8.23.2013

Passagemaking

Boys on the bow of s/v Lyr (On the Horizon Line)

"Cruisers'' actually spend most of their time staying put - whether at anchor or in a marina.  But when they are on the move... well, as Capt. Ron famously proclaimed, "If it's going to happen, it's going to happen out there." In the posts linked below, you can read about the pleasure and the pain of passagemaking. Some of these posts contain practical advice.  In all you will sense the joy and the despair, the boredom and  terror, and above all a sense of wonder that we small humans, in our tiny specks that we call boats, can be carried from one port to the next.
Topic Coordinators: Jessica (Project Motor Boat) and Ean (more JOY everywhere!)


Planning, preparation, and communication are the keys to (almost) anxiety-free night sails for Chris and Linda of Troubadour.


"It's not so much what we do when we are sailing, but what we do before we set sail," say Brittany and Scott of Windtraveler,like, for instance, keeping baby Isla safe and happy and leveraging dumb luck with "smart" luck.


On passage from Panama to The Galapagos, Diana of One White Tree lyrically describes a not-so-lyrical scene.


The wonderful stuff may only account for 10%, but it's enough to compensate for the pain of passage-making according to Bri and Rob of On the Horizon Line.


Jessica of Matt and Jessica's Sailing Page candidly depicts the "ups and downs" of passage making as a series of flashmoments.


By days and by numbers, Jane of more JOY everywhere! recounts the events of the family's first passage from Port Royal, SC to Treasure Cay, Abaco.


Storyville enjoys the quintessential passage from Luperon to Boqueron...until Something Happens.


Rebecca of Summertime Rolls reports on the unique--except to every other sailor--events of her first offshore passage.


Rare fog, big swells, wind on the nose, hours of hand steering, you know, just another day in paradise for Tammy and Chip of Plodding in Paradise. And if that's not enough to convince you to go live the dream, how about a flying fish in your ear?


Though the pain has faded, the memory of It's Our Necessity's trial-by-water passage is still sharp. But "normally," having enough hands and the kids always close at hand makes for smoother sailing.


Verena of PacificSailors "dissects" her  overnight passage from Tenacatita to Banderas Bay.


Katie of Tenaya takes readers on a textbook passage from Fiji to NZ, complete with semi-predictable weather, playful dolphins, and bootie-clad customs dogs.


"Blissful" is how Laurie of So Many Beaches describes their passage from Isla Mujeras to Freeport. Admit it, you're envious.


Crossing the Bay of Bengal at the start of cyclone season is just like The Ride, a virtual reality pod that simulates an upwind passage, says Danika of Mata'irea, except that it never stops and you can't ever get off and IT SUCKS SO BAD...until you arrive at your destination. Later, a race against the clock to round Cape Agulhas, seeing the Atlantic from the other side feels like home.


S/v BeBe has put a lot of nautical miles under her keel.  One "passage through hell" was from Thailand to Sri Lanka.  To find recountings of other (less hell-ish) passages, look for the word "Passage" on BeBe's sidebar index.





Hi, blogger! Do you have a blog post about passage making?  Please post your link with a brief description in the comment section below and we'll add it to this list. Already have a link on this page? Feel free to link back here so that your readers can find other posts on this topic. We have low-tech and high-tech instructions:

Low-tech instructions: Copy and paste this text onto to the bottom of your blog post:

Visit The Monkey's Fist to find other posts on this topic:
http://themonkeysfist.blogspot.com/2013/08/passagemaking.html

High-tech instructions: Copy the code below and paste it into the html at the bottom of your post to give your readers a link back to this page.


The Monkey's Fist



12 comments:

  1. Here is a blog post about our passage from The Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico (The Mona Passage).

    http://love2sail.blogspot.com/2012/11/luperon-to-boqueron.html

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  2. Here's my freak out, err, blog report on our very first offshore passage, where I learn that while it feels like the boat will fall apart, it won't...but things WILL break! http://summertimerolls.net/sailing/fort-lauderdale-to-st-augustine/

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  3. Hi Jess and Ean!
    Here is a link to our first overnight passage, a pounding in the Tongue of the Ocean. It is funny for us to look back at now in a what-we-know-now sort of way. We made so many mistakes, but ultimately it's how we learn lessons that stick with us.
    http://ploddinginparadise.blogspot.com/2011/01/old-and-new.html

    Cheers,
    Tammy
    ploddingINparadise.com

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  4. It wasn't a fun one but we learned a lot about the way we sail and what needed to change for future, and better passages.
    http://www.itsanecessity.net/2013/08/my-maiden-voyage-horror-trip-that-kept.html

    And here is one about the switch we make, when we go from anchored mode to cruising mode.
    http://www.itsanecessity.net/2013/05/lifestyle-shift-while-underway.html

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  5. Here's a post about passage-making (5 days at sea) with a baby! http://www.windtraveler.net/2013/05/baby-on-board-keeping-baby-at-bay-while.html

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  6. And here's another one on planning a longer passage (in our case, 5 days): http://www.windtraveler.net/2013/05/on-passage-making-luck-and-what-we-did.html

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  7. Thanks everyone - all the above links have been added - with more to come soon from facebook contributions!

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  8. Don't know if you want more, but here's a blow-by-blow of our second Gulf Stream crossing, complete with a flying fish in the ear. Seriously.
    http://ploddinginparadise.blogspot.com/2011/06/flying-fish-rolling-swell.html

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    Replies
    1. Of COURSE we want more! Really, can you EVER have too many flying-fish-in-the-ear stories?

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  9. I was glad when the weather finally laid down a bit to leisurely set sail from the tourist chaos of Key West.

    http://svblondiedog.blogspot.com/2012/05/setting-sail-and-bidding-goodbye-to-key.html

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  10. This isn't a blog post so perhaps it doesn't fit but we made a video diary of our Mexico to Marquesas passage: http://youtu.be/iOf4mQ8qBa0

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    Replies
    1. And another 3000 miles in the Pacific!

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=05cxdM1vp7E

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