What do I need to know to sail from D.C. to Greece in a 30' Lancer?

Question

1980 30' Lancer with complete set of sails, 15HP Yanmar Diesel.

Answer 1

You CAN'T be SERIOUS... if you have to ask that question on Yahoo Answers... then you are NOT ready to make a trip like that.

I think the Lancers are great boats... the original Plastic Fantistics... and they are great for sailing in Florida or even the Bahamas or Caribbean... but they are not anything that a sane person would even consider sailing across the Atlantic... especially a 28 YEAR OLD one.

If you have your heart set on taking that plastic toy to Greece to sail the Greek Islands... then sail it to Port Everglades and put it on the Mighty Servant and let them HAUL it over to Europe for you.  You can pick it up in Marsailles when they drop off the yachts and you will enjoy the flight over MUCH more than beating yourself up on an Atlantic crossing.

I have a Captain's license with Aux. Sail and I have over 10,000 sea miles doing deliveries and there is NO WAY that I would even consider taking a 30 foot lancer across the Atlantic.

Answer 2

What a wonderful voyage that is...  I admire the dream, and the dreamer...

Since you did not ask "Can it be done?"  But instead, what do you need to know in order to do it... maybe this will help:

On the Southern route, from DC you need to sail (approx) 900 nm out to Bermuda (should take you about 10 to 12 days, from there, you will have another 1,800 nm of nothing but ocean between you and your next (or first avaliable) land fall - which is in the Canary Islands.

In a 30' Lancer this will take you (with all favorable winds) between 18 and 24 days from Bermuda to reach the Canary Islands... (to get a 100 nm a day on the open ocean in a 30' Lancer will be a good day indeed).

But remember, you certainly do not want to take this route during the Atlantic's hurricane season... which is now to mid November.

So, the other option is the "Northern route" of which the shortest navigable distance between land fall is from New York City and Southampton and that is 3,169 nautical miles. or between 32 and 42 days.

If you can make 100 nm a day sailing - this is always considered to be a very good day on the open sea...  A good sailor will always allow, (or plan) on an additional 1/3 more days for purposes of provisioning his vessel.

Now, for navigational purposes, you also want to make sure you do not the mistake and confuse the "rhumb line" with a "straight line" when mapping your course... as this could result in the curvature of the earth adding another hundred miles to you trip and possibly confusing you and throwing you way off course.  So don't make that mistake!  

So, what you need to consider... you will need a minimum of 34 to 54 days of food, water, etc. plus provisions for emergency (my son and I always pack 60 cans of Ensure in our emergency survival float box - (this box floats if the boat sinks).  The cans of Ensure take up a small amount of space and you can survive in good health on just three cans a day even without fresh water to drink.

So, regardless which route you take, (north or south) once you get there, you can cruise along just fine to the Gibralter Straits, and then you will repeat your Atlantic experience again... crossing the Mediterrian.

Now, here is where you will need to do some work... #1 your 30' Lancer is a "day sailer"... which means it is light weight, and is not fitted to live aboard.  As a result, you will find your Lancer has... What?  A 20 gallon fresh water storage tank?  Obviously, 20 gallons of water is not enough to sustain you for a potential 54 days at sea...  And you did not mention whether of not you will have a "First Mate" along with you.  If your "First Mate" is a woman... Oh my... she will empty your 20 gallon fresh water tank on the first day - by simply flushing the toilet...

Oh, that's another thing... Day sailors don't normally have flush toilets... If they do, they normally have very small holding tanks with only pump outs - which means, you will need to change this all out.  54 days at sea with a porta potty or full holding tank... well, by the time you reach Gilbralter... the monkeys will smell you coming... lol

So, what you need to know is that your vessel was not designed for this voyage... so, forgetting its light weight (which means mainly, you are going to bounce and role around like a message in a bottle... ) But in addition to that, you have storage of water, safe fuel for cooking, and other arrangements (and adaptions) to make...

So, I suggest, you get your self to the library and start checking out some books... there are lots of 'em regarding sailing across the Atlantic and or around the world... after you do this, and you begin to realize how far off your Lancer is from being the right boat for this voyage... then you will probably be a lot closer to knowing what you need to know to make the trip safely.

Take a peek at this link... check out its links at the bottom of the first page... they will give you some very good and helpful, thoughtful things to think about and consider for making this a much more comfortable voyage.

  >  http://boatwrights.org/  <

But whatever you do...  don't loose the dream!

Life is good.  Boating is wonderful!

Happy & Safe Boating!

Answer 3

Your Lancer is GREAT for learning seamanship and polishing the skills you'll need to sail a real "blue water" boat on such a voyage. Sail locally. Make friends with the local yacht club. Read Chapman Piloting. But especially, PRACTICE. Take your boat out in the bay. Do a "dock cruise" (live a week onboard without shore power or any other hookups) and see how you do.

Answer 4

Undertaking that trip would be challenging in a Lancer which is not built for blue water passagemaking.  There have been a number of long voyages made in smaller boats such as the Contessa 26.  However, you have to stock so many provisions for an Atlantic voyage conventional wisedom suggests a 36' sailboat is at the low end.  Ideally, you'd like to have the option to outrun weather systems which puts you in the 60' range.

As the other author previously suggested, such a voyage requires an experienced and knowledgable skipper.  I'd rather cross the Atlantic with a competent captain in a Contessa 26 than a greenhorn in a Valiant 40.

Before you put your life on the line with a Lancer, crew on an Altantic sailboat delivery with an experienced captain (i.e., Master of Oceans).  Once you get to the other side of the pond, read this question again and chuckle to yourself.

Answer 5

Everything. A Lancer is not made to go venturing out of sight of land. People have done it in some pretty unsafe boats, but they were lucky to survive. Murphy's Law is alive and well on the high seas.

First; do a lot of research

Second; get a better boat

Third; get all the training you can, both class room and on the water with experienced instructors.

Then do it!

Answer 6

you need to know witch way is gresse