Member Jonathan Lloyd s/v Sophia has prepared a detailed paper on the steps that aspiring world voyagers should take in preparing themselves and their boat for distance sailing. We are posting his paper in sections here and ask our very experienced members to comment, providing different perspectives and insights from their own experience. When completed, we hope to compile a paper on Best Practices in Preparation for Ocean Voyaging as a reference. 

Part I: INTRODUCTION

Undertaking a circumnavigation of the world in your own yacht is not only an activity, which takes a substantial amount of time but one which requires considerable planning and preparation. If you join a rally such as the World ARC, the feat can be accomplished in 15 months. However, most cruisers adopt a more leisurely approach and take up to 5 years and even longer. The more leisurely approach means that the vast majority of circumnavigators are retirees in their 50s and 60s, most of whom are double-handed married couples or partners of long standing. However, there are younger couples often with young children, who are able to take a sabbatical or break from work in order to achieve this ambition. In some cases, they break their circumnavigation and return to work in order to obtain the necessary funds to continue. There are also single-handers, who fall into both categories.

In our case, our circumnavigation started when we left the Solent on 1st June 2014 and finished when we crossed our outward track on arrival in Martinique in the Caribbean on 8th March 2018. Cruising up the east coast of the USA this summer has given us ample time to reflect on how well prepared we were for this challenge and the lessons we have learnt in this regard, which might be of assistance to those contemplating such a venture in the future.

While undertaking a circumnavigation had been a long-held ambition for both of us, the requirements of career, children’s education and caring for elderly parents meant waiting until these responsibilities were no longer a consideration before we could start the serious business of planning and preparing for this undertaking. With the death of my mother in 2012 the opportunity arose to do so. Once her affairs and estate had been settled I agreed to retire in April 2013 with my wife Anne following suit several months later. This would give us approximately a year to get organised. We reckoned that we would need at least this long in order to prepare both ourselves and also prepare and equip our yacht, as well as making the necessary domestic arrangements for a long term absence. At this point, we also set a target date for our departure, as it is all too easy to let your departure date slip if you do not have a target.


Vice Commodore, OCC 

Part V: SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

Self Steering Gear

For self-steering gear we opted for the Hydrovane system. It has proved to be an excellent choice, which has served us extremely well throughout our circumnavigation. However, it’s considerable weight means that great care needs to be taken when securing it to the transom if the permanent fitting is not to work loose. In our case, we placed substantial stainless backing plates behind the mounting brackets. This arrangement has worked well. Even so after 4 years, the bolts on the bottom bracket had started to work loose. Consequently, careful monitoring of the mounting brackets is required; particularly when the system has been in place for some years.

The system has a wind vane and rudder, which are both removable. The bright red canvas wind vane is subject to sun degradation and in our experience lasts about two years, so you need to start out with the appropriate spares or be prepared to order replacements en route. The rudder is quite substantial, which is one of the reasons that we were attracted to the Hydrovane, as it can act as jury rudder if the yacht’s main rudder has been damaged. Initially, we decided not to antifoul it. This was a mistake, as it quickly becomes covered with weed and barnacles if left in the water for any length of time. We recommend that you use Coppercoat or a hard antifouling for this purpose and remove it when stationary for more than a day or two.

HF Radio

The choice of HF radio in the UK is essentially limited to the ICOM 801. Fitting it is a complex task, which requires a professional. The control box and handset are normally located in the vicinity of the chart table together with a PACTOR modem, which is required if you want to have the capacity to download emails and weather Grib files via the HF set. Space in the transom has to be found for the tuner, which needs to be located as close to the aerial as possible. In most cases, the aerial is installed using the backstay. The alternative is to have a very substantial whip antenna mounted on the pushpit. Both tuner and aerial need to be grounded using either a ground plate or the KISS system. The ground plate involves a through hull fitting and therefore the additional cost of a lift out. The KISS system entails fitting a long insulated copper wire from the tuner forward through the yacht. We opted for the KISS system, as it avoided installing yet another through hull fitting. In our case, the wire runs from the tuner in the stern lazarette through the lazarette and under the fuel tank beneath the berth in the port rear cabin. Wiring this system altogether and to the battery bank was a time consuming and difficult task, which took a total of two days.

At the time we installed our HF set up in early 2014, which included a PACTOR modem, the satellite-based system Iridium Go was not available as a means of obtaining emails and weather information while on an ocean passage. What we discovered on our circumnavigation was that HF coverage in the Indian and South Atlantic oceans was distinctly patchy due to the paucity of HF shore stations. Faced with the same decision today we would opt for Iridium Go over a PACTOR modem. We would still retain an HF set in order to be able to participate in HF radio nets while on passage.

Satellite Telephone

When we started out our intention was to use the HF/PACTOR modem for regular access to emails and weather information. However, we decided that it was important to have a satellite telephone to deal with emergency situations. We were fortunate to be given an old Iridium model by my brother. Given that emergency use was our primary consideration we found that the package, which best suited our needs, was one provided by Applied Satellite Technology (AST). This provided us with 600 minutes per annum at a cost of $600. However, the minutes cannot be rolled over into the next contract. The satellite telephone came into its own when we had a major rigging failure during our Pacific crossing in 2015. It enabled us to discuss the situation with our riggers back in the UK and order replacement rigging for delivery in the Marquesas. It has also proved to be very useful on several subsequent occasions. It should be noted that while at that time of our departure Iridium enabled the provision of data downloads via satellite telephone by providing drivers for computers using Microsoft 10 software, with the advent of Iridium Go this provision is no longer available.

WiFi Access

Given our increasing reliance on the internet for access to such services as online banking and credit card accounts, we looked into this question in some detail. Our initial solution was to acquire a WiFi booster, which we would haul up to the lower spreader using one of the courtesy flag halyards when we needed it. However, it’s range never lived up to the advertised billing and after a while, the booster itself became waterlogged and ceased to function. We have not replaced it. Instead, we now rely on data SIM cards purchased from local telecommunications companies around the world for use in our mobile telephones and use the personal hotspot function to access the internet. This approach has served us well. However, the cost of data and the coverage provided varies significantly from country to country. Some of the best and cheapest coverage is to be found in the Pacific islands. In comparison, Australia and New Zealand were very expensive.

Watermaker

Next on our list was a water maker. Here after considerable research, we selected an energy recovery system manufactured by Baitek. It is essentially an Italian version of the American Spectra system. The thinking behind our purchase was premised on its energy recovery credentials, which meant that we would be able to power it using solar power without recourse to the generator or main engine. It was also on offer as a special deal at the Southampton Boat Show. However, our subsequent experience with it has been singularly unsatisfactory. Significant problems started appearing on our Atlantic crossing and by the time we reached New Zealand at the end of 2015 major components had failed on three separate occasions.

Given that this track record was unlikely to improve we decided while in Opua in 2016 to replace the Baitek with a much simpler system produced by Open Ocean. It is based on a high capacity pump, which means that we have to run the generator or main engine to operate it, but we found that we were having to do that with the Baitek system in any event, as our solar capacity was not sufficiently reliable. The Open Ocean system has the added advantage of producing twice as much water each hour. It has worked well for the last three years. In our experience, energy recovery systems are more trouble than they are worth. In our encounters with other cruisers on our circumnavigation the two systems, which cause more problems than any other on ocean-going yachts are energy recovery water makers and generators.

Additional Power Generation Capacity

Energy Audit

Next we reviewed Sofia’s power generation capacity. The domestic battery bank had been replaced as part of the purchase package and she was already equipped with a Mastervolt Whisper diesel generator. However, we did not want to rely on the generator or main engine to keep the batteries topped up on a daily basis during an ocean crossing, so investigated both wind and solar power options. In order to determine what capacity we needed in terms of amp hours, we carried out an energy audit of Sofia’s electrical systems. You will find on most modern yachts that the list of such systems is considerable including chart-plotters, radar, navigational instruments, domestic and navigational lights, VHF and HF radios, fridges and deep freezes, microwaves, induction hobs and last but by no means least power sockets for charging mobile telephones, laptop computers and iPads. In doing so we were mindful of the advice not to run down the charge in our domestic battery bank by more than 10% in any given 24 hour period if we wished to preserve the life of our batteries.

Solar Power

Our initial solution was two acquire two Solbian flexible solar panels, which would be mounted permanently on the coach roof. While very expensive they could be walked on without causing any damage. However, we discovered on our circumnavigation that the disadvantage of deck mounted panels is that they are often in the shade for long periods, which degrades the panel’s performance by as much as 50%. This was particularly the case in the tropics. Both panels had ceased to function by the time we reached Cape Town and needed to be replaced. However, even before we started out on our circumnavigation a two-month long test cruise in the summer of 2013 revealed that the two deck-mounted panels were not generating sufficient capacity. Therefore we acquired two further hard panels, which we mounted on swivel brackets on the pushpit. This meant that the panels could be tilted to face the sun and thus maximise performance. Based on our experience we would certainly recommend this option for mounting solar panels. Hard panels are also significantly cheaper than flexible ones. At this point, we had not ruled out wind power but decided to see how we could manage with 4 solar panels before going down this route.


Wind and Towed Generators

By the time that we reached the Canaries in the autumn of 2014, it was clear to us that we needed to supplement the solar panels with a wind generator. After carrying out considerable research and consulting other cruisers we opted for the D-400 manufactured by Eclectic Energy on the basis of its reliability, quiet operation and the company’s reputation for excellent after sales service. It is not cheap and needs a substantial mounting pole or bracket due to its weight. That said, it has proved to be an excellent choice, which has worked flawlessly. It is particularly effective in a windy anchorage or when sailing with the wind forward of the beam in 15 knots apparent or more. However, it is not particularly effective when sailing downwind when the apparent wind is often much less than 15 knots.

Given that much of one’s circumnavigation is spent travelling downwind in these conditions with at least one half of the yacht in shade, the combination of solar and wind power is not a complete solution to one’s power generation needs, if you wish to avoid using the diesel generator or main engine to top up your batteries while on ocean passage. What we have discovered on our circumnavigation is that the solution to addressing this deficit is to fit a towed generator. Examples are the Watt and Sea and Duo-Gen generators. The latter has the advantage of being convertible between wind and towed configurations. While deploying a towed generator does result in a slight reduction in boat speed, they do generate power when one is sailing downwind at night in moderate wind conditions, which is not the case with wind and solar systems. However, both systems are expensive to acquire and fit. While we have decided not to pursue this option with our voyage nearly complete, we would give it serious consideration, if setting off again. With a powered generator (either fitted or portable), solar panels, a wind generator and a towed generator, you will be covered for all power generation eventualities. However, the outlay on acquiring and fitting all of these systems will be substantial.
  

Vice Commodore, OCC