Dauntless Crosses the Atlantic Again

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MurrayM said:
These are weird days. Imagine being in the middle of the ocean and having dozens of people peering over your shoulder, second guessing every move you make. I'd give satellite updates every 12 hours or so for family (or in emergencies) and just try to comprehend the immensity of it all.
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It was his choice to put it all out there.
 
BandB said:
Sail?
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Interesting. Because if you think about it, the rest of this trip is pretty much all down wind.

So if you had canvas made that you could deploy off you boat to the paravane booms you good sail along nicely I would think, wing on wing so to speak.
 
Nsail said:
It was his choice to put it all out there.
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Yup, I get that. Still have a foot firmly planted in the last century, I guess.

My wife & I went on sea kayak trips "back in the day" where nobody would hear from us for two months. Felt good. We carry a Spot Messenger now, and I don't know if it allows the same sense of remote wilderness we used to get. Might be getting too touchy-feely or philosophical...
 
Capt.Bill11 said:
Interesting. Because if you think about it, the rest of this trip is pretty much all down wind.

So if you had canvas made that you could deploy off you boat to the paravane booms you good sail along nicely I would think, wing on wing so to speak.
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My guess is that would be a S-L-O-W trip downwind! Wing and wing downwind is a slow point of sail on a slippery sailboat! I can't imagine trying to make real distance on a 42' trawler that way...
Bruce
 
Bruce B said:
My guess is that would be a S-L-O-W trip downwind! Wing and wing downwind is a slow point of sail on a slippery sailboat! I can't imagine trying to make real distance on a 42' trawler that way...
Bruce
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Well if you're out of fuel I doudt you be complaining.

Plus I bet with the current, wind and stern swell you be looking at 3 knots +.

Beats rowing.

Of course then there is this option:


 
There has been talk about flying very large kites from big ships that would reduce fuel consumption. Seems to me that as long as the wind from astern was moving faster than the boat was moving, you'd get some propulsion from the sails and reduce your fuel use.

I bet someone smarter than me could calculate how many pounds of force are generated by a certain wind speed blowing on a square foot of flat surface.
 
There have been people adrift at sea for weeks. One is Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea.

If you have food and water to survive, drifting is all you can do and not too bad. You can relax and just let things take you wherever. Eventually you'll drift into land somewhere.
 
A friend of mine once sailed his broken boat several miles with his Bimini top. He couldn't steer but it got him close enough to the marina that someone saw him and towed him the rest of the way.
 
There was a 32' GB that used it's steady sail to sail its way home once that I read about. They even sailed through a bridge as I recall.
 
Turns out you don't have to be smarter than me, if I did the math right.
The formula is easy to find with a Google. A twenty mile per hour wind will create about 1 pound per square foot of force on a flat surface.

Please check my math.
 
HopCar said:
There has been talk about flying very large kites from big ships that would reduce fuel consumption. Seems to me that as long as the wind from astern was moving faster than the boat was moving, you'd get some propulsion from the sails and reduce your fuel use.



I bet someone smarter than me could calculate how many pounds of force are generated by a certain wind speed blowing on a square foot of flat surface.
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I have seen these on sailboats and don't see any reason why it wouldn't drive a trawler dead down wind.
 
HopCar said:
There has been talk about flying very large kites from big ships that would reduce fuel consumption. Seems to me that as long as the wind from astern was moving faster than the boat was moving, you'd get some propulsion from the sails and reduce your fuel use.

I bet someone smarter than me could calculate how many pounds of force are generated by a certain wind speed blowing on a square foot of flat surface.
Click to expand...

Everything old is new.
 
Guys, we are going far from the subject of this thread. Let s keep it focused on Dauntless crossing the Atlantic again.
 
dhays said:
I have seen these on sailboats and don't see any reason why it wouldn't drive a trawler dead down wind.
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If it moves this it will certainly move a trawler. I mean think of a motorsailer sailing wing on wing. Or with a kite sail.
 

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I think a real sailboat would be the better option. I'm an aging sailor that is considering a trawler but I am starting to think motoring my sailboat more may be the best option. On long passages there is little sail handling especially in the trade winds so sailing is not a problem. A sailboat is as efficient or more so than a FD trawler. A sailboat has the sailing redundancy. A sailboat is much more seaworthy. A sailboat has infinite range. For long range cruising, sailing is a more cost effective mode of propulsion.
 
kmacdonald said:
I think a real sailboat would be the better option. I'm an aging sailor that is considering a trawler but I am starting to think motoring my sailboat more may be the best option. On long passages there is little sail handling especially in the trade winds so sailing is not a problem. A sailboat is as efficient or more so than a FD trawler. A sailboat has the sailing redundancy. A sailboat is much more seaworthy. A sailboat has infinite range. For long range cruising, sailing is a more cost effective mode of propulsion.
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I don't think anyone here is trying to compare sailboats to trawlers with kites.

It's just a thought exercise as to how one might move a trawler down wind in the event you run out of fuel or your engine dies and you have no backup.
 
Folks,

I really enjoy this post, following Richard in his venture. And my hats off to him as this requires a fair amount of skills.

I have a friend who is just purchasing a 55ft cat sailboat with two engines, so he can sail and motor... and he's goal next year is to head off to live on the boat and travel the world. I'm sure he'll learn from folks like Richard.

My single biggest worry with this kind of venture would be the weather. Looks like he has already been challenged with significant waves and winds. I'm amazed at how one can interpret the weather with limited or no stations and only satellite info.

Richard: Hats off to you!

This would not be in my bucket list, but sure looks like fun.
 
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