Bear Grylls, is this you?
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Sailing around the world on a Sunfish - non stop
So, a friend's cousin's roommate has this small Sunfish boat behind the barn on his family's farm in Oklahoma. He is willing to give it to me for free! I will have to have it transported home to me in New York.
He said it may need a little work and some parts may be missing. He mentioned it also needs a new sail, mast, rudder, tiller, boom, centerboard, and ropes. The hull is in very good shape... just a few holes in the bottom that need patching.
My plan is to clean it up and to circumnavigate the globe - non-stop. Also, I will need to install a refrigerator to keep beer cool during the journey. What size battery will I need?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
He said it may need a little work and some parts may be missing. He mentioned it also needs a new sail, mast, rudder, tiller, boom, centerboard, and ropes. The hull is in very good shape... just a few holes in the bottom that need patching.
My plan is to clean it up and to circumnavigate the globe - non-stop. Also, I will need to install a refrigerator to keep beer cool during the journey. What size battery will I need?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
61 - 80 of 87 Posts
Itgoshen said it best...
just cus most of ya'll are probably too old to have your stupid questions and ridiculous dreams chronicled for eternity on the internet doesnt mean you didn't have them.
With that said.... it is fun to look back and think how simple I once thought sailing would be haha! and it is hard to try to tell someone their dreams are too lofty without sounding like a total Dk. Little by little they or rather we will figure it out though, all apart of the journey. Sailing is all about the journey for me though... not the destination
just cus most of ya'll are probably too old to have your stupid questions and ridiculous dreams chronicled for eternity on the internet doesnt mean you didn't have them.
With that said.... it is fun to look back and think how simple I once thought sailing would be haha! and it is hard to try to tell someone their dreams are too lofty without sounding like a total Dk. Little by little they or rather we will figure it out though, all apart of the journey. Sailing is all about the journey for me though... not the destination
Ah, but is it less filling?Dude, on a journey that long you need to learn how to brew your own beer from seaweed and urine. On a good day it comes out much better then Miller Lite.
I didn't think so.
Feel free to dig through my stoopid newbie posts when I first joined on here and started sailing. All in good fun, my man. All in good fun.Itgoshen said it best...
just cus most of ya'll are probably too old to have your stupid questions and ridiculous dreams chronicled for eternity on the internet doesnt mean you didn't have them.
With that said.... it is fun to look back and think how simple I once thought sailing would be haha! and it is hard to try to tell someone their dreams are too lofty without sounding like a total Dk. Little by little they or rather we will figure it out though, all apart of the journey. Sailing is all about the journey for me though... not the destination
Sorry, I've been gone offline a few days while recovering from total body replacement surgery.
This circumnavigation reminds me of my first time around, which I detailed in the fine book "Hobie Holiday".
I think you can do it as long as you plan adequately - for instance, at least reduce beer consumption to one case a day.
You can cool that amount with a peltier type cooler, or go with a sterling engine, the sterling has the advantage of being dual purpose.
What I'm not really sure of is where you would hang the 5-600w of solar panels you'd need. I'm familiar with the sunfish (although far to smart to ever get on one of them) and I just don't see where you'd go with panels, or how you'd mount an engine. You will need at least a 44 pound thrust trolling motor - then let the panels run that all day while you sleep. After all, a solo sailor has to sleep.
As to battery size, a couple AAA's out to do. I did my trip on a hand powered generator, a palm tree and a manual water maker.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm sure someone here at sailnet can answer it.
This circumnavigation reminds me of my first time around, which I detailed in the fine book "Hobie Holiday".
I think you can do it as long as you plan adequately - for instance, at least reduce beer consumption to one case a day.
You can cool that amount with a peltier type cooler, or go with a sterling engine, the sterling has the advantage of being dual purpose.
What I'm not really sure of is where you would hang the 5-600w of solar panels you'd need. I'm familiar with the sunfish (although far to smart to ever get on one of them) and I just don't see where you'd go with panels, or how you'd mount an engine. You will need at least a 44 pound thrust trolling motor - then let the panels run that all day while you sleep. After all, a solo sailor has to sleep.
As to battery size, a couple AAA's out to do. I did my trip on a hand powered generator, a palm tree and a manual water maker.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm sure someone here at sailnet can answer it.
I just had a great thought regarding solar panels. How about a square rigged Sunfish and make the sail out of flexible solar panels. They might be a tad heavy, but with them on both sides you can take advantage of the morning AND afternoon sun.Sorry, I've been gone offline a few days while recovering from total body replacement surgery.
This circumnavigation reminds me of my first time around, which I detailed in the fine book "Hobie Holiday".
I think you can do it as long as you plan adequately - for instance, at least reduce beer consumption to one case a day.
You can cool that amount with a peltier type cooler, or go with a sterling engine, the sterling has the advantage of being dual purpose.
What I'm not really sure of is where you would hang the 5-600w of solar panels you'd need. I'm familiar with the sunfish (although far to smart to ever get on one of them) and I just don't see where you'd go with panels, or how you'd mount an engine. You will need at least a 44 pound thrust trolling motor - then let the panels run that all day while you sleep. After all, a solo sailor has to sleep.
As to battery size, a couple AAA's out to do. I did my trip on a hand powered generator, a palm tree and a manual water maker.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm sure someone here at sailnet can answer it.
Do not forget the solar stick, may need it for some lectricity!
Ok, this was a seriously bad bad idea for me to read this thread while at work. I mean seriously bad idea.
weinie - I think I just lost my job, can I come with you?
Warning, I capsized the last Laser I was on.
weinie - I think I just lost my job, can I come with you?
Warning, I capsized the last Laser I was on.
For the record the laser guy might have broken some records anyway, even though he had to bail (Coast Guard required it) on the complete trip...
Anarchy on the Chesapeake Bay: long distance laser trip - Sailing Anarchy - Sailing Anarchy Forums
Anarchy on the Chesapeake Bay: long distance laser trip - Sailing Anarchy - Sailing Anarchy Forums
That was quick.Ok, this was a seriously bad bad idea for me to read this thread while at work. I mean seriously bad idea.
weinie - I think I just lost my job, can I come with you?
Warning, I capsized the last Laser I was on.
Who gave you the wooden sliver?Not impressed, I've already done this trip on a wood sunfish, completed it two years before I was born.
So as to Garner the youngest circumnavigation in a sunfish.
Of course there is no record of it due to my inability to get a passport being as I wasn't conceived yet.
for an added safety measure I got a wood sliver in my big toe the morning of departure in the unlikely scenario that I would need to utilize it as a life raft.
Pshaw, did that back in '79, 15 that is. Before sunfish were invented. In a past life ,it was. On a cedar shingle. Unfortunately ran short of victuals mid Pacific and was resupplied by Sir Francis on the Golden Hind so not really a nonstop circumnavigation .Francis didn't record the rendezvous as he didn't want the Spanish to know where he'd gone after he left Drake's Bay. My loss but we don't do epic voyages to impress others ,eh!
Just don't use a Racnor anchor. It might blow up.
-Chris
-Chris
Well Good Luck to the OP .. should be a great trip. Glad he's not going the toothpick boat route .. I tried that a few years back and well ...
I'm from Colorado and we eat meat .. real meat eaters .. so I of course brought along a cow and few hogs so I could butcher them and have ribs on the grill as I went. Well, of course, what happens when you eat ribs .. it gets stuck in you teeth. So I kept picking toothpicks out of the hull to pick it out and then I sunk.
Oh yea, and I'm pretty sure my bucket was not really blue water capable.
I'm from Colorado and we eat meat .. real meat eaters .. so I of course brought along a cow and few hogs so I could butcher them and have ribs on the grill as I went. Well, of course, what happens when you eat ribs .. it gets stuck in you teeth. So I kept picking toothpicks out of the hull to pick it out and then I sunk.
Oh yea, and I'm pretty sure my bucket was not really blue water capable.
Don't sunfish spend a lot of time underwater as they swim around? I know they don't have a swim bladder and are pretty slow swimmers; 26 km per day would be pretty painful slow progress, assuming a mola mola would allow a rider. Also, could you be on the sunfish without scuba gear while it is basking on its side? And if they are seeking out jellyfish to eat, how would you protect yourself if they go after jellyfish that have stingers? It also seems you couldn't ride a sunfish around the world because they would not go into cold waters; no self-respecting sunfish would go within a few thousand miles of the horn and if you were trying to ride one through the Red Sea and Suez you'd be a sitting duck for pirates or such.
61 - 80 of 87 Posts
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