14 ms·

13 years sailing around the world

156 points by squiggy22 5y ago

pettycashstash2 5y ago
I do love the mission statement... "Adventure before dementia..."
- unixhero 5y ago
  Edgy, but too depressive for my tastes.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
heldtec 5y ago
https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853 https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853 for sail for $200,000
- ct0 5y ago
  I dont think that is in USD.
- csunbird 5y ago
  From the boat owners I know, boats are relatively cheap compared to their operating costs.
  - mediaman 5y ago
    My operating costs for a 38' are around $10-15k annually, including a slip at a (low-cost) marina and maintenance, but doing most maintenance myself. The first year had at least $10k more in "catch-up" maintenance items. I do pay others to periodically haul the boat, repaint the hull, check zincs, etc. It would be considerably higher paying shop rates for most maintenance, or if you had expensive tastes in sails or electronics. For me this works out to about 15-20% of the cost per boat in ongoing annual opex cost. Kind of like a software maintenance contract! Ongoing maintenance includes stuff like: * Engine maintenance: oil, fuel filters, oil filters, impeller, occasional corrosion repainting, occasional replacement of wear parts (belts, exhaust elbow, flex piping) * Fixing leaks from things like deck prisms, portholes, deck, chainplates. Usually involves epoxy, sealant, disassembly of components * Care of interior and exterior wood - varnish, or oiling, or other protection as preferred * Regular lubrication of moving parts, such as the helm and steering assembly * Replacement of running rigging (ropes that control sails) when it gets tired * Checking standing rigging (steel cables that keep the mast up), replacing when needed, though these last a long time. This usually needs professional riggers and is more expensive. * Keeping corrosion under control - stainless is never as stainless as you want * Replacing sails every 10-15 years, assuming you are ok with more tired sails toward the end * Having diver clean hull, also repainting hull every 2 years, replacing zincs as needed, usually 1-2x annually depending on water type And other stuff. Replacing marine toilet pumps, fixing shower sumps, replacing bilge pumps, fresh water pumps, etc. These things aren't as bad as they sound if you like working with your hands and have time. I like it because my day job limits the use of my hands to the keyboard. And you don't need to know how to do all this stuff - I learned almost all of it while attempting to do it, and I still learn all the time. But if hands-on work isn't your cup of tea, it will get very expensive. The reward, beyond the fun of doing the work, is sitting on the deck, anchored at a remote island looking at incredible sunsets in the summer. Or being the only boat out on a winter day and seeing a humpback whale surface near your boat, hang around for a while. Or sitting down below next to a warm fireplace in the winter with a good book listening to the patter of rain. Sleeping on a comfortable bed in absolute silence in remote areas, far away from any cars, sirens, or other people. Trimming the sails and feeling the power of the wind energize the boat, pulling it forward as your boat nearly silently cuts through the water. For me, totally worth it, but it does become a fairly important part of your life.
  - creeble 5y ago
    The understatement of the universe. Plastic (fiberglass) boats can “last” (continue floating, at least) a very long time. But they can go from well-maintained and usable to immobile and dangerous in months without attention. Source: owner of a 45-year-old, well-maintained sailboat (not my first).
  - Dan_- 5y ago
    My operating costs are about the same as my marine mortgage payments.
- deltarholamda 5y ago
  The Benford designed boats are really interesting. They're dories, so they have a flat bottom, which seems daft, but under sail when they heel over, the chine presents as a "V". You can put either a full keel or a wing keel, or I think I've read that twin wing keels work as well. Annie Hill has a book, "Voyaging on a Small Income" that talks a lot about their Benford dory "Badger". The layout is really smart, it doesn't try to jam in 9 million sleeping accomodations, the galley is large, and there's a ton of storage. And with the junk rig, it's really easy to build, maintain, and repair yourself. Blondie Hasler (mentioned in the For Sale ad), put a junk rig on a Folkboat, which doesn't seem sane, but he made it work. The design of the junk rig is very forgiving of not-very-precise sailmaking. Reefing in a blow is particularly nice, as you don't have to struggle with it. The weight of the battens just naturally let the sail drop.
doitLP 5y ago
More context on the skipper https://www.noonsite.com/news/portrait-of-a-cruiser-long-term-single-hander-anthony-swanston/ https://www.noonsite.com/news/portrait-of-a-cruiser-long-ter...
noughtme 5y ago
At first, I thought this was going to be about Sven Yrvind, whose self built tiny boats are pretty incredible. You can follow his latest build on https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCptM0nqGDJLz14oP6ROdKRw https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCptM0nqGDJLz14oP6ROdKRw
- mastermedo 5y ago
  I hope he doesn't do large distances in such a small boat O.O
  - wlll 5y ago
    He does: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind
- leobg 5y ago
  Can you recommend an entry point to learn who he is, how he started, etc.? How did you learn about him?
  - eCa 5y ago
    There’s always https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind
    - leobg 5y ago
      I had no idea he was that famous.
  - noughtme 5y ago
    He's kind of a legend, and seems to give interviews to anyone who runs into him. Here's a pretty good recent one and a tour of his boat: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bca5_uyH9E4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bca5_uyH9E4 His actual videos might be more interesting to someone with an interest in (unconventional) boat building.
frontman1988 5y ago
Can starlink provide services worldwide in the middle of the ocean? If that happens I can see a lot of digital sailors coming up.
- jackpeterfletch 5y ago
  I think the dish needs to remain static unfortunately.
  - mrep 5y ago
    The current production ones yes but they got some models working on air force planes 2 years ago [0] so they can probably handle a boat. Probably won't be cheap though. [0]: https://www.investors.com/news/spacex-starlink-impressed-air-force-in-big-live-fire-exercise/ https://www.investors.com/news/spacex-starlink-impressed-air...
- DoingIsLearning 5y ago
  As I understand it Starlink forces you to use a specific sector of coverage. I assume because they have capacity limitations per sector (you can only have so many users per satelite cluster before you start deteriorating speeds). Might be a different story for their priority customers (Military) Basically with Starlink you can go remote but not itenerant.
  - wlll 5y ago
    I heard that right now you have to pick a spot, but the rumour is that in the future you will be able to move around. I don't have much more than that, Musk may have tweeted about it at some point.
    - cloutchaser 5y ago
      I remember reading that potentially the hardware is there to do this, but it's not going to be working for a while.
  - 5y ago
unixhero 5y ago
- coldtea 5y ago
  Always the same cheap resentment, as if only millionaires do such things. There are tons of regular working and middle class and even poorer people bicycling, walking, etc huge trips for months and years. Some are basking, some are working odd jobs, some save money up for half a year (and I'm talking random job money, not FAANG level salaries) and travel the rest, etc. I had a friend who spent his 20s working at supermarkets, retail, or sometimes as a waiter for half year (the hot, demand-wise season) and doing nothing the rest, leaving off the money. If you don't have a family (or health problem) all it takes is the willingness to do it and to withstand some hardship - that is, not expect to also keep all regular luxuries). If you're worried about how it would look on your resume, or can't fathom leaving your cushy desk job, then that's on you. Heck, in this day you can even travel, leave abroad, have fun, while keeping a regular remote job. I've done 2-3 large trips abroad while working remotely, and it was covid time too! Yes, I had to work late night shifts to sync, because I was on a totally another timezone to the expected by the customer. But I still had my 8 hours for sleep and 8 hours for play.
  - cft 5y ago
    I met a couple of argentinian teachers in the southern Mexico with two small kids, that lived in a hostel and drove from Argentina in a 1960s Ford. It took them 4 years. One kid was born on the road, in Costa Rica. The other was about 6. When they needed money, they would stop in a hostel for 6 months and teach.
  - imperialdrive 5y ago
    I kinda wanna say "Shhhhh" but the whole world benefits from enlightening, so thanks for spreading the good word.
  - unixhero 5y ago
    Thank you for an uplifting counterpoint.
  - 5y ago
zriha 5y ago
That's amazing! Last year was the first year that I sailed, and I just fell in love with. I live in Croatia, so Adriatic sea is my first sea to sail. And I really started seriously consider to sell my flat, buy a sailing boat and just live. Captain I wish you calm see and happy voyage!
- Kon-Peki 5y ago
  Consider looking around your area for a sailboat racing team that needs some extra crew (almost all of them need crew). Aim for a team that is not too serious and a boat that is not too big (10-15 meters maximum, perhaps). It's a fantastic way to learn a lot about sailing in a very short amount of time. You will especially learn about dealing with problems! There are a few yacht clubs near me that group together and have a "Wednesday night beer can racing" league [1]. The prize for winning a race is a bottle of rum, so nobody is trying too hard. And for most of the crew, you spend the majority of your time on the water as ballast - sitting on the windward rail watching the scenery and chatting with your friends. [1] https://www.chicagobeercan.org https://www.chicagobeercan.org
  - zriha 5y ago
    Thank you for the great advice, I will try to team up, I can defiantly be useful on the boat. I know how to sail, but not on the wind. :) So I need to learn a lot.
    - Kon-Peki 5y ago
      Good luck, I hope you find a team! You don't need to know a lot to start; they will teach you. Your value to them is not your sailing ability! As the new, inexperienced person on the team, you are valuable if you sit where they tell you to sit - the boat goes faster if the weight is distributed just so. You are valuable if you say "I will be there" and then you show up (at the right time), every single time. The race starts whether they are at the starting line or not; once they leave the dock it's really hard to pick up new crew members. If you can manage those two things, you are really, really valuable if you pay attention, learn, and ask good questions.
dustintrex 5y ago
No entries since Sep 2021. Is he alright? Edit: heldtec@ just posted a link to what appears to be his boat for sale: https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853 https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853
- mastermedo 5y ago
  I was wondering the same thing. Hope he's well.
  - em-bee 5y ago
    there was no post before that since may, just nothing to write about. last blog entry mentions deck repairs which can't be done during rain season. so it appears they are stranded until then. the boat-sale was posted on 30-Aug-2016, but updated later (mentions 2018 engine replacement which also correlates to a blog entry: http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2018/9/20/496-a-new-engine http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2018/9/20/496-a-new-...) so yeah, i am sure that's the boat. i guess they are just living on it until they find a buyer.
BoxOfRain 5y ago
I love this! I'm actually planning to move full-time into a sailing yacht either this year or next, though the fact I'm doing this while working a full time job (remotely of course) will mean it's a rather slow rate of travel! I'm hoping to buy a forty footer of some description (probably a ketch but that could change between now and then) and do a lot of the work making it a comfortable place to live and work myself.
- frontman1988 5y ago
  How do you plan on being connected to the internet while sailing in the middle of nowhere? Someone here said starlink is geo-limited.
  - Thlom 5y ago
    Inmarsat have full global coverage on L-band (except in Antarctica and the North Pole). KA-band is still a bit difficult and expensive on a small vessel as it’s currently dependent on very expensive steerable antennas. There’s also Iridium.
  - BoxOfRain 5y ago
    A good directional aerial and a 4G/5G modem at first which will be a big limiting factor on where we can travel but eventually we'll go for Starlink or another satellite internet provider when they're no longer geofenced. I believe that there are plans for Starlink to support mobile installations in the next few years and honestly in a fair few places I've lived in recent years the 4G has been faster and more reliable than the ADSL or even FTTC connection anyway. The long passages are only a part of the appeal too, a large motivation is being able to explore coastal places on land without the issue holidaying has of trying to cram in as much as possible before you go to back to work. Also being able to opt-out of the miserable grey British winter is a part of it too, even three months on a mooring bouy somewhere with longer days would make it worthwhile!
- asimpletune 5y ago
  If you are looking to actually sail, like ocean cross, I highly recommend getting the smallest boat that fits your other requirements. This is counter-intuitive, and a lot of information out there is from people who either want to sell boats or don't know what they're talking about. The reason why I recommend this is that a small boat is much safer, because they're much cheaper to rig well and have back systems for everything. I.e. the the difference between a 31' and 45' will not make one bit of difference to the sea, however the 31' will be like 4-8x cheaper to supply. Boat costs scale geometrically, not linearly.
pabs3 5y ago
100 Rabbits are some other tech sailing folks: https://100r.co/ https://100r.co/
- hiidrew 5y ago
  just shared this, based of their site they seem freaking awesome. what a life
wlll 5y ago
For people interested in sailing you could do worse than check out some of the more popular sailing YouTube videos out there. That's how I got started. The first step was realising that "regular" people like me could do it and it wasn't just the preserve of yacht club douch bags (they're still out there I'm sure). The fact that Brian from Delos turned out to be an (ex) programmer was also a pretty big inspiration to me. Here's my favourites from my subscriptions. - SV Delos - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLc83k5o11EIF1lEo0VmuQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLc83k5o11EIF1lEo0VmuQ / https://svdelos.com/ https://svdelos.com/ - Ex programmer, may have worked at MS - Ran Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLYd5EnTTwUKhouIkHoqzMw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLYd5EnTTwUKhouIkHoqzMw - Sailing Uma - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXbWsGV_cjG3gOsSnNJPVlg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXbWsGV_cjG3gOsSnNJPVlg - Erik Aanderaa - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUH6fLsV6J7WKEmf7vJKfAw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUH6fLsV6J7WKEmf7vJKfAw - Sam Holmes Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE4vct4tqxSuG4JH6vMVZSA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE4vct4tqxSuG4JH6vMVZSA - Sailing Project Atticus - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF45qzioJ_0FVdZVG2NJTWg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF45qzioJ_0FVdZVG2NJTWg - Christian Williams - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6qLhh5YBeL42HRMh3dc1A https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6qLhh5YBeL42HRMh3dc1A - How to Sail Oceans - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTmJcC_Yw3IL7Bvtf_7nTLw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTmJcC_Yw3IL7Bvtf_7nTLw - Sailing Yacht Florence - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkExLY1E6CE-GPsMCdSjmxQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkExLY1E6CE-GPsMCdSjmxQ - The guy is/was an electronic engineer? - Calico Skies Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGFbz7qMXCm28EPCkZWSMKg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGFbz7qMXCm28EPCkZWSMKg - Sail Life - https://www.youtube.com/c/SailLife https://www.youtube.com/c/SailLife - Lots of DIY boat work, but nicely done. - Sailing Kittiwake - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9U1fPkHj0mJjC4LWGH26g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9U1fPkHj0mJjC4LWGH26g - Gone with the Wynns - https://www.youtube.com/user/gonewiththewynns https://www.youtube.com/user/gonewiththewynns - Sailing Soulianis - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRqsOR0Y2zru-jXSzLcMcxg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRqsOR0Y2zru-jXSzLcMcxg - Sailing La Vagabonde - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdQjaSoLjIzFnWsDQOv4ww https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdQjaSoLjIzFnWsDQOv4ww - MJ Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJGfEEg7R04-ifkg_FFnaw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJGfEEg7R04-ifkg_FFnaw - Sailing Ruby Rose - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9rRsBE2nFbnUSjtmv6Jq6w https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9rRsBE2nFbnUSjtmv6Jq6w (not so keen on this one now, lots of catamaran reviews) It's important to realise that not everything these people do is always a "correct" or good practice, but watching all of these people /definitely/ helped me get my qualifications down the line, and I still enjoy the escapism of watching someone sail around the Bahamas on a cold winter evening (my boat is up on the hard in N Wales, UK. The Bahamas it isn't). For me (YMMV) another thing that helped was joining the local dinghy sailing club. I'm really not interested in racing, but it was cheap (they rent out boats, or you can crew on someone elses), and a lot of what I learned about sailing there was directly translatable to the 43ft (13.1m) boat I now sail. There is also a sailing slack run buy a couple of tech people that you might be able to join if you're interested in getting started and want some more pointers. https://join.slack.com/t/sailboatguide/shared_invite/zt-g0b16zau-7lfaZFrJ48Zz~38DXSyImw https://join.slack.com/t/sailboatguide/shared_invite/zt-g0b1... *edit* And if anyone is curious, I post about my boat adventures here https://twitter.com/SYSilverGirl https://twitter.com/SYSilverGirl
bogwog 5y ago
Slightly unrelated, but why does Open Street Map display location names using the native language of the country? Japan for example has the names displayed in Japanese, China in Chinese, Russia in Russian, etc. That means the map is basically useless for anyone who isn’t fluent in every single language on the planet. Imagine you’re traveling in Japan and you’re looking for Kyoto. If you use OSM, you’re screwed unless you can read Japanese.
- paulsutter 5y ago
  You could contribute translations
  - iso1631 5y ago
    That's not the problem
- OsmMapper 5y ago
  The osm.org main site is primarily intended to be used by mappers, not end users. So for this purpose it makes sense to use local languages since most people doing the mapping will be locals. Other renderings such as the maps with me app use the appropriate names for the users language if available.
- volent 5y ago
  > useless for anyone who isn’t fluent in every single language on the planet It's not about languages but about alphabets. Translating names doesn't make sense.
  - jonathanlb 5y ago
    Aren't some toponyms different from language to language though? What English speakers know as "Japan" is "Nihon" in Japanese.
- samatman 5y ago
  To add to a sibling comment, Open Street Map isn't like the proprietary services at all. It's an enormous volunteer database, OSM doesn't display anything, the client does, and there isn't a single sensible default for that data.
thom 5y ago
Ken and Roberta Williams (of Sierra fame) spend most of their time sailing around the world, and blog about the experience: https://www.kensblog.com/blog-2/ https://www.kensblog.com/blog-2/. Blogs like these convinced me to start doing my yachtmaster qualifications. We're a good 15 years away from all the kids moving out but I can think of much worse ways to spend retirement.
- novok 5y ago
  When I was a kid, I knew a kid who lived on a sailboat with his parents for a while and sailed around. It's definitely a possible thing to have a traveling lifestyle with young children!
  - jabl 5y ago
    Does it really work with multiple kids? I live with multiple kids in a somewhat spacious (for a city!) apartment, and man, it drives me and the spouse crazy when the kids are staying indoors for the entire day, not to mention multiple days on end, for whatever reason (terrible weather, covid quarantines, etc.). I just can't imagine what it would be like doing an ocean passage with them on a boat. (I spent a lot of my holidays as a kid sailing with my parents, but that was maybe a bit different as I was the only kid)
    - wingworks 5y ago
      Definitely depends on the type of family, these guys have been doing it for a few years now, but you would need a pretty close family, they talk about it allot in Q&A's they've done. https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara
  - wingworks 5y ago
    It really is, lots of families do it, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara and more recently: https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingLaVagabonde https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingLaVagabonde
- 5y ago
stvkoch 5y ago
About content, I love watch the videos of Erik Aanderaa (https://www.youtube.com/user/kjolevannspumpe https://www.youtube.com/user/kjolevannspumpe) from NO BULLSHIT JUST SAILING. He sail across the North Atlantic ocean in some wild conditions.
- wlll 5y ago
  You might also like Sailing Uma. They've been a few places, but are in that sort of area and made it to Svalbard in the Arctic circle. They have similarly good quality videos.
andygroundwater 5y ago
This just begs the question why? It's not the 18th century anyone, if you want to get from A to B there's better ways. Even if you want to go sailing, just go and do it and have it done. This seems like some form of nautical itinerancy.
- monkeynotes 5y ago
  I am honestly confused by this comment. I am struggling to understand how anyone could miss the point of sailing around the world for no other reason than the experience. The journey is the destination is an idiom for a reason.
  - deltaonefour 5y ago
    Some people don't have the travel bug. My dad sees the world as just going to work and making money and that's all he cares about.
  - andygroundwater 5y ago
    In the words of the late Dr. Johnson, "No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned".
- wlll 5y ago
  Can you really not think up any reason people might want to do this?
- pcl 5y ago
  > This seems like some form of nautical itinerancy. Yes, this is exactly one of the reasons people do this.
fnord77 5y ago
the risks of owning a sailboat > The Evelyn Roberts, a Hans Christian 42, almost directly opposite to me decides to sink. The owner is stuck in the USA and is not allowed through Malaysia's closed border. He has no insurance! > The cause of sinking is simple. The hose on the galley sink came off. That is why boats have seacocks. By turning a handle through 90 degrees the Evelyn Roberts would not have sunk. http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2020/11/15/559-evelyn-roberts http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2020/11/15/559-evely...
sdfjkl 5y ago
Been doing this since 2015 now on a 40ft mono(hull). Currently wintering in Sicily. Picked up a wife along the way. If you aim to do this on a budget like us, you best be good at fixing things. Plumbing, rigging, engines, fibreglass repairs, more plumbing, sewing, electrical and electronics problems, etc. The reward is remote anchorages where you're away from everyone else and getting absolutely unenthusiastic about yet another spectacular sunset. Also dramatic moments in storms, dragging anchors, other boaters being incompetent and inconsiderate, many great friendships and a spirit of community amongst other liveaboards like none other.
- ryandvm 5y ago
  How do you support yourself?
  - sdfjkl 5y ago
    Mostly savings, small rental income to supplement, some stock trading. The trick is to reduce spending, mostly by not buying too big a boat. People have ideas about remote work on board, but for various reasons this rarely works out in practice. Internet connectivity is poor and intermittent, your schedule is ruled by the weather and having to work seriously distracts from the fulltime job that cruising is by itself.
    - imglorp 5y ago
      How well would Star Link work on a rocking boat? Is its aiming good enough to keep a lock? Is there a problem moving around where they don't expect you?
      - driverdan 5y ago
        It wouldn't work well since the hardware isn't designed for this purpose and coverage is focused on US land.
      - sdfjkl 5y ago
        It doesn't work at all. Even in marinas (stationary) it has issues - out at sea or even at anchor you can forget about it. There are also problems with them not liking you moving around. Related article: https://seabits.com/using-starlink-aboard-and-in-a-marina/ https://seabits.com/using-starlink-aboard-and-in-a-marina/ There may be a mobile base unit at some point in the future, but it will be comparable to the current Fleetbroadband units and therefore too power hungry and too big for your average cruising sailboat. Essentially you need a motorized dish which tracks and counteracts boat movements the entire time it's active. That's what is inside those Inmarsat domes you can sometimes see on big racing boats with satellite uplinks like the Volvo Ocean Race.
hiidrew 5y ago
Here's a great site over two nomads that sail around the pacific. They have some interesting reads, here's their advice over internet + sailing: https://100r.co/site/off_the_grid.html#internet https://100r.co/site/off_the_grid.html#internet
ngngngng 5y ago
Are there sailboat owners offering ocean crossings as a paid "experience"? This is something I'd love to try without making it my entire lifestyle immediately.
- theresistor 5y ago
  59 North run by Andy Schell is exactly this. There are a few others out there as well.
  - ngngngng 5y ago
    Perfect, thank you
    - wlll 5y ago
      They also have a pretty decent podcast https://www.59-north.com/podcast https://www.59-north.com/podcast
- jbkiv 5y ago
  Owners rarely pay for crew. They only pay for a skipper and first mate. But the rest of the crew is not paid, but all expenses paid. Got to be careful when picking the boat and the skipper. Bad boat, differed maintenance can be the kiss of death in the middle of the ocean. Bad crew can result in conflicts: alcool and drug use, bad hygiene. You can get away from the boat, for 20-40 days...
sdfjkl 5y ago
MailASail itself is interesting too. They provide stripped down email hosting for cruisers on low-bandwidth connections (satellite internet, SSB* with pactor modems). HTML, attachments, signatures are stripped away. The blog hosting is designed for submitting short text updates by (satellite) email, optionally with low-resolution photos, which are converted into blog posts. * Seems the SSB service is no longer there, or maybe I'm confusing it with sailmail.com
- pettycashstash2 5y ago
  I suppose this is a nice solution. Would starlink at all apply in this scenario or is satellite coverage not there yet?
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    Among many issues, until they can figure out inter-satellite links, service far from a coast will be no bueno.
js2 5y ago
Paul Lutus went from no experience to spending three years sailing around the world in 1988-1991. He wrote a book about it which he published on his web site: https://www.arachnoid.com/sailbook/index.html https://www.arachnoid.com/sailbook/index.html https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lutusp https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lutusp
- d00wgnir 5y ago
  I remember reading this as a teenager. It was one of the first accounts on the WWW of this sort of lifestyle/activity and it inspired me for life.
- oh_sigh 5y ago
  Boy...that brings back memories. Paul's writings, as well as reading "An Island to Oneself" by Tom Neale, and "We, the Drowned" meant that most of my early 20s were filled with visions of sailing around the south pacific. Never quite made it there, but life is long...
decafninja 5y ago
I would love to do this too. My wife romanticizes about doing something like it also. Alas, she has severe motion/seasickness so anything involving boats that is beyond a 15 minute ferry ride across a calm river is a no-go.

156 points by squiggy22 5y ago

pettycashstash2 5y ago

I do love the mission statement... "Adventure before dementia..."

unixhero 5y ago
Edgy, but too depressive for my tastes.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

heldtec 5y ago

https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853 https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853 for sail for $200,000

ct0 5y ago
I dont think that is in USD.
csunbird 5y ago
From the boat owners I know, boats are relatively cheap compared to their operating costs.
- mediaman 5y ago
  My operating costs for a 38' are around $10-15k annually, including a slip at a (low-cost) marina and maintenance, but doing most maintenance myself. The first year had at least $10k more in "catch-up" maintenance items. I do pay others to periodically haul the boat, repaint the hull, check zincs, etc. It would be considerably higher paying shop rates for most maintenance, or if you had expensive tastes in sails or electronics. For me this works out to about 15-20% of the cost per boat in ongoing annual opex cost. Kind of like a software maintenance contract! Ongoing maintenance includes stuff like: * Engine maintenance: oil, fuel filters, oil filters, impeller, occasional corrosion repainting, occasional replacement of wear parts (belts, exhaust elbow, flex piping) * Fixing leaks from things like deck prisms, portholes, deck, chainplates. Usually involves epoxy, sealant, disassembly of components * Care of interior and exterior wood - varnish, or oiling, or other protection as preferred * Regular lubrication of moving parts, such as the helm and steering assembly * Replacement of running rigging (ropes that control sails) when it gets tired * Checking standing rigging (steel cables that keep the mast up), replacing when needed, though these last a long time. This usually needs professional riggers and is more expensive. * Keeping corrosion under control - stainless is never as stainless as you want * Replacing sails every 10-15 years, assuming you are ok with more tired sails toward the end * Having diver clean hull, also repainting hull every 2 years, replacing zincs as needed, usually 1-2x annually depending on water type And other stuff. Replacing marine toilet pumps, fixing shower sumps, replacing bilge pumps, fresh water pumps, etc. These things aren't as bad as they sound if you like working with your hands and have time. I like it because my day job limits the use of my hands to the keyboard. And you don't need to know how to do all this stuff - I learned almost all of it while attempting to do it, and I still learn all the time. But if hands-on work isn't your cup of tea, it will get very expensive. The reward, beyond the fun of doing the work, is sitting on the deck, anchored at a remote island looking at incredible sunsets in the summer. Or being the only boat out on a winter day and seeing a humpback whale surface near your boat, hang around for a while. Or sitting down below next to a warm fireplace in the winter with a good book listening to the patter of rain. Sleeping on a comfortable bed in absolute silence in remote areas, far away from any cars, sirens, or other people. Trimming the sails and feeling the power of the wind energize the boat, pulling it forward as your boat nearly silently cuts through the water. For me, totally worth it, but it does become a fairly important part of your life.
- creeble 5y ago
  The understatement of the universe. Plastic (fiberglass) boats can “last” (continue floating, at least) a very long time. But they can go from well-maintained and usable to immobile and dangerous in months without attention. Source: owner of a 45-year-old, well-maintained sailboat (not my first).
- Dan_- 5y ago
  My operating costs are about the same as my marine mortgage payments.
deltarholamda 5y ago
The Benford designed boats are really interesting. They're dories, so they have a flat bottom, which seems daft, but under sail when they heel over, the chine presents as a "V". You can put either a full keel or a wing keel, or I think I've read that twin wing keels work as well. Annie Hill has a book, "Voyaging on a Small Income" that talks a lot about their Benford dory "Badger". The layout is really smart, it doesn't try to jam in 9 million sleeping accomodations, the galley is large, and there's a ton of storage. And with the junk rig, it's really easy to build, maintain, and repair yourself. Blondie Hasler (mentioned in the For Sale ad), put a junk rig on a Folkboat, which doesn't seem sane, but he made it work. The design of the junk rig is very forgiving of not-very-precise sailmaking. Reefing in a blow is particularly nice, as you don't have to struggle with it. The weight of the battens just naturally let the sail drop.

doitLP 5y ago

More context on the skipper https://www.noonsite.com/news/portrait-of-a-cruiser-long-term-single-hander-anthony-swanston/ https://www.noonsite.com/news/portrait-of-a-cruiser-long-ter...

noughtme 5y ago

At first, I thought this was going to be about Sven Yrvind, whose self built tiny boats are pretty incredible. You can follow his latest build on https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCptM0nqGDJLz14oP6ROdKRw https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCptM0nqGDJLz14oP6ROdKRw

mastermedo 5y ago
I hope he doesn't do large distances in such a small boat O.O
- wlll 5y ago
  He does: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind
leobg 5y ago
Can you recommend an entry point to learn who he is, how he started, etc.? How did you learn about him?
- eCa 5y ago
  There’s always https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Yrvind
  - leobg 5y ago
    I had no idea he was that famous.
- noughtme 5y ago
  He's kind of a legend, and seems to give interviews to anyone who runs into him. Here's a pretty good recent one and a tour of his boat: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bca5_uyH9E4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bca5_uyH9E4 His actual videos might be more interesting to someone with an interest in (unconventional) boat building.

frontman1988 5y ago

Can starlink provide services worldwide in the middle of the ocean? If that happens I can see a lot of digital sailors coming up.

jackpeterfletch 5y ago
I think the dish needs to remain static unfortunately.
- mrep 5y ago
  The current production ones yes but they got some models working on air force planes 2 years ago [0] so they can probably handle a boat. Probably won't be cheap though. [0]: https://www.investors.com/news/spacex-starlink-impressed-air-force-in-big-live-fire-exercise/ https://www.investors.com/news/spacex-starlink-impressed-air...
DoingIsLearning 5y ago
As I understand it Starlink forces you to use a specific sector of coverage. I assume because they have capacity limitations per sector (you can only have so many users per satelite cluster before you start deteriorating speeds). Might be a different story for their priority customers (Military) Basically with Starlink you can go remote but not itenerant.
- wlll 5y ago
  I heard that right now you have to pick a spot, but the rumour is that in the future you will be able to move around. I don't have much more than that, Musk may have tweeted about it at some point.
  - cloutchaser 5y ago
    I remember reading that potentially the hardware is there to do this, but it's not going to be working for a while.
- 5y ago

unixhero 5y ago

coldtea 5y ago
Always the same cheap resentment, as if only millionaires do such things. There are tons of regular working and middle class and even poorer people bicycling, walking, etc huge trips for months and years. Some are basking, some are working odd jobs, some save money up for half a year (and I'm talking random job money, not FAANG level salaries) and travel the rest, etc. I had a friend who spent his 20s working at supermarkets, retail, or sometimes as a waiter for half year (the hot, demand-wise season) and doing nothing the rest, leaving off the money. If you don't have a family (or health problem) all it takes is the willingness to do it and to withstand some hardship - that is, not expect to also keep all regular luxuries). If you're worried about how it would look on your resume, or can't fathom leaving your cushy desk job, then that's on you. Heck, in this day you can even travel, leave abroad, have fun, while keeping a regular remote job. I've done 2-3 large trips abroad while working remotely, and it was covid time too! Yes, I had to work late night shifts to sync, because I was on a totally another timezone to the expected by the customer. But I still had my 8 hours for sleep and 8 hours for play.
- cft 5y ago
  I met a couple of argentinian teachers in the southern Mexico with two small kids, that lived in a hostel and drove from Argentina in a 1960s Ford. It took them 4 years. One kid was born on the road, in Costa Rica. The other was about 6. When they needed money, they would stop in a hostel for 6 months and teach.
- imperialdrive 5y ago
  I kinda wanna say "Shhhhh" but the whole world benefits from enlightening, so thanks for spreading the good word.
- unixhero 5y ago
  Thank you for an uplifting counterpoint.
- 5y ago

zriha 5y ago

That's amazing! Last year was the first year that I sailed, and I just fell in love with. I live in Croatia, so Adriatic sea is my first sea to sail. And I really started seriously consider to sell my flat, buy a sailing boat and just live. Captain I wish you calm see and happy voyage!

Kon-Peki 5y ago
Consider looking around your area for a sailboat racing team that needs some extra crew (almost all of them need crew). Aim for a team that is not too serious and a boat that is not too big (10-15 meters maximum, perhaps). It's a fantastic way to learn a lot about sailing in a very short amount of time. You will especially learn about dealing with problems! There are a few yacht clubs near me that group together and have a "Wednesday night beer can racing" league [1]. The prize for winning a race is a bottle of rum, so nobody is trying too hard. And for most of the crew, you spend the majority of your time on the water as ballast - sitting on the windward rail watching the scenery and chatting with your friends. [1] https://www.chicagobeercan.org https://www.chicagobeercan.org
- zriha 5y ago
  Thank you for the great advice, I will try to team up, I can defiantly be useful on the boat. I know how to sail, but not on the wind. :) So I need to learn a lot.
  - Kon-Peki 5y ago
    Good luck, I hope you find a team! You don't need to know a lot to start; they will teach you. Your value to them is not your sailing ability! As the new, inexperienced person on the team, you are valuable if you sit where they tell you to sit - the boat goes faster if the weight is distributed just so. You are valuable if you say "I will be there" and then you show up (at the right time), every single time. The race starts whether they are at the starting line or not; once they leave the dock it's really hard to pick up new crew members. If you can manage those two things, you are really, really valuable if you pay attention, learn, and ask good questions.

dustintrex 5y ago

No entries since Sep 2021. Is he alright? Edit: heldtec@ just posted a link to what appears to be his boat for sale: https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853 https://www.sailboatlistings.com/photographs/60853

mastermedo 5y ago
I was wondering the same thing. Hope he's well.
- em-bee 5y ago
  there was no post before that since may, just nothing to write about. last blog entry mentions deck repairs which can't be done during rain season. so it appears they are stranded until then. the boat-sale was posted on 30-Aug-2016, but updated later (mentions 2018 engine replacement which also correlates to a blog entry: http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2018/9/20/496-a-new-engine http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2018/9/20/496-a-new-...) so yeah, i am sure that's the boat. i guess they are just living on it until they find a buyer.

BoxOfRain 5y ago

I love this! I'm actually planning to move full-time into a sailing yacht either this year or next, though the fact I'm doing this while working a full time job (remotely of course) will mean it's a rather slow rate of travel! I'm hoping to buy a forty footer of some description (probably a ketch but that could change between now and then) and do a lot of the work making it a comfortable place to live and work myself.

frontman1988 5y ago
How do you plan on being connected to the internet while sailing in the middle of nowhere? Someone here said starlink is geo-limited.
- Thlom 5y ago
  Inmarsat have full global coverage on L-band (except in Antarctica and the North Pole). KA-band is still a bit difficult and expensive on a small vessel as it’s currently dependent on very expensive steerable antennas. There’s also Iridium.
- BoxOfRain 5y ago
  A good directional aerial and a 4G/5G modem at first which will be a big limiting factor on where we can travel but eventually we'll go for Starlink or another satellite internet provider when they're no longer geofenced. I believe that there are plans for Starlink to support mobile installations in the next few years and honestly in a fair few places I've lived in recent years the 4G has been faster and more reliable than the ADSL or even FTTC connection anyway. The long passages are only a part of the appeal too, a large motivation is being able to explore coastal places on land without the issue holidaying has of trying to cram in as much as possible before you go to back to work. Also being able to opt-out of the miserable grey British winter is a part of it too, even three months on a mooring bouy somewhere with longer days would make it worthwhile!
asimpletune 5y ago
If you are looking to actually sail, like ocean cross, I highly recommend getting the smallest boat that fits your other requirements. This is counter-intuitive, and a lot of information out there is from people who either want to sell boats or don't know what they're talking about. The reason why I recommend this is that a small boat is much safer, because they're much cheaper to rig well and have back systems for everything. I.e. the the difference between a 31' and 45' will not make one bit of difference to the sea, however the 31' will be like 4-8x cheaper to supply. Boat costs scale geometrically, not linearly.

pabs3 5y ago

100 Rabbits are some other tech sailing folks: https://100r.co/ https://100r.co/

hiidrew 5y ago
just shared this, based of their site they seem freaking awesome. what a life

wlll 5y ago

For people interested in sailing you could do worse than check out some of the more popular sailing YouTube videos out there. That's how I got started. The first step was realising that "regular" people like me could do it and it wasn't just the preserve of yacht club douch bags (they're still out there I'm sure). The fact that Brian from Delos turned out to be an (ex) programmer was also a pretty big inspiration to me. Here's my favourites from my subscriptions. - SV Delos - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLc83k5o11EIF1lEo0VmuQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLc83k5o11EIF1lEo0VmuQ / https://svdelos.com/ https://svdelos.com/ - Ex programmer, may have worked at MS - Ran Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLYd5EnTTwUKhouIkHoqzMw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLYd5EnTTwUKhouIkHoqzMw - Sailing Uma - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXbWsGV_cjG3gOsSnNJPVlg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXbWsGV_cjG3gOsSnNJPVlg - Erik Aanderaa - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUH6fLsV6J7WKEmf7vJKfAw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUH6fLsV6J7WKEmf7vJKfAw - Sam Holmes Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE4vct4tqxSuG4JH6vMVZSA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE4vct4tqxSuG4JH6vMVZSA - Sailing Project Atticus - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF45qzioJ_0FVdZVG2NJTWg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF45qzioJ_0FVdZVG2NJTWg - Christian Williams - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6qLhh5YBeL42HRMh3dc1A https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6qLhh5YBeL42HRMh3dc1A - How to Sail Oceans - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTmJcC_Yw3IL7Bvtf_7nTLw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTmJcC_Yw3IL7Bvtf_7nTLw - Sailing Yacht Florence - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkExLY1E6CE-GPsMCdSjmxQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkExLY1E6CE-GPsMCdSjmxQ - The guy is/was an electronic engineer? - Calico Skies Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGFbz7qMXCm28EPCkZWSMKg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGFbz7qMXCm28EPCkZWSMKg - Sail Life - https://www.youtube.com/c/SailLife https://www.youtube.com/c/SailLife - Lots of DIY boat work, but nicely done. - Sailing Kittiwake - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9U1fPkHj0mJjC4LWGH26g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9U1fPkHj0mJjC4LWGH26g - Gone with the Wynns - https://www.youtube.com/user/gonewiththewynns https://www.youtube.com/user/gonewiththewynns - Sailing Soulianis - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRqsOR0Y2zru-jXSzLcMcxg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRqsOR0Y2zru-jXSzLcMcxg - Sailing La Vagabonde - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdQjaSoLjIzFnWsDQOv4ww https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdQjaSoLjIzFnWsDQOv4ww - MJ Sailing - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJGfEEg7R04-ifkg_FFnaw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJGfEEg7R04-ifkg_FFnaw - Sailing Ruby Rose - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9rRsBE2nFbnUSjtmv6Jq6w https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9rRsBE2nFbnUSjtmv6Jq6w (not so keen on this one now, lots of catamaran reviews) It's important to realise that not everything these people do is always a "correct" or good practice, but watching all of these people /definitely/ helped me get my qualifications down the line, and I still enjoy the escapism of watching someone sail around the Bahamas on a cold winter evening (my boat is up on the hard in N Wales, UK. The Bahamas it isn't). For me (YMMV) another thing that helped was joining the local dinghy sailing club. I'm really not interested in racing, but it was cheap (they rent out boats, or you can crew on someone elses), and a lot of what I learned about sailing there was directly translatable to the 43ft (13.1m) boat I now sail. There is also a sailing slack run buy a couple of tech people that you might be able to join if you're interested in getting started and want some more pointers. https://join.slack.com/t/sailboatguide/shared_invite/zt-g0b16zau-7lfaZFrJ48Zz~38DXSyImw https://join.slack.com/t/sailboatguide/shared_invite/zt-g0b1... *edit* And if anyone is curious, I post about my boat adventures here https://twitter.com/SYSilverGirl https://twitter.com/SYSilverGirl

bogwog 5y ago

Slightly unrelated, but why does Open Street Map display location names using the native language of the country? Japan for example has the names displayed in Japanese, China in Chinese, Russia in Russian, etc. That means the map is basically useless for anyone who isn’t fluent in every single language on the planet. Imagine you’re traveling in Japan and you’re looking for Kyoto. If you use OSM, you’re screwed unless you can read Japanese.

paulsutter 5y ago
You could contribute translations
- iso1631 5y ago
  That's not the problem
OsmMapper 5y ago
The osm.org main site is primarily intended to be used by mappers, not end users. So for this purpose it makes sense to use local languages since most people doing the mapping will be locals. Other renderings such as the maps with me app use the appropriate names for the users language if available.
volent 5y ago
> useless for anyone who isn’t fluent in every single language on the planet It's not about languages but about alphabets. Translating names doesn't make sense.
- jonathanlb 5y ago
  Aren't some toponyms different from language to language though? What English speakers know as "Japan" is "Nihon" in Japanese.
samatman 5y ago
To add to a sibling comment, Open Street Map isn't like the proprietary services at all. It's an enormous volunteer database, OSM doesn't display anything, the client does, and there isn't a single sensible default for that data.

thom 5y ago

Ken and Roberta Williams (of Sierra fame) spend most of their time sailing around the world, and blog about the experience: https://www.kensblog.com/blog-2/ https://www.kensblog.com/blog-2/. Blogs like these convinced me to start doing my yachtmaster qualifications. We're a good 15 years away from all the kids moving out but I can think of much worse ways to spend retirement.

novok 5y ago
When I was a kid, I knew a kid who lived on a sailboat with his parents for a while and sailed around. It's definitely a possible thing to have a traveling lifestyle with young children!
- jabl 5y ago
  Does it really work with multiple kids? I live with multiple kids in a somewhat spacious (for a city!) apartment, and man, it drives me and the spouse crazy when the kids are staying indoors for the entire day, not to mention multiple days on end, for whatever reason (terrible weather, covid quarantines, etc.). I just can't imagine what it would be like doing an ocean passage with them on a boat. (I spent a lot of my holidays as a kid sailing with my parents, but that was maybe a bit different as I was the only kid)
  - wingworks 5y ago
    Definitely depends on the type of family, these guys have been doing it for a few years now, but you would need a pretty close family, they talk about it allot in Q&A's they've done. https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara
- wingworks 5y ago
  It really is, lots of families do it, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingZatara and more recently: https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingLaVagabonde https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingLaVagabonde
5y ago

stvkoch 5y ago

About content, I love watch the videos of Erik Aanderaa (https://www.youtube.com/user/kjolevannspumpe https://www.youtube.com/user/kjolevannspumpe) from NO BULLSHIT JUST SAILING. He sail across the North Atlantic ocean in some wild conditions.

wlll 5y ago
You might also like Sailing Uma. They've been a few places, but are in that sort of area and made it to Svalbard in the Arctic circle. They have similarly good quality videos.

andygroundwater 5y ago

This just begs the question why? It's not the 18th century anyone, if you want to get from A to B there's better ways. Even if you want to go sailing, just go and do it and have it done. This seems like some form of nautical itinerancy.

monkeynotes 5y ago
I am honestly confused by this comment. I am struggling to understand how anyone could miss the point of sailing around the world for no other reason than the experience. The journey is the destination is an idiom for a reason.
- deltaonefour 5y ago
  Some people don't have the travel bug. My dad sees the world as just going to work and making money and that's all he cares about.
- andygroundwater 5y ago
  In the words of the late Dr. Johnson, "No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned".
wlll 5y ago
Can you really not think up any reason people might want to do this?
pcl 5y ago
> This seems like some form of nautical itinerancy. Yes, this is exactly one of the reasons people do this.

fnord77 5y ago

the risks of owning a sailboat > The Evelyn Roberts, a Hans Christian 42, almost directly opposite to me decides to sink. The owner is stuck in the USA and is not allowed through Malaysia's closed border. He has no insurance! > The cause of sinking is simple. The hose on the galley sink came off. That is why boats have seacocks. By turning a handle through 90 degrees the Evelyn Roberts would not have sunk. http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2020/11/15/559-evelyn-roberts http://blog.mailasail.com/wildfox/posts/2020/11/15/559-evely...

sdfjkl 5y ago

Been doing this since 2015 now on a 40ft mono(hull). Currently wintering in Sicily. Picked up a wife along the way. If you aim to do this on a budget like us, you best be good at fixing things. Plumbing, rigging, engines, fibreglass repairs, more plumbing, sewing, electrical and electronics problems, etc. The reward is remote anchorages where you're away from everyone else and getting absolutely unenthusiastic about yet another spectacular sunset. Also dramatic moments in storms, dragging anchors, other boaters being incompetent and inconsiderate, many great friendships and a spirit of community amongst other liveaboards like none other.

ryandvm 5y ago
How do you support yourself?
- sdfjkl 5y ago
  Mostly savings, small rental income to supplement, some stock trading. The trick is to reduce spending, mostly by not buying too big a boat. People have ideas about remote work on board, but for various reasons this rarely works out in practice. Internet connectivity is poor and intermittent, your schedule is ruled by the weather and having to work seriously distracts from the fulltime job that cruising is by itself.
  - imglorp 5y ago
    How well would Star Link work on a rocking boat? Is its aiming good enough to keep a lock? Is there a problem moving around where they don't expect you?
    - driverdan 5y ago
      It wouldn't work well since the hardware isn't designed for this purpose and coverage is focused on US land.
    - sdfjkl 5y ago
      It doesn't work at all. Even in marinas (stationary) it has issues - out at sea or even at anchor you can forget about it. There are also problems with them not liking you moving around. Related article: https://seabits.com/using-starlink-aboard-and-in-a-marina/ https://seabits.com/using-starlink-aboard-and-in-a-marina/ There may be a mobile base unit at some point in the future, but it will be comparable to the current Fleetbroadband units and therefore too power hungry and too big for your average cruising sailboat. Essentially you need a motorized dish which tracks and counteracts boat movements the entire time it's active. That's what is inside those Inmarsat domes you can sometimes see on big racing boats with satellite uplinks like the Volvo Ocean Race.

hiidrew 5y ago

Here's a great site over two nomads that sail around the pacific. They have some interesting reads, here's their advice over internet + sailing: https://100r.co/site/off_the_grid.html#internet https://100r.co/site/off_the_grid.html#internet

ngngngng 5y ago

Are there sailboat owners offering ocean crossings as a paid "experience"? This is something I'd love to try without making it my entire lifestyle immediately.

theresistor 5y ago
59 North run by Andy Schell is exactly this. There are a few others out there as well.
- ngngngng 5y ago
  Perfect, thank you
  - wlll 5y ago
    They also have a pretty decent podcast https://www.59-north.com/podcast https://www.59-north.com/podcast
jbkiv 5y ago
Owners rarely pay for crew. They only pay for a skipper and first mate. But the rest of the crew is not paid, but all expenses paid. Got to be careful when picking the boat and the skipper. Bad boat, differed maintenance can be the kiss of death in the middle of the ocean. Bad crew can result in conflicts: alcool and drug use, bad hygiene. You can get away from the boat, for 20-40 days...

sdfjkl 5y ago

MailASail itself is interesting too. They provide stripped down email hosting for cruisers on low-bandwidth connections (satellite internet, SSB* with pactor modems). HTML, attachments, signatures are stripped away. The blog hosting is designed for submitting short text updates by (satellite) email, optionally with low-resolution photos, which are converted into blog posts. * Seems the SSB service is no longer there, or maybe I'm confusing it with sailmail.com

pettycashstash2 5y ago
I suppose this is a nice solution. Would starlink at all apply in this scenario or is satellite coverage not there yet?
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  Among many issues, until they can figure out inter-satellite links, service far from a coast will be no bueno.

js2 5y ago

Paul Lutus went from no experience to spending three years sailing around the world in 1988-1991. He wrote a book about it which he published on his web site: https://www.arachnoid.com/sailbook/index.html https://www.arachnoid.com/sailbook/index.html https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lutusp https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lutusp

d00wgnir 5y ago
I remember reading this as a teenager. It was one of the first accounts on the WWW of this sort of lifestyle/activity and it inspired me for life.
oh_sigh 5y ago
Boy...that brings back memories. Paul's writings, as well as reading "An Island to Oneself" by Tom Neale, and "We, the Drowned" meant that most of my early 20s were filled with visions of sailing around the south pacific. Never quite made it there, but life is long...

decafninja 5y ago

I would love to do this too. My wife romanticizes about doing something like it also. Alas, she has severe motion/seasickness so anything involving boats that is beyond a 15 minute ferry ride across a calm river is a no-go.