Minimal Attention Sailing

[rov_aaaa]

What kind of sail-boat would you suggest for someone that wants to pay minimal attention?

100 mile trips across the ocean. (florida, Bimini, that area) I don't want to sail, I just don't want to pay for gas. Otherwise, I would just use a powerboat. Preferably the least attention possible, while underway, for 100 mile ocean trips.

I know some boats have "solid" sails, would that be better?

I know how to sail, and done it before, but I just want to get from A to B without getting 4 mpg in a powerboat.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

the only boat for miminum attention, is a docked boat!!!!!!

 

[Wind Wizard]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

the only boat for miminum attention, is a docked boat!!!!!!

LOL

 

[CalicoJack]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

There are actually a lot of sailboats that require very little attention. They can be found on jettys, sandbars and shallow reefs up and down the East coast. They are made by the same company that makes the minimal attention airplanes.

 

[NYGiants]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

try a non such.
they have one sail electric winches. nice and wide. plenty of amenities.

 

[freddyray21]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

I think they made the point. There isn't one. Don't know how much sailing you did in the past, but if you think there is such a boat you have not done enough sailing.

 

[rov_aaaa]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

try a non such.
they have one sail electric winches

What are these one sail electric winches you speak of? You mean they're specifically designed to be sailed by only one person instead of multiple?

Assuming there is a steady breeze in one particular direction and the ocean is reasonably calm, I want to be able to set the sail, set the auto-pilot tiller to keep it pointed the right direction, and then not have to look up from my book, while sitting in my lawn chair on deck, assuming nothing majorly changes and no other boats cross my path.

 

[rov_aaaa]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

the only boat for miminum attention, is a docked boat!!!!!!

Do you know where statistically the most boat sinkings occur?
At dock!!!!

That might be because there are many more boats at dock then on the water at any given time, and careless owners forget to close exhaust ports and turn/close y valves, but stillll!!!!!!

 

[NYGiants]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

yes they can be singlehanded relatively easily. the have one large main sail. they have winches to raise the sail but when tacking you have to do it yourself. research them. theyre pretty beamy stable boats.

 

[saildan]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

What kind of sail-boat would you suggest for someone that wants to pay minimal attention?

I know how to sail, and done it before

Read up on the gear used by "around alone" sailors. Self-steering devices, radar with audible alarms, FLIR automated night vision, self-tacking sail setups.

Still --- there are threats only an attentive lookout can spot --- a parrot, perhaps.

It must be a shock to hit a floating container at sea. For large vessels it might only cause a scratch, but for powerboats, fishing vessels or sailing vessels it could be fatal. International reports indicate that between 2,000 and 10,000 containers are dropped into the sea each year.

Until the high seas are free from hazard, "Minimal Attention Sailing" will remain a great oxymoron.
.
.
.
.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

Any sailboat with an autopilot or self steering will sail unattended predictabily until the wind direction or wind speed changes. Even sailboats without self steering can be 'balanced' to do the same with the tiller or wheel tied off.​

My wife and I lived aboard a 27' sailboat for 3 years. When we were on the move, we ran the motor 80% of the time. Except for those rare offshore passages, sailing, although it can be economical (and adventurous) is usually pretty demanding.​

For the most part, I think you'e barking up the wrong tree.​

 

[rov_aaaa]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

What kind of mileage did you get, and how fast did it go when you ran the motor?

Was it one of those inboard 3 cyl diesels?

I wonder if a sail-boat under engine power is more fuel efficient than a "power boat".

I also wonder if someone could make a business doing nothing but recovering lost shipping containers. If all the laws and rights were abandoned, I think the pure metal value of a shipping container must be at-least 500$. If you could get a side-scan sonar, a rusty barge, a crane, hang out in the biggest shipping lanes and focus on pure quantity and just crush them up and pile them on...

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

What kind of mileage did you get, and how fast did it go when you ran the motor?

Was it one of those inboard 3 cyl diesels?

I wonder if a sail-boat under engine power is more fuel efficient than a "power boat".

Mileage? ~10mpg (greatly effected by wind/current)
Speed? 5 mph
Type? Single cylinder 10HP diesel
You might be able to do as well in a power boat going 5 mph

 

[rov_aaaa]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

10 mpg isn't bad at all.

I doubt a pwoerboat could get that, even going slow.

There's enough of a difference between:

• a sleek sailboat hull, designed for going slow and smooth, vs a powerboat hull with a "flat dropoff" back
• An inboard vs an I/O or outboard
• A small engine running at full capacity, like the 10hp diesel at 5 mph, vs a v6 or v8 mercruiser in a powerboat idling....

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

I get 10 at 5mph in the right conditions. Eight is quite common at displacement speeds.

But I have the option to do almost 40 if conditions warrant it.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

I get 10 at 5mph in the right conditions. Eight is quite common at displacement speeds.

But I have the option to do almost 40 if conditions warrant it.

115HP E-Tec on 18' Cuddy equipped w/ generator and air conditioning...

 

[rov_aaaa]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

Have you found that the "e-tec" with the computer controlled fuel injection actually gets 40% "less fuel consumption" than an old carburated 2cycle outboard of the same horsepower? Or is that advertising hype?

Is it also "oil injected"?

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

40% better, and yes.

 

[rov_aaaa]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

I like the idea, but I still feel like once the motor is out of warranty, the oil injection is a ticking time bomb.

I suppose once the motor is out of warranty, I could treat the oil injection part like an airplane...i.e. get a factory repair manual and regularly remove and test the specs of each individual part required for the oil injection to function, instead of "waiting for it to break".

Or do they have some kind of alarm buzzer that goes off if the oil injection stops?

 

[And-Con]

Re: Minimal Attention Sailing

Despite how much I hate the idea of "minimal attention sailing" a well rigged boat certainly requires much less attention. By running all the lines to the cockpit and using roller furling where possible, things can be made "easier". Understand that there are people who have circumnavigated single handed, and some who even survived it. That being said when ever we're underway we have a person at the helm, and another on deck (even if asleep). That's in a 40 foot Beneteau so we have the accommodations to do proper watches if we do choose to sail through the night. Also in the area you're talking about watch your draft, I've been told the practitioners of "minimal attention sailors" have a problem with reefs popping up. For the sake of god, please pay attention to the weather, chances are by the time you see a storm you're in it, and that area has eaten bigger and better equipped vessels than yours. On a final note, what size would you be looking at, and a type or design.