6 options for preparing for a circumnavigation

6 options for preparing for a circumnavigation

25 years of travel planning

On the chart table Juno, yachts of Paul Frew Oyster 575, there is a faded Holman & Pye Oyster 55 brochure, 1986. He took her to the Southampton Boat Show, and dreamed of someday going around the world in his Oyster.

“Yes, you can say that I have been planning this for 25 years”, - declares Paul Frew.

"It helps to keep the idea in mind at all times as it becomes something that you imagine and focus on."adds Paul's wife, Caroline. "It makes your dream more tangible."

The couple have owned a range of cruising yachts for 25 years, from a 22-foot monohull boat to a 52-foot catamaran, but Paul Frew insists it was just a "dress rehearsal" for Oyster. They bought Juno a year after the model was released in 2011.

Paul Frew one of the most meticulous and well trained yacht owners, the best example you could come across. He has everything in reserve for almost everything on board. His advice for those preparing to go on long journeys is that you should spend as much time preparing as possible.

"I wrote everything: lists, and more lists, so I knew I did the best I could.", - he explains.

Paul Frew's meticulous training is linked to his career as a venture capitalist in the software business.

“I took it as seriously as I did in the past,” he says. "I do all the tasks I can on board, so I know if something goes wrong, I can fix it."... I've heard similar advice from several owners. "I dealt with all the major systems at once and took spare parts for everything, because I am not an engineer, so I want to be ready for anything."

These words will resonate with many. As yachts and their systems become larger and more complex, they can intimidate people with a similar approach and abandon the idea of long-distance travel. But Fru enjoys the renovation, proudly talking about what he has come across. He says that the crew is the hardest part of the logistics... During participation in World ARCJuno was driven by a crew of 5 who were good friends.

“We knew them, and we knew that we would not be in conflict,” says Frew. "It's not just the professional skills of the crew, you have to be able to handle your crew.".

6 options for preparing for a circumnavigation

Frew says he wouldn't do anything differently. “Juno is the right size and I know her inside out. It's big, but we can handle it even together. I prepared as much as I can be confident, without unnecessary complacency. "

Abundance of technology on board

Plus 2 was one of the most luxuriously equipped yachts World ARC... Jean Metz, yacht owner Amel 54 loaded it with a variety of equipment. Its navigation station looked like a meteorological center. There were eight different independent navigation systems, with eight GPS receivers, as well as paper maps and a sextant.

"I think I have everything on the market."- laughs Metz.

Additionally, the yacht had three computers, two spare laptops, three iPads, three routers, a wi-fi amplifier and three different satellite phones, including Fleet Broadband and an Iridium laptop.

His reasoning is very entertaining. "I don't want to miss electronics", He says. "When something goes wrong, I take another device and fix the broken one another time."... Fair enough!

Jean and his wife Christine Metz - the French who live in the mountains of Switzerland. Working part-time in the pharmaceutical industry, they are avid skiers. Jean also participates in European car races. In a yacht race World ARC they decided to participate together.

“Endurance car racing and off-piste skiing helped me prepare for this,” says Jean Metz. “I like the so-called risky things, but if you are really ready for this, and you know more or less the main risks... We worked hard on the safety of this trip. "

6 options for preparing for a circumnavigation

The Metz was surprised at how unprepared many of the crews were. In the process of preparing his yacht for the race, Metz spent six hours a day for a year. The main things he added were a twin spinnaker pole, a Watt & Sea hydrogenerator and six 100W solar panels that provide half of the energy they need. Even with three computers and three satellite phones, the generator ran six hours a day.

Traditional ocean cruiser

Eric Faber was already 72 years old, and he always dreamed of traveling around the world. When his wife died a few years ago, he decided for himself - the time has come.

He planned to sail across the Atlantic and back alone, but after meeting the Englishwoman Julia Horner in the Caribbean, Faber found a partner who continued the journey west with him on board his yacht. Rival 38.

"I wanted the ocean boat to be not too big.", He says. Full keel and tiller control topped his list of yacht requirements and he found his yacht. Luna quest in Turkey. Faber replaced the running rigging, added new sails and completely overhauled the engine. The boat has been completely renovated and is in excellent condition.

6 options for preparing for a circumnavigation

The yacht was also equipped with a compressor Hydrovane, a wind generator, solar panels and two towed generators, so you can in principle never start the engine for power.

Budget travel

Andy Middleton and Emma White are proof that you don't need to be rich or retired to go on a big trip. They sold their homes, including the narrow boat that Emma lived on for 21 years, a car and a motorcycle, to finance their dream and travel around the world. They just made a decision, got out of their comfort zone.

Five years before the trip, they bought their Pentagram, yacht of 1983 Oyster 41... They had no choice but to do most of the work on the boat themselves to cut costs. But another plus to this, they knew in advance that they have to stop halfway to earn some amountto be able to continue their journey.

Andy Middleton completely renovated Pentagram. His impressive list of jobs included checking the keel bolts, updating wiring, installing a new engine, gearbox and propellers, replacing standing rigging, checking bearings and insulation, stripping old paint and painting the deck. He also installed new gas pipes and a new gas locker to house large propane cylinders that they could replace anywhere in the world.

Middleton was a yachtsman all his life and raced, and he was also a steelworker by profession, which meant that he could solve almost everything. To keep costs down most of the work was done while the boat was on the water at Dartmouth, including removing the old engine with a boom and their small inflatable boat.

Andy Middleton also replaced all the lighting with LED, installed a compressor refrigerator and an additional battery, as well as a wind generator and two solar panels - "90% time we had everything we needed", Says Middleton. "We spent two and a half weeks at anchor in Barbados without using an engine.".

Middleton determined that the biggest consumer of energy was the autopilot, which they decided to upgrade to the latest model. Evolution 200 by Raymarine.

The Pentagram only has a 60 liter diesel tank, so there are numerous fuel and water containers on deck. Emma highlighted the built-in water filter Instant Trust Marine which they established as the most ingenious device ever developed Philips for the destruction of viruses and bacteria in water using UV radiation.

"There are so many things that could stop us.", Says Middleton. “We wanted to do some things a little differently, install different equipment, but you get to the stage where you have a certain amount of money and you just have to do it. You should be happy with what you already have and just start the journey. We don't want to look back when we get old, and say "what if we ...".

Ingenuity

At first sight, Exocet strike looks like a typical charter yacht. But the owners Beneteau First 47.7 2002, very well equipped for a long-term trip. DJaune and Stella Dyer point out that many of the items and spare parts needed to prepare the yacht are available at a good price in the used market.

The result of their careful shopping is that the couple now have a very well equipped yacht with a huge stock of different parts for all occasions, including spare autopilot, pump and drum.

Dyer completed most of the installation work over a two-year period, replacing every fitting in the hull and seacock with a bronze one before they hit the road.

"If I fix it myself and something goes wrong, I will better understand how to fix it.", - says John Dyer.

Dyer worked for Exocet strike as skipper of a charter yacht and has been planning this trip since 2005. But the couple had to wait until Stella was able to step down from her position as managing partner of a law firm in Plymouth.

6 options for preparing for a circumnavigation

“We probably spent about £ 50,000 preparing the boat, but that's because we decided to upgrade all rigs and upgrade the sails,” explains Dyer. “We had a budget with a list of 'necessary' and 'would like'. "But every time we bought something, the budget just kept going up!" - says Stella.

The new set of sails turned out to be the most expensive, but they wanted to create a boat that was comfortable and easy to navigate. They chose single, highly specialized, UV-resistant sails. Dacron from Sanders, so that they can be repaired anywhere in the world. DuoGen, SSB radio, satellite phone, davits and dinghy were all purchased second-hand or at eBay... Zero code Kevlar twisted Karver were a luxury for the Pacific sailing.

All halogen bulbs have been replaced with LEDs, including navigation lights, which reduced energy consumption on board by a factor of ten. They also installed a generator and a water filter. Aquamax manually operated to avoid potential electronics problems.

"I tried to find and install the simplest things so that I can solve any problems."Dyer explains.

Spontaneous decision

Owners of the largest boat in the fleet World ARC, Lagoon 620, there was the least amount of time to prepare. Luke and Sarah Bartlett bought Makena a year before participation, and the decision on participation was made two weeks before the start World ARC December.

“In September 2013, a friend of mine posted a picture of himself from Bora Bora,” explains Luc Bartlett. "It got me thinking about what we were doing."

At the time, the couple lived in San Francisco, working in large computer software companies, but at this point they decided to quit their job, sell their house and travel around the world. Two months later, Bartlett visited a shipyard in France and went to test the yacht.

6 options for preparing for a circumnavigation

• 10 commandments for buying a catamaran

Why such a big catamaran? Bartlett has a large family, including parents and children in France and Ireland. The couple wanted to be able to spend more time with their family and include them in their adventures. They decided that first they would make a quick round the world tour, and then a slower and more calm circumnavigation of the world.

“Large catamarans are often referred to as condominiums, but this is what we were looking for,” Says Bartlett.

For travel, all they added to the Lagoon's options was an SSB radio and a crib for their toddler. In the first three months, they took on board 60 people, each of whom stayed on the yacht for up to two weeks. “We realized that we were not sufficiently prepared for the trip around the world on our own,” admits Bartlett after crossing the Atlantic with ARC + In November.

Luke has been in yachting since he was five, his father was a sailing instructor in Normandy, but it felt like they were missing something. By subscribing to World ARC, they solved this problem.

“We had already pulled ourselves out of everyday life, so it was easy to join the race, which we did two weeks before the start. In addition, we have visited places that we would never have visited ourselves. "

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21.10.2017