Future of Tatoosh

I thought I would do a quick summary of my thought process (such as it is!) regarding the future of Tatoosh and my sailing.

The starting point for this reevaluation is two-fold. Firstly, recognition that the majority of my sailing so far has been short-handed, and will be so in the future  ( me and 1 or 2 crew) or solo. A smaller boat is easier to handle for aging crewmembers. If there is a need/desire for a family sail that can’t be accommodated on new boat, there is the option of chartering a boat for that, without having to own a large boat for this type of trip.

Secondly, now that I am more or less retired, I needed to evaluate whether it makes sense to carry the expense (maintenance, moorage, insurance, operation) of owning a large boat ( or indeed a boat at all!). The net result is that at some point soon, I should be on a smaller boat ( or plan on dying younger!)

A third factor is that I still want to tick-off the box labeled “do an ocean crossing on my own boat” before I die. This needs to happen sooner rather than later, as I am not getting any younger!

The boat options under consideration fall in 2 categories:

1) do the ‘voyage’ in Tatoosh, then sell-up and go smaller

2) sell Tatoosh now and do the ‘voyage’ in the new, albeit smaller boat

A fourth consideration is where the ‘voyage’ is to take place. The 2 options are

1) go south in Pacific Ocean

2) cross Atlantic to England

Voyage option 1, pro and con:

Pro:

·       It is warm!

·       Tatoosh is already in the Pacific Ocean

·       No boat shipment is required

·       Easier to convince crew to join me for a journey to Tahiti than to South Hampton!

·       Did I mention that IT IS WARM?

Con:

·       I have sailed in South Pacific already, as crew with Kris & Erik

·       This will not technically be an ocean crossing per se – so I don’t get to tick the box!

Voyage Option 2:

Pro:

·       Meets my criteria of doing an actual Ocean crossing

·       I’ve always wanted to sail to England!

Con:

·       Getting anyone to sail with me may be problematic, especially for return trip

·       Involves shipping Tatoosh to east coast (or new boat, if not purchased on East coast)

Boat Option 1: do it in Tatoosh

Pro:

·       Valiant is THE boat for open ocean cruising, why I got it in the first place

·       I know the boat well

·       Larger boat will be faster and potentially more comfortable

Con:

·       Will require $$ to get ready , and will be ‘sunk’ money as will not increase sale value

·       In fact, there will be maintenance to do after 5-7000 miles of sailing to get it ready for sale (this is equivalent to X seasons of coastal cruising) – more sunk money

Boat Option 2: do it in smaller boat

Pro:

·       Difference in sale price of Tatoosh and purchase price of replacement will give some $$ for the voyage fund

·       Any repairs/sails, etc for smaller boat will be cheaper

·       Any $$ put into replacement boat for the Voyage, will be to my credit as this will be boat I sail until I can’t sail anymore

Con:

·       Can’t own 2 boats, so Voyage timing will depend on timing of sale of Tatoosh and locating suitable replacement boat

·       Smaller boat will be a slower voyage but maybe not by much

·       Smaller boat may not have sufficient storage(food/water) for a voyage with more than 2 crew

Combining the Voyage options and boat options I came up these scenarios for evaluation:

Plan A:

1.     Sell Tatoosh now

2.     Buy replacement ( something like Orion 27) on east coast

3.     Sail to UK via Azores

4.     Return to Canada/Usa

5.     Ship boat back to west coast

Plan B:

1.     Ship Tatoosh to great Lakes

2.     Sail to East coast

3.     Sail to UK via Azores

4.     Return to Canada/Usa

5.     Sell Tatoosh

6.     Buy replacement on West Coast

Plan C:

1.     Sail Tatoosh to South Pacific via San Diego

2.     Return to California

3.     Sell Tatoosh

4.     Buy replacement on West Coast

Plan D:

1.     Sail Tatoosh to South Pacific via San Diego

2.     Return to Canada via Hawaii

3.     Sell Tatoosh

4.     Buy replacement on West Coast

Each of the proposed plans can be broken down into sections (or ‘legs’) so no one needs to have to commit to the whole trip. If I find that no one wants to join a particular leg of any plan, that may help me make a trip option decision.

The legs for the various plans:

Plan A:

A1: Position new boat in Nova Scotia –Season 1

A2: Sail to Azores (via south Atlantic) (2.5 weeks)- Season 1

A3: Sail Azores to England (2.5 weeks) – Season 1

A4: Sail England back to Canada/USA (this may be north Atlantic or retrace route out)-Season 2

Plan B:

B1: take Tatoosh from Great Lakes to Nova Scotia [ shipping to Halifax is prohibitive]

B2-B4 same as plan A.

Plan D:

D1: Sail to San Diego –Season 1

D2: Sail to Tahiti – Season 1

D3: Sail Tahiti to San Diego – Season 2

Plan D:

C1: Sail to San Diego (12 days) – Season 1

C2: Sail San Diego to Tahitti ( 3 weeks?) – Season 1

C3: Sail Tahiti to Hawaii (2 weeks)  - Season 2

C4: Sail Hawaii to Canada ( 3 weeks) – Season 2

I am sure some bright spark will ask, “why not just sail Tatoosh to the East Coast?”. This would require an additional season, more miles, and the need to find a suitable place to park Tatoosh in the Caribbean or close by, during hurricane season. For this reason

I’ve done what any respectable engineer would do and I made a spread-sheet to help evaluation the options; evaluation continues!

I welcome any comments or suggestions as well as any expression of interest in being crew for any of the legs of the various plans.

Stay tuned.