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Ask Slashdot: What Tech For a Sailing Ship?
Razgorov Prikazka writes "There is a lot of technology involved in sailing these days. EPIRB, FHV-DSC, GPS, NAVTEX, Inmarsat, fishfinders/depth sounders, different kinds of radar (with MARPA or ATA) — you name it and there are dozens of manufacturers out there willing to provide, all of them with a range of different products. Right now I am planning a 'round-the-world-trip,'' and my ship (an 18-meter Skerry Cruiser sailing yacht) is in its early construction phase, so I need to shop for some hi-tech gear and, basically, I got lost in all the possibilities. What kind of hardware would you recommend as necessary for a trip of this kind? What would you have installed in your ship in order to have a safe trip?"
Satellite internet, so you can read /. in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
sudo make me a sandwich
A compass and a sextant. Seriously, learn the basics first.
Get an EPIRB. If the ship collides with a floating container and sinks quickly you will have no time to manually send a distress signal before abandoning ship. A free-floating EPIRB will automatically engage in case of sinking and with its encoded distress signal you will get aid within hours. For communications on the oceans I recommend getting a good shortwave radio with a decent grounding and antenna that can communicate further than any VHF-based system. Source: I helped build and design a Swedish 131' sailing yacht.
Quantum hacker.
Quoth the Seraffyn, "go now and go small" - Lin and Larry Pardey
18m (52') is hugely way too enormous for less than five people. I would seriously consider a 42' boat at the high end. At some point you're going to be tasked with reefing the main by yourself in 30kts of wind and trusting that your systems are working correctly. I've reefed the main with four other people on a 46' boat in 25 kts of wind and even with a fancy expensive duch reefing system, it's still not a walk in the park.
That said, Garmin (of course) makes a wide variety of systems, as do quite a few others. I'm curious to see if anyone with real experience chimes in here, but while you can get by navigating along the coast with an iPad or Android phone (we do this in our boat), that's not a system you want to rely on for years on end in a marine environment.
moox. for a new generation.
You are planning to sail around the world in your fancy new boat, but you don't know enough about sailing to pick out the right gear? How about you start by posting a rescue bond with the coast guard.
While I'm sure there are some here that are into sailing, this question should really be placed at a sailing forum instead. There are plenty of those - I'd suggest that you become a member there, and ask the question there instead. It also seems to me that a round-the-world trip may be a bit ambitious if you don't even know about the gear (or have tested the boat) yet. Something more limited may be suitable initially.
As a cheap way to do email: http://www.sailmail.com/
I didn't realize Romney posted on Slashdot. Must be planning his next vacation.
[John]
Shit better not happen!
"Handling Small Boats in Heavy Weather" by Frank Robb.
Also, get British charts, they are better than American charts.
then I would stay home and pilot everything via my iPad.
That way when the ship capsized, I would be fine and still be able to send out my backup ship.
You DO have a backup ship right?
I like microcars
....mounted right on the bow in plain site. Good luck off the coast of Somalia, the Indian Ocean and pretty much all of the waters around Indonesia and the Philippines.,
Razgorov,
I'm a sailor myself, having done a lot of time on the Atlantic up near New England, and having had my share of surprises out there. And I can tell you this: Slashdot is not where you should get your advice. I'm seeing things like "Satellite internet, so you can read /. in the middle of the Pacific Ocean," listed under "Easy." Really? REALLY? You're asking about gear which will help you do one of a few things: 1, find your way so that you reach land on the other side instead of going off into the wild blue yonder, 2, keep your boat operating so that you can continue to direct your own fate, and 3, not sink and/or die. And you're getting answers like that.
There are communities of sailors who have actually done long-distance sailing. Speak with them. The question is not about the tech, it's about the problems you're likely to encounter, and what to expect. The choices you make will literally affect your chances of survival; you really want to have one-on-one discussions with people to get a sense of what you need to know, to make your own decisions. Circumnavigation is no joke, even in an 18-meter yacht. You're going to have disasters. Speak to some people who have actually had to deal with those disasters, not a population that is full of people who think this is some kind of cool game.
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Several well concealed, yet accessible firearms. Pistols as well as some kind of AR. The ocean's a big place and there ain't any 911.
That said, be sure you read up on the firearms rules for every place you might find yourself. If they don't want you to be able to protect yourself, you don't want to go there.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
You want to ask a bunch of people who live in their mother's basement what you need to sail around the world? Good luck with that.
My parents tool around the Bahamas every year in a Little Harbor 39'.
They've got at least three different GPS units; one built into the radar so you can match up coastal features with your charts, one built into the map desk, and at least two hand-held units (ala' Garmin Trek). Make sure the units you're looking at have digital sea charts available, as most of the hand-held units don't (or didn't last I checked) come with sea charts built in. The handhelds also have non-slip, brightly colored (yellow/orange) rubber protectors, bought separately.
You'll want to get into HAM radio, maybe even get a license. Definitely get one for home to try out, even if you buy a different unit for the boat.
Get eneloop batteries and a good charger or two. Also get a solar charger that you can roll out or pack away easily that will charge two AA's fairly quickly.
A wind turbine may be a good idea if you're planning to have a lot of tech gear, and almost certainly if you want a fridge with a freezer. However, most of them are noisy and getting a broken line caught in one while in bad weather will only make things worse. Also, if you have the wind to your back (generally speaking, sailing west) they won't generate as much (as if the boat were stationary) since you're traveling with the wind. If you're traveling east, you'll need more fuel to push it through the air (at a much less efficient rate than just running a more powerful generator off your engine).
An app like Night Sky that will super-impose constellation and astronomy info over a live camera image might be of use. (disc: that's the only app like that I've used and not much - not an endorsement, but it is a cool app)
If you're not already, become a: carpenter, plumber, electrician, mechanic, and eagle-scout level knot tying master. Practice doing separate skills with each limb while balancing on a see-saw.
Get used to making really detailed sailing plans and estimating how long it will take and how much gas and fresh water you'll need to get from point A to point B. Then flush those plans down the toilet. Repeat ad nauseam.
Lastly: have fun, it's great! :)
Some credentials: My folks own and operate a boatyard. We built a 64'8" (20m) Alden staysail schooner in the early 2000's called the Lion's Whelp. This boat was to be used by the family as an blue water cruiser. Many trips to the carib via Bermuda and along the Maine coast, but nothing across the Atlantic yet. Also used as a design tour-de-force displaying our company's know how. We won the Concours D'Elegance at the Antigua Classic yacht Regatta our first year there, a 2nd place the next year. The boat hasn't been back in subsequent years.
Full build history plus many, many photographs and discussion can be found on the yard website: http://portlandyacht.com/lionswhelp
Some of the systems we have onboard include: Reverse osmosis watermaker, EPIRB, GPS, IBM Blade server, AC, diesel heater, diesel generator, deep cycle batteries, LCD movie projector, Stereo/DVD/CD/MP3/iPod, main engine direct powered 3000 gallon per minute bilge pump, RADAR "pinger" (makes us look bigger to cargo ships), Sauna (yes, a sauna), full wind instruments, satellite modem, satellite weather station, universal shore power inverters (europe,japan is 50hz, etc), autopilot, VHF, shortwave radio, cell service repeater, wifi, etc, etc, etc.
If you read through our site you will note that we deliberately overbuilt the boat because the owner is the builder is the captain and any disaster onboard would kill his family. Stays and shrouds are each strong enough to hold up the entire 42 ton boat. Anything that could save lives was installed on the boat. As a consequence, the boat was 3000 pounds over the original design weight. Doesn't really matter because it's a cruiser not a racer. Righting arm would still right the boat at 178 degrees (almost upside down), while most modern fin keel boats won't right at 120 degrees.
After years of being onboard we've realized that there needs to been a dedicated systems expert onboard at all times if you expect to have every piece of the systems up and running at all times.
Not sure where you're building your Skerry, but we'd be happy to discuss your needs and right-sizing your equipment needs without overloading your day-to-day maintenance. (or today's budget) If you're in Portland Maine you could come by the yard and see the boat now for a full tour and more discussion.
207-774-1067 - Owner Phin is on site and wife Joanna is in the office answering phones.
One more reason to keep an eye on your money.
Forget worrying about electronics, you have chosen a boat that that is not suited to a circumnavigation.
(Obligatory /. car analogy: I just bought a Toyota Prius. I am planning in driving the Pan American Highway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. How many pairs of socks should I bring?)
A skerry cruiser has very fine ends and low freeboard. Long and narrow it works well for its intended purpose: fast daysailing between islands of the Baltic sea archipelagos. However, they are miserable, if not downright dangerous offshore. The low freeboard will make for a very wet boat. The fine bow and stern lack sufficient reserve buoyancy (lack volume) for big seas. Instead of lifting to a steep wave and riding over the crest, you will pow through taking lots of green water over the bow going upwind, and take boarding seas over the stern and into the cockpit when running downwind in big seas.
I suggest reading "Heavy Weather Sailing" by K. Adlard Coles. A must read for offshore sailors. It's not a lake out there.
Disclaimer: I have not sailed around the world. However I have made several ocean crossings and sailed several tens of thousands of mile offshore and in all kinds of weather.
Actually, Columbus had to make due with a simple quadrant, the sextant not having been invented yet.
I'm aging rapidly, I bought a new game and had no idea if my machine was good for it.
This is the same kind of comment I got when I asked Slashdot about ... my mission to the moon. All I got was a flamewar over "spacecraft" versus "rocket."
As a onetime Officer of the Watch on the bridge of a large warship, I say it matters.
When I saw this headline I was expecting an article on reviving the idea of sailing mechant ships - you know, tankers with computer controlled wingsails, that sort of thing (a bit like the flying cars stories). But what I found was a guy preparing a medium size traditional sailing yacht [OK, sailboat in America] for sea.
If this guy is calling a sailing yacht [sailboat] a "ship", the first thing he needs before technology is to swot up on some basic seafaring terminology. VERY basic - I would have thought even a layman would know the difference. OTOH, if he is calling his yacht a ship out of some kind of inflated pride, then that is also out of place at sea. It is just idiotic.
For example, if he needs to radio and says his "ship" is in trouble, the rescue people are not going to be looking for a yacht.