licence (which i could in europe, it lasts for six months, which i imagine is a similar situation here), i have an address here in the boatyard i live at... or, my uncle lives in new york too...
i received some quotes from uship: $5700 to truck it, and $3300 if i provide the trailer....
nick
You could buy a truck/car using your uncle's address, if he's agreeable. :) Same with insurance for the truck/car. Then use it to tow your boat to the west coast.... and then sell the truck/car.
The estimate on UShip is about $ 4000 for the 3000 mile trip. That is about 2x the cost of gas you would use and none of the problems.
Quote from: nick on July 21, 2008, 09:44:56 PM
i received some quotes from uship: $5700 to truck it, and $3300 if i provide the trailer....
Even the $5700 looks to my eye quite a bit cheaper than buying your own truck/trailer and driving it out there yourself.
True, you MAY be able to recover the money paid for the truck/trailer, but the market for the kind of truck you are talking about may be a bit finicky right now, too. That is, you might buy cheap here, but have a harder time selling out there. Who knows?
Nick, the dates to ship in Uship is not that wide, you can put in the notes a greater date range. you can also move the boat south and then west to Texas to reduce the milage and get cheaper rates.
It may be better to move the boat via water to Texas and ship from Houston area, Nice cruise but will add 3000 water miles to your trip.
Quote from: nick on July 21, 2008, 06:07:21 PM
okawbow, where do you live exactly? one of my problems with this scheme, is that i'm not a US citizen, and getting a car in my name, along with insurance etc, is going to be virtually impossible. it's also going to be hard to find a crazy enough person who has spare time on their hands to spend weeks driving to and from san francisco!
i may be able to strike a deal with a company to truck it for me in the off season? or, thinking out loud, how often do you use your trailer? would you even consider 'loaning it' for a month, if i picked it up and returned it? then i'd just need to find a truck and driver, or a truck i could borrow and be signed on as a co-driver? you never know, maybe there is someone out there with a big dodge, or one of those ford f250's you mentioned.
i even have other thoughts about bigger boats... but i'll save that query for another thread!
nick
I live in central Illinois, Nick. I'm afraid by the time you pay for fuel, liscenses, insurance, etc., you might be better off just shipping the boat.
I keep my Bristol on the trailer, when I'm not sailing, so I could only be without the trailer for 2 weeks or so.
What is your time schedule?
Chuck
Given the time of year (H Season), it might be worthwhile to consider going up the canals into the Great Lakes. You could pull the boat in Chicago, Milwaukee, or Duluth. Nice country up here, and you would shave some miles off the shipping to the west coast. A rough guess is it would be >1500 miles of sailing instead of the ~3000 to Texas.
Hmm, I do not know where you could pick it up, but to save on shipping, maybe drop into the Columbia River somewhere inland. I am an East Coast boy myself, so I do not know much about the Pacific drainage rivers.
Hey guys,
I've been a bit quiet for the past couple of months - The US has been wild & great! I'm living out in Greenport, on Long Island, sometimes coming into Brooklyn. Constellation came up on the hard a few weeks ago, and repairs have started. Last weekend a friend and I pulled all the windows out and re-sealed them. The electrics are also getting overhauled, which is great, since I spent a lot of time manually shorting wires to get my lights and other things working! :)
We're staying here for winter, and I'll truck the boat when I can afford it... Call me a whimp, but I won't be living onboard out of the water over winter! Brrr. Already there have been a few cold nights (especially the one night I spent with all the windows out!).
For anyone interested, I've put a few videos up at bigoceans.com/videos ... Mostly just me yapping at the camera. Sorry. ;)
Ok, that's it! Nick
Thanks for the update Nick. :)
Nick the video is good! don't be sorry.
For a wannabe like me, you paint a pretty good picture of what its like out there alone.
anyway thanks for the update.
nick-
my computer won't let me into the "/videos" section of bigoceans, but the video of your crossing on the homepage is really excellent. thanks for putting it together.
question....how finnicky (?) was your windvane steering? were there sail configurations or points of sail that it preferred? also, what camera did you use to shoot the video?
thanks for any info.
hey guys - thanks!
sorry for the late reply, i didn't get a notification that new posts has been made, and i was just browsing the forum today...
sorry you can't view the videos - what browser are you using? let me know and i will try and fix the error. all my videos are available from http://www.vimeo.com/bigoceans though if you're interested.
for the camera, it is a sony hdr-5 (i think) - basically a 1080HD camera with onboard 40gb hdd. all editing was done in final cut pro.
the windvane.. yes, it steered the whole time, and does a pretty good job at steering even if you don't balance the sails that well. for downwind sailing under light airs it's not that great... personally i'd love a cheap tillerpilot to go with it (the windvane can run one off the vane arm).
hope that helps! nick
great vids!
tnx
Nick;
I am wondering about why you were concerned with the length of the passage when you left Antigua? Food issues? General concern about the boat holding up? The constant motion being tiring and annoying? I'm just trying to understand the psychology of it.
How did the Contessa hold up? Leaking windows, that seems to happen to everyone who hasn't rebed the windows.
What would you do different?
Thanks for the vids, makes me wish I could drop it all and head for open water.
Quote from: skylark on October 12, 2008, 09:05:50 AM
Nick;
I am wondering about why you were concerned with the length of the passage when you left Antigua? Food issues? General concern about the boat holding up? The constant motion being tiring and annoying? I'm just trying to understand the psychology of it.
How did the Contessa hold up? Leaking windows, that seems to happen to everyone who hasn't rebed the windows.
What would you do different?
Thanks for the vids, makes me wish I could drop it all and head for open water.
hey skylark.
at the time when i shot that video (i presume you mean the start where i'm talking about having to sail north to the US), i was a little depressed about having to move on so quickly. i had no money left, and i didn't want to just leave the boat somewhere in the caribbean. also, i didn't feel as though i had properly recovered from my atlantic crossing. it was only three weeks prior to sailing for nearly another month nonstop, that i was about to do it again, and during that three weeks i'd sailed up from barbados, so i hadn't really had a rest at all. also, a tradewind passage is fairly straightforward - the conditions are usually very predictable, and about the worst thing that can happen, is you get a squall going overhead. however, moving up and out of that zone into the horse latitudes is different: the conditions are unpredictable, and the wind is highly inconsistent.
i had done a lot of mental preparation for the atlantic, and talked to many people who'd done it, so i felt quite prepared mentally. however, i'd spoken to very few if any people about my proposed non-stop voyage north to new york, and while i'd talked about it since the canaries, i was never 100% sure i'd go through with it. i was however, always dedicated to my atlantic crossing - i'd been thinking about it everyday since june of 2006. basically it was all mental - i felt i didn't know what i going to experience on the antigua->ny passage.
i think that going into the atlantic crossing, i didn't really know what to expect - yet when i set out for new york, i knew exactly what it was going to be like... i knew it was going to be hard, and i would be under stress again - it's difficult to explain, but when you're out alone on a long passage, there is a strong element of stress at all times. you tweak to any abnormality in the boat, whether it's a sound, or a shift in movement, at all hours. i remember being able to wake up from a dead sleep for the smallest things - being on edge like this is a stressful but necessary requirement to stay safe. you can't just layabout and pretend everything is ok: you're 110% aware all the time, and if anything goes wrong and you were not quick enough to respond, you're in serious trouble. there is no one to help, no one to rely on.
as for the contessa, she held up very well. while she's an old vessel from 1972, and is stock standard except for the windvane, i'm frankly very impressed at what a good boat she is. would i do anything different? for some reason i've been terribly nervous about the rig, and wished nearly every day that i'd had the money to replace the standing rigging. i really learnt that anything can break on a boat, EXCEPT, you cannot get a hole, and you cannot lose your mast. There isn't much you can do about crashing into something and holing the boat, but you can put extra care into the rig. so, with that in mind, in long island i promptly pulled the thing off, and am in the process of getting new standing rigging and chainplates. i would also have a good downwind rig, with two spinnaker poles to hold the jibs out. other than that, i'm as happy as larry!
glad you enjoyed the vids! i hope it encourages at least one person to follow their dream - then my work is done!
nick
Nick - I have encouraged several as well. Nice feeling.
Latest Blog shows Nick has splashed the boat in Cali and will be off to Hawaii soon!
Looks like he made it to Hawaii.
He made it home to Australia. Latest blog... http://www.bigoceans.com/2009/11/19/were-home-at-last-in-743-days/