30' Boat to the Bahamas then who knows

[akin_alan]

An older friend of mine and I are sailing to the Bahamas in early October. I am 31 he is 65. He is paying for food and docking and such. I provide the boat.
Likely will decide to sail farther south to Puerto Rico and who knows from there. Possibly farther south if I don't run out of money. He probably won't be with me then.
The boat is a 1974 Grampian 31' sloop rig. It doesn't have a shower only a porta potty. No radar. No liferaft. No Eperb. No watermaker. It has two 20 gallon water tanks and no inboard motor. It has a Tohatsu 9.8 hp outboard instead. It has no spare sails only the roller jib and heavy duty 3 reef main. The autopilot is the tiller kind and it has gone out before. It will have a dinghy soon.
Any suggestions for equipment, snacks, food, water, medicine (Money Saving hints is a plus) also, rules, fees, languages, lingo, weather, currents, routes, places we should stop, that I should know about.

[bljones]

Are you looking for us to talk you into it or talk you out of it?

[tommays]

I think you have safety and electric issues

[akin_alan]

Minor suggestions are appreciated but if you don't have anything please don't waste time.

[tommays]

Are you going to use the battery fairy ? as even the nav lights will will use it up in a day or two

[SVAuspicious]

Originally Posted by akin_alan

Minor suggestions are appreciated but if you don't have anything please don't waste time.

Is it doable - of course. Is it smart. No. If you don't think the comments above aren't "anything" you have some larnin' to do.

From what you describe, keeping enough battery energy to run nav lights and even an anchor light will be rough. What's your plan for that?

You have a long list of things you don't have ... what do you have? What's your plan if you get hit by a thunderstorm?

What are you plans for communications? How will you get weather information? Have you ever stood watchs? How about your friend?

Plans for provisioning, waste, trash, ...

What you have suggested is akin to saying you've just started driving, bought an old Pinto, and are planning to drive from Chicago to Baja.

You shouldn't be surprised to hear some things you don't like.

You can get a lot of help here and in other fora, but if you're asking questions you should have an open mind as to the answers.

[sailingdog]

First, you will likely need some way to charge the batteries. Outboards have very poor battery charging capabilities.

Also, the porta-potty isn't going to cut it in most areas. In some areas, porta-potties aren't allowed, unless they are permanently mounted and of the MSD type with a deck pumpout fitting, which I doubt is the case with yours. Having a proper marine head with holding tank that is setup for both deck pumpout and self-pumpout would make far more sense.

Fixing the autopilot and making it more reliable will be useful.

Having more water carrying capacity as well as fuel capacity would be wise. In some areas of the Caribbean potable fresh water is not-free. Having more capacity allows you to skip areas that have poor/expensive/contaminated water.

As for rules, fees, etc., you should look at the various countries on noonsite.com.

For route planning, I'd recommend you pickup a copy of Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes.

As for where to stop...that can depend a lot on what your budget it.

I'd point out that the more self-sufficient the boat, the less expensive it will be to stay out cruising long term.

Originally Posted by akin_alan

An older friend of mine and I are sailing to the Bahamas in early October. I am 31 he is 65. He is paying for food and docking and such. I provide the boat.
Likely will decide to sail farther south to Puerto Rico and who knows from there. Possibly farther south if I don't run out of money. He probably won't be with me then.
The boat is a 1974 Grampian 31' sloop rig. It doesn't have a shower only a porta potty. No radar. No liferaft. No Eperb. No watermaker. It has two 20 gallon water tanks and no inboard motor. It has a Tohatsu 9.8 hp outboard instead. It has no spare sails only the roller jib and heavy duty 3 reef main. The autopilot is the tiller kind and it has gone out before. It will have a dinghy soon.
Any suggestions for equipment, snacks, food, water, medicine (Money Saving hints is a plus) also, rules, fees, languages, lingo, weather, currents, routes, places we should stop, that I should know about.

[night0wl]

There are two serious passages (Gulfstream & Mona). in your planned itenerary....known for eating up boats and sailors much more trained and well prepared than your post makes you out to be.

Respect the ocean & elements up front, or they'll learn ya good.

Advise you take some time and fix up this boat or choose another altogether and perhaps report back on your experience offshore out of sight of land.

[dhays]

What is the condition of the boat?
What is the extent of your sailing experience?
What is your friend's experience?

It sounds as if you are looking at a marginal boat with marginal funds and marginal experience. If the boat were extensively setup for cruising, you could get by with less money and less experience. If you were highly experienced at everything from blue-water sailing to rigging, to engine repair, you might get away with a marginal boat. If you had lots of money to throw at problems as they crop up on the way, you might get lucky.

It sounds like trying to sit on a three legged stool that has three weak legs. You may get lucky, but are more likely to land on your ass. I hope you have the time and resources to get your boat, and your crew up to speed and have a wonderful trip.

Dave

[carl762]

You'll want an EPIRB as well as the life raft you mention. Sounds scary to me at this point.