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

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

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!

Part 4 SPORADES – CHALKIDIKI Sailing GREECE

Greece $14.94 Greece

Sailing $4.99 “By Rod Stewart. For piano, voice, and guitar (chords only). Love; Pop; Rock. 5 pages. Published by Hal Leonard – Digital Sheet Music”

Sailing On $14.99 Lml Music:24

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