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

[ABfish]

For you guys that have done a lot of overnighters offshore, what's your risk perception of sleeping while traveling at 6 knots versus 10 knots? Does Gus slow significantly at night?

I've always assumed that solo sailors travel at slow speeds at night for safety reasons.

 

[Comodave]

We brought a boat from Seattle to LA. I had 4 other guys with me. So the watches were pretty easy. At the depth of night I would have 2 guys on watch. However one of the 4 was a dipshit. He managed to fall asleep at the helm while the other guy on watch was in the head. That boat didn’t have an autopilot so we were carving circles in the Pacific while he slept. He said no he didn’t fall asleep but the track line said he did 2 complete 360s. He couldn’t explain how that happened…

 

[mvweebles]

For you guys that have done a lot of overnighters offshore, what's your risk perception of sleeping while traveling at 6 knots versus 10 knots? Does Gus slow significantly at night?

I've always assumed that solo sailors travel at slow speeds at night for safety reasons.

No reason to slow down at night. Sailors may but they often reduce sail at night anyway.

If I were going to single hand that type of distance, I'd plan to get some decent sleep in low traffic areas. A good 2-3 hours at a time if possible. There is no way to de-risk this so you're rolling the dice and hoping for the best. To my thinking, lowest risk is to get some decent sleep a couple times each 24hr period and hope for the best. Does recall the saying "Hope is not a strategy."

I don't understand people who make such a fuss about long singlehand passages. its not a stretch to compare it to making a video where you down a pitcher of beer and three shots of Jack Daniels, then drive home. Just because nothing happens doesn't make it a good idea.

Peter

 

[ranger58sb]

Haven't seen Gus's newer videos. Watch some of his early ones, but began noticing we were seeing too much of his face staring at his camera, and he seems mostly satisfied with "good enough (for now)" -- and that last jars my sensibilities a bit.

He's pretty good at diving in and getting things working, though, ambitious and energetic, both good.

Non-stop, single-handed? I couldn't do it... Wouldn't even occur to me...

-Chris

 

[Diep]

Some people take risks for personal reasons. You never hear about it.

Others are chest beaters. I don't watch much youtube and have no idea who this guy is. But naysayers pushing a thread to 2 pages in a day are exactly why the youtube stunts get pulled.

 

[DDW]

No reason to slow down at night. Sailors may but they often reduce sail at night anyway.

In the many long distance single handed sailing races (not the Volvo - that is fully crewed), The average boat speed is far faster than 10 knots. The current single handed record 24 hour run on a sailboat is 850 miles - an average of over 35 knots. Even in slower classes 400 mile daily runs are somewhat routine. The current around the world single handed record is 42 days, works out to an average of 27 knots for the whole trip.

There is big money in these races, and there have been a number of university studies on how much sleep, how often, how long. Obviously there is a fair amount of dependance on radar and AIS alarms, and perhaps on the Big Ocean theory. Collisions are quite rare in them, honestly don't remember one being reported in recent decades.

Those are a little different than driving up a very busy coastline, but perhaps if he had a sailboat he could have knocked off those 1200 miles in a couple of days.

 

[Mako]

For you guys that have done a lot of overnighters offshore, what's your risk perception of sleeping while traveling at 6 knots versus 10 knots?

I cruised at 8.25 knots. Many here at 7 kt or slower. There's really no reason to slow down and roll like nuts in the middle of the ocean.

If you take a 3 hour nap, the risk isn't your own vessel plowing into land within the next 21-24 nm, it's more about that freighter coming at 20+ knots and plowing into him within 1 hour. Radar protection zones are wonderful.

 

[Mambo42]

I saw the episode Yesterday and hats off to him. I would not be able to do this myself, just did a 31 hr passage, had great difficulty falling asleep, in the end managed to sleep for 2 hours, was completely destroyed when we arrived at our destination. To do cat sleeps the whole night ? I think I would collapse by the end of the night, but Gus looked fresh and happy.
The one thing that impressed me most was that he was still able to take well reasoned decisions and usually that does not happen when sleep dreprevation sets in.

Am looking forward to part 2 of his 1200 nm journey.

 

[Offshore]

That young man is the poorest excuse for a captain that I have ever seen. His sleeping while underway is the nothing short of gross negligence. He is the worst example of a boat owner. I only hope that no young boat owner takes his example. Shame on his sponsors for the endorsement. I suspect there could be some maritime laws broken. I wonder if here will take naps while flying his airplane on auto pilot next. Disgusting.

 

[Mambo42]

That young man is the poorest excuse for a captain that I have ever seen. His sleeping while underway is the nothing short of gross negligence. He is the worst example of a boat owner. I only hope that no young boat owner takes his example. Shame on his sponsors for the endorsement. I suspect there could be some maritime laws broken. I wonder if here will take naps while flying his airplane on auto pilot next. Disgusting.

Well, in that case all solo sail boat captains also qualify for your assessment. Fact is that he is alone on his boat, which is not illegal. He chose a route, on purpose, that would keep him well out of the shipping lanes and other traffic. He did his utmost to keep him, his boat and others safe and that is more than many people on the water can claim they do.
I don't know why you have such a negative view of how he did this passage, he did it safely, he thought of everything, had back up plans and the result is there.
Since you know it so much better, perhaps, instead of just criticizing him, you can also explain what you would have done in his situation. And yes, i know the easiest answer is: to get a complete crew onboard, but I have the idea you are not saying that to all the solo round the world sailors, so why do you say this just about him ? Personal vendetta perhaps ?

 

[rgano]

Like others here, I reverted to COLREG thoughts as I watched Gus think out his watch and lookout thoughts. He seemed to infer that his alarming electronics meant an adequate lookout. NOT. Sailors have often used their boats' sails to lie-to with one sail backed and another in propulsion mode to drift slowly at night while others just forge ahead. I do believe that in the 70-footer Gus was driving, I would have probably pulled into port several times, but of course that would not solve the issue he had of outrunning some foul weather which would have held him in port for days. I also believe I would have shut an engine down at night and idled along on course sleeping for maybe an hour or two to avoid covering very much ground in an ocean which can have things like semi-submerged shipping containers lying in wait (of course they are out there in daylight too, but more likely seen).

 

[Mako]

@rgano I understand the reflex to slow down to idle when going to sleep for a couple of hours, but I learned to push past that myself in the past.

My position was that it’s nearly a zero chance that I will hit a stationary object or container. The threat would be getting hit by a cargo ship charging forward at 22 knots. Radar guard zones on a small boat will realistically give you about one hour’s notice. Probably not 2 hours however.

However, that can be mitigated/ reduced by staying far out of shipping channels and such.

Maybe my logic is flawed?

 

[DDW]

Sailors have often used their boats' sails to lie-to with one sail backed and another in propulsion mode to drift slowly at night while others just forge ahead.

I can guarantee that solo racing sailors do not do this. They sail 24/7, on boats moving a lot faster than any cargo ship. Most single handed cruisers don't either. Heaving to is pretty much a lost art. Most modern sailboats don't do it well, and most modern sailors don't know how anyway.

 

[Mambo42]

Like others here, I reverted to COLREG thoughts as I watched Gus think out his watch and lookout thoughts. He seemed to infer that his alarming electronics meant an adequate lookout. NOT. Sailors have often used their boats' sails to lie-to with one sail backed and another in propulsion mode to drift slowly at night while others just forge ahead. I do believe that in the 70-footer Gus was driving, I would have probably pulled into port several times, but of course that would not solve the issue he had of outrunning some foul weather which would have held him in port for days. I also believe I would have shut an engine down at night and idled along on course sleeping for maybe an hour or two to avoid covering very much ground in an ocean which can have things like semi-submerged shipping containers lying in wait (of course they are out there in daylight too, but more likely seen).

I remember a case of a French aircraft carrier that collided with a small sailing vessel while at carrier operations (launching and recovering planes). The French vessel saw the sailing vessel, tried to hail it over and over again, to no avail. They could or did not want to stop flying ops, therefore could not alter course and the collision happened.
According to the Colregs the aircraft carrier had the right of way, but the judge decided that the person on the sailing vessel had a right to sleep, so the blame was put on the aircraft carrier. It was deemed the aircraft carrier did not comply with the rule that both ships have to do their utmost to avoid a collision, so the captain was relieved of duty, as were some watch officers.
In other words, just because you are alone on a boat does not mean you will be immedidately held responsible for any collision. Obviously you are not looking for a collision and the set up that Gus had would have alarmed him early enough to avoid any collision. Thereby he has fulfilled his task to do the utmost to avoid collisions at sea.
I would not do this passage myself this way, for one I would be totally incapable of sleeping 15 min, waking up, sleeping again etc. So I would also pull into ports and turn this into a month long ordeal (due to weather), but the way Gus did this was as save as he could make it while being alone on the boat.
The fact that he made it safe to the other side was not the result of luck, but the result of good planning, good execution and good seamanship.

 

[Adopo]

All good replies to this question. I'm definitely too old slow semi demented to do this lol, but this is a young whipppersnapper, but you can see him starting to get punchy. So he decides to cut the boat off drift and sleep before entering the canal. I've stayed up 24 plus hours a few times in my life involving car events imagine doing Daytona or LeMans while doing cat naps. Never again. It starts to suck...part 2.

 

[Shrew]

A very misleading title. Travelling 1200 miles is one thing, travelling 1200 miles offshore is quite another. Grammar Matters.

Let's eat, Grandma!

OR

Let's eat Grandma!

Two very different things. Just saying.

 

[PNK]

This is a fascinating thread; I have only done 2 longish offshore trips, one on a 42' sailboat with 3 of us, no one did more than a 4-hour watch. The other boat was larger, with a bigger crew, and we always had more than one watch-keeper.
No way would I do something like that solo; even if you don't fall asleep, there's no way your focus and attention can remain over several days. Even while taking a 15-minute nap, there are a lot of shipping containers floating around in the seas, generally they are just slightly awash, so radar alarms and AIS alarms aren't going to help.
Maybe this Broward had forward-looking sonar, but I think he was just lucky everything worked out.
The skippers on the Vendee Globe Challenge boats are some of the best-trained and most skillful anywhere, with incredible- and incredibly expensive - boats, gear and electronics, but even in that group only about half finish the race in any given year.
Im glad the Broward made it, but don't think it was the smartest choice.

 

[Mako]

"Maybe this Broward had forward-looking sonar" that made me smile Did you see the condition of his rusted out water heater?

"I think he was just lucky everything worked out" I don't think he was lucky. He was just working at a higher level of risk tolerance, but he mitigated to his personal-level of acceptance.

 

[Offshore]

Well, in that case all solo sail boat captains also qualify for your assessment. Fact is that he is alone on his boat, which is not illegal. He chose a route, on purpose, that would keep him well out of the shipping lanes and other traffic. He did his utmost to keep him, his boat and others safe and that is more than many people on the water can claim they do.
I don't know why you have such a negative view of how he did this passage, he did it safely, he thought of everything, had back up plans and the result is there.
Since you know it so much better, perhaps, instead of just criticizing him, you can also explain what you would have done in his situation. And yes, i know the easiest answer is: to get a complete crew onboard, but I have the idea you are not saying that to all the solo round the world sailors, so why do you say this just about him ? Personal vendetta perhaps ?

" He did it safely ". There is NOTHING safe about a boat traveling at 12 knots
with the only one onboard asleep.

 

[Mambo42]

" He did it safely ". There is NOTHING safe about a boat traveling at 12 knots
with the only one onboard asleep.

That is your opinion, but you still have not explained what is not safe about that. If the regulations allow it and thousands actually do it (like two family members who are sailing solo at this moment) and you take every precaution that you can take, for me that is safe enough.
I used to be a SAR pilot and you don't want to pay 100 dollars to all the people who we had to save off the water (in the Caribbean) who were with multiple people onboard, but still made all the wrong decisions, were unprepared and had no clue what they were doing, so they ended up in a ship wreck. Many survived, because we came and rescued them, but quite a few died.
Just recently I saw a video of a couple that had bought a brand new catamaran, they had to cross the gulf of Biscaye, wanted some people onboard with more experience, so hired a captain and a deckhand..............turned into one big sh*tshow with lots of very bad decisions (read: dangerous decisions).
And then there are the loads of videos of people who sold it all, bought an old sailing vessel and without knowledge of absolutely anything they decide to cross the ocean. But hey, they are with the two of them, so what can go wrong ?
In other words, being with more than one person onboard is absolutely not a guarantee the passage will be done in a safe manner.
Or we have the channel of Awanui NZ, a Nordhavn 51. Mark is a retired airline pilot, very capable of making sound decisions and also he has made long passages solo. Is he dangerous as well ?

Then I see Gus, who is a mechanic himself, who knows the boat inside out, he has been doing this now for many years, who does stay up to date with the weather (you won't believe the amount of people who don't check the weather at all), who does think of back up plans, who stays outside of busy stretches of water on purpose, who ensures that he gets alerted when a boat enters the safety zone. I think he said he would get an alert whenever a boat would get within 20 nm, but even at 10 nm that would be more than enough warning time.

So unless you can explain why you have the opinion that this was unsafe I am not going to take your comment very serious. It sounds more like being angry because he did something you don't dare or want to do. Don't get me wrong, I would not be capable of doing it myself, because I know my limitations (I just can fall asleep so easily), but Gus is young, he has the energy and most important for me was, that after several days on the water he was still very capable of making good rationalized decisions. When people get tired they start making mistakes and their thinking process is not that quick and correct anymore.

In other words, still looking forward to your explanation and saying: just because I say so is not going to cut it. It is fine to have a negative opinion, but you should be able to argue it.

 

[Mac2]

" He did it safely ". There is NOTHING safe about a boat traveling at 12 knots
with the only one onboard asleep.

It’s all relative. Driving a car is not safe. Climbing Everest is not safe. It’s an individual decision. You weigh the possibilities and take all the precautions you can and make a decision. Kind of like you do when you sleep at anchor. The big consideration I have is, will my decision affect others? Seems like he did everything necessary other than staying at the dock.

 

[Offshore]

That is your opinion, but you still have not explained what is not safe about that. If the regulations allow it and thousands actually do it (like two family members who are sailing solo at this moment) and you take every precaution that you can take, for me that is safe enough.
I used to be a SAR pilot and you don't want to pay 100 dollars to all the people who we had to save off the water (in the Caribbean) who were with multiple people onboard, but still made all the wrong decisions, were unprepared and had no clue what they were doing, so they ended up in a ship wreck. Many survived, because we came and rescued them, but quite a few died.
Just recently I saw a video of a couple that had bought a brand new catamaran, they had to cross the gulf of Biscaye, wanted some people onboard with more experience, so hired a captain and a deckhand..............turned into one big sh*tshow with lots of very bad decisions (read: dangerous decisions).
And then there are the loads of videos of people who sold it all, bought an old sailing vessel and without knowledge of absolutely anything they decide to cross the ocean. But hey, they are with the two of them, so what can go wrong ?
In other words, being with more than one person onboard is absolutely not a guarantee the passage will be done in a safe manner.
Or we have the channel of Awanui NZ, a Nordhavn 51. Mark is a retired airline pilot, very capable of making sound decisions and also he has made long passages solo. Is he dangerous as well ?

Then I see Gus, who is a mechanic himself, who knows the boat inside out, he has been doing this now for many years, who does stay up to date with the weather (you won't believe the amount of people who don't check the weather at all), who does think of back up plans, who stays outside of busy stretches of water on purpose, who ensures that he gets alerted when a boat enters the safety zone. I think he said he would get an alert whenever a boat would get within 20 nm, but even at 10 nm that would be more than enough warning time.

So unless you can explain why you have the opinion that this was unsafe I am not going to take your comment very serious. It sounds more like being angry because he did something you don't dare or want to do. Don't get me wrong, I would not be capable of doing it myself, because I know my limitations (I just can fall asleep so easily), but Gus is young, he has the energy and most important for me was, that after several days on the water he was still very capable of making good rationalized decisions. When people get tired they start making mistakes and their thinking process is not that quick and correct anymore.

In other words, still looking forward to your explanation and saying: just because I say so is not going to cut it. It is fine to have a negative opinion, but you should be able to argue it.

You obviously aren't going to believe me or any rational person so just ask ANY Coast Guard member, Sheriff's Marine Officer, DNR enforcement officer, State marine patrol officer, Insurance agent, Power squadron official etc etc. When you find one that agrees post back here.

 

[DDW]

Well, it isn't a vote, but if it were you might be surprised that there are tens of thousands of voyages done this way. Solo offshore sailboat racing are sanctioned events, including participation by the Coast Guards of many nations. This isn't fringe behavior. We get it - you don't like it and won't be doing it - but not everyone agrees with you.

 

[Retriever]

there are a lot of shipping containers floating around in the seas, generally they are just slightly awash, so radar alarms and AIS alarms aren't going to help.

Are there? Have you seen one?

My experience offshore is that even during the daytime you’re unlikely to see a slightly awash shipping container. Watch standing is more about monitoring systems, keeping a lookout (radar and visually) for traffic, and being ready to react if something goes wrong. It’s pretty hard to stay focused on the water right in front of the boat for 8-12 hours a day for several weeks.

I’ve yet to see a floating container in 20,000+ offshore miles and way more than that coastal cruising. Once I saw a container washed up on Vancouver Island’s west coast.

I think this is one of those situations where the “big ocean theory” applies.

 

[Mambo42]

You obviously aren't going to believe me or any rational person so just ask ANY Coast Guard member, Sheriff's Marine Officer, DNR enforcement officer, State marine patrol officer, Insurance agent, Power squadron official etc etc. When you find one that agrees post back here.

Well, as I stated............I was in the Coast Guard, was a pilot there for more than 10 years. We did SAR in the Caribbean (based on the island of Curacao), which meant we had to go after loads of boats that started off in the Eastern part of the Caribbean, then got lost or got in trouble and then we had to go and find plus rescue them. Also rescued countless fishermen, swimmers, you name it.
Afterwards we always made sure someone would interview them to find out where it had gone wrong, so lessons could be learned. Based on what they told us we got a pretty good picture of the mistakes people were making and based on that I can only say that Gus did not make those mistakes, he approached it with caution and kept his options open.
As stated before, going with more people does not automatically make it more safe and I have over 10 years of SAR cases (in which I was involved) to prove that. So for me that argument goes straight out of the window.

So, now that you found someone who was in the Coast Guard......I still have not heard a single argument why this was unsafe. You just keep pointing fingers and telling others would not find it safe, but not a single bit of information on which you base this assessment. You cannot get 100 % safe, that simply does not exist. There will always be a risk factor, but it is how you deal with that risk. I fully understand it would not be your choice and like I said, I would not do it either, because I know my limits. But that does not mean it cannot be done or should not be done.
In other words, I am still waiting for any useful argument.

 

[SteveK]

@Mambo42
Whether I am alone or with a dozen souls on board I am still driving the boat alone. I have not had a second since crewing on board a friends boat.
I think the solo sailors have the advantage of not depending on others to do what they alone can do.

 

[Sababa]

Safe for whom is the question. Gus seems to have weighed up the risks to himself pretty rationally. And I don’t see how he was much of a danger to anyone else, especially with his guard zones and alarms. To the SAR personnel if he had a mishap? It ain’t the Gulf of Alaska in winter. Good for him living the dream while he’s young!

 

[Mako]

Based on what they told us we got a pretty good picture of the mistakes people were making and based on that I can only say that Gus did not make those mistakes, he approached it with caution and kept his options open.

@Mambo42 Curious your opinion what you felt were the things he setup correctly to mitigate the risk, and perhaps things he could have done in addition, or better.

 

[friz]

I would have loved to have been a fly or moth on his windshield. I first ran across Gus (internet) when he had a Hatteras and was buddy boating with Frosty. Heady days. He has been living his dream. Hope he is able to continue. BZ's for the successful crossing. I would not be surprised if at some future date we read he is 1000 miles out of Boston on his way to Paris.

 

[mvweebles]

For those who think the idea of single-handing 1200 nms down the US East Coast is anything short of irresponsible, at what point is it irresponsible? Guessing we all agree that sleeping while your boat's on autopilot on the ICW is irresponsible. At what point does it become responsible? Or perhaps you want to hire a delivery captain to move your boat 1000nms. Do you hire the guy who says "I don't need no stinking crew....."?

Another anology for those who like to cite all the people who single-handed with no bad outcomes: There's a jar on the candy counter with hundreds of jelly beans. One of them is poison and will kill you. Do you play the odds and take one?

Perhaps the most famous singlehander of modern times was Bernard Motissier (sp?). He ran his boat onto a beach at least once while sleeping (he lost several boats over the years). It happens.....

Peter