Crossing the Pacific on 47' 1972 power vessel

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SeaMaster101

SeaMaster101

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
101
Location
Canada
Vessel Name
SeaWitch
Vessel Make
47' Cheoy Lee SeaMaster
Hello fellow boaters,
Just quick info post here: MV SeaWitch is currently in Tahiti after successful crossing the Pacific from Mexico the the Marquesas Island, then to Tuamotu Archipelagos and then Papeete. The crossing speed was averaging about 6.5Knts over 2,700NM to Nuku Hiva. it took little less then 17 days to do the crossing then 3 1/2 days to the Tuamotu a quick over-nighter to Tahiti.
During the crossing to the Marquesses I had 1 alternator belt failure about 120NM before Nuku Hiva, that took 15Min to rectify, but needed to shut down the engine.
I'm planning to continue to New Zealand around the end of September which will give me 40-50 days to make the 3,100NM voyage.


I know many people are talking of doing it, but very few actually really go. I did prepare myself and the boat for quite few years, and now I'm proud the say that I did cross the Equator on my own bottom completing the longest leg from around the world trip where you can't stop and refuel.
more information about the boat can be found at www.seawitch.ca
 
A major accomplishment..congrats. I recognize that anchorage in your about photo. Keep us informed of future travels.
 
Very nice boat and quite an accomplishment!

Tell us a little about your crew size.
 
Donsan said:
Very nice boat and quite an accomplishment!

Tell us a little about your crew size.
Click to expand...
Crew consisted of myself and a friend who fished most of the time. It was practically single handed crossing with one more onboard. I did all night shifts. Good to have an extra person on board. Comes handy if something breaks
 
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

That's a good looking vessel and an interesting website.

Where are the places that should not be missed, and what could we skip, please?

Is there any knowledge or gear you wouldn't do the trip without?

Did you employ a weather router or similar?

Cheers
 
IRENE said:
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

That's a good looking vessel and an interesting website.

Where are the places that should not be missed, and what could we skip, please?

Is there any knowledge or gear you wouldn't do the trip without?

Did you employ a weather router or similar?

Cheers
Click to expand...


Do budget time for the Marquesses. I spent only week or so there as my friend was flying back from Tahiti and something came up so he needed to get there fast. He ended up flying back from Fakarava to Tahiti. Do not miss the Tuamotu Archipelago! I spend 5 weeks there, and I could've easy spend another 5 weeks. Do go to the south pass in Fakarava and snorkel in with the in coming tide. Amazing!

make sure you do your fuel budgeting right. There is another powerboat that just showed up in Papeete, but they ran out of fuel couple of hundred miles from the Marquesses. My Flowscan did work well. Go slow in the beginning. See how your fuel consumption goes. I did cary about 110 gal on deck in blue 15 gal containers, but i did not need them.

My tanks hold 1470 US gal, and I used about 910 US gal to cross. My engine ran @ 1050 RPM most of the time and I averaged 6.5-7.0 knts. with about 160NM days. There was current with us that adds 1/4 to 1/2 knt for extended periods of time, but then there is current against some time (rear maybe for total of day or two). The wind is always with you or from your quarter - starboard in the norther hemisphere and port quarter in the south hemisphere.

Have a proper size (sized properly for your vessel) sea anchor in case that you need to do any repairs. The other power boat that ran out of fuel, deployed sea anchor and waited for couple of days to get fuel delivered.

Sat phone or iridium Go. I prefer the sat phone and had 9555 with me. it is more convenient as stand alone in case you need to abandon ship. Email works great with it.



With spares is tricky and boat specific, but definitely, pumps, belts, oil, hydraulic fluid if you have hydraulics.



Autopilots! I have 3. I do NOT want to steer power boat in open ocean, unless I really need to...


Good RADAR and AIS. I had 2 radars with guard zones setup, long and short range. a
Good alarms. I have designed integrated alarm N2K and other inputs system that was instrumental during the passage. It takes inputs from important boat systems and monitors them on single 7" touch screen display. I'm just finishing the pre-production prototypes and I will be commercializing it later this year. I will have it on some of the major boat shows this fall and winter as "introductory show special" (Shameless plug)



Don't rush, wait for weather. I did not use weather router. Once you go, you are committed, so just make sure you know whats coming your way. if its real bad weather, then you might want to try go around it, but did not get to that with us. You need to have some luck too :)

Don't take any shortcuts. It will come back and bite you.
 
Great achievement. The Seamaster is surely one of the boats I’d choose for such a passage. Sincere congrats on a good plan and , no doubt, some good luck too. Keep us informed on the next leg!
 
Did you add fuel tanks, or did the boat come with so much tankage. Seems like a lot for a 47 footer.
 
Thanks for the link to your website...your vessels journey from neglected to circumnavigating ready is impressive!

Hug a palm tree for me...I'll keep the north coast of BC comfortably cool and ready for your enjoyment :D
 
Congrats on the successful crossing.

You mention deploying a sea anchor in case of a repair, but I notice in your website that you have a wing engine. I'm wondering why not use the little engine instead?
 
Congratulations and thank you very much for embarking us into your wonderful ocean adventure.

Also welcome to French overseas territories, France’s most remote islands.

How did you like Marquesas Islands ? Hiva Oa, the second largest, is famous as the final home of French painter Paul Gauguin, I mean he is buried there.

Bon voyage !
 
Gordon J said:
Did you add fuel tanks, or did the boat come with so much tankage. Seems like a lot for a 47 footer.
Click to expand...
The SeaWitch had a single engine arrangement with CAT C333D (3306) engine. It came from the factory equipped with 5 integral fiberglass tanks.

2X500 US gal diesel port and starboard in the engine room, 2X210 US gal water in the lazarette and 1X470 US gal water under the floor forward.

I did convert the forward tank from water to fuel and that gave me total of 1470 US gal of fuel and 420Gal of water.

Talking about revolutionary thinking of Bill Garden 45 years ago... there were no Nordhavn's then... I dislike the notion that they are the only small power boats that can cross oceans! They are nice boats, no doubt about that, but they were not the first, nor the only ones... Long before them there were others... I dislike their exclusive yahoo group, that no others are blessed to join! There are many great people with great boats and experience there, but why all that exclusivity? How special the founders thought they are???
Forgive me... That's my rant for today.
 
mahal said:
Congrats on the successful crossing.

You mention deploying a sea anchor in case of a repair, but I notice in your website that you have a wing engine. I'm wondering why not use the little engine instead?
Click to expand...


Of course I would prefer to use the wing engine, but if the repair involves something in the drive train (remember? - single propeller), then I might have to deploy sea anchor. Sea anchor is also very helpful if all hell breaks loose... Then apparently the best option is to deploy the sea anchor, button up all windows and doors, shut the engine down and go to bed. I say "apparently", as this is not my first hand experience and I hope not to be in conditions where I have to try this approach.


I don't know if I mentioned, but there was another boat from Seattle trying to cross and they ran out of fuel 200NM before the Marquesses. I guess in such case wing engine wouldn't help much....
 
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Here is my route so far..
 

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No experience with sea anchors. I have been eying this one awhile for a 45 ft. boat to be used at an off shore bank (Cortes). With modest wind/swell, how much do these slow you down? Does the stern swing in to the wind fairly well? How much line would you pay out?
 

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Thank to SeaMaster101 for posting about sea anchor, it's also known as a drift anchor or 'ancre flottante' (floating anchor) in French.

My boat came with a large size of 20 feet (6.7 meters) sea anchor from previous owner & 360 feet (120 meters) three-strand nylon line, almost 10 times the boat’s LOA what is a minimum. In bad weather a too short line may interfere with the boat ability to rise up on the wave, a disastrous situation which may cause the sea anchor’s failure.

From my own experience with many boats, it's very efficient if both sea anchor & line are correctly sized also properly installed. However since the forces on the boat could be enormous, be aware that the use of sea anchor might be more complex than it sounds depending on the weather & the size of your sea anchor.

Indeed it’s supposed to slow the drift up to 70/80% by increasing the drag through the water when current and wind move in the same direction which is the optimal situation like mostly - but not always - in the open sea.
It’s another story when current and wind move in opposite direction, e.g. in costal waters the tidal forces are often greater than the wind then in that specific situation a sea anchor may even speed up the boat.

Be sure to be very well practiced in deploying and pulling out. Not easy to deploy in rough waters, a large sized sea anchor is very difficult to pull out of the water, then a second line tied to the top of the sea anchor is an absolute necessity. The bigger sea anchor the better, but the harder to pull out as well.

In times of bad weather sea anchor may love to turn on itself - I mean rotate - which then makes it even harder to pull out. Also this raises question about the right lines to use: three-strand or 12-strand single braid ? Three-strand is lighter and easier to splice but the rotation of the sea anchor may 'untwist' the strands of the line, remember the forces could be enormous. Braided line is very supple, flexible - what is good -, heavy - what is good as well to help keeping the bow into the wind - but also a lot heavier to splice. I don't have the answer to that, Seamaster101 your thoughts ? I always used three-stand lines for sea anchor so far & 12-strand single braid for dock line.

Anyway still from my own experience a sea anchor is one of first indispensable piece of safety equipment aboard small & medium-size boat, at a low price. In most of critical situations a sea anchor strongly help to slow the boat’s speed of drift from her original position, and to keep the bow directed into the wind and sea to prevent huge rolling. It's a life-saving device. No sea-going vessel should be without, but each does his own thing. I never go without one.

A good link to check out. Difference between storm drogues and sea anchors.
https://www.passagemaker.com/technical/the-need-for-less-speed-storm-drogues-and-sea-anchors
 
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I imagine 8 strand Brait would be useful for both drogue and sea anchor lines, in that it couldn't untwist like 3 strand, could be stored in a smaller space, and wouldn't hockle while being payed out.
 
SeaMaster101 said:
Hello fellow boaters,
Just quick info post here: MV SeaWitch is currently in Tahiti after successful crossing the Pacific from Mexico the the Marquesas Island, then to Tuamotu Archipelagos and then Papeete. The crossing speed was averaging about 6.5Knts over 2,700NM to Nuku Hiva. it took little less then 17 days to do the crossing then 3 1/2 days to the Tuamotu a quick over-nighter to Tahiti.
During the crossing to the Marquesses I had 1 alternator belt failure about 120NM before Nuku Hiva, that took 15Min to rectify, but needed to shut down the engine.
I'm planning to continue to New Zealand around the end of September which will give me 40-50 days to make the 3,100NM voyage.


I know many people are talking of doing it, but very few actually really go. I did prepare myself and the boat for quite few years, and now I'm proud the say that I did cross the Equator on my own bottom completing the longest leg from around the world trip where you can't stop and refuel.
more information about the boat can be found at www.seawitch.ca
Click to expand...

Congratulations and nice work! Lots of questions....

I have essentially the same engine in Delfin and am curious what your fuel consumption was in gph? If I dial the rpms down to 1200 or so, we burn around 2.5 gph, and Delfin weighs 65 tons. I assume you powered it up periodically, and if so, what kind of interval, duration, etc. did you run at high rpm to heat everything up?

Also, do you have window covers for nasty weather? I don't, but am thinking about how best to attach them, so I would be curious to know what your system is if you have them.

On the sea anchor, had you considered a "Pardey" bridle deployment that sets the vessel about 50 degrees to the wind, creating a slick of disturbed water next to the vessel that kills waves. Effectively, it is a way of holding a vessel hove to and can work great even in hurricane situations. I've hove to on other boats and it is like turning off the freeway to rest on the side of the road, but am curious how well it would work for a trawler.

Sorry to pester, but I really appreciate your thoughts....
 
The pardey bridel and effects are a fascinating concept. Hope to see more discussion on that. Of course, I know you’re talking about larger vessels, but anything that would facilitate lesser extremes of motion (especially during repairs) could help greatly.
 
healhustler said:
The pardey bridel and effects are a fascinating concept. Hope to see more discussion on that. Of course, I know you’re talking about larger vessels, but anything that would facilitate lesser extremes of motion (especially during repairs) could help greatly.
Click to expand...

Actually, I first read about this technique in the Pardey's book about their travels in the Indian Ocean, and Seraphim was only 26' long. They weathered a hurricane, and Larry says he sunbathed in the lee of the cabin in winds of 120 knots+. For Delfin, it will take a pretty big para anchor (24') and a fairly stout snatch block and line for the bow attachment. I have a hydraulic stern windlass to position the boat to the wind via the main lead to the anchor, so I can make it work.

The advantage is that you can essentially "park" the boat and take a rest, which may become pretty desirable with a short handed crew, as well as take a time out from getting bashed around in a real blow.

In our sailboat, we hove to in 35 knot winds off Port Angeles, which was the nastiest weather we had on the trip to Hawaii. The boat settles down, the motion goes from crazy to gentle and you can make a cup of tea or take a nap, slowly giving way at around 1 knot to leeward. The bridle makes it possible to do this in very high winds, or with a vessel that doesn't have the necessary mast and backed mainsail generally needed to heave to.
 
Congratulations!

I love hearing about passages on trawlers other than the usual suspects. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Nordhavns, Selenes, KKs and others but often suspect people do it on other brands perhaps as often or more often but we never hear about it because those crossings lack the factory marketing engine behind them to promote those passages and therefore ensuring their brand is well known for passage making.

Is Cheoy Lee promoting on social media that another mid-80's 66' LRC made it across the Atlantic?

I'm sure many of us dream of crossing, a small few plan for it and only a handful will ever attempt it. Many never dream beyond the perceived step one: acquire an N46 or KK48 which really begins with step 0 (come up with the dollars needed to acquire such a vessel) before considering let alone seriously planning a crossing.

Thank you for posting and sharing what you've accomplished both in your successful crossing and in preparing yourself and your boat. Very inspiring!
 
Last edited:
Delfin said:
Congratulations and nice work! Lots of questions....

I have essentially the same engine in Delfin and am curious what your fuel consumption was in gph? If I dial the rpms down to 1200 or so, we burn around 2.5 gph, and Delfin weighs 65 tons. I assume you powered it up periodically, and if so, what kind of interval, duration, etc. did you run at high rpm to heat everything up?

Also, do you have window covers for nasty weather? I don't, but am thinking about how best to attach them, so I would be curious to know what your system is if you have them.

On the sea anchor, had you considered a "Pardey" bridle deployment that sets the vessel about 50 degrees to the wind, creating a slick of disturbed water next to the vessel that kills waves. Effectively, it is a way of holding a vessel hove to and can work great even in hurricane situations. I've hove to on other boats and it is like turning off the freeway to rest on the side of the road, but am curious how well it would work for a trawler.

Sorry to pester, but I really appreciate your thoughts....
Click to expand...


There are many factors that affect the fuel economy. The most important resultant of these factors is how many horse powers are required from the engine to drive the boat with the desired speed. My boat weighs about 27 tons. LWL is 43 feet. Transmission is with 2.95:1 ratio. The propeller is 32X32 with 0.75DAR. That setup is over-propped setup, but i did it on purpose for long range cruising. I use about 2.5 Gal/hr @ 1050 RPM and my speed in calm seas is about 6.5knts.

The formula is really simple: the HP the engine needs to generate to move you with the speed you desire multiplied by 0.06 (little variation in this coefficient for newer electronic controlled more efficient engines) will give you very close number to the consumption in US Gal/h.


Based on above formula my boat requires 2.5/0.06 = 42HP to move with this speed.

I do go to full open throttle every 12hrs and i wait for my EGT to get to 850-900 F. It does not take long. Maybe 3-5 min.
Just got my oil analysis back after putting 500hrs since my last oil change and the result is "No action required" till next oil change interval. Don't be alarmed by the high number of hours since my last oil change. I have bypass oil cleaning system. My last oil change was in San Jose del Cabo.

I could go to NZ on the same oil, but i think it is cheap "insurance" to change it before I leave French Polynesia. The main goal for that oil cleaning system was to allow me to do 3,000 miles passage without the need to shut the engine down and change the oil. And it did exceed the expectations!



I do have 24' parachute anchor 600 yards of 7/8 line and a bridle which I designed. It was first time I heard from you about Pardey bridle. I googled it and surprise - very similar to the one I made. I hope I never will need to use it, but that makes me happy!
 
La Mer said:
Thank to SeaMaster101 for posting about sea anchor, it's also known as a drift anchor or 'ancre flottante' (floating anchor) in French.

My boat came with a large size of 20 feet (6.7 meters) sea anchor from previous owner & 360 feet (120 meters) three-strand nylon line, almost 10 times the boat’s LOA what is a minimum. In bad weather a too short line may interfere with the boat ability to rise up on the wave, a disastrous situation which may cause the sea anchor’s failure.

From my own experience with many boats, it's very efficient if both sea anchor & line are correctly sized also properly installed. However since the forces on the boat could be enormous, be aware that the use of sea anchor might be more complex than it sounds depending on the weather & the size of your sea anchor.

Indeed it’s supposed to slow the drift up to 70/80% by increasing the drag through the water when current and wind move in the same direction which is the optimal situation like mostly - but not always - in the open sea.
It’s another story when current and wind move in opposite direction, e.g. in costal waters the tidal forces are often greater than the wind then in that specific situation a sea anchor may even speed up the boat.

Be sure to be very well practiced in deploying and pulling out. Not easy to deploy in rough waters, a large sized sea anchor is very difficult to pull out of the water, then a second line tied to the top of the sea anchor is an absolute necessity. The bigger sea anchor the better, but the harder to pull out as well.

In times of bad weather sea anchor may love to turn on itself - I mean rotate - which then makes it even harder to pull out. Also this raises question about the right lines to use: three-strand or 12-strand single braid ? Three-strand is lighter and easier to splice but the rotation of the sea anchor may 'untwist' the strands of the line, remember the forces could be enormous. Braided line is very supple, flexible - what is good -, heavy - what is good as well to help keeping the bow into the wind - but also a lot heavier to splice. I don't have the answer to that, Seamaster101 your thoughts ? I always used three-stand lines for sea anchor so far & 12-strand single braid for dock line.

Anyway still from my own experience a sea anchor is one of first indispensable piece of safety equipment aboard small & medium-size boat, at a low price. In most of critical situations a sea anchor strongly help to slow the boat’s speed of drift from her original position, and to keep the bow directed into the wind and sea to prevent huge rolling. It's a life-saving device. No sea-going vessel should be without, but each does his own thing. I never go without one.

A good link to check out. Difference between storm drogues and sea anchors.
https://www.passagemaker.com/technical/the-need-for-less-speed-storm-drogues-and-sea-anchors
Click to expand...




As I mentioned in my response to another member, I have 24' sea anchor. I have 15 feet of 3/8 chain that attaches to the end of the sea anchor to weigh it down, then 500 yards of 7/8 line with about 15% stretch. Then I have a bridle consisting of 75 feet and 50 feet legs. the 50 foot leg bitter end is spliced in a loop for quick attachment to the front of the boat. the 75' leg end is free for attaching to port or starboard quarter and with the ability to adjust the length. I have prepared fire hose for chafe-guards. I feel that this setup will give me good flexibility to be adjusted if needed to.
All the attchment points feature very heavy-duty SS hardware.



I feel sea anchor is "don't leave home without it" safety device, but my hopes are that I never get to use it!
 
Airstream345 said:
Is Cheoy Lee promoting on social media that another mid-80's 66' LRC made it across the Atlantic?
Click to expand...


I'm not sure. At least, I don't know anything about that. where did you get that information?


I would love to get some publicity on my "old lady". And who knows, maybe some manufactures would like to kick in some equipment :angel:
 
Fletcher500 said:
No experience with sea anchors. I have been eying this one awhile for a 45 ft. boat to be used at an off shore bank (Cortes). With modest wind/swell, how much do these slow you down? Does the stern swing in to the wind fairly well? How much line would you pay out?
Click to expand...


They (sea anchors and the tackle needed to deploy them) are sized best by vessel weight. The best approach will be to call and talk to one (or all) of the manufacturers.

I have 24' paratech
 
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