<Excerpts below are taken (c) from Practical Boat Owner, no 327, March 1994>
 

Escape to the sun

Choosing and fitting out a small boat for long distance cruising by John Simpson
PBO No 327 MARCH 1994
 

Why not give yourself a year's sailing break in the sun? You don't need millions. I estimate that if you own a small, but seaworthy, yacht, then for as little as three or four thousand pounds you could equip her, stock up with food and have enough left for a year's break.
If you don't own a boat you will need an additional five to six thousand pounds. Certainly for around £10,000 you could have the time of your life. In this article I suggest the sort of boat and equipment you might need.
 

Hull and hull type

Choose a yacht with reasonably heavy displacement - one that looks after 'you', rather than the other way about. This does not necessarily mean a long keel yacht but excludes lightweight fin keelers. Some bilge keel yachts are heavy displacement and not too hard on the helm.

She could be GRP, steel, aluminium or wood. Ferro-cemcnt doesn't seem to work on small hull sizes and I'm not sure steel does either. Try and choose a non-extreme hull form but remember she must also be a load carrier, so a very narrow boat or one with fine ends would have to be longer and thus probably cost more. Choose a boat without large exposed coach roof sides, big portholes, or windows or large hatches (especially forward clamping forehatches); they will only have to be altered.

A small boat with narrow side decks which are difficult to walk on, should also be avoided. A large cockpit will have to be reduced in size and made self-draining, unless you want to spend a large amount of time pumping as exercise in heavy weather! The rudder is the one area that needs to be looked at very carefully. Some spade or racing designs are too fragile. Perhaps the main reason to go for a long keel is the automatic built-in rudder integrity: if you hit anything large in the water the rudder is less likely to break off. Happily, a false skeg can be bolted on with straps and glassed into the keel far more easily than most people imagine. The fitting at the top of the rudder post (carry a spare) requires special attention. Carry also an emergency tiller. It's unlikely that the small yachts we are considering will be fitted with a wheel, but if so, an emergency tiller that fits onto the top of the rudder stock is a necessity. Another useful idea is to have a notch or two hard eyes bolted on either side of the rudder blade. Together with a couple of carabiner snaphooks and some cordage that can provide a very useful emergency steering system, if the top of the rudder post is beyond repair or you've gone through your spare tillers.

The production boat types I have in mind are the Folkboat, Verlue, Hurley 22, Wing 25, Sadler 25/26, Corribee21, Contend 26, Halycon 27, Elizabethan 29, Victoria 26, Westerly Centaur, Twister, etc, all sailing yachts, not floating caravans. She will most likely be secondhand, so get a good survey.

There's no doubt in my mind that older glass boats were much heavier in lay up, than they are now - boatbuilders have now learnt to make them lighter and raised their profit margins and sailing speed. A cruising yacht doesn't need to be an ocean greyhound and will have to lay alongside fishing boats, old quays and be hauled out in very primitive conditions at times during the course of any long voyage, especially when things go wrong. That, just as much as a survival storm or severe gale at sea, is when a heavier lay up comes into its own.

I chose a Hurley 22 which with very little constructional changes to the way George Hurley built her in 1970 in Plymouth, took me across the Atlantic three times with no major dramatic incidents. I increased the size of the stemhcad fitting forward, fitted thicker Perspex ports on the coachroof sides, made the cockpit batches lockable and waterproof, added two forward lower chainplates with associated shrouds, fitted a second bilge pump, ripped out the toilet (to make room for generator storage) and added a wind vane, self-steerer, jackstays, sprayhood, cockpit dodgers and that was it.

Mast and Rigging

The mast can be of wood or aluminium and, unless gaff rigged, preferably rigged without running backstays. Again if the survey is sound, it doesn't need to be any newer than the boat. The diameter of the rigging should not necessarily be increased because of the extra weight carried aloft but it is certainly a good idea to have a belt and braces system such as twin forestays (fore and aft, not side by side or on one bottle screw, which does not increase safety). If the backstay divides into two before the deck why not have two separate wires all the way to the top? If only a pair of lower shrouds are fitted together with a baby stay forward, it makes sense to fit another shroud each side forward, as extra chainplates are not difficult to fit.

Most production boats seem to be under-rigged rather than well-rigged and throughout my long-distance sailing, rigging problems were the most prevalent reason why the boat could not move.Another small item to fit in a little boat with very thin spreaders is an extra wire to enable you to stand on the spreaders without fear of breaking them off. Finally, it's well worth replacing all the standing rigging, the rigging screws and all the clevis pins before any long trip, then you know what conditions they are in (new!). It's certainly a great deal cheaper than having a new mast sent out to Outer Mongolia or wherever you happen to be.

The running rigging is not so important but if you break a main or jib halyard at sea, 1500-2000 miles from land, you're the one who has to replace it. External halyards rather than internal ones, which are very difficult to replace at sea, are best. I had a jib halyard that I knew was a bit tired, got lazy, and consequently had to replace it at sea, not an experience I'd care to repeat again on my own.

Sails

The amount and type of sails you carry depends very much on your funds and taste, but remember they, not the engine, are your main driving force on a long voyage. Roller furling jibs are good for short handed sailing, but is the system you have reliable over many thousands of miles? I prefer the hank-on jib system and have noticed that for boats that have sailed many long trips on a shoe string, without the benefit of sponsorship, the KISS principle seems to work best. Twin hank-on jibs poled out, work without chafe. Most of your route planning is to ensure that you sail with the wind aft. Running before the wind with the mainsail causes big problems with sail chafe, whereas twin jibs suffer not at all, especially when correctly poled out. Two sets of twin jibs, one about number two jib size and the other working jib size, did the job for me. The mainsail can be stowed with the cover on, once into steady Trade Wind conditions to prevent ultra violet rot and only hoisted as a rain catching device when necessary. Many production boats also lack a good small interim jib between storm jib and working jib size. This sail is a must for any upwind sailing between force 5 to 7; you might have to design this sail for yourself.

The mainsail itself must reef easily and still set efficiently because offshore you will find that a single reef will be necessary much of the time since you have to sail the boat reasonably conservatively to help the wind vane system. Slab reefing systems seem to be the best; older boats with roller reefing mainsail arc easily converted.

If your sail wardrobe grows too large to stow, jibs that reef are a way of cutting down the amount of sail carried. Having the mainsail with a very deep third reef may obviate the need for a trisail. The sails I suggest are: mainsail, light weight genoa, two. No 2genoas (which reef to smaller size), working jib, interim jib as explained earlier for stronger winds, storm jib and spinnaker (with a snuffer).
These sails can be triple sewn on the seams and be fitted with an extra eye in the clew.


Equipping a Hurley 22 for ocean-going passages




Engine

If your boat is fitted with an engine, especially a small diesel in reasonable condition, I would keep it. If the engine is old or the boat doesn't have an engine at all, don't worry, it's not a very important item for long distance sailing. The main use of the engine on long trips is to generate power, not to propel the boat.The amount of fuel you could carry wouldn't even begin to take you more than a small part of the distance you will have to travel.

The boat I bought had an outboard motor, which fitted into a stern well but I hardly ever used it. The joy of not having an engine is twofold, your basic seamanship improves and the boat has clean bilges. If a good engine is fitted there seems no good reason to throw it away. Take along the normal spares (oil, impellers, fuel and oil filters, fan belts etc.) and have it properly serviced before you leave. Make sure you understand simple routine servicing so you can look after it yourself. Check the stern gland and make sure you know how to tighten, repack or replace it where necessary.

If you don't have an engine you'll need some means of generating power, unless you opt for a boat devoid of electronics and use oil-lamps. Alittle portable generator, a towed generator, wind generator or solar panels are the options you can decide for yourself. All can work well provided you prove the system in advance. You can also provide the boat with oars or a sweep to travel short distances in calm conditions. I chose a small Japanese Kawasaki generator which I ran on AC through a battery charger to up the amperage charge, rather than using the DC side of the generator which only gave 8 amps constant charge. I also increased the battery capacity by fitting two large batteries (1 x 90 amps and 1 x 60 amps), in the bilges. This added ballast helped keep the weight low and with only the 10 watt tricolour navigation light at night, plus some oil lamps inside, I only needed to charge the batteries once a week. As this had to be done with the generator in the cockpit it allowed me to pick my moment.

Self steering

Self steering gear is the main reason why so many people can now sail long distances short handed. On a small boat with limited power the wind vane type of self steering is the only practicable thing to use. They are not difficult to fit and can often be found second hand. The Narvic windvane, made by Plastimo, seems to work very well.

I had the original small Hasler gear which performed very well on my three crossings, but the Narvic is more compact. Incidentally don't expect the self steering to be able to sail an unbalanced boat. If you can't sail the boat yourself, or it's very hard work on the helm, the self steering certainly won't cope. Down wind the windvane system can't anticipate the boat either, so you must expect to yaw 15° to 20° each side of your course line in ocean conditions. Using my twin jibs I found it better not to run dead downwind but bring the wind on either quarter and not square off the poles too far aft. The wind vane works bettor and the boat doesn't roll and make life uncomfortable. Remember to carry plenty of spares (vanes, steering paddles etc.)

Safety equipment

Liferafts are a problem because the smallest available commercially is a four man raft which is a heavy item on a little boat. The Tinker Tramp system or convert-ing your own inflatable dinghy with self-inflating air bottles and a cover, seems to be a better way. The tender on any long distance cruising yacht that spends very little or no time alongside is a vital piece of equipment, so combining the two seems logical. Even carrying two inflatable dinghies is a good idea, one as a life raft (valuable for your safety), the other a 'cheap and nasty' inflatable (for use in places where dinghy security doesn't look too good.

VHF radio is useful (especially to warn big ships of your presence), radar in use alarms and EPIRB's are a must plus the normal life jackets, safety harnesses, flares, soft wood seacock plugs, emergency steering, storm boards for hatches and portholes, radar reflector, foghorn, bolt croppers, fire extinguishers, fire blanket, signalling torch, spare rigging wire and bulldog clamps - a11 the normal offshore safety equipment. Make up your items you need to abandon ship into a separate emergency grab bag.

Navigation

I did this in the traditional way using a sextant. I couldn't afford Satnav. My equipment consisted of Admiralty charts, Ocean passages for the World, Air sight reduction tables. Almanac, plotting charts, compass, log, echo sounder, handbearing compass, quartz alarm clock, ship's clock, barometer, scientific calculator, Breton plotter, dividers, sextant and spare plastic sextant.

To save money on charts of the places I wanted to visit I quite often swapped or borrowed the relevant ones from other yachtsmen, and photocopied their pilot books, or even went to the trouble of making small traces of the various small harbours. I certainly didn't bother in bad weather to fix my position every day, i f wel 1 offshore, with no hazards in my path. Because I left the west coast of England twice to start my voyage at the end of October, 1 just sailed west to make a good offing before turning south (at least a hundred miles west of the Scillies): at that time of year and with the weather I had, position was one of the least of my problems.

Cookers

I took the gas system out of my boat and fitted a two burner Taylor's paraffin stove, since I had also to store petrol on the boat. The petrol generator was stowed inside and its fuel in a vented cockpit locker. The stove worked reasonably well but always seemed to go wrong in bad weather and needed stripping down. Paraffin was easily stored but the blackness of the deckhead in the galley area did take some cleaning after a long trip! With the ready availability of butane/propane, and the easier lighting system, provided they are safely fitted (outside bottle stowage and flame safe burners), I think gas cookers arc simpler. A large pressure cooker is essential if the boat doesn't have an oven; it saves fuel and time.

Stowage

The major problem on any really small ocean going yacht is stowage. Basically you need the same amount of equipment as carried on a larger yacht but have less space and cannot carry an enormously heavy load without it affecting the seakeeping qualities of the boat. Water weighs ten pounds a gallon and dicsci eight, certainly things to think about when you are stowing them.
I took thirty gallons of water (ten in the built-in water tank and 4x5 gallon cans plus two gallons in my grab bag). This was usually ample, although I had to cut down consumption on one thirty five day trip when I had no rain at all. I also carried seven gallons of petrol for generating and seven gallons of paraffin for cooking.

On most of my long passages the boat tended to make much better noon-to-noon runs towards the end of the trip, because of this weight factor. Taking only what you need for each passage plus some reserve is the quickest and hence the safest way to plan.

Victualling

I tended to take as much fresh food as 1 thought would last at the beginning of each trip and then live off tins, mostly tinned corned beef cooked into curries, spaghettis, chili con carne etc for the main evening meal and sardines, pilchards, tuna, etc, for lunch. Breakfast for me is usually a cursory meal, I made fresh bread in my pressure cooker.
I trolled constantly to catch whatever fish were available and this made a welcome break in the routine diet. Sailing a boat twenty four hours a day and sleeping in catnaps makes you quite hungry even though you can't move far in a tiny boat.
The details of navigation and actually running the boat by yourself for 24 hours a day are subjects I'd like to expand on in future articles - but I hope this quick look around the boat has wetted your appetite to 'escape to the sun'!
 

John Simpson has been a professional sailor for 15 years and is now an instructor with Southern Sailing. In the past he's worked for the Army and has raced and delivered boats across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.