Stefan Thomas
13.05.2021 13:46:15
Many Fountaine Pajot Owners choose to come to La Rochelle, where Fountaine Pajot catamarans are built, to collect their new boat and start their maiden voyage from France. more
See full version: MYBOAT; I #4 – ON VIDEO: A CROSSING OF THE ATLANTIC AND THEN THE PACIFIC ABOARD A CATAMARAN
Many Fountaine Pajot Owners choose to come to La Rochelle, where Fountaine Pajot catamarans are built, to collect their new boat and start their maiden voyage from France. more
Gordon and Louise, Owners of the Elba 45 hull 1, set sail from Port Cogolin in the South of France bound for their home port of Brisbane, Australia. Fountaine Pajot and their Dealer has followed them along their journey.
From the Strait of Gibraltar to the Caribbean and onward to the Panama Canal and embarking on a Pacific crossing through French Polynesia, relive the images of their best memories, advice and impressions aboard their Elba 45 sailing catamaran .
For Gerry and Wendy Addis, the ARC was all about being flexible—adjusting their plans and their sails to meet the needs of their Fountaine Pajot Lipari 41, Duplicat, and their crew. Though they’d sailed extensively along the U.S. East Coast, the Med and the Intracoastal Waterway, this, they said, was their defining sail. here
“Then, with a grin, Alex brought home an article called ‘The Top Ten Reasons I Got a Catamaran.’ Reason #1: ‘My wife likes it,’ and I agreed to give it try. We went for a weekend sail on a cat, and within 10 minutes, I knew I was going to be able to live aboard. I knew I could handle the movement, and that the kids would love it. I thought I may end up loving it too.”
The Addises, a talkative pair of long-time sailors from England, had planned to sail the ARC with a crew of four, but one became ill in Las Palmas and bowed out, and another learned of a family death just two days into the passage. The Addises diverted to Mindelo, in the Cape Verdes, to get that crewmember on a plane and then stayed a few days to rest and refuel. “Come to think of it, we inadvertently did the ARC+, and I’d do it again!” said Gerry. (The ARC+ is a new sister rally that includes a stopover in the Cape Verdes before sailing to St. Lucia.) here
Two hundred and eighteen boats participated in the 2013 running of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), sailing from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, in between 10 and 31 days. Of those 218, 25 were multihulls. Of the 25 multihulls, no two had crossings that were exactly alike. Skippers ranged from first-time ocean-crossers to professional delivery captains; crew ranged from a newborn child to seasoned salts; boats ranged from a 62-foot Gunboat to a 38-foot Lagoon. But one common thread wove them all together: they had just crossed the ocean on two hulls.
When cruising sailors talk about crossing the Atlantic Ocean, there are a few things they’re all sure to mention: they ate, they slept, they sailed. But in many ways, the similarities end there, and the individual stories unfold with their own cast of characters, each pledging the ancient fraternity of the trade winds in their own unique ways. If you catch these cruisers on the other side, while memories of the Atlantic are still fresh in their minds, that’s when their sea stories are best, which is why we joined the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia one week before Christmas.
We can only wish these two resourceful sailors the very best of fair winds and following seas as they continue their voyage, “carefully and a good bit more slowly,” across the Pacific.
Yesterday we received word from Bruce Balan, aboard the Cross 46 Migration, that a catamaran had collided with an unidentified floating object (UFO) 10 days out of Hawaii while on a voyage to the Pacific Northwest. Bruce included a few links, and this is what we’ve been able to put together.
“It’s been a rather busy day. Fabricating reinforcement braces, cutting up a diesel jerry can to act as a bow structure, bolting it partly on, all in all we earned our dinner. The weather is chilly and we’re surrounded by fog at times, so getting the fiberglass surfaces we need to bond the epoxy in proper condition has been impossible due to condensation. We finally got the surfaces down to the same temperature as the outside environment, so tomorrow we’ll hopefully have dry surfaces to sand and bond to. [links]
“We inventoried all our repair materials today, brainstormed with the wizards, and tomorrow morning we’ll embark on the mission of reinforcing the collision bulkhead forward of the starboard head,” Mark wrote. “Once we complete the inside repairs and know how much epoxy we’ve got left, we’ll do our best to create and install a fairing where the bow used to be in an effort to reduce the water pressure against the collision bulkhead. Next we’ll try and fashion a fabric bow bra and secure it to the structure. That’ll reduce the water trying to get in and slam[ming] against that bulkhead. Lastly we’ll see how much floaty stuff we can get inside the cavity where the bow used to be. Air-filled things and closed cell foam will hopefully fill much of the space keeping water down and damping the impact.” here
Mark described the damage in JollyDogs‘ blog on PredictWind: “The guy was in the water trailing at the piece of bow structure it’s attached to. Kind of in disbelief I retrieved the assembly to the deck and then took a look at the starboard lower bow, or at least where there used to be one. Pretty much gone, with the seas pounding against the flat collision bulkhead about one meter aft of the bow.” The couple’s immediate response was to heave to and strategize their next several moves.
On Friday, July 9, two days after the collision, JollyDogs was looking in better shape and her crew were hopeful that they would reach Port Townsend, where they had scheduled a haulout and repairer for July 29. [links]
People have crossed the Atlantic Ocean on kayaks, SUPs , and even a barrel . In 1993, Huge Vihlen accomplished the passage on Father’s Day , a tiny boat measuring only five feet and four inches. The point is – just because it’s been done by a few people, it doesn’t mean the vessel is safe or comfortable.
Ambitious sailors who are thinking of crossing the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean usually have two big questions in mind: what’s the smallest yacht that’s up to the challenge? And does boat size really matter?
First of all, let’s address the number one reason why people choose an unsuitable boat to cross an ocean with. Rather than researching proven bluewater designs, some sailors will settle on a model they like, and then look up if anyone crossed an ocean on it. However, just because a certain model has crossed an ocean a dozen of times, it doesn’t make it a great choice for bluewater cruising. [links]
The short answer is: yes, boat size matters, for various reasons. However, many tiny boats have accomplished an ocean crossing, so other factors are more important than size. Let’s look at what boats are suitable for crossing an ocean and why. here
The evolution of shipbuilding has taught boat designers what characteristics make a watercraft suitable for an ocean crossing. Thanks to trial and error and lessons gained over the last few hundred years, boat builders have discovered what factors influence a boat’s ability to sail offshore in safety and comfort.
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