An Offshore Passage..Secure it, Lash it Down, Close it tight, or lose it Overboard!!

The only thing that fell over on our last offshore passage were the cushions…we forgot to replace the velcro when we redid the bulkheads. But losing something overboard, whether it be your valuable water supply, a crew member, or the anchor at sea…all can be a very serious problem while sailing offshore on a passage!

Patrick Childress’ latest “Tips from the Pros” Sailing Video series, with Hank Schmitt, demonstrates some simple things you can do, before leaving on an offshore passage, to prevent bigger problems while you are sailing offshore.

Check out the video here, and please leave all comments on the video in YouTube…not here. It really helps Youtube to promote the video more if they see that you are enjoying the video and commenting about it, sharing it, giving it a thumbs up etc.

Female Crew on a Sailboat: Sailing Safe

Professional Delivery Captains -Sailing Tips from the Pros Sailing Series

Lead acid batteries can eat a sailboat alive!

Lead Acid Batteries can dissolve a sailboat!

Our latest video is out! So much work to take out the old corroded wood and build a new battery box! Share in Patricks misery as he sees just how extensive the damage is from these lead acid batteries!

Whether duribg rough seas, equalization, or every day use, the battery fumes while chargibg, or actual leakage, battery acid has ruined all of the wood in the battery compartment/battery box on our sailboat. Trojan t-105 batteries are awesome batteries, but the ecscaped battery acid has rotted everything and Patrick replaces the entire battery box in this 2 part series!

Mozambique Cyclone Idai – Sailing towards a storm In March (a little earlier than planned-still in cyclone season!)

Mozambique Cyclone Idai – Sailing towards a storm, a little earlier than planned, during cyclone season…

Late April, May and June is the right time to sail this coast….We left mid March because of an extraordinary weather window which would carry us the first 1000 miles downwind, instead of upwind…

Was it 100% safe? NO.

Did we get more than we bargained for, or just what we signed up for? Watch the video to find out…

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What do most people do when they see a cyclone on the Predictwind forecast with their Iridium GO or other ways of getting weather at sea? They stay safely in port, right? We saw an opportunity to go south with the north winds that would be north of the cyclone in the the Southern Hemisphere near Tanzania and Mozambique. It promised, if we played it just right, to carry us at least 1000 miles south with nice north winds!

So we grabbed our last veggies and eggs for 3 weeks, and set sail to South Africa, chasing Cyclone Idai down  down the coast of Mozambique. We wanted to be close enough for the winds, but not too close!!! We later found out that this cyclone was the worst cyclone to ever hit Mozambique, killing thousands of people and demolishing even more homes. It’s a good thing we played it just right!

Even with that, we did get the remnants of it when we got a little too close…and we were socked with 50 knot winds for a bit, complete with driving rain and lots of thunder and lightening. Seas mounted fast. Luckily it was short lived.

Too bad it was too rough and most off all too dark, to film during the very worst of it, or I know Patrick would have been up filming it!

Hope you enjoy the video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe, and have a lovely Easter weekend! If you have any spare change, leave it in the TIP jar in the top right corner of the screen…thanks!

We studied the two following books/guides (click on either to see more detail), and utilized our Professional Subscription at Predictwind  to help make these very important and intricate decisions about our trip south. Des Cason, a local Weather and anchorage guru and long time cruiser in this area also provided daily updates and advice as we moved south.

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See our Track…from Year One to Now with Predictwind!

 

Mozambique In April, May and June

Mozambique Cyclone Sailing Tanzania to South Africa