Sailing SOLO overnight from Carriacou to Martinique - SwT 37 (HOW DO I SLEEP ALONE) 

Strangely that doesn't happen when you are in a lee berth with good heel. You kind of shuffle to turn over -even in your sleep. To throw you out you need a major roll and that is why lee cloths are needed downwind.

It’s definitely not for everyone and yes it’s hard. In fact the first three days is terrible but after this the routine starts sinking in and it gets easier for every day. Thank you so much for watching and all the best

Thank you for your positive comment🙏🏻 it’s for sure a blessing being able to live this life and maybe even more right now. Cheers 🍻 ⛵️

Thank you so much 🙏🏻 Thank you for watching and for being here 👍🏻 Cheers 🍻

Thank you for watching and subscribing as well as your kind words🙏🏻 Much apreciated! Cheers from Be Free🍻

Thank you🙏🏻 Cheers from Be Free🍻

Thank you and welcome onboard! Cheers from Be Free🤣

Thank you for being here 🙏🏻 I appreciate to have so many intelligent friends watching my videos. All the best and cheers from Be Free🍻

??? Sounds like a fun channel - which one are you referring to?

Herve captain stabbin

Thank you 🙏🏻 Cheers from Be Free 🍻

Thank you so much for watching and your kind words. Happy to know you enjoy my videos. All the best and cheers 🍻

Thank you so much for watching and for being here🙏🏻 Glad to know you enjoyed this episode.

Wow!! Thank you 🙏🏻I’m trying hard to improve both in quality and frequency of uploading. It’s a really hard job alone so being recognised for this makes me very happy! All the best! Cheers 🍻

Curacao is hundreds of miles west.Common confusion.

Thank you! It’s a real challenge to record sound while sailing but think I have found a way. Working on making it better for future episodes with more sailing. Cheers 🍻

Thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing your memories! Yeah this is definitely a good life and I do feel privileged🙏🏻 All the best and cheers from Be Free🍻

Thank you 🙏🏻Not so many doing it this way but that’s what I found out works best for me. All the best 🍻

Thank you 🙏🏻 Happy that you can see my joy of sailing ⛵️ Its my happy place for sure👍🏻 Thank you for watching! All the best

Thank you 🙏🏻 Please remember what you see on RU-vid not necessarily is the correct way to do things. I might say things and do things others find wrong. I’m only sharing my point of view and how I do things. If you can pick up some tricks from this it makes me happy though! Cheers 🍻

Thank you! It will soon be much more sailing ⛵️ Thank you for watching and kind words. All the best and cheers from Be Free🍻

Thank you for being here and for watching🙏🏻 Happy you enjoyed this episode! Cheers 🍻

Thank you so much🙏🏻 Cheers from Be Free🍻

Thank you 🙏🏻 It’s something that works very well for me and feels better. Thank you for watching and for being here 🍻

Thank you so much🙏🏻 Also wanna Thank you for being here! Cheers 🍻

@@SailingwithThomas subbed and will be spreading the word good luck for 2021 👍

Thank you 🙏🏻

Thank you 🙏🏻 Happy you enjoyed this one as well! Cheers 🍻

Thank you so much for your kind words🙏🏻 I’m trying my best to keep my boat in good condition, and love to sail. The freedom of Be Free is even a greater feeling these days and it makes me happy to share and see you understand the feeling! Cheers 🍻 ⛵️

Thank you 🙏🏻I fell more than privileged to have this lifestyle! Even though it sometimes is not as good as people think, but mostly it’s for sure a blast!!! Cheers 🍻

Hi Diana and thank you for watching 🙏🏻 It’s definitely a blessing to be able sailing this days and even having amazing weather! Cheers 🍻 ⛵️

Thank you 🙏🏻I might do that in the future as I also might look for another company to insure BE FREE. It’s quite expensive and doesn’t even cover named storms... However insurance is complicated and type of boat, solo sailor or couples, new or old boat not to forget size. Documented experience is also something to mention. So it’s definitely a labyrinth to navigate through. All the best and cheers 🍻

Thank you so much for your kind comment. Guess it looks easy because I have so many miles as solo sailor long time before RU-vid... On the other side this boat is really comfortable and easy to sail alone. This helps a lot. All the best and cheers 🍻

Thank you 🙏🏻

Thank you 🙏🏻 Cheers 🍻

@@SailingwithThomas I've not done singlehanded cruising but will be doing so. The idea of flipping your schedule on passage and sleeping during the day in the cockpit with an alarm made so much sense. Night time is when I need a high level of awareness. It never occurred to me to do this.

Kuddos to you if you do it. That’s serious balls. I remember crossing the Atlantic when I was in the Navy on a LPD troop carrier. Ship was 850’. We ran into weather several times that was tossing that big boat all over the place. You couldn’t sleep because of the rocking on those nights . Can’t imagine being on a 32’ boat in weather like that.

I've had my 34ft schooner across the Atlantic twice.. You can do it

Thank you🙏🏻 Yeah it for sure was smooth sailing! Cheers from Be Free🍻

Thank you for watching and your kind comments🙏🏻 I guess you’re right as I really feel home and comfortable while out at the deep blue☀️⛵️

Dear Edward, if it’s BE FREE you compare with she is 55 ft. Guess there is some miss understanding here? All the best and cheers 🍻

Yeah it’s famous and can be pretty rough seas as well because of the strong current. Cheers 🍻

Thank you 🙏🏻 Cheers from Be Free and me 🍻⛵️

Thank you Ken 🙏🏻 Yeah I have been watching and honestly I will not be surprised if the first foiling cruising yacht is launched within next 10 years. Twin rudders have already been around for more than a decade now on production yachts. Even Halberg Rassy starts with twin rudders now. Cheers 🍻

Thank you for watching and your comment🙏🏻 BE FREE have a wide body and in order to get the jib trimmed tightly it needs to be there. It’s for sure giving better performance but also very practical in terms of nothing on deck. If it had a self tacking or track with a traveler it could gone further out but it would sacrifice sail surface. However this setup requires more active use on its track for performance as well. All the best 🍻

Thank you🙏🏻 There is some of it already in earlier episodes. But could make a more in depth video later at some point. All the best 🍻

Systems that do exactly this are already coming to market and have been used on various boats in the Vendee Globe this year. :)

Sounds like a good idea! Thank you for watching and funny comment 😆 Cheers 🍻

Thank you so much 🙏🏻 Cheers from BE FREE 🍻

Thank you 🙏🏻 please forgive me if I understand your question wrong. If your question is about BE FREE and my thoughts about circumnavigate the world with this one my answer is yes. She is a CLASS A yacht 55 feet meaning perfectly safe for all oceans. I have sailed her in a medium hurricane 1 with no trouble - 82 kts wind substantial. Would not recommend this but she can handle it. I’m on my way for the next big ocean adventure soon. Hopefully crossing the Pacific early next year. All the best and cheers 🍻

@@SailingwithThomas good luck sir, a fine boat, be safe

Hi there, I had two dinghies. 1 on deck and 1 larger in the garage. My garage fits a 340 but being alone a 270 is enough. I sold the backup dinghy to a person in need. So now only have one in the garage. Its pro & cons with everything. The strongest pro is having the dinghy safe stored sailing through heavy weather. And a closed transom. Cons is the hassle now as I have big engine on it doesn’t fit and have to take it off to park dinghy inside. The gigantic swimming platform has it’s positive sides and I love this. However it’s also a bit challenging when at rolling anchorage or speeding boats making wakes. Then I can not have the platform down. Obviously you sacrifice a lot of space inside as well. A 45 fot boat have bigger aft cabins than I have on a 55. All the best🍻

Yeah have the same experience... After a while I get so tired so I sleep anyway 😀 All the best and thank you for being here🙏🏻 Cheers 🍻⛵️

Thank you so much for being here 🙏🏻 I might make a video on the whole autopilot process later but not in the next video as it’s already done ✅ I rebuild the whole systems from Lewmar electric linear drive to Schmidt hydraulic. Today I have two separate stand alone hydraulic systems as well as computers. They can not and are not supposed to run simultaneously. It’s a redundant system setup. Meaning if one computer fails with push of a button the other computer overtake same hydraulic system. If that hydraulic fails with another push button function switch to the other hydraulic system and clutch out the first one. It’s been a long process with try and fail but that’s how it is sometimes. This now works as intended and been tested hard. I throw out electric for hydraulic for many reasons. Mainly because electric with gears is high maintenance and not to trust. The simplicity of hydraulic and less power consumption is some of the benefits. Very happy with this now but took me two years of try and fail. End of the day still better and cheaper than a wind rudder. It’s pro & cons with everything but this is what I found best for me and my boat. Especially if you put the speed potential and performance of my boat into the equation. Also when I need the AP the most is downwind sailing where wind rudders performs not as good. But this is individual experience and also boat types and speed potential as my personal opinion and experience. Hopefully this answers some of your questions. All the best! Cheers 🍻

@@SailingwithThomas Have you thought about having a detachable windvane ? If your electrics go out your computers won't be able to drive the solenoids for the hydraulics. Having a non "electronic" and dumb system might be a saving grace. Just some thoughts on redunadancy.

BTW, you can rig the main mast to your steering to act like a windvane too. You'll need to figure out the pulley systems and maybe use a block and tackle to get the correct steering ratios.

Thank you! I’m actually using offshore life jacket and harness. It’s never far away in my cockpit. Be Free is very safe and predictable and never get wet in the cockpit. I left it beside me on deck to make the BE FREE video for the visual. However never move around without safety clicked on.

@@SailingwithThomas Good to hear! Sail safely and have a good time. Greetings from cold Sweden.

Most mass production yachts comes with to small/weak autopilots. So if you order a brand new boat you could consider moving up one step right away. This is the most frequently failing equipment onboard any boat. It’s impossible to give you a blueprint in what you’re asking because size and type of boat is dictating a lot here. But in my case I’m very happy with the setup I have now. And as solo sailor autopilot its your most important crew member. So redundancy here is at least to me pretty important. I have 2 x Le Comble & Schmidt hydraulic and 2 x Raymarine EVO. This is set up push button to switch between hydraulic or computer. If planning a passage you know about your water capacity and if you do like me always keep the water topped up you will most likely reach your destination within your timeframe to top up again and sort out any problems. A portable hand operated watermaker could be interesting however I don’t carry any onboard. I said a few things about capacity in my last video. All the best 🍻

Hi there! Yes I do and enjoy it a lot. I always try to beat my record in precision. Actually just bought a new almanac and for sure gonna have plenty of time while crossing the Pacific. Cheers 🍻

Hydraulic steering and autopilot you will find on 37, but not many with el winches. On BE FREE it’s almost to heavy without el winches. It’s possible to manually operate but hard job

Thank you so much for watching and your question. It depends what kind of propeller, engine and even gearbox for how things should be done. On a sail drive with folding prop normal is to put in reverse after engine is shut down. On this boat it’s a straight shaft with fixed prop meaning neutral after shutting down engine is the way to go. If it’s throttle back or forward shouldn’t be of any importance as it’s in neutral. All the best and cheers 🍻

Thank you and also for watching 🙏🏻 I arrived early Sunday and office was the closed. So my scheduled Covid test was 11AM Monday. 5 hours later I had my result and was free and out of quarantine. Fully detailed clearing in and protocols in next video next Monday. Cheers 🍻

Thank you very much for your reply. While much is likely to change related to Civid and government restrictions in the Caribbean between now and November, for those of us who are contemplating the voyage there in late 2021, this information is most helpful in the decision making process.

Monday I have a new video covering travel in between islands tips and also details around my decisions. All the best

Looking forward to it. I plan on sailing down from the NE USA in November, but I think you will have gone to Panama and the Pacific by then.

Yeah I really hope to be in the Pacific by then🍻🌴⛵️☀️

I’m now and then using eye mask as well. Thank you for watching 🍻

Raymarin and hydraulics from Le Comble & Schmidt

@@SailingwithThomas Thanks Tom! Safe Voyages!

It has night mode and normally I have night colours and backlight down. I manually override it to get som lights from it for the purpose of filming. All the best and cheers from Be Free🍻

Hei Jarle! Så gøy at du fant kanalen min🍻 Hadde det ikke vært for Covid hadde jeg vært i Stillehavet nå, men det kommer snart. Vet ikke om du har hørt om dette men var alt fra små joller opp til 21 fot Vestfjord? Og seilbåten Player 311.

@@SailingwithThomas Player har jeg hørt om. ,,, men kjenner ikke båtene. Ja dette korona greiene kunne vi godt ha klart oss uten. God tur videre,,, kommer nok til og holde et øye med deg på turen Mvh Jarle

De seilte bra for sin tid og størrelse men verden går jo fremover. De aller fleste ble solgt som halvfabrikat og noen gjorde alt selv. Så er nok noe varierende kvalitet og finnish på dem. Hyggelig å ha deg med på turen her da👍🏻

More or less all islands and nations has different rules. Most destinations require Covid tests and some places also before leaving. In some cases you would have to pay before leaving and for a new on arrival and even after quarantine. In Martinique it’s for free. Next video on Monday will cover this topic and in details why I sailed nonstop to Martinique.

@@SailingwithThomas I have a friend anchored in Granada and is staying put because of the Covid testing costs and hassles. He’s a new boat owner and I had planned to fly down and help him sail up the islands.... but he decided to stay put. Bummer! I have a Hunter 34 on Lake Michigan but it’s currently winter here. I’m limited to 6 months/year 🙄. Im enjoying your sailing... thanks for uploading videos. And your English is pretty good too. Ha.

Thank you 🙏🏻You might share my next video with your friend as it’s about sailing between islands, clearing in protocols and costs from Grenada to Martinique. Hopefully the world soon will be close to normal again as it’s definitely a bit challenging sailing around at the moment. But it’s not impossible just need more planning. All the best 🍻⛵️

Tusen takk Kjell 🙏🏻 Hyggelig med litt norske kommentarer også👍🏻 Det er krevende nok å finne en bra dame i seg selv, og ei som i tillegg ville vært med på dette livet her begrenser utvalget ganske betraktelig😀 Så i stedet for å sitte hjemme å vente på treffe den rette, var det jo bedre bare å sette seil å følge drømmen. Jola jeg plasker rundt i er 55 fot og perfekt å bo i. Varme hilsner tilbake fra meg i Karibia!

@@SailingwithThomas Tidene har blitt slik. Utvalget er ikke stort der ute . Virker bra til å begynne med. Når man har snakket med de 7 ganger. Skygger man banen he he :D Blir selv boende i en seilbåt i Norge 1 år fremover . På dette året må jeg få solgt huset. Ordnet med ting. Så tar jeg det derfra. Har tenkt tanken seile over Atlanteren Gå kanalen. Det andre alternativet var Afrika. Begynner bli så farlig der. Det tror jeg ikke blir noe av. Men mye kan jo skje på et år. :) Får ta dette året først. Er noe jeg må få ordnet med. Før jeg kan dra her fra . Går disse ting i orden. Er sjansen stor for jeg seiler bort fra Norge.

Høres ut som du har spennende tider foran deg da👍🏻 Lykke til med planlegging og alt som skal ordnes. Been there done that😅🍻⛵️

@@SailingwithThomas God tur videre . :) Ha ei trivelig reise. Jeg hentet nytt storseil i går :) Dette blir spennende :) Skal jeg forlate Norge er det best med nye seil. :) Først en tur til Svalbard i juli, ;)

Fantastisk👍🏻 Det høres spennende ut med Svalbard 👌🏻👍🏻

First of all Thank you for watching and your question🙏🏻 Most likely lots of opinions on this, however I would say it really depends where you are. If it’s far out at sea it’s totally possible but I would recommend some precautions. If at night light up your boat as a Christmas tree with flooding lights and anchor light. Turn of navigation lights as it normally says your underway. Normally most ships and sailors would understand your not mowing and most likely busy with something or have problems of some sort. Not everyone will understand your sleeping so keep VHF and AIS on in case someone wonders if you need any kind of assistance. However it’s always a risk and now and then even commercial ships have people sleeping on duty... I would for sure use a drogue (Drifing anchor) to keep my boat up against wind and waves. I don’t have the nerve to do this and instead make sure I’m well rested before departure and run my power nap system

@@SailingwithThomas Awesome, thank you so much for this information and for your video's.

@@SailingwithThomas I had exactly that question in mind, so as another question, would you consider this safer to do at night or day if for example you were really exhausted and needed a couple of hours sleep (with collision alarm set of course)?

Hi there, the Radar on BE FREE is from Garmin (GH18HD) and was delivered with the boat when new. So it’s 10 years old now.

@@SailingwithThomas I just found your Channel , Im enjoying your videos. thank you . We have a Simrad 4G (broadband) radar , very happy with it . we can see our dinghy behind us and birds ahead . If i was to buy another one it would be the new Halo radar .

Best way to travel! At least nowadays 🍻⛵️

@@SailingwithThomas exactly specially now and I am Proud of you. You can go anywhere around the globe. How I wish I can sailing maybe in my dreams 😊

Thank you🙏🏻 You never know some day dreams may come true ⛵️

@@SailingwithThomas yes and I believe in God's Will Thanks for your encouragement words

Its less than you belive... However I don’t like to talk about money

In next episode I’m explaining it more in details. Short answer is Covid and entry protocols. Example: A stop at St. Vincent would cost me 5K US$ now and 10 days quarantine on a mooring ball at 20US$ daily rent. And that’s the Island skyrocketing in Covid numbers where several sailors where infected. Martinique is then a convenient stop before next jump and only 3EUR to enter

@@SailingwithThomas find some ivermectin tablets. 12 Mg day 1, day 3, then every four weeks. Take with food for covid. Works on COVID prevention and parasite diseases.

@@SailingwithThomas 5K 😳 💵💵💵

Huff Ole jeg føler virkelig med deg😅 Skal ikke klage over bare 26 her da... Veldig hyggelig at du er her og bruker tid på det jeg legger ut! Tusen takk 🙏🏻🍻

At least I try to do it as good as possible and also using the technology I have available. Thank you so much for your kind words and for being here. Cheers 🍻

Thank you for watching and your question. I use alarm clock that counts down from 20 minutes. Also sometimes AIS alarm goes off or the radar alarm. All the best and cheers 🍻

Tusen takk🙏🏻 Hyggelig med nordmenn her også. Har du båt selv?

@@SailingwithThomas Bare i drømmene ;-) Drev mye med båt i min ungdom men det er vel 25 år siden jeg styrte en båt sist.

Ah okay! Drømmer er gratis da, og antakelig mindre slit. Takk for at du er her og blir med på dette eventyret. Jeg har drømt om dette eventyret i mange år, så noen ganger må jeg fortsatt klype meg i armen for å innse at dette ikke er en drøm lenger, men virkelighet. Sender litt karibisk varme nordover!

@@SailingwithThomas Takk, er vår og 20+ i skyggen i oslo området nå så klager ikke, ser du har mye å drive med å jeg lærer mye av å følge med på deg og andre, likste spesielt godt episodene med rigging av mast. Mye å holde orden på. Vel kos deg videre og ta en liten brun bayer i hengekøya for meg 🙂

Yes💪🏻 All the best and cheers from Be Free🍻

Thank you 🙏🏻 Cheers 🍻

Why? Can’t you use it manually as well?

Yes, but manually its a one speed winch. I would rather have a good two speed winch of similar size in its place.

Ah okay get ya! I can understand that especially with guests onboard. Dangerous to let them operate electric or hydraulic as it’s really no feedback to you. So things gets ripped apart

Yes. Also, they are power hogs. Also, anything electrical is an invitation to fail when I need it most. OTOH, they are nice. Mine was installed because the previous owner was older and not in the greatest health.

That’s why I have total of 1200Ah batteries and solar. Also Generator when it works🤣 Hate my Fisher Panda.... always fails when I really need it

I don’t think I understand what you’re mean here? Could you enlighten me?