In June I finally cast off for my big adventure. I have recently finished my sailing season and am now back earning money till May 2019.
I'm editing all my footage and will be releasing a video every friday on my You Tube channel. If you'd like to keep up with my trip up through the Solomons, out to Ontong Java, PNG and West Papua then please subscribe as I won't be posting the videos here each week

This first video is a little boring, as most passage videos are I guess, they do get better though.

Thanks for posting your video here showing the ups and downs of a trip. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip.

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oldboyracer said..
Thanks for posting your video here showing the ups and downs of a trip. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip.

Thanks OBR.

Great video Dexport, interested in your learning process to see what I can learn to do that.

Exhausting but glad you have a fast boat, days difference possibly

Changing your crewing/vetting?

Bloody great mate, seems you need to find a better crew I know it's a bit Radom. Have a Canadian bloke in oz that's looking to crew at the moment?

Bloody great mate, seems you need to find a better crew I know it's a bit Radom. Have a Canadian bloke in oz that's looking to crew at the moment?

Good stuff Dex. I wish you well.

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dism said..
Great video Dexport, interested in your learning process to see what I can learn to do that.

Exhausting but glad you have a fast boat, days difference possibly

Changing your crewing/vetting?

Hi Dism

Thanks mate.
Yeah I was so happy with my boat, might have even turned back in a lesser vessel. The first 3 days I was mostly sailing close hauled, 30 degrees apparent and into a reasonable swell. In my old boat I couldn't even sail closer than 50d degrees and against those swells would have been struggling to get 4 kts. On the ruhm-line its 1100Nm to Honiara and I averaged 137.5Nm per day but I had to tack a fair bit so that average would have been even higher. I'm really proud to own this boat, she's so perfect for me. For a 37ft boat she just clocks along at 7-9 kts whether theres 40kts of breeze or 10knts.

Regarding crew, I found out during the rest of the season that I much prefer doing passages solo. So much more relaxing. I can make my decisions instinctively as they only affect me. I have sort of made a private rule that the max time I want people on board for is 2 weeks. I love my alone time and I actually find it less scary sailing alone.

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southace said..
Bloody great mate, seems you need to find a better crew I know it's a bit Radom. Have a Canadian bloke in oz that's looking to crew at the moment?

Thanks Southace

As you saw in the video I'm now in Europe working till May. My boat is waiting for me in Raja Ampat. At the moment not looking for crew next season.

Lovely boat and a very wise decision to buy. Loved the video but was surprised to see a Hydrovane on the stern not being used. What was steering the vessel? I would have thought a servo windvane might be more suited at the speeds your traveling at. Looking forward to your next video when you get back. Please show some windvane action in your next production.

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Ramona said..
Lovely boat and a very wise decision to buy. Loved the video but was surprised to see a Hydrovane on the stern not being used. What was steering the vessel? I would have thought a servo windvane might be more suited at the speeds your traveling at. Looking forward to your next video when you get back. Please show some windvane action in your next production.

Well spotted Ramona. I actually got that hydrovane mounted only a couple of days before departing. I bought that thing off eBay for $300. Its about 25 years old but was only used to sail a boat over the pacific and has been in storage ever since. The course locking clamp was missing though so its actually not functioning as a wind vane at the moment. The reason I really wanted to get it mounted before leaving though was to have a back-up rudder just in case. My rudder on Schiehallion is 2m long and in my mind very exposed for such an important item.

There is a raymarine auto pilot mounted to the rudderstock below deck that works faultlessly and I purchased a spare motor, clutch and compass for that before leaving also.

I will get the hydrovane up and running for next season.

Thanks for watching.

Good video Dexport.

Good to see an honest representation of sailing and being on the water for extended periods of time.

Its hard for people that experience serious sea sickness. Going out for a day is nothing compared to days at a time. There is no break and it can be life threatening.

And if you havent already I encourage you to reach out to that young man and make sure he isnt tortured by the experience. Look at him with a kind spirit in that he was brave enough to do the journey with you and he may feel shame in his inability to help, when really its not his fault.

Dont let one experience stop you from enjoying a thousand more.

Look forward to seeing your next vids and subscribed.

Really great Video Dexport !! a great job sailing as well ! I do feel sorry for the the young bloke , and hope he has another crack at it in the future . Did he have any good drugs to prevent the seasickness , like quells or summit ?
You were lucky he didn't get really critically ill !

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SandS said..
Really great Video Dexport !! a great job sailing as well ! I do feel sorry for the the young bloke , and hope he has another crack at it in the future . Did he have any good drugs to prevent the seasickness , like quells or summit ?
You were lucky he didn't get really critically ill !

Thanks Sands. Yeah I feel sorry for Tom as well, much more so now than at the time! I don't believe he was suffering from sea-sickness, well not any type that I've ever seen. He didn't vomit once and had no problem cooking sausages and eggs twice a day. I think he was very afraid and home sick.
I had plenty of 2 types of sea-sick meds on board and urged him to take them but he was adamant that it only worked if you started taking them before leaving land.
At the time it was very frustrating for me but over time I've come to realise that people just react differently in a stressful situation. I was trying to get him up in the cockpit, get him to steer so that he could see that while it was rough, everything was under control and we weren't in any danger. And that is the way I deal with things, look at the problem, confront it and deal with it. His safe place was his bunk and he just wanted to stay there till it was all over.
His final comment before he left in Honiara was, " well at least I can say that i sailed to Honiara". That didn't really do much to increase my respect for him.

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simmrr said..
Good video Dexport.

Good to see an honest representation of sailing and being on the water for extended periods of time.

Its hard for people that experience serious sea sickness. Going out for a day is nothing compared to days at a time. There is no break and it can be life threatening.

And if you havent already I encourage you to reach out to that young man and make sure he isnt tortured by the experience. Look at him with a kind spirit in that he was brave enough to do the journey with you and he may feel shame in his inability to help, when really its not his fault.

Dont let one experience stop you from enjoying a thousand more.

Look forward to seeing your next vids and subscribed.

Thanks Simmrr, glad you liked it.

See my reply to Sands regarding my crew member.
One thing I will add though is that I had no qualms about doing the passage Solo but my girlfriend(who was in Switzerland) was very afraid for me so I took a crew to make her feel better.

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simmrr said..
Good video Dexport.

Good to see an honest representation of sailing and being on the water for extended periods of time.

Its hard for people that experience serious sea sickness. Going out for a day is nothing compared to days at a time. There is no break and it can be life threatening.

And if you havent already I encourage you to reach out to that young man and make sure he isnt tortured by the experience. Look at him with a kind spirit in that he was brave enough to do the journey with you and he may feel shame in his inability to help, when really its not his fault.

Dont let one experience stop you from enjoying a thousand more.

Look forward to seeing your next vids and subscribed

Well said simmr - the young bloke will certainly have needed some reassurance and help to deal with the psychological effects of his experience. Seasickness can set off a spiral of cascading issues that can ruin a trip - or even worse, end in disaster.

I've no doubt he was mortified with his own performance, especially in front of such a well credentialled skipper as Dexport.
Guilt, shame, anger and embarrassment are just a few of the emotions he'd be feeling.
One unfortunate outcome can be to resolve to never venture offshore again.

I certainly hope he got/gets the support he needs.

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Dexport said..

simmrr said..
Good video Dexport.

Good to see an honest representation of sailing and being on the water for extended periods of time.

Its hard for people that experience serious sea sickness. Going out for a day is nothing compared to days at a time. There is no break and it can be life threatening.

And if you havent already I encourage you to reach out to that young man and make sure he isnt tortured by the experience. Look at him with a kind spirit in that he was brave enough to do the journey with you and he may feel shame in his inability to help, when really its not his fault.

Dont let one experience stop you from enjoying a thousand more.

Look forward to seeing your next vids and subscribed.

Thanks Simmrr, glad you liked it.

See my reply to Sands regarding my crew member.
One thing I will add though is that I had no qualms about doing the passage Solo but my girlfriend(who was in Switzerland) was very afraid for me so I took a crew to make her feel better.

Yep I understand Dexport. Its hard to know without being their firsthand. Im not judging you.

Its just from some of your responses I am sensing that you had a bad experience. I just wanted to encourage you not let it get to you and see the positive side of things.

Its good you mentioned your wife, even if things didn't go as planned, you were doing the right thing all round. You can definitely take that away with you.

It's a subject definitely worth talking about, the issues faced at sea, whether psychological or physical, so thanks for replying. Pictures and postcards are great but such a real representation of what happens, in an honest way, is worth its weight in gold.

I already congratulated you about the new yacht and now on the video l have seen the thing working and functioning. Good on ya!

As far as the sad crew is concerned, it is a poignant lesson for you that if you are going to have a crew never have an untested one, ever on your boat.
This following thoughts are quoted from Foolish's book:
www.sfbaysss.net/resource/doc/SinglehandedTipsThirdEdition.pdf

" With all of these times that I have left the dock, I have never - not even once - had a bad day on the water.
Sailing gives me a sense of joy that is quite rare. I imagine it is the same sense that the monks in Tibet achieve. It is certainly the sense that the Dalai Lama seems to show every time he laughs.
But not all sailing gives me this feeling, only single-handing.
I have raced many times with a full crew, but found myself frustrated more often than not. Why is this? I've had some great crewmates; friendly people who were fantastic to spend time with. Perhaps I found it too exhausting, as skipper, to be responsible for not only my own actions, but the actions of every other person on the boat. When I'm alone, I rarely need to consider what I'm doing. The boat just reacts to my desires - automatically. One day I was sailing alongside another yacht and the skipper told me that I "wear my boat like a glove."

Some of this sentiments you contemplated on in your video, which I liked very much. Thank you.

Happy skiing in Austria !
Frohe Weichnachten und ein gluckliches Neues Jahr!

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sirgallivant said..
I already congratulated you about the new yacht and now on the video l have seen the thing working and functioning. Good on ya!

As far as the sad crew is concerned, it is a poignant lesson for you that if you are going to have a crew never have an untested one, ever on your boat.
This following thoughts are quoted from Foolish's book:
www.sfbaysss.net/resource/doc/SinglehandedTipsThirdEdition.pdf

" With all of these times that I have left the dock, I have never - not even once - had a bad day on the water.
Sailing gives me a sense of joy that is quite rare. I imagine it is the same sense that the monks in Tibet achieve. It is certainly the sense that the Dalai Lama seems to show every time he laughs.
But not all sailing gives me this feeling, only single-handing.
I have raced many times with a full crew, but found myself frustrated more often than not. Why is this? I've had some great crewmates; friendly people who were fantastic to spend time with. Perhaps I found it too exhausting, as skipper, to be responsible for not only my own actions, but the actions of every other person on the boat. When I'm alone, I rarely need to consider what I'm doing. The boat just reacts to my desires - automatically. One day I was sailing alongside another yacht and the skipper told me that I "wear my boat like a glove."

Some of this sentiments you contemplated on in your video, which I liked very much. Thank you.

Happy skiing in Austria !
Frohe Weichnachten und ein gluckliches Neues Jahr!

Hi Sir

Thanks for your comment. Yes I learnt good lesson and will hopefully not make it again. Learning By Doing!

He puts into words better than I could. Exactly that though, when sailing solo I make decisions and sail instinctively, no second guessing.