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Where am I ? >
FAQ > |
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A list of Frequently Asked Questions
When are you leaving?We want to leave 31st July 2004. We are going to The Netherlands for a couple of weeks in June/July, otherwise we’ll have to miss our family and friends for such a long time. How long will you be on the way?About 12 months. Stefan will return to his old job with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Rotterdam in September 2005. Natascha will start looking for a new job. How did you get to this plan?Stefan has always been into water sports, and this has been a dream for many years. Not so for Natascha since she doesn't have that much experience. A world trip sounds great, but on a boat....not really! But then we went to Singapore. A lot had changed in a very short period: Got married, Natascha resigned from her job, moved to Singapore and we were now living and working in an entirely different environment. One evening, Stefan was watching a television program about sailing around the world and he mentioned “That's not really for us, isn't it?”. And before she realized it the reply was “Why not?” This was all he needed and from that day, we were on a train that couldn't be stopped. How did you prepare yourselves?Of course we've been sailing a lot and, to that read many books and spent numerous hours browsing the Internet. There's so much available, you could easily fill days browsing (too bad we still have our jobs..). We also found talking to (ex) cruisers, who are easy to find when living in a Marina, extremely useful. Natascha is taking a “Day Skipper” course and Stefan will do a “Diesel Engine” course to shine some light on the mysterious world of diesel engines. For the rest we trust on common sense and learning by doing. Navigation, boat repairs, equipment handling, “just do it” has proven to be the best education. On the medical part, we are both trained in Medical First Aid. The necessary vaccinations we already got 2 years ago. On board we have The Medical Sailors Handbook and a stuffed First Aid and medicine kit. Hopefully we won’t need this all, but you never know! How did you prepare the boat?The trip from Hong Kong had its moments, but was very useful to get on top of all weak points. Things you won’t spot during a Sunday afternoon trip, become quite apparent after 10 days pounding into weather and fighting high waves. Basically the boat turned out to be in a good condition, but she
had several minor problems. We have revised or replaced all parts
of which we were not 100% sure, so that during our trip we just
need to focus on new problems. Solving existing problems is no challenge
after all... Before we leave, we plan a “shake-down cruise” to Langkawi or Pulau Tioman (Malaysia), which provides the last opportunity to test all equipment thoroughly. After spending this much money, it better works! And what if she sinks?Well, she shouldn't. We have got wooden plugs in case one of the sea cocks fails. Icebergs and sunk containers will hardly be found close to the equator and the chance to meet a moody whale is pretty low. With our radar, depth meter, a forward looking sonar (which draws a “picture” of the water in front of the boat) and some proper navigation, we should be able to keep her off the reefs. And if we got to that stage, we have all the standard safety equipment on board such as life jackets, safety harnesses, life raft, abandon ship life bag, communication devices, EPIRB, warning flares and fire extinguishers. All necessary equipment but frankly, none if it you want to use. What are you doing on passages? Isn't it boring?We don't think we’ll get easily bored. Lots of jobs need to be done on board such as trimming sails, doing repairs, catching and preparing fish, cleaning, cooking etc. Everything on a moving and heeling boat costs twice as much energy and takes thrice as much time as normal. Preparing a simple meal, doing the dishes or even using the head, it’s all very challenging. The constant movement of the boat and the short uncomfortable hours sleeping leave you pretty tired as it is. A short nap now and then will un doubtfully fill any dull moments. Last but not least, we've got many books to read and of course, maintaining this web site. Do you take turns helming?No we don't We have Woody for that, or the electrical autopilot, in case There's no wind. Woody is the nickname of the wind vane which has steered us razor-sharp from Hong Kong to Singapore. He's never moody, never tired or seasick and the best thing, doesn't need electricity. Woody got its name from the actual wind vane, comprising of a piece of wood that is flipped over by the wind if the boat goes off course. An ingenious mechanical system with simple lines attached to the steering wheel keeps the boat on track. Its responsiveness only gets up when the wind gets stronger. However, it asks for a well-balanced boat, so you should take care in trimming the sails. Which you should do in the first place. In light winds, high swell or sailing with the wind (wind from behind), Woody doesn't perform that well, so That's when we use the electrical autopilot. It’s a computer combined with a powerful linear drive directly connected to the steering quadrant that holds the boat on a compass course. Obviously, when the wind changes you need to trim the sails again to the new wind angle. What do you do when you are not sailing?While you can do small jobs at sea, more extensive maintenance will have to wait till we reach an anchorage. And sightseeing of course. We hope to visit some pretty remarkable places that are crying to be visited and explored. The islands in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean, South Africa, Brazil and numerous other special places. And don't forget diving. We have our own equipment and are bringing our own compressor to fill the tanks. Imagine anchoring in a beautiful lagoon, with plenty of coral, turtles and big game fish. Spear a nice barracuda and you have a terrific barbecue. Which route do you take?There are basically two feasible (forget about Cape Horn) routes from Singapore to Europe. The shortest route is Sri Lanka, India, the Red Sea, through the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea and the Gibraltar Street up to the Netherlands. This route has little wind up until the Red Sea, and then you need to maneuver around numerous reefs and commercial vessels, 800 miles against an often fierce wind. Meanwhile you have a serious risk of getting attacked by pirates. Done that, been there – and was difficult enough without the extra hazards. Alternative is across the South Indian Ocean, rounding South Africa, via St Helena to Brazil through the appealing Caribbean Sea. Then via Bermuda and the Azores to England and the Netherlands. It’s a bit of a sail, but not as bad as it looks. That route has very steady trade winds and the accompanying current on the stern, which gives a much quieter and quicker sail than the first route. From South Africa straight to Europe doesn't really work because you would have very low winds of the African coast and virtually no attractive options to anchor. And again, poor fishermen who easily turn into pirates potentially waiting for you. Fortunately, Espiritu is a true sailing boat that performs well, even in calm conditions which should achieve a satisfactory daily average. You will find more details on the route page. How do you know where you are when you are in the middle of the ocean?That's an easy one these days. Thanks to the US navy the whole world can now make use of GPS, which is one of the most valuable inventions for today's boating. We have a ship GPS with an external antenna which is even connected to the electrical autopilot and two handheld devices for back up. The good old sextant belongs in a museum unless you want to test your mathematical skills or are extremely thrilled about nostalgic seamanship. It works, the angle to the sun or stars, some tables, a watch and a calculator is all you need to fix your position. Not as accurate as a GPS but it must be rewarding. Guess we will have to seek our satisfaction in other challenges. What are you doing at nights?As anchoring deep-sea is not really an option, we just have to keep on sailing – it makes also sense presuming you want to do keep your daily mileage up. And besides, forgot to bring the 2,000 meter of anchor chain…. We maintain watches of 3 to 4 hours day and night. Over time, we will probably fine-tune the schedule a bit to our (sleeping)-needs. The person on watch stays outside in the cockpit while Woody takes care of the course. A simple cooking alarm set every 15 minutes avoids dazing off. The other sleeps in the saloon. When off-watch you go down to the saloon to get some sleep, armed with some ear-plugs against the constant noise that you inevitably have on a boat. At the shift change you get the other updated on position, wind and weather, a hug and off you are. Setting an additional reef is also easiest done with two awake. Are you stocking up food for a whole year?Not necessary as you can get groceries in every port, although you do want to anticipate on very limited stock in some of the more remote places. Despite the fridge and freezer, you do need to fall back on the ancient ways of preserving food and of course get as much dried and canned food as you can. Fresh food is best bought at local markets where it hasn't been cooled and thus spoiled for long term storage. It’s incredible what you can do with simple food added with some spices and the occasional fresh fish. And no worries about the fresh warm buns, we have a splendid bread maker! Aren't you scared?Not exactly scared, but we are well aware of the risks we are facing. Rough weather is an obvious concern although the risk of a really big storm can be reasonably managed by monitoring weather fax images that indicate upcoming bad weather. In many cases it's quite possible to avoid storms if you have sufficient time to wait for a few days or change your course dramatically. Some say that a skipper with time never has to face rough seas. You may have plain bad luck but much can be avoided. The most dangerous event is a man-over-board situation. Especially if you go over the side at night, your chances of being rescued are pretty slim. That's why we are very strict in using harnesses with lifelines in heavy seas or at night. If you are cautious, there is no need to fall overboard and see your ship setting off without you. Remains equipment failure, which will always happen regardless what. Maintenance and regular checking reduces the risk of dramatic failures but it is amazing what the combination salt seawater, waves and sun can do to the studious materials. Spares and back-up plans are the first line of defense and if everything fails you just need to be prepared to do without it. “If you can’t fix it and you can't do without it, don't take it on board”. Anchoring securely is a matter of knowing the underground, technique, enough chain and if in doubt go through the hustle of setting a second anchor. We have three big anchors, which should be enough to keep us in position even when seeking shelter from storms. It helps that we only draw 4 ft which is necessary to come closer into a bay than many other boats. No risk is an utopia and remember that the Titanic was already built. There is, however, no equipment that beats good seamanship and a little luck. And what about hurricanes?We planned our route such that we avoid the hurricane regions in their respective risky seasons. We got our planning input from Jimmy Cornell's Cruising Routes and a CD Visual Passage planner that gives wind- and current roses per month based on historical data. Yes, we know about statistics but some are supported by scientific arguments. Hurricanes are generated by seawater warmed up to a stage that it creates hot humid air that rapidly rises and starts spinning around. Unless global warming really takes of, this simply cannot happen in certain seasons. How can we get in contact with you?We will be accessible through email via either the short wave radio
or the satellite telephone. Band-width is of course very limited
so please stick to flat text when mailing us at mail@espiritu.nl.
Once we reach land we are most likely to find an internet cafe with
normal transmission speeds. Can we join you on an trip?We are very much looking forward to family and friends visiting us to share with us part of what is meant to be the most special year in our life. A bit of diving, day-sailing, catching some fish, nice dinner, one or two (or more) beers and that all in remote places that can only be reached if you have a boat. No worries about seasickness in such a trip and you will easily get used to the confined area and shortage of storage and privacy. Doing a longer trip or even a passage is discussable and will be a very particular experience. This has nothing to do with your average sunny afternoon sail on a small lake while enjoying some wine and cheese. You should realize that the boat is always in motion, requires constant alertness, never stops and you can’t get off – no matter how miserable or scared you are. It is fair to say that it will probably be one of the most remarkable holidays of your life that you are unlikely to forget. The price of adventure is nicely captured in the following definition we picked from a sailing book: ”Adventure is something that is uncomfortable and frightening, and while you're in the middle of it, you wish to be somewhere, in fact, anywhere else.” If this sounds appealing, we are looking forward to your email. |
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