1200 Miles SOLO OFFSHORE on an Old 70ft Yacht - Florida to Boston

[Adopo]

Some us on here follow or watch the exploits of Gus and if you like this type of "reality" TV go to his YouTube channel to see how he got started. The bottom line is he is young and chasing his dreams. He has indicated he will cut back on the cruising and now will be pursing his pilots license. Anyway, he has documented an adventurous cruising life and thanks to his youth and mechanical skills he has kept these old boats going. But how risky is it to cruise a boat like this 1200 miles non stop single handed? Anyone done something like this chime in....

188,523 views Sep 18, 2025 #sendit #adventure

I just ran my old 70ft Broward SOLO, 1,200 miles straight from Florida to Boston, all offshore. No crew, no stops, just me keeping this big boat moving north. Between weather planning, keeping the engines happy, and dealing with a few mechanical surprises, this trip kept me on my toes the whole way. This is definitely the biggest run I’ve ever done on a boat, and I’m stoked to finally share it.

 

[kthoennes]

I do watch his videos and have always been impressed with his energy and mechanical aptitude and good nature. He gets things done and makes things work. I don't think I was ever that focused and disciplined and productive (although he makes it all look so easy), but I'll admit, he does make me feel old and fussy. My body and all the parts still work fine, no issues there yet, it's not that, but he gets things done and makes everything run with a focus and energy and "good enough" approach that makes me feel old and slow and overly fussy with every project.

 

[twistedtree]

Ah, to be young again….

I’m really opposed to solo operation beyond one need for sleep, but I recognize people do it, and often celebrate it. Just not me.

Otherwise I really admire Gus.

I don’t think the Broward is wood. FRP, or perhaps AL?

 

[Adopo]

Ah, to be young again….

I’m really opposed to solo operation beyond one need for sleep, but I recognize people do it, and often celebrate it. Just not me.

Otherwise I really admire Gus.

I don’t think the Broward is wood. FRP, or perhaps AL?

Al

Ah, to be young again….

I’m really opposed to solo operation beyond one need for sleep, but I recognize people do it, and often celebrate it. Just not me.

Otherwise I really admire Gus.

I don’t think the Broward is wood. FRP, or perhaps AL?

 

[mvweebles]

Ah, to be young again….

I’m really opposed to solo operation beyond one need for sleep, but I recognize people do it, and often celebrate it. Just not me.

Otherwise I really admire Gus.

I don’t think the Broward is wood. FRP, or perhaps AL?

I agree - many of my deliveries were non-stop from SoCal to WA/OR/BC. I did most with a single crew and even that was tough.........and I was 20-25 years younger than I am now. I guess you just resign yourself to hoping you don't fall prey to bad luck.

I haven't watched the video. Does he describe why he went solo? While we'll probably ship Weebles from Golfito Costa Rica to Florida, if I ran her up the Caribbean, my wife said she won't go so I'd need crew. I have a few friends but I also thought it wouldn't be too hard to put out a "casting-call" for crew. I used new-to-me crew a few times and it worked out really well. I would think an active YouTuber could get crew pretty easily.

Peter

 

[Diep]

While we'll probably ship Weebles from Golfito Costa Rica to Florida, if I ran her up the Caribbean, my wife said she won't go so I'd need crew. I have a few friends but I also thought it wouldn't be too hard to put out a "casting-call" for crew. I used new-to-me crew a few times and it worked out really well.

Off topic but every time I see this I still root for taking Weebles on her own bottom. Even if it doesn't make the most sense there is something about it... I'm sure you would have lots of options for crew if you threw it open.

 

[SteveK]

Off topic but every time I see this I still root for taking Weebles on her own bottom. Even if it doesn't make the most sense there is something about it... I'm sure you would have lots of options for crew if you threw it open.

I agree with your thoughts. Easy for us to speculate, but I will. Thinking about my missed opportunities I would forever wonder what going through the Panama canal would have been like, just once. The seas of the gulf of Mexico, not so much.

 

[mvweebles]

Off topic but every time I see this I still root for taking Weebles on her own bottom. Even if it doesn't make the most sense there is something about it... I'm sure you would have lots of options for crew if you threw it open.

Thanks for the kind words. The deal-breaker for me is the exceeding long wait for a weather window up a coastlines without good bailout options so it's a 1000nm run - 7-8 days on Weebles. Ironically, the best weather windows are during hurricane season - right now, it's a calm lake in the Caribbean. Waiting for a weather window is easier said than done. I get really antsy and jump at one that's not great but good enough. It's a grind. And I'm at the age where I am trying to avoid putting myself in the situation where all of a sudden my eyes open wide and I realize "Is this the moment when...........???"

@SteveK I've been through the Canal when I was delivering (Nordhavn 57). It was fun but a bit anticlimatic in many ways. Going up the Caribbean isn't off the table, but the whole thing will take a lot of time - several months and could easily bleed into another year. We've seen most of Costa Rica and Panama on other boats and inland. We will see El Salvador and Nicaraugua this year. I'd like to see Colombia but will have to do that via land trip someday.

We're super eager to have Weebles in her home slip on the ICW where we can cruise locally. There comes a point in life when you realize there's more highway in the rear-view-mirror than the windshield so time increases in value while money decreases. Frankly, hanging out in Shelter Bay Marina for months waiting on weather carries a price in brain cells.

Peter

 

[SteveK]

Peter, adding to my post 7. Have you thought about shipping from the other side of Panama Canal?

 

[mvweebles]

Peter, adding to my post 7. Have you thought about shipping from the other side of Panama Canal?

I sure did. I'd love to ship from Colombia. However the yacht shippers don't have ports-of-call. They list some, but they aren't really viable except for large expensive boats. The port-fee cannot be shared amongst several boats so it gets unrealistic.

I'd suppose it would be possible to find some sort of specialized freight-forwarder to make arrangements on a tramp steamer of some sort. Not unusual to see trucks and school buses being transported as deck freight to some country, definitely in the general size as a Willard 36. But finding that type of service as a one-off customer has been a dead end.

I also looked into having Weebles trucked across the Isthmus of Mexico to Rio Dulce Guatemala. Nada. There is a newly forming freight train across the Isthmus that might be a possibility someday, but not today.

So yea, I tried all sorts of options to extend my cruising grounds (Golfito is on the Pacific Side of Costa Rica, so we'll miss the San Blas Islands off Panama/Colombia, and the Bocas del Toros islands north of the Panama Canal, near Nicaragua).

Peter

 

[Comodave]

Ah, to be young again….

I’m really opposed to solo operation beyond one need for sleep, but I recognize people do it, and often celebrate it. Just not me.

Otherwise I really admire Gus.

I don’t think the Broward is wood. FRP, or perhaps AL?

It is aluminum.

 

[Comodave]

No way would I do that cruise at this time in life. He was taking 15 minute naps and then getting up and checking everything. It usually takes me at least a half hour to fall asleep and then most likely I would not hear the alarm to wake up.

 

[mmullins]

No way would I do that cruise at this time in life. He was taking 15 minute naps and then getting up and checking everything. It usually takes me at least a half hour to fall asleep and then most likely I would not hear the alarm to wake up.

I could do it no problem. I have to get up every 15 minutes to pee anyway! LOL!

 

[mvweebles]

No way would I do that cruise at this time in life. He was taking 15 minute naps and then getting up and checking everything. It usually takes me at least a half hour to fall asleep and then most likely I would not hear the alarm to wake up.

All the single handers have a story like this ("wake up ever 15-mins to scan horizon"). They're full of equine doo-doo. I'm a hardcore napper. Human body doesn't work that way. Works for a day or so. But that's it.

Peter

 

[Comodave]

I have a serious problem going to sleep. My mind won’t slow down and let me drift off. So I take a sleeping pill every night and am usually able to go to sleep in a half hour or so. But no way in 15 minutes.

 

[KnotYet]

Peter, if you wait until next February (or so) I plan to be as far south as Weebles is now.
I'd be up to buddy boat as far as you are willing to go, maybe even crew with you if needed.
This of course depends on me getting Bingpot prepared in time but that's my current plan.

 

[mvweebles]

I have a serious problem going to sleep. My mind won’t slow down and let me drift off. So I take a sleeping pill every night and am usually able to go to sleep in a half hour or so. But no way in 15 minutes.

I'm pretty sure delivering with short crew changed my sleep patterns forever. I can nap like a cat - 10-minutes here, 5-mins there. My friends are bewildered by my ability to grab a catnap anytime, anywhere. I don't know anyone who is better at napping to recharge.

Won't work for more than a day or so. The human body just doesn't work that way. I call it nap hangover.

Peter

 

[Mako]

Reminds me of cruising my steel Burger up and down the left (West) coast. Mostly single handed but after one long trip of several days I was suffering greatly from fatigue (both sleep deprivation and noise from the Jimmies). I have to admit that it was more relaxing cruising offshore past the shipping channels (~25nm) rather than hugging the coastline.

I don't understand the 15 minute catnap thing. With radar you can get a solid hour in, even with freighters cruising at 20 knots.

@mvweebles if you take that trip what's the timeline looking like?

 

[BruceK]

It is aluminum.

On a cycling trip in Ireland, a US participant repeatedly asked me to pronounce "aluminum/aluminium" . Eventually I realized it is spelt differently in USA (and ? Canada) and UK, Australia etc ie."ium", not "um" and of course pronounced differently, with/without the added "i".

 

[mycows]

You have to remember Gus is a youngster and he can do things like that. I could do it too. As a firefighter, I worked many times around the clock and go home have a cat nap and work on projects around the house all day. Now if I do not get my required sleep hours I am toast for two days....

 

[friz]

No way would I do that cruise at this time in life. He was taking 15 minute naps and then getting up and checking everything. It usually takes me at least a half hour to fall asleep and then most likely I would not hear the alarm to wake up.

Heartily agree with the time of life aspect. Sleep deprivation was on the menu and served daily on Navy ships. Of my 22 years of service, 13 were sea duty. Heck, I am tired just typing this. Time for a nap.

 

[mvweebles]

You have to remember Gus is a youngster and he can do things like that. I could do it too. As a firefighter, I worked many times around the clock and go home have a cat nap and work on projects around the house all day. Now if I do not get my required sleep hours I am toast for two days....

Doesnt make much difference how young he is. He probably ran 6-7 days straight. Day 1 isn't too bad. Day 2 is mild impairment. Day 3 you get into a groove but not in a good way. It goes downhill from there. God forbid if something happens that requires thinking skills. Even switching fuel tanks is prone to error.

Think of it this way: you're about to have brain surgery. Just as the anesthesiologist is putting the mask on, you hear the surgeon come in chatting (slurring) about how he's been on-duty since Friday afternoon but feels pretty good after his 15-min nap......

Relies a bit too much on luck for my tastes.

Peter

 

[Wtrguy]

How can a person single hand a vessel for days when the regs state that "Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing..." Are there exceptions when alone?

 

[READY]

Fatigue is not my only concern with single handed travel. Injury, sickness or mechanical problem can happen.

Certainly it can and is done but I would not do any multi-day offshore trip without someone else onboard unless there really was no other option. I have made open crew calls and would do that again.

Regarding the legal/regulatory issue it probably doesn't come into play unless an incident occurs and the lack of watch is disclosed. In that case I suspect you would be in jeopardy.
Ken

 

[Gdavid]

How can a person single hand a vessel for days when the regs state that "Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing..." Are there exceptions when alone?

A proper lookout isn't defined in advance, generally only after an accident. He could justify that running AIS and radar with audible alarms and waking up enough to observe how far he is going to travel during his next nap is adequate. As long as everything goes well, he obeyed the regs, it is only after an incident that he would be judged. There is little to run into that far out and he is bound to bear most of the damage in a collision with a commerce ship.

 

[SteveK]

Just last week I crossed a busy road and it was not in a crosswalk.
For goodness sake, he did it his way and survived.
What kind of anchor does he carry?

 

[socalrider]

Do you all follow the Vendee globe? Those guys singlehand massively powerful and complex sailboats for weeks during their solo circumnavigation. Constant repairs and the harshest marine environments on earth (southern ocean). As I recall they survive mostly on 20 minute sleep cycles when conditions are tough. So it's possible. Some of the sailors are in their 60's as well!

Not for me, thanks!

 

[ABfish]

@friz my brother-in-law was a submariner and developed that unnatural ability to nap in a moment's notice as @mvweebles les suggests. He could sit down for ten minutes and fall asleep almost instantly. I was extremely jealous at the time!

 

[Mac2]

At 24 hours without sleep, your at the equivalent of a drunk driver. Not a huge issue when offshore with all the modern electronics, but like someone else stated, trying to solve a problem, or emergency would be more challenging for sure. Having this knowledge, hopefully you will use it to take the extra time to double check yourself and use extra safety precautions. Weather to take on this challenge is an individual decision-as long as it doesn’t affect others.

 

[tiltrider1]

I have not watched his video as of yet. Let’s face it, Gus is a calculated risk taker. If we are talking money so am I. If we are talking my life nope, I am a big scaredy cat.

So I agree with many that I would never do this. I also see that traveling 100 miles off shore is very low risk for collision. So I agree it’s low risk. Just not low enough for me.

On the other hand my financial risks are just too great for most people so few do what I do. In the end Gus had an adventure that I never will have and I have experienced financial rewards most won’t.