Cruising Advice

After almost 3 years, and 13,000 nautical miles of cruising, can we offer any advice? Well, that depends on what you call advice. If you want hard and fast rules that apply to everyone at all times, definitely not. If we learned anything in our time on the boat, it is that what works for some folks won't work for others, and that almost anything works for somebody (although we might call them crazy).

So, that said, here's our advice in no particular order:

General

Everything on a boat constitutes some sort of engineering compromise. Displacement vs. boatspeed vs. comfort vs. cost vs. space vs. ease of sailing. Increased displacement eases the boat's motion in swells and helps the boat punch through seas when you are on a beat, but every pound of displacement requires more sail area and heavier hardware (winches, cleats, motor, pulleys, etc.) to drive that weight forward. Comfort for some means ample interior space for favorite items and comfort equipment and stores (like extra fresh water, AC generator, heater, pressure water pump, etc.). For others, the extra trouble of maintaining such extras isn't worth it.

For our part, we arrived at a few things that we prefer:

Moderate/smallish boat size, with good speed. This means a modern fin-keeled cutter/solent/sloop between 33' and 37' with ample sail area.

I opt for electricity-based (i.e. not engine or generator-based), solid-state approach to things. We chose large solar panels, big house batteries, and 12-volt refrigeration (but no freezing capability). Someone more mechanically minded might choose to have engine-driven refrigeration, and maybe a wind-generator instead of solar panels.

Middle of the road comforts. We did not have water-making capacity, so on passages we didn't get proper showers (although we got very good at getting perfectly clean with a few cups of water). If we ever did add a watermaker, it would be a 12-volt model. We didn't use pressure water--just foot pumps.

Personal

The number one factor in the success of going cruising is the relationship(s) between the people on the boat. Cruising will strip away any remaining illusions you may have about yourself, your partner, or other family members aboard the boat.

Boat

We definitely determined that the old saw is true: The best boat to go cruising in is the one you have now.

Sails and Rigging

Things to shoot for: maximum flexibility, minimum effort, good boatspeed in normal conditions (i.e. light to moderate air).

Sailplan Since our boat was built as a sloop (not a cutter), I installed a second, removable headstay (solent stay) about 12 inches behind the main headstay. This worked out extremely well on the long tradewinds passages, with the moderately-sized staysail and the large roller furling genoa wing-on-wing. We rarely used the main on these sections. With both sails out, we had something like 600 sq.ft. of sail up--plenty to keep us moving at 3+ knots even in very light winds. As the wind piped up, we could furl the genoa as needed. Only at the worst of times (35-knots+) was it necessary to douse the staysail.

My plan, if we had kept the Dufour, was to make the solent stay permanent and install a roller furler. With a furler, the staysail could be made larger, and the added flexibility would allow the genoa to be replaced with a slightly larger, lighter sail. For normal, short and fun sailing, the solent would become the working jib since only it could tack properly.

Furlers I would recommend always opting for one size larger furler than recommended. Cost is the main penalty here, as the weight and windage difference is minimal. But that extra winding leverage and beefiness may be important, as foresail furlers take a lot of use, and occasional unavoidable abuse. Don't spare expense on this item.

Running rigging Having read about the rigors of cruising, we went oversized on a lot of the running rigging. I now think this was a mistake. Modern braids are incredibly strong and chafe resistant, and you're not going to attempt to keep huge amounts of sail up in 40 knots of wind anyway. So there's no need for a jib sheet that could theoretically lift the boat out of the water. On the other hand, you spend a lot of time sailing in light to moderate wind, where the added weight (of sheets) and windage (on halyards) is actually hurting you significantly. But you definitely don't want to plan on swapping out jibsheets on light air days.

Storm sails All this is not to say you can forget planning for storm conditions. We installed a second track on the mainmast which went all the way to the deck. We kept a storm trysail on that track, bagged, on deck. Padeyes were installed for the trysail sheets. As it turned out, we never had to use it, but being right there, ready to go, we would not have hesitated to raise it if it had been necessary. If you have to go digging in the bottom of a locker to find that trysail, odds are you will delay getting it out until you are farther into a bad storm situation than you should be.

Engines, Electronics, and Plumbing

We had radar, and used it rarely due to the power draw, but man, when we used it, it was really nice to have. If we had it to do over again, we would add a passive pivot so that the nacelle stays level, and we would look for one of the newer units that has a proximity alarm mode with very low standby power draw. With such a system, we might have actually been able to get some sleep on watches during offshore passages.

Water: we had 60 gallons of storage which seemed plenty for all but the longest passages, but didn't allow real showers.

Ground Tackle and Anchoring

Being novices, we decided to go all-out with a 35 lb. CQR and a 22 lb. Bruce (for a 34', 13,000 lb boat) on a custom double bow roller, along with 100 meters of high-test chain and a manual windlass. We also had another 100 meters of 5/8" rode, a couple shorter sections of chain, and the necessary carabiner-style links to put them together. At one point (Stuart, Florida) I made a 3-anchor temporary mooring (with the anchors spread out at 120 degrees from one another leading up to a common chain). Another time we anchored happily in approx. 80 feet of water and 40-knot gusts (Moorea in French Polynesia).

So this setup did serve us well, but it clearly carried a huge weight penalty, and in deep water it made bringing the anchor up quite difficult with the manual windlass. If I was to do it over again, I would stick with the substantial anchor weights (possibly a 33' Bruce), but reduce the chain to about 80', with the rest rope, and install an electric windlass that does both chain and rope. This would allow you to anchor in up to 15' of water on almost all chain with a 6:1 scope (which would be fine in all the water likely to have coral heads), let out more in deeper water, and get it all back aboard quickly and safely without injuring your back.

The bow roller is worth mentioning-- we made custom alterations to the roller that came with the boat, but in most cases I think it would be worth it to make one from scratch. You really want to have two, fully working rollers (though both don't need a windlass, necessarily) in order to quickly and easily deploy two main anchors, sometimes both at the same time (fore and aft, in tidal waters).

Miscellaneous

Radar reflectors. We installed one, about 2/3 of the way up the mast, resulting in significant disruption of airflow over the main. In the entire voyage we only saw ships (outside sight of land) once. I also have heard from people likely to know that despite international maritime law, modern freighters don't run their radar offshore anyway. So you're better off without the reflector.

Watches 

After some experimentation, we settled into a fairly consistent pattern for most offshore passages. Day shifts were typically 6 hours, while night shifts were an easier-to-take 4 hours. Nights were usually John: 6 - 10pm, Erika: 10pm - 2am, John: 2-6am. The main reason this worked out was because I actually like early morning night shift and managed to perfect the art of the 13 minute cat nap, while Erika found it impossible to do a night watch without leaving a light on and reading. This made her horizon scan less than ideal, since the light was ruining her night vision.