Deep water cruising [1 ed.] 0679509763, 9780679509769

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I

8 I

f'M — i

ral

Gordon &Nina Stuermets

--I

DEEP

WATER CRUISING Gordon &Nina Stuermer This big, practical nautical how-to

book evolved from the thousands of questions Gordon and Nina Stuermer have been asked since they sailed around the world in their big, practical ketch, Starbound. In it,

they cover in detail the three

phases of a successful deep water cruise:

•

PLANNING PREPARATION

•

PASSAGE

•

Illustrated with photographs, line

drawings, charts, and diagrams.

Jacket photo, front: Starbound, her yard cockbilled, surges through a sparkling Pacific sea.

— Photo by Gordon Stuermer

DEEP WATER CRUISING

DEEP WATER CRUISING Gordon Stuermer and Nina Stuermer

David McKay Company, NEW YORK

Inc.

Copyright

©

1980 by Gordon Stuermer and Nina Stuermer

All rights reserved, including the right to

reproduce

this

book, or parts thereof, in any form,

except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Book Design by Tere LoPrete Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Stuermer, Gordon.

Deep water 1. I.

cruising.

Yachts and yachting.

2.

Navigation.

Stuermer, Nina, joint author.

GV813.S94

797.1

II.

Title.

80-14902

ISBN 0-679-50976-3 10

MANUFACTURED

987654321 IN

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This book

water

.

.

.

is

who dream

dedicated to those

of cruising deep-

and has the aim of helping them realize their dreams.

With grateful acknowledgement Marty Luray, our

showed us how

editor, a

to:

master of constructive criticism,

who

add by subtracting. Jay and Robin Benford of Jay R. Benford and Associates, Inc., who contributed many photos and layouts of their most excellent cruisto

ing designs. Jerry Kirschenbaum,

who allowed

cellent series of articles

on

us to use excerpts from his ex-

electrolysis

and corrosion.

The Technical Committee of the Cruising Club of America, who allowed us to use excerpts from their valuable booklet: Desirable Characteristics of Off-Shore Cruising/Racing Yachts.

George Prentice, naval architect, who shared with us his knowledge of anchors and anchoring and the appurtenances thereto. Don and Keren Dement, who opened their extensive "cruising files" to us.

Jim Louttit, our publisher,

and had

And

to

faith in

our

who suggested

ability to

do

dozens of other friends

edge and advice.

that

we

write this book

so.

who

gave freely of their knowl-

Deep Water Cruising:

A Preface As our country's Bicentennial celebration approached

its

zenith,

our big ketch Starbound eased her 35 tons back up against the dock tee in the colonial

town of Annapolis from which she had departed From October 1973 to July 1976 we had

almost three years before.

sailed her 31,000 nautical miles

We

around the world.

returned to our jobs with a definite sense of unreality that

tempered by the swiftly passing days. The Navy Department in Washington, D.C. again employs Gordon's service as a naval architect. Nina again works at the U.S. Naval Academy and our son Ernie is studying marine biology at a local college. When weather and time permit, we take Starbound for a sail on the Chesapeake Bay. We still live aboard, as we have for many years; we would live no other way. During these past months we've seen our book Starbound published and well received by the public. We are content for the has since been

—

time being.

The human mind

is

unlimited in

and conjecture, and so much of the

its

talk

vii

capacity for

remembrance

aboard Starbound concerns

Deep Water Cruising: A Preface

via ships,

voyages and voyaging. There have been moments

when

we've considered ourselves the resident experts on these subjects;

moments, because we constantly meet people with more expertise on almost any subject than we possess. And so we ask questions to add to our store of knowledge, and we remember, and conjecture; when we go voyaging again, what will we do differently? Down what new avenues of investigation will our usually short-lived

cruise planning take us?

How much

better will the preparation of

our ship and ourselves stand the heavy-handed and unforgiving inspection of the deep ocean? During our sea passages and while in foreign lands, what are the not-so-obvious problems that

we

with

our stores of knowledge gained from years of living aboard and cruising, should

now be

able to avoid, or solve?

Friends, acquaintances, and strangers have asked and discussed

with us the same questions over and over again. So cided to write

down everything we know

as well as

we have

de-

everything

we

have learned from others.

We

hope

that the information

together'' of

that

we

perhaps

deep-water cruising,

are realizing.

on these pages, the "getting help others

will

And we hope

to joggle that

we

can influence him just enough

chart of the South Pacific or to sign

navigation

— we

will

dream

one

is

small,

own dream-adventure.

— perhaps

up

the

man who

sitting in front of his television set into at least

positive action toward the realization of his If

fulfill

it all

to

order a sailing

for a course in piloting

and

have succeeded.

Gordon Stuermer Nina Stuermer Annapolis,

Md.

Summer, 1979

Contents One: Planning 1.

Cruising and Cruising Boats

2.

The Crew and the Cruising Accommodations

41

3.

The Planning Book

57

4.

and Navigation: You Must Take Notes! "Very Unusual Weather for This Time of Year'

76

5.

3

Piloting

110

Two: Preparation 6.

Health, Wealth,

Love-and Time

to

Enjoy All

Three

139

7.

Ships Business

147

8.

The The

Vessel;

A

Hull Survey

167

14.

Deck Deckhouse, and Rig Machinery Above and Below Decks Ground Tackle, Tenders, and Life Rafts Tools, Spares, and Bosun s Stores Foul Weather Considerations and Emergency Gear Personal Gear

300

15.

Hahitahility

308

16.

Food, Drink, and Medicine

321

9.

10. 11. 12. 13.

Vessel;

183

213

229 272 283

Three: Passage 17.

Getting

18.

On

19.

Ports of Call

It All

Together:

A Check

List

355 368

Being at Sea

392 IX

ONE PLANNING —leave

all meaner things To low ambition, and the pride of kings.

Let

us, since life

Than

just to look

can

Expatiate free o'er

A

little

more supply

about us and die, all

this

scene of man;

mighty maze! but not without a plan.

An

Essay on

Man

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

1

Cruising and

Cruising Boats

A

question

we

are always asked:

How

big should a cruising boat

be?

The answer: 40 which

to

Because

go cruising. it

just

to carry the

and

is still

small

feet of length

seems

40 feet?

work out

is

Why

a very nice size boat in

not 30 feet, or 50 feet?

that a 40-foot boat

is

large

enough

comfort required, to allow a certain amount of privacy,

enough to be sailed and maintained by a even two people.

small

—

crew

Why to

on deck

relatively

Then come more questions. How much comfort should a cruising boat have? The answer has to be: all she can hold. Look at it this way: a deep-water cruising yacht must carry food and water for many days and various pieces of ground tackle, including at least two anchors and a lot of chain. It should be able to carry a tender or dinghy capable of transporting the entire crew ashore, of bringing bulky stores aboard, and of putting a second anchor out in a blow.

The yacht should have an engine, hopefully a diesel, and should have large enough fuel tanks to give her a good range. Refrigera-

Deep Water Cruising

4 tion

is

not mandatory but

is

highly desirable for cruising deep wa-

be extended. And who can overlook the delights of a cold beer or an iced drink on a hot, tropical afternoon?

ter.

Fresh stores can

really

A 40-foot boat can generally carry all of these things. A 30-foot boat generally cannot. A 50-foot boat certainly can, but the gear is commensurately heavier and the boat

is

much more

expensive to main-

tain.

the total

other

very important. Even

husband and wife are crew, there are times when they need privacy from each

Privacy aboard

— some

is

sort of physical separation.

if

A

a

semblance of privacy

is

possible to achieve on a 40-foot boat.

We've seen

"successful" cruises

means

rigs, if successful

mate destination

still

in

made by

boats of

all

sizes

and

that the boat eventually arrived at

its ulti-

one piece. There are certainly many

defini-

tions of that term, but experienced cruising people

definition for a successful cruise: It

is

have only one

a cruise on which everyone

aboard has a good time for the entire duration of the voyage. Think of the implications.

There are an infinite variety of cruising boats plying the oceans of the world. There are multihulls as well as monohulls. There are pure

sailers

and there are motorsailers. There are the trawler

yachts and the big converted working boats such as Brixham trawlers, Baltic traders,

A

and North Sea

pilot boats.

very few deep-water cruising boats are powered by engine

by the amount of fuel they can carry. A slightly greater number are powered by sail alone; they have no engines on board. These purists play the winds and tides alone.

These are limited

for their pleasure

The

in range

and their

lives.

vast majority of cruising boats have both sails

and nearly

all

and engines,

of these are true sailboats with a relatively small

auxiliary engine that

is

used

to get in

and out of port and some-

times to power through a calm. Motorsailers were originally defined as a motorboat that carries auxiliary

sails.

But the definition has seemingly evolved

to

mean

any sailboat with an engine powerful enough to drive the boat full

speed and fuel tanks large enough

to give

at

her a meaningful

Cruising and Cruising Boats

5

range at sea under power alone. Motorsailers are ever popular and are often seen in various ports around the world, but they are definitely

outnumbered by

Multihulls, that ular, at least fast,

is,

auxiliary sailboats.

catamarans and trimarans, are relatively pop-

with their owners, as cruising boats. They are roomy,

and have a very shallow

But they lack the

draft.

a lot of weight unless they are very large. large, for

they are very expensive and

And

if

difficult to find a

ability to carry

they are very

berthing space

because of their extreme beam.

It is

a fact that

sailboats

between,

most deep-water cruising vessels are auxiliary say,

35 and 45 feet overall with long keels.

And

their rigs are myriad.

me to get down

It is difficult for

types of yacht construction. This

edge but rather a

bit too

much

to cases is

when comparing various

not because of a lack of knowl-

of it. Being a naval architect for the

government puts me in a position to know quite a lot about steel and aluminum. Living aboard a large, carvel-planked ketch for

many years has given me a great deal of experience with traditional wooden yacht construction. Working on yachts belonging to friends has given fiberglass.

I

am

me a good working knowledge

of the attributes of

not a stranger to ferro-cement yachts, having inves-

tigated several in

some

detail

during our circumnavigation and

having helped, in a minor way, in the construction of one.

MATERIALS From

the engineer's standpoint,

I

believe that any of the materials

mentioned above, assembled in the proper manner, can result in a very satisfactory seagoing yacht. But despite the strength of steel, the lightness of aluminum, the noncorrosive sleekness of berglass,

and the advertised inexpensiveness and

fi-

availability of

my craftman's soul still prefers wood. Wood has one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios

ferro-cement,

terial

known.

It

of any ma-

can be cut, shaped, or bent to almost any form.

can be glued and fastened in a hundred ways.

It is

It

available almost

Sloop

Cruising and Cruising Boats

anywhere to look

The

in the world. It

is

7

pleasurable to work with and beautiful

at.

wood is its susceptibility to organic deotherwise known as rot. Rot can be minimized, even by using properly seasoned wood of good quality, by

sole disadvantage of

terioration,

eliminated,

designing the yacht with adequate ventilation, and by treating the

wood chemically

before and during construction, and periodically

thereafter.

—

were to build a large yacht today say 50 feet or bigger, I think I would build her of steel. Fine quality wood is expensive and very hard to find. Fine quality workmanship is even more expenIf

I

Both can be found, with

sive.

Steel

itive.

difficulty,

truly prohib-

is

another story. While not exactly dirt-cheap,

is

much

There

there are

many competent welders

exists

steel boat has

it

is

design history regarding steel and

plentiful.

A

but the cost

in all parts of the world.

two major problems: corrosion and

electrolysis.

Or maybe they should be called rust and galvanic action since there are many forms of corrosion. Careful construction and even more careful maintenance can reduce these problems to a bare minimum, although I've never seen them completely eliminated. Aluminum is marvelous stuff. It is lightweight, strong, and weldable with the proper equipment. The alloys used for marine application are relatively free of oxidation- type corrosion. ysis

struction or repair

ing

—

in

—

the specialized

electrol-

aluminum hulls much more so than because aluminum is a relatively base metal. And welding equipment required for aluminum con-

problems can be gross

in a steel boat

But

is

equipment used

not nearly as available as for steel.

is

the standard weld-

Another big drawback

to

aluminum

cost.

is its

Ferro-cement

is

a controversial yacht construction material.

spite that fact, there are

some very

De-

beautiful ferro-cement yachts

taking their owners on long voyages today. During our circumnavigation to

70

we saw some exemplary ferro-cement

feet, particularly in

sailors

coast,

were building

a

yachts from 45 feet

New Zealand and South Africa.

up

Australian

few ferro-cement boats on the northeast

but that wood-starved country seems to spawn more steel

Deep Water Cruising

8 hulls than hulls

from ferro-cement. Perhaps

this is

because of the

expertise with steel that exists in that country. I

guess the most important point to

yachts valid

is

that the use-factor

judgments on

just

how

too

is still

make about ferro-cement small for anyone to make

well the material will stand

rigorous inspection of deep-water sailing.

sailor

up

to the

course, owners of

human nature; bad-mouth his own ship.

ferro-cement yachts swear by them. But

never heard of a deep-water

Of

that's

I've

We have seen the topside and bottom paint of ferro-cement hulls peel off in sheets. We have watched agonized crews patching spalled hull surfaces that

had the corroded reinforcing mesh showdown the hull. We have observed

ing through and bleeding rust

seeping leakage coming right through the hull in areas where, pre-

sumably, voids were

left in

when

the grout

the hull was plastered.

We have noticed ferro-cement yachts burdened with excessive topand cabin

side weight because the decks

same material and then we have seen interior

sides

that error

overhead lined with wood sheathing

effect of living in a

On

basement.

were made of

that

compounded by an

away from the the other hand we have been to get

guests on very beautiful yachts for as long as a half day before

learning that their hulls were

made

of ferro-cement.

We

had

thought they were fiberglass, so well-finished were they, with

wood deck beams and decks and they were very new yachts. Fiberglass

is

constant love to

admit that

corrode. caulk.

cost

It is

an admirable material.

affair I

teak-lined interiors. Admittedly

with

wooden

like fiberglass,

boats,

but

I

From it

guy who has had a

a

might seem inconsistent

do. It doesn't rust, rot, or

not subject to electrolysis and there are no seams to

The two major disadvantages

of fiberglass are the high

and the difficulty of repair. 1 summarizes the assets and

Table

tion materials just discussed.

The

liabilities

points

initial

of the five construc-

made

are

meant

to

be

generally informative, not a treatise on yacht construction. Re-

member

that Table 1 refers to the hull material, not to the total

yacht.

The cost of the hull material, and maintainability of that mate-

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