Preparing for an Ocean Crossing

As you might expect, preparing captain, crew and boat for an ocean crossing is not a trivial exercise.  Even with a purpose-built boat like the Nordhavn, one needs time, money, a crew and a methodology – including as much help as you can garner from others who have already been through it – to get to a point where all things required can be considered mission ready.  It also helps to be a little bit crazy.

Crossing the Pond

Time-wise even a well-stocked and cared-for vessel can require several months of advance preparations. Whether it is for preventive or corrective maintenance, or for provisioning equipment, tools, spare parts, lubricants, or food, it all takes considerable time.  Calculate what you think it should take – then multiply by two or three.

As for the money part – well, let’s just say a significant number of “boat units” are inevitably involved.  While a couple thousand gallons of diesel fuel aren’t cheap, that will represent only a portion of the overall spend.  Provisioning all the right “stuff” (see further below) can add up in a hurry, and then costs for marina and mooring at intermediate ports-of-call go on top of that.

Sourcing a crew can be yet another challenge.  Those who will rotate watch (helm) duties certainly need to be competent in boat handling as well as navigation and communication protocols, including rules of the road (for both sides of the ocean.)  Likewise the crew’s knowledgebase must cover the vessel’s mechanical and support systems, along with first aid, routing and weather planning.  And at least one member will require intimate knowledge of how to stock a galley and plan/direct meal preparations.  For overall crew composition generally speaking you want at least three folks rotating watches, with four being the optimum number.  Five might be tolerable, but only if the boat’s size and its crew quarters can accommodate that many.  After a couple of weeks at sea, a boat begins to feel even smaller than it is.  And when weather and seas get ugly, whatever vessel you’re aboard will be significantly smaller than you think it should be.

Weather Can Change Quickly

And then there is the provisioning…by itself this can be daunting, and thus is where a really good methodology comes into play, preferably built on the experience of others who have “been there, done that.”  Essentially you need to stock the boat to be totally self-sufficient for up to two weeks at a time – and for an even longer duration if you don’t want to be exposed to captive pricing at remote or foreign ports.

There are a number of ways to approach a provisioning methodology, but at a very high level it can be helpful to think of it this way:

1) Mechanical spare parts….this involves everything from tiny duckbill valves for vented loops all the way to complete standby units for alternators, autopilots and bilge pumps, plus belts, hoses, gaskets and you-name-it in between.  Nordhavns in particular are complex beasts not just with their mechanicals but also their “hotel-load” support systems.

Lots of Fluids....a 340HP Lugger Diesel Requires

an Oil Change Every 250 Hours....@ 11+ Gallons Each

2) Mechanical consumables….this encompasses what you’d expect – enough engine oil, hydraulic fluid, fuel additive, coolant, etc., plus oil & fuel & tranny filters, to get the boat across the pond; most of the fluids are purchased in five gallon containers, and there is no such thing as having too many spare filters.

3) Boating & safety equipment, tools & other house/boat supplies….think of anything and everything you’ve purchased or used over your lifetime for your boats, cars and houses and you can likely find a rationale for having it on your trawler.  The challenge is to keep it to the “necessary” but without forgetting something you might regret in the middle of an ocean.

4) Galley equipment & food stuffs….even if you stocked the first three categories perfectly & the boat ran faultlessly but then messed up this one, an ocean crossing could be miserable.  There is art and science involved here, and should never be attacked by a novice.  This one typically needs someone who knows their way around a ship’s galley.

Spares Parts May Take More Space

Than Does the Crew

For obvious reasons you also want to have a good inventory control system….few things are as frustrating as procuring and storing all of this gear and then forgetting where the hell you put it.

Most all of the above addressed logistics.  But a good methodology of course must also address several other categories of key preparations from the operations perspective, including:

Boat preparations….this one should be obvious, as the vessel itself needs to be in Bristol condition prior to departure – oil & filter changes, valve adjustments, bottom and running gear cleaned, cooling systems serviced (including keel coolers), anodes refreshed, batteries checked or replaced as required, etc. This can be a long punch list depending on last service intervals, but you don’t want anything major coming due in the middle of an ocean;

Passage planning.…routing that takes into account climatology and ocean currents, as well as fuel burn numbers for the main engine and generator(s); and the right paper & electronic charts to cover all of it;

Weather planning…one or more forecasting services that can provide frequent updates for your planned route / dates;

Destination planning….there will typically be multiple ports, each with its own variations in weather, and requirements around agents, arrival procedures & documentation, passports & visas, fueling, docking (including “Med Mooring”), import/export restrictions, etc.;

Communications planning….this will cover ops-normal communications with other vessels in your formation,  but also methods to retrieve weather information, and to transmit position reports;

May Pilot Chart for the North Atlantic

Contingency planning….rarely a fun exercise, but it’s always wise to play “what if” while happily tied up at a local full service marina rather than wait until the crisis situation is upon you; it’s also a good time to review your onboard emergency equipment, ditch bag contents, etc.;

Crew coordination….certainly the watch rotation must be defined and reviewed, but the captain will also set the rules about who can do what and when (or not), including when he/she must be notified; this also extends to boat/line/fender/anchor handling when docking or mooring;

Last, but not least, sea trials….the boat and its crew need to be proven in real-world conditions before you can consider anything or anybody mission-ready, including exercising / surveying all systems and components.

We’ll expand some more on a few of these in future posts.  Stay tuned.