Bro.. you weren't only battling the conditions but your your own mental health... Not sure if your head was in the right space for this passage at the time but glad you fought through and made it to the other side. A bucket list ticked of for sure. Congratulations... On all fronts!
Balance the sails to balance the boat and let the wind vane do its job. Use the mizzen. The Cape Horn is one of the best out there if the installation is correct and the boat is balanced. Congrats on your achievement. Not only the solo sail but also self-awareness and the introspection. Mid passage rants are to be expected. You obviously benefited from it. Thanks for the real content video. I'll keep an eye out in case you get to K Bay on Oahu. I have cold beer.
New subscriber, just finished watching. Loved that you left it raw and real, not homogenized. You got a special girl there as well. Sailors have been known to fall for girls like that. She knew one lei wasn’t enough for a real sailor. Glad she said yes! Sending Aloha to both of you!
Great video, dude. It really brought home the reality of solo voyaging. All the ups and downs and the love and thankfulness you developed for your vessel and nature. Fair winds!
It took us 27 days, one crew member didn't understand why we were heading way south of destination, and would steer straight to HI when on watch at night, we kept getting into the trash bowl high pressure and losing wind. 28 days on wetsnail 32 with owner, Kauai to Frisco in November. You in Reeds bay now? Check the currents when going between islands.
I don’t believe I saw the Mizzen sail used until maybe the last day. Anyhow, thanks for reminding me why I would never do this journey solo. Sleep deprivation would get me. Congratulations on your adventure…it didn’t look fun, but you have accomplished something that many of us only dream about. …and you did it on a boat from the 60s! Cheers from Los Angeles. Onward.
Outstanding effort! Your video documentation revealed the real challenge of solo ocean sailing - "that that doesn't kill you makes you stronger". High regards!
Bro, you're officially a badass. Anyone who completes a passage like that singlehanded is exceptional. My girlfriend and I sailed from Mexico to Hawaii and I can tell you that having someone else aboard was huge. I really think it would have been twice as difficult without her. I handled the nights, but was able to crash out however long I needed during the day, knowing that she was there to keep watch. Great video!! Think about your difficulties and how to minimize them for your next passage. We have a Hydrovane and don't have to to deal with any of the chafing issues that you had to deal with. Hydrovanes are expensive, but a consideration, if you can pull it. You also mentioned gybes. Make sure you always have a gybe preventer rigged if there's any possibility of getting wind from aft of the beam. We run lines from the boom to blocks forward along the rail on both side, running back to the cockpit. Our best pieces of kit so far have been a high-water bilge alarm and a bilge pump counter. You want to know when you're sinking as soon as possible. Good to see you in your PFD and/or harness! I would wear mine anytime I was out of the cabin if I were singlehanding too. Great video - where to next? Hope to see you out there. SV Jean Anne, 1986 Lord Nelson 35.
Good job man! I did that trip out of MDR myself singlehanded in 2023 last year, 18 days to Honolulu, 24 days 5hrs back to MDR. Mexico this fall, maybe back to Hawaii. I'll look for you out there.
@@gregkruegermann8164 • How much sailing experience does it take to cross an ocean. I imagine you need to know how to repair everything on the boat and have sailed in all sorts of conditions. I bet it takes time!
@groovydoo need to know every inch of your boat, have worked on everything at least once, know what to do to sail in any condition. Have some years of practice, see if you like it or can even mange it, then do it alone. I've been sailing over 40 years, on my 4th boat, started 25' Coronado, Ericson 27, Hunter 34 and now my 41' for the last 12 years. Long distance solo crossings are a special kind of challenging sport. Most other sports only require 1 ball to play.
Ditto... like when spilling coffee walking to the porch! I'm guessing some content creators won't show realness. It's okay to be real. Sometimes my tirade gets me over the hump.
I plan to do this one day with the wife. I think the first voyage will be Hawaii as well. I’m from California as well and watch lots of sailing videos for 7 years now. I think it’s time for me as well. Good sailing my friend. You got a follow
I'm a sailing video aficionado (watch a few different channels) and I can say that I really enjoyed the adventure that you shared. Those extended "alone" periods that solo-sailors experience may be useful in people learning more about themselves than they previously knew, which sounds kooky because who knows you more than you? But different situation arise different responses and, in retrospect, we take the next step. There's seems to be something metaphysical about this process, but any explanation for that will have to wait.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Congratulations, Captain. You made it and very few earthlings are capable of even contemplating a adventure like that.👍👍😎⛵⚓
Ballsy! Congratulations 👏🏻. I did two return trips (HI to CA) in my youth (4 person crew). It was a lot of work. Hats off to you for singlehanding it, cant even imagine... Again, congrats!
Love it! Great video! The visuals were stunning, and the content was engaging from start to finish. I especially appreciated the insights shared; they really added depth to the overall message. Can't wait to see more like this in the future!
Sometimes the storms we fight inside are tougher than the storms nature throws at us. But it's ok because the victory's is worth it. I can relate, most of us being honest can relate. Including the wind vane problem. It kills me when something confounds me for days then I wake up with clarity and the solution almost presents itself.
had a buddy buy a boat and decide to sail from one HI island to another. He invited his best friend and girlfriend. about 8 hours into it, the sea got brought and he got sick and so did his buddy, they were puking and crying down in the hull while the GF with no experience sailed them to safe port.
Congratulations on your completing your sail. I learned to sail last year on a Catalina boat. I have always been a power boat person but learning to sail that changed my mind. I am in my 60’s now and I wish I learned when I was a kid. I can tell you there are not that many men or women who would sail alone on such a long adventure. It is something you can be very proud of and I have a few question for you, for times that were very boring did you read books or run movies on a laptop or an IPad. When you cross an ocean so large did you have a satellite phone with you and did you speak to the ships that were close to you? Were you going to sail back to Southern California, stay in Hawaii, sale your boat or sail to the South Pacific islands?
Much respect brother. I just took a cruise ship from LA to Hawaii and back and it was rough as hell. I couldn’t imagine doing it in a small boat, alone.
I have done that trip many times, it is coming back that is the chore - going is typically easy. Looks like a possible interference in the mizzen boom and wind vane. You are one jibe from having no vane?
Why don't you use your mizzen? It's the most versatile sail on the boat. You can balance the sail plan to reduce helm and make the wheel or tiler much more manageable. Having more balanced sails will help your wind vane work better. "Balance your sails," is the first thing the wind vane companies tell you to do. You can use it in heavy weather, just drop your main and you're sailing more upright and more more balanced. and probably without losing any speed. It will also help with the rolling you talk about. I'm so surprised when I see yawls sailing without their mizzen. I had a Migrator Block Island 40 for years and always sailed with my mizzen. It was usually the first sail I raised and the last I took down. I've heard some people, who are clearly new to sailing and don't understand the finer points say that they don't want to raise the mizzen because it doesn't add anything to the sail plan. It adds everything---all the things i mentioned above. and much more. Most of all it's a beautiful sail and yawls are the most beautiful boats. You never saw any of the yawls that won the Bermuda races and many other ones, sail without their mizzens and the crew of those boats would tell you exactly what I have said here and much, much more. I would love watching your channel, it's really well done, but I can't stand to see you sail with so little understanding of sailing a yawl. Best of luck.
Wenn ich einen Kommentar auf deutsch hinterlassen darf... Genau das habe ich mir auch gedacht, warum benutzt der Mann seinen Besammast nicht? Jeder schreibt, die Stabilität erhöht sich und das Schiff reagiert anders, also warum hat er es nicht gemacht?
Aloha Mate thanks for sharing your journey.. You followed your path. I have always dreamed about what you have done. However, my other dreams of living and working in Asia was stronger..
Losing all power is a concern, so it's important to have multiple methods of charging your batteries. We have solar, our engine's alternator, and a generator. Beyond that, we have multiple options for navigation - Navionics on our cell phones and tablets, and a battery operated handheld GPS device. Reading charts really isn't a thing, with modern electronic navigation. Having a good understanding of dead reckoning is a helpful skill.
You need to understand your equipment before sailing to Hawaii. That's what the Catalina's are for! lol. You have to appreciate that its very possible to finally 'learn the lesson' minutes before you die a horrible death, alone and afraid, forced to understand and dwell upon the fact that you are about to become fish food. I do a full check of boat's systems every day, including a camera check of rudder and prop (midday has best light I found). Depending on complexity of boat (number of systems to check) you can split the check, part one breakfast, part two after lunch. I always have "breakfast' at same time, even if just tea and biscuit due to seasickness, always put something in there to train body, and then lunch too. If boat is simple I do two full checks per day. Checks give me either confidence or concern depending on what I see, but point is to understand the progression of wear and tear and appreciate how 'mishaps' are always a progression of multiple events that can only take place if the crew is ignorant of all of them. All you need to do to break that complex chain of events leading to catastrophe is to discover and respond to one of them. Making that as easy as possible is all that seamanship is. Thanks for the vid, here's to ya.
I don’t have the capacity for this trip……but if I was going to try you can bet I would bring along cartons of Marlboros…..bad for health, good for contemplation and having a timeout from problems
Nice video, good footage and perspective. I bought a classic sailboat in San Fran looking for a partner for it and help with the refitting of some parts to make her bluewater ready. Definitely wanting to do Hawaii, Cabo, Marquesas, Fiji, and on from there. You got another sub from me. Loved it.
I think you would have been better off with the mizzen raised. Would have been less rolling but it appears the mizzen boom would rip off your cape horn on a jibe?
Amazing courage and great video! Thanks for posting. I've been thinking of doing this passage and looking to buy a Catalina 38. I dont have any sailing experience and would practice going to and from Catalina Island. How much sailing experience do you have?
Intresting, because he installed a wind vane, he can not use the mizzen. This is a yawl and the mizzen would work quite well instead of the wind vane. I wonder why he has given up on the mizzen in favor of the wind vane. Anyone done the same and can enlighten me please?
Was used for racing. Yawl is unnecessary for cruising, check out the awesome Main and jib sails. Yawl rig is good for spare parts or to hoist stuff on board.
Awesome video glad you made it your footage is spectacular How many days did it take you and did you just use marine navigation and vhf radio for wind and weather reports?
You seemed to always be complaining I have to ask what did you hope to get out of this voyage? Do you believe you had the necessary skills to undertake this voyage?
