I do not have any problem

I recently met Pat and Ali while they were in Melbourne, and after reading this message board am completely shocked by some of the things that have been said.

First off is the guy who implied that Pat and Ali are traipsing around the world on daddy's money while he had to work on a fishing boat for 7 years. Do you have any idea what Ali and Pat did for a living? Believe me, it's not daddy's money.

Next is Alan Wheeler's implication that Ali should get off the boat immediately because she isn't safe. Seems to me that Ali and Pat are equals in this journey. So why do you seem to be saying that Ali can't handle the boat by herself? Maybe treating your wife that way is the reason you are still sitting at the dock.

And the most recent post by the guy on the Lagoon 570. Are you seriously trying to compare your little trip to South America with the trip that Ali and Pat have taken on their 35 foot cat? How many crew do you have on that boat anyway?

Give me a break people. Read Ali and Pat's latest update and maybe you will finally understand that they have more sailing experience than 99% of you in here, and they have every right to be out there.

I can't wait to follow them the rest of the way around the world!

Janice

Aweee sheesh, here we go again. Are you a troll????You just trying to Rock the boat here or what?

It might be interesting to read 'Shrimpy' by Shane Acton. Left his own home inland city - Cambrige - by river in an 18' marine ply cruiser, no engine, no dinghy, he acquired a Woolworths inflatable toy boat and a small outboard later on the journey, never sailed before and commenced his unrushed circumnavigation forthwith with 400 pounds sterling capital, using the two canals. Part of the way he had a female companion. Prince Philip caught up with him in 'Oz'! Had previously had experience of power boats as a Royal Marine Commando that was all. He returned up the river to his home 'port'- not his last journey!

Arrr just to be sure everyone is clear, "Troll" is an internet term for someone trolling, as in fishing, up trouble. Comments are made to see if they can stir the pot and bring peoples comments to a boil.

NOBODY is knocking Pat and Ali personally. Get that clear.

I imagine they to be great people and they look a lovely fun couple. I think it is great that they have taken on this adventure and more power to them. We all here wish them the best and wish them calm sea's and fair winds. BUT.......
There are some things they have done that have been a little scary to think about.
WE HAVE ALL DONE SIMILAR THINGS in our lives of learning to sailing. The difference??? they have chosen to place their exploits on a Public domain, for all to view and thus for all to comment.

Janice, surely yourself, if YOU have any sailing experiance, would have to agree that somethings have been a little hairy. They have gotten away with problems so far, but what if..... and the what if's happen out there. I just can't believe their luck or Gods grace to them so far.

yeah well to be honest, I was thinking two thoughts when I wrote the word Troll. (slaps back of hand as thinks, naughty me:D )

Hello again from the Troll,

I agree with what you guys are saying about people posting things about things they know nothing about, such as the guy stating that Pat and Ali are cruising on daddy's money.

Alan, the reason I know you are sitting at the dock is because you have the time to make 850 posts! Nobody with that many posts could possibly be out cruising.

And yes, I still say the trip from FL to South America is a hop. On a 57 foot cat that trip could be made in about 3 nights! That's a hop!

Last post from me. Have fun in your cyber cruising world.

Janice

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And yes, I still say the trip from FL to South America is a hop. On a 57 foot cat that trip could be made in about 3 nights! That's a hop!

Wow, that would be a fast hop.

Well, if all the planets and all the stars were alligned right, and if Steve Fosset with his multi billion mucho multi-hull and his multi pro crew let go all margins, yup, ya could sail down there to the Northern tip of South America from the Southern tip of Noth American in 3 days..Maybe...never tried it, but I fly that way every day....1000 miles or so...In a sailboat that would be a bit longer due to islands in the way, currents and other factors, like weather....3 days? Hmm you could not pay me enough to go on that one.

Quote:

Last post from me. Have fun in your cyber cruising world.

Aye janice, based on yer 2 postings and not much substance, I'd say you should hang around here and learn something from guys that have been out there sailing and still have time to post on the 'net, instead of hanging on to Pat and Ali's happy go lucky story that reads like a fools tale...

(In case ya don't understand the last sentence, then ya don't have too many sea-miles under yer belt, or too much boating experience..Which seems to be common on this thread from people that defend the journey and the actions of Pat and Ali instead of questioning or being shocked by some of the stuff we are reading)

That being said, my hat off to people that go out there and just "do it"....Even more so if they did their home work and sailed in style and comfort with a minimum of seamanship applied to the journey..

To read this tale make some of us cringe, that would be the 99% that have been out there sailing the oceans....Not the wannabees that defends the actions of the ignorant newbies.

Wow!, this is my 854th post. I didn't realise that. Thanks for letting me know that Janice. But I think ya failed to read one or two other statistics there Janice. When I started Posting and thus the average of just 1.3 posts per day. Or that could be looked at another way. I was born in 1962, that makes me 43 nearly 44. I grew up in a family with boats and can remember being on boats before much else. The first time I got to control a sailboat and she was 40ft, was when I was 12. I owned my own boat, which was a Paper Tiger when I was 17. That's because I had to get a job to be able to buy my own boat. At one point in life, I worked for sometime fitting equipment to vessels both large and small and having to take them out and test or comission them. I worked in Chandlery for several years and was well trained in many different aspects of equipment and was also a service agent for several brands of electronics. I have yacht raced large yachts for many years and am about to do one from Auckland to Russell. And oh look, I have now done what I wasn't going to, I have spouted on about myself.

As for Florida to South America in 3 days. Girl, go get your Atlas out and take a look at how far that is. I don't know what the Departure and Arrival ports for the person in question were, but if someone took the shortest possible route, it is like sailing from Melbourne to Cairns. If you can do that in 3 days, you better take you and ya boat and enter the next Sydney to Hobart, because you'll smash the race record by doing it in hours not days.
Oh but, you probably can't enter the Sydney to Hobart, becasue you wouldn't have the experiance that is required by the Authorities to be able to participate and we certainly know you can't use Pat and Ali's boat, because it doesn't come up to the safety requirements of Cat1. ;)
OK know I have just broken my own personal rule number two, I retaliated. Sorry Gord, I will try better next time.

OK Wheels, now it's my turn.

or distance / time = rate

so 1184 nautical miles (Miami to Caracas) in 3 nights (4 days? let's say 72 to 84 hours) = 14 to 16 knots.

Is that an unreasonable average speed for a 57' catamaran reaching across the trade winds?

Regards,

Tim

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Is that an unreasonable average speed for a 57' catamaran reaching across the trade winds?

Averaging 15 knots day and night for a cruising boat is pretty darn good,

For a racing boat with all the crew, the gear and the support, it would not be out of reach,...

So, uh are we still comparing and commenting on cruisers, racers or amateurs?

I'd sure subscribe to the rule: Live and let live, just don't promote idiots as being heros.

My God, how disapointed I am with you guys...

I really enjoyed starting writing to this thread, but know I realized it's really pointless.

You guys must be the sailing popes or something.

And you should all go live to the USA and join GW Bush's republican party, as you guys are all but democrates!

Thank God you are nobodies, like the rest of us...

I just don't have any experience sailing on big cats (or small ones for that matter), so I don't know if 15 knots is realistic or not. I gather that they're supposed to have the potential to reach at much faster speeds than a monohull. I know that the Dashew's design their big monohull cruising boats to be sailed by couples at average speeds approaching 12 knots (or something like that).

My main point was simply to inject a little quantitative reasoning into the assessment of Janice's claim. Yeah, a 3-night (and 4 day) passage of 1200 miles seems extremely unrealistic to those of us used to short-handed cruising on smaller, slower, displacement monohulls; and it may still be a bit of an exaggeration for a big cat but might not be all that far-fetched.

(Disclaimer: this is not an endorsement of anyone's claims, least of all Pat & Ali's mis-adventures.)

Regards,

Tim

actually mario - to receive the coveted "sailing pope" classification, you have to sail a 57 foot cat from FL to South America in about 3 nights! at that point you can refer to the trip as a mere "hop". documentation of the trip is required and only those trips certified by the SPC (sailing pope club) are recognized. there is a special burgee you can fly and a large ring kissing ceremony. as you can imagine, there are very few living "sailing popes", since the extreme lifestyle often leads to an early death. i, myself have never met a "sailing pope", but i did once meet a "cruising nudist", but that's another story.

Capt Lar,

Portugal is a great country. Set sail and come here. I'll buy you a beer. What the heack, come here and I'll buy you a whole bunch of beers!

:D

Well, it's refreshing to say the least, to see the course this thread is now taking. So let me wade in up to my knees and paddle about for a mo.

Wow what a conversation piece this has turned into !! (The post that is)

I still can’t believe how many people have criticized this couple for their choices of food? I personally understand and can relate to them wanting a hamburger or pizza~ maybe it is the age difference no offense.

It has been great to read all the comments especially those that support Pat & Ali on their adventures! Ahh, so you now see where I am aligned :O)

oh and just an FYI I never intended this post to be so harsh!! I really thought it would revolve around how the manufactor / seller of bumfuzzle conducted business.. what a suprise that it was not!! Hopefully, Pat & Ali got many hits to their site resulting from this fiasco! :O)

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basically there journey would be beat to death by so called "Pros of the sailing world"

Don't think anybody around here have claimed to be "Pros of the sailing wolrd".

Where did ya get that idea..?

Try "the common sense crowd" instead....:D

Dag:
uhhh ... that might have been me. Note my e-mail address. :)

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uhhh ... that might have been me. Note my e-mail address

Nah, they ain't that sharp....:D

What did this young couple do for a living to be able to afford a 160k boat, 30k or so for refit, 35k for a major repair ...?

A hint of jealousy in the question? You bet! I'm 10 years older than these two Gen Xers and I have scrimped for every fastener and done all the work myself in refitting my 30-year-old sloop for a passage. And how rewarding that has been: trolling markets in Hong Kong and Bangkok for boat bits has allowed me to use my (very little) Cantonese and (little more) Thai. I know a canvas shop that does great work for about 1/10th what I would have paid from a "marine" shop; I know where to get stainless you-name-it anywhere in either city.

And doing the work myself (including replacing bulkheads) has had me crawl through every inch below decks. On at least one occassion, I thought I might meet my end wedged head down in the bilge, feet sticking out of the lazarette. Before I bought Eroica, I knew little about engines; now I fancy myself (perhaps a little too optimistically) a marginally competent diesel mechanic. In short, I KNOW that boat inside and out. I think that counts for a lot - and it's experience you can't get by hiring someone to do it for you!

It's great finally too to be getting this pesky controversy sorted - especially by such an authority on yachting :

"No doubt that if I spent a couple of years building a boat I'd be so sick and tired of the thing by the time it was done that all I'd want to do is sell it and move on to something else. But hey, they all seem to be enjoying the process and I am positive their boats will be built a heck of a lot better than the one we are sailing around the world in. .Notice we haven't ever met a person who is building a monohull. Seems like people have finally realized that there is no benefit to a monohull over a catamaran. :D

Alan, I like you much better when you're steamed up a bit. You get direct.

:D :cheers:

The more I read of the blog, the more i have to assume the joke is on us. No one is that stupid; I think these kids are smart Gen-Xers who see a book idea in pulling one over on the yachting stuffed shirts. The problem is, they ARE actually doing this and so are a potential hazard to navigation.

Unlike others, I think there's a good possibility they will make it in one piece - not because they are skilled navigators or able sea (persons), just because they have that starry eyed look of the lucky.