Thank you for posting this vital information 🌻⛵️🌻

Hi Dave

I apologise that it has taken me this long to pick up your post. However, we have been extremely busy in the last few weeks sorting out the aftermath of our lightning strike now that we are finally back in Southampton.

Regarding you suggestion of an article for the SSCA Bulletin I would be happy to do so. However, given the size of the article it may need to be divided up into a number of sections, but I will leave that decision to the editors. I will get in touch with Jeff Gower.

Jonathan

Jonathan and Anne,

Am taking some time to review OCC's and SSCA's offerings to overseas cruisers and ran across your Circumnavigation Preps post.  It is very well done.   Thanks for taking the time to do it.  Hopefully it will be of help to others with the same circumnavigation goals.  It is interesting to see what you found worked and what did not.  We have some similar and some different experiences.      This would make a great SSCA Bulletin article that will be permanently filed for use by future cruisers.  Could you do that?  Dave McCampbell, SV Soggy Paws, In the Solomons

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Daria Blackwell - 6/19/2019

Member Jonathan Lloyd s/v Sophia has prepared a detailed paper on the steps that aspiring world voyagers should take in preparing themselves and their boat for distance sailing. We are posting his paper in sections here and ask our very experienced members to comment, providing different perspectives and insights from their own experience. When completed, we hope to compile a paper on Best Practices in Preparation for Ocean Voyaging as a reference. 

Part I: INTRODUCTION

Undertaking a circumnavigation of the world in your own yacht is not only an activity, which takes a substantial amount of time but one which requires considerable planning and preparation. If you join a rally such as the World ARC, the feat can be accomplished in 15 months. However, most cruisers adopt a more leisurely approach and take up to 5 years and even longer. The more leisurely approach means that the vast majority of circumnavigators are retirees in their 50s and 60s, most of whom are double-handed married couples or partners of long standing. However, there are younger couples often with young children, who are able to take a sabbatical or break from work in order to achieve this ambition. In some cases, they break their circumnavigation and return to work in order to obtain the necessary funds to continue. There are also single-handers, who fall into both categories.

In our case, our circumnavigation started when we left the Solent on 1st June 2014 and finished when we crossed our outward track on arrival in Martinique in the Caribbean on 8th March 2018. Cruising up the east coast of the USA this summer has given us ample time to reflect on how well prepared we were for this challenge and the lessons we have learnt in this regard, which might be of assistance to those contemplating such a venture in the future.

While undertaking a circumnavigation had been a long-held ambition for both of us, the requirements of career, children’s education and caring for elderly parents meant waiting until these responsibilities were no longer a consideration before we could start the serious business of planning and preparing for this undertaking. With the death of my mother in 2012 the opportunity arose to do so. Once her affairs and estate had been settled I agreed to retire in April 2013 with my wife Anne following suit several months later. This would give us approximately a year to get organised. We reckoned that we would need at least this long in order to prepare both ourselves and also prepare and equip our yacht, as well as making the necessary domestic arrangements for a long term absence. At this point, we also set a target date for our departure, as it is all too easy to let your departure date slip if you do not have a target.

That´s indeed one of those things to think about. It is going to sound a bit hard, but in some cases it´s like " I go now, that my parents are still ok, or I go, when "They are gone" ". " cause while they need help, you might not want to travel off.... ! Or, something is going to happen to them while I am sailing on the other side of the world....
Oliver Solanas

OSolanas

Dick,
I understand and agree with your thought there.It almost feels like more than a paper but rather  series of "handbooks" regarding stages in the evolution of an offshore sailor. We started with long coastal passages like from Norfolk to Montauk which taught us a great deal. Believe it or not, our first major ocean passage was across the N Atlantic from Halifax to Ireland. 

But we took pretty much all the same steps in securing knowledge and experience, setting up the boat, setting up systems for financial and medical management,  understandng insurance and so on. We were very methodical, and it's interesting to hear others' perspectives on the same.



.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

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Daria Blackwell - 6/19/2019

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Philip Heaton - 6/19/2019

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Daria Blackwell - 6/19/2019

Part XVI: FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BUDGETS

Operating Budget

Working out an appropriate budget for ocean cruising will inevitably depend on personal circumstances and preferences. We decided to set up and operate two separate budgets each serviced by separate bank and credit card accounts. The first budget we termed the “Operating Budget”. This covered food, fuel, fees, moorings and entertainment, where outgoings occurred regularly on a monthly basis on the one hand and on the other communications, travel insurance and travel costs/flights where outgoings were much less frequent and appropriate funds could be set aside on a monthly basis.

Given that we wished to avoid foreign currency transaction costs wherever possible we researched the market for suitable bank and credit card companies where we would not incur these charges. In the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society we found a suitable bank and set up a current account for monthly transactions and a savings account to set aside funds for less frequent transactions. This arrangement worked very well until the Norwich and Peterborough decided to withdraw the provision of current accounts in 2017. We have now reverted to Barclays for this purpose given that it is extremely difficult to set up a brand new bank account in the UK from overseas and we already had joint accounts with them.

Our requirement for a suitable credit card company was met by the Post Office. We use it for the vast majority of purchases. Given the fact that Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) systems, which can handle both debit and credit card purchases, are now available worldwide; even in the more remote Pacific islands, it is no longer necessary to hold large amounts of cash on board. We are able to monitor transactions and the monthly statement online and pay off the monthly bill in full by this means.

Taken overall annual expenditure against the various headings in the Operating Budget has matched the available allocation, although on a month by month basis some cross-subsidisation inevitably has occurred.


Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget

The second budget we termed the “Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget”, which is serviced by Nationwide Building Society current, saving and credit card accounts. Foreign transaction costs are not applicable. This budget covers all items of expenditure relating to the yacht including insurance, regular maintenance items, annual haul outs, any in year repairs and equipment replacement costs.

Our original monthly allocation to cover this anticipated expenditure was in our opinion substantial given that Sofia and all her systems were in excellent condition before we set off. Even though the allocation has been increased during our circumnavigation we have continued to underestimate the level of expenditure required. This has largely arisen as a result of the requirement to replace big-ticket items such as the diesel generator and both Genoa and Mainsail during the circumnavigation, which we had not anticipated at the outset. The lesson learnt from this experience is that even if you have spent a substantial sum on preparing your yacht for a circumnavigation, you still need to set aside a sufficient contingency or reserve fund to cover unanticipated expenditure in addition to what you budget for anticipated maintenance and repairs. Owning a yacht is always a more expensive undertaking than you make allowance for; particularly when it is in use for 365 days a year!

This is an excellent account and coincides with much of what Norma and I did in preparing for offshore sailing. We did not initially plan a circumnavigation, simply to join the Rallye Iles du Soleil to visit West Africa, Brazil and the Amazon - it was only after two years away in the Caribbean, USA and Canada that we decided to go on to the Pacific, so our planning and changes to equipment etc took place over a longer period.  However, it is fascinating that we pretty much ended up with the same views.  It is particularly helpful that the contribution of OCC mentors is highlighted as we are in the process if revitalising OCC Mentoring. A great account.

Phil,  I was particularly encouraged by the report on Mentoring. It's the first I've heard feedback on that program. Maybe that's a clue to us.

Thanks Jonathan. A great start here.
 

Hi Daria,
I very much support this endeavor. Jonathan has done an extra-ordinary job of pulling together many of the important elements of such an endeavor and shared his solutions.
I will kick off his structure and suggest that a reasonable way to approach your wish to develop a “best practices” paper is to start with “Personal Training”: but shift the focus from the ambitious circumnavigation to preparations suggested for the skipper planning his/her first offshore passage. This seems a less daunting challenge. And by offshore passage, to my way of thinking, I mean any ocean passage where you are away from immediate help and beyond the time limit for expecting weather forecasts to hold relatively true. In other words, you are on your own and you must be prepared to deal with heavy weather. For me, the weather limit is 3-5 days which makes a round trip to the Azores for UK/EU boats a reasonable first offshore challenge and for US/CA based boats, a trip to Bermuda.
I think it not unreasonable to suggest that if you can do these passages, that many ocean passages will fall into place. I would probably concentrate on this preparation at first. Much of what Jonathan wrote was quite pertinent, but journey specific: circum-navigators need to think about water-makers. The skipper going to the Azores needs to think about water and its storage, but not about producing water. Subsequent “chapters” can deal with journey-specific suggestions for circumnavigating, high latitude sailing, the tropics etc.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

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Philip Heaton - 6/19/2019

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Daria Blackwell - 6/19/2019

Part XVI: FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BUDGETS

Operating Budget

Working out an appropriate budget for ocean cruising will inevitably depend on personal circumstances and preferences. We decided to set up and operate two separate budgets each serviced by separate bank and credit card accounts. The first budget we termed the “Operating Budget”. This covered food, fuel, fees, moorings and entertainment, where outgoings occurred regularly on a monthly basis on the one hand and on the other communications, travel insurance and travel costs/flights where outgoings were much less frequent and appropriate funds could be set aside on a monthly basis.

Given that we wished to avoid foreign currency transaction costs wherever possible we researched the market for suitable bank and credit card companies where we would not incur these charges. In the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society we found a suitable bank and set up a current account for monthly transactions and a savings account to set aside funds for less frequent transactions. This arrangement worked very well until the Norwich and Peterborough decided to withdraw the provision of current accounts in 2017. We have now reverted to Barclays for this purpose given that it is extremely difficult to set up a brand new bank account in the UK from overseas and we already had joint accounts with them.

Our requirement for a suitable credit card company was met by the Post Office. We use it for the vast majority of purchases. Given the fact that Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) systems, which can handle both debit and credit card purchases, are now available worldwide; even in the more remote Pacific islands, it is no longer necessary to hold large amounts of cash on board. We are able to monitor transactions and the monthly statement online and pay off the monthly bill in full by this means.

Taken overall annual expenditure against the various headings in the Operating Budget has matched the available allocation, although on a month by month basis some cross-subsidisation inevitably has occurred.


Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget

The second budget we termed the “Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget”, which is serviced by Nationwide Building Society current, saving and credit card accounts. Foreign transaction costs are not applicable. This budget covers all items of expenditure relating to the yacht including insurance, regular maintenance items, annual haul outs, any in year repairs and equipment replacement costs.

Our original monthly allocation to cover this anticipated expenditure was in our opinion substantial given that Sofia and all her systems were in excellent condition before we set off. Even though the allocation has been increased during our circumnavigation we have continued to underestimate the level of expenditure required. This has largely arisen as a result of the requirement to replace big-ticket items such as the diesel generator and both Genoa and Mainsail during the circumnavigation, which we had not anticipated at the outset. The lesson learnt from this experience is that even if you have spent a substantial sum on preparing your yacht for a circumnavigation, you still need to set aside a sufficient contingency or reserve fund to cover unanticipated expenditure in addition to what you budget for anticipated maintenance and repairs. Owning a yacht is always a more expensive undertaking than you make allowance for; particularly when it is in use for 365 days a year!

This is an excellent account and coincides with much of what Norma and I did in preparing for offshore sailing. We did not initially plan a circumnavigation, simply to join the Rallye Iles du Soleil to visit West Africa, Brazil and the Amazon - it was only after two years away in the Caribbean, USA and Canada that we decided to go on to the Pacific, so our planning and changes to equipment etc took place over a longer period.  However, it is fascinating that we pretty much ended up with the same views.  It is particularly helpful that the contribution of OCC mentors is highlighted as we are in the process if revitalising OCC Mentoring. A great account.

Phil,  I was particularly encouraged by the report on Mentoring. It's the first I've heard feedback on that program. Maybe that's a clue to us.

Thanks Jonathan. A great start here.
 

Vice Commodore, OCC 

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Daria Blackwell - 6/19/2019

Part XVI: FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BUDGETS

Operating Budget

Working out an appropriate budget for ocean cruising will inevitably depend on personal circumstances and preferences. We decided to set up and operate two separate budgets each serviced by separate bank and credit card accounts. The first budget we termed the “Operating Budget”. This covered food, fuel, fees, moorings and entertainment, where outgoings occurred regularly on a monthly basis on the one hand and on the other communications, travel insurance and travel costs/flights where outgoings were much less frequent and appropriate funds could be set aside on a monthly basis.

Given that we wished to avoid foreign currency transaction costs wherever possible we researched the market for suitable bank and credit card companies where we would not incur these charges. In the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society we found a suitable bank and set up a current account for monthly transactions and a savings account to set aside funds for less frequent transactions. This arrangement worked very well until the Norwich and Peterborough decided to withdraw the provision of current accounts in 2017. We have now reverted to Barclays for this purpose given that it is extremely difficult to set up a brand new bank account in the UK from overseas and we already had joint accounts with them.

Our requirement for a suitable credit card company was met by the Post Office. We use it for the vast majority of purchases. Given the fact that Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) systems, which can handle both debit and credit card purchases, are now available worldwide; even in the more remote Pacific islands, it is no longer necessary to hold large amounts of cash on board. We are able to monitor transactions and the monthly statement online and pay off the monthly bill in full by this means.

Taken overall annual expenditure against the various headings in the Operating Budget has matched the available allocation, although on a month by month basis some cross-subsidisation inevitably has occurred.


Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget

The second budget we termed the “Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget”, which is serviced by Nationwide Building Society current, saving and credit card accounts. Foreign transaction costs are not applicable. This budget covers all items of expenditure relating to the yacht including insurance, regular maintenance items, annual haul outs, any in year repairs and equipment replacement costs.

Our original monthly allocation to cover this anticipated expenditure was in our opinion substantial given that Sofia and all her systems were in excellent condition before we set off. Even though the allocation has been increased during our circumnavigation we have continued to underestimate the level of expenditure required. This has largely arisen as a result of the requirement to replace big-ticket items such as the diesel generator and both Genoa and Mainsail during the circumnavigation, which we had not anticipated at the outset. The lesson learnt from this experience is that even if you have spent a substantial sum on preparing your yacht for a circumnavigation, you still need to set aside a sufficient contingency or reserve fund to cover unanticipated expenditure in addition to what you budget for anticipated maintenance and repairs. Owning a yacht is always a more expensive undertaking than you make allowance for; particularly when it is in use for 365 days a year!

This is an excellent account and coincides with much of what Norma and I did in preparing for offshore sailing. We did not initially plan a circumnavigation, simply to join the Rallye Iles du Soleil to visit West Africa, Brazil and the Amazon - it was only after two years away in the Caribbean, USA and Canada that we decided to go on to the Pacific, so our planning and changes to equipment etc took place over a longer period.  However, it is fascinating that we pretty much ended up with the same views.  It is particularly helpful that the contribution of OCC mentors is highlighted as we are in the process if revitalising OCC Mentoring. A great account.

Part XVI: FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BUDGETS

Operating Budget

Working out an appropriate budget for ocean cruising will inevitably depend on personal circumstances and preferences. We decided to set up and operate two separate budgets each serviced by separate bank and credit card accounts. The first budget we termed the “Operating Budget”. This covered food, fuel, fees, moorings and entertainment, where outgoings occurred regularly on a monthly basis on the one hand and on the other communications, travel insurance and travel costs/flights where outgoings were much less frequent and appropriate funds could be set aside on a monthly basis.

Given that we wished to avoid foreign currency transaction costs wherever possible we researched the market for suitable bank and credit card companies where we would not incur these charges. In the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society we found a suitable bank and set up a current account for monthly transactions and a savings account to set aside funds for less frequent transactions. This arrangement worked very well until the Norwich and Peterborough decided to withdraw the provision of current accounts in 2017. We have now reverted to Barclays for this purpose given that it is extremely difficult to set up a brand new bank account in the UK from overseas and we already had joint accounts with them.

Our requirement for a suitable credit card company was met by the Post Office. We use it for the vast majority of purchases. Given the fact that Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) systems, which can handle both debit and credit card purchases, are now available worldwide; even in the more remote Pacific islands, it is no longer necessary to hold large amounts of cash on board. We are able to monitor transactions and the monthly statement online and pay off the monthly bill in full by this means.

Taken overall annual expenditure against the various headings in the Operating Budget has matched the available allocation, although on a month by month basis some cross-subsidisation inevitably has occurred.


Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget

The second budget we termed the “Yacht Maintenance and Repair Budget”, which is serviced by Nationwide Building Society current, saving and credit card accounts. Foreign transaction costs are not applicable. This budget covers all items of expenditure relating to the yacht including insurance, regular maintenance items, annual haul outs, any in year repairs and equipment replacement costs.

Our original monthly allocation to cover this anticipated expenditure was in our opinion substantial given that Sofia and all her systems were in excellent condition before we set off. Even though the allocation has been increased during our circumnavigation we have continued to underestimate the level of expenditure required. This has largely arisen as a result of the requirement to replace big-ticket items such as the diesel generator and both Genoa and Mainsail during the circumnavigation, which we had not anticipated at the outset. The lesson learnt from this experience is that even if you have spent a substantial sum on preparing your yacht for a circumnavigation, you still need to set aside a sufficient contingency or reserve fund to cover unanticipated expenditure in addition to what you budget for anticipated maintenance and repairs. Owning a yacht is always a more expensive undertaking than you make allowance for; particularly when it is in use for 365 days a year!


Vice Commodore, OCC 

Part XV: SHORE-BASED CONSIDERATIONS

Arrangements for house and car

While a considerable amount of time needs to be devoted both to personal preparation and also preparing and equipping one’s yacht, one should not underestimate the time and effort involved in leaving your affairs back at home in order before one departs for foreign climes. Decisions need be made about what to do with your house and car. Many cruisers sell up or rent out their home while they are away. However, as our OCC mentors pointed this means that you have no home to return to in the event of either a family or medical emergency. Their firm advice was not to do so. We were minded to heed it but found ourselves in something of a quandary when our insurers informed us that they would not insure the property, if it was left unoccupied for more than 90 days.

Our solution to this problem was to find lodgers for our property. While a lodger’s agreement entitled them to a room in our home and we are fortunate in this respect in having a self-contained bedroom and bathroom in our basement, “de facto” they have had the use of the whole house while we are away. For us it means that we have the right to return to our home, if we need to do so and have the additional advantage of lodgers looking after our home while we are away. It is an arrangement that has proved to be mutually beneficial and we are fortunate that they have been model occupants. However, it should be noted that time needs to be set aside to find suitable lodgers, draw up a suitable lodgers agreement and brief them on the details of occupancy. For example how to operate the alarm, who to contact in the event of a problem with the property et cetera. We left them with a detailed printed aide memoir in this regard.

Given that we expected to be away for at least 4 to 5 years we decided to sell our car and were fortunate that the sale date coincided with our departure date. Had that not been the case we would have hired a car in the intervening period. We have also set aside funds to purchase a replacement on our return.

Mail and Personal Administration

Given that we did not want our lodgers to be flooded with our mail, we had to plan what should be done with it. Our first step was to go “paperless” wherever possible. Most banks, companies and organisations offer this option rather than sending out statements and circulars in hard copy. The advantage of the internet is that you can now keep track of bank, credit card and other statements wherever you happen to be in the world at the time. The second step was to notify family and friends; particularly those who regularly sent letters and Christmas cards not to do so until our return, but contact us by email instead. The third was to set up a “post restante” address for replacement bank and credit cards when they came up for renewal while we were away on our circumnavigation. We have used my sister in law’s address for this purpose.

Before we left we asked all our banks and credit card companies to extend the renewal date on our cards so that the renewal occurred after our return. However, only American Express were willing to do so. We have found that obtaining replacement bank and credit cards to be one of the more frustrating aspects of ocean cruising. In our experience postal systems around the world are neither timely nor efficient. In one case a credit card for me, which was sent registered mail to my cousin in Durban, somehow ended up in San Francisco! Needless to say it eventually arrived long after we had left. What has worked well for us is to use the OCC’s excellent worldwide port officer network to hold mail for us. That said, you need to allow plenty of time for postage and plan accordingly.


Vice Commodore, OCC