Boat Preparation for Ocean Crossing – by André Lambelet

The crossing of any ocean is for most experienced sailors the voyage of a lifetime. It requires a lot of preparation, knowledge and skills.

For this reason, the boat preparation aimed at an ocean crossing may require a longer time.

All the thoughts are addressed not so much to what can happen to the boat at present but instead to what can happen to the boat later on during the ocean crossing and the whole journey.

Predicting the unforeseen, guesstimating the weather ahead of time, planning food consumption, the fuel consumption about the possible lack of wind or even guessing breakage and taking on possible spare parts accordingly.

The ocean crossing preparation includes also a lot of safety on board, safety at sea and ultimately all necessary rescue safety gear.

There is no limit to safety gear to carry, the more the better.  Starlink is probably the best connection out there, but can you carry it with you on a liferaft? NO!

That is correct: NO! You can probably carry a sat-phone, an Iridium Go or even a smaller MOB1 device or a PLB device, all will help but the most important will always be your dear VHF Radio (handheld).

As you know all these gadgets have something in common: the battery.

The battery needs charging and that becomes a real issue at sea, especially on an ocean crossing that ends on a Liferaft.

So, how can we charge these these units? Well, the carry-on solar panels can do it and also a bank charger (providing you keep it full at all times).

All the standard Ocean Crossing safety gear must be present and up to date on the boat before leaving port.

There is a great deal of work and planning, and it will takes all your effort and know-how to make it a successful ocean crossing crossing.

So whether you are crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, or the Indian Ocean you will need to be very experienced, fit and ready for anything!

Here at  Delivery Captain, we do just that!

We are a Professional Yacht Delivery Company that delivers Worldwide with passion and at the highest standards.

Below is just an example of one of our deliveries from Seattle USA to Brisbane Australia, and this is what we did for “Boat Preparation Ocean Crossing:

Vaseline applied on every « stainless » steel bolts and metallic parts.	Rust protection Spray WD40 on stanchions and joining parts and wrap them with rags to prevent rust. Every week, chrome nd stainless steel parts should be cleaned form dried salt and impregnated with WD40
	Extra fuel Extra fuel in cockpit lockers and tightened along the toe rail, 10 x 20 L on deck + 10 x 20 L in cockpit lockers + 200 L in tank = 600 L. Estimated consumption 2,0 L / hour @ 1800 RPM (= +- 5 kts) = 300 hours 200 L = 100 h = 500 NM 600 L = 300 h = 1’500 NM Fuel to produce power 4 x 1 hours of running engine @ 1600 RPM per day to produce sufficient power for auto pilot, nav instruments, fridge, GPS and nav light. 4 x 2.0 L = 8L / day 15 days = 120 L day just for electrical power!!
	Extra propane bottles (Total of 5 x 5 kg = 25 kg) Extra propane bottles were stored on the deck. After 4 days, bottles started to rust and stains appeared on deck through cloth. Gaz bottles are now stored in the anchor locker (vent/drain) and wrapped in plastic bags. 10-12 kg = ~ 30 days for 3 crew. 25 kg = ~ 60 days for 3 crew.
Topping lift A bungee (elastic) is attached to the toping lift to make it tight at any point of sail, it prevents it from being jammed around the forestay.	Anchor chain Original shackle at the end of anchor chain is replaced by a short line. In case of trouble, the line can be cut under tension to release chain and anchor… if possible, attach a fender to get it back later.
	DC power monitoring Monitoring domestic battery is crucial for powering instruments, auto pilot, navlights, etc…When the engine runs to produce electrical power, engage reverse (out of gear) to make clear to your mates that the prop is not in gear forward.
	Instruments settings – Latitude – Longitude – Log – Distance to Waypoint – DTW – Velocity made good – VMG to waypoint – Apparent wind direction – AWD – Apparent wind angle AWA – True wind angle – TWA – True wind speed – TWS – Course over ground – COG (true) – Heading – HDG – Speed (on water) – Speed over ground – SOG – SOG > Speed = stream against us – SOG < Speed = stream pushing us
Bilge lockers opening are badly designed, they push hard against the wood, grey tape applied over blue tape for better protection.	Furniture protection Blue masking tape applied on wooden edges and parts subject to being scratched by crew’s gear in heavy weather and over 30° heeling (life vest or harnesses D-ring, belt knives, oilskin zips, etc…) Bilge lockers have been emptied and cleaned. We applied blue tape over the joints to prevent dust or dirty to ruin our cleaning.
	Sail drive: folding prop vs fixed prop With a folding prop, engage reverse while sailing With a fix prop, do not engage reverse, let it turn. CONS: prop always in rotation => increased risk of having something fouled around. When hoisting and dropping spinnaker, always engage reverse to minimise risk of fouling prop in case it goes wrong.

	Chafe prevention Chafe is the main risk to monitor on long passages to avoid accidents or gear/rig failures. Main sheet was chafing against the block (bad angle/ design) => Opening block rigged at bottom of mast to deviate main sheet.
	Original position of main sheet on left jammer, the angle towards the winch was too important = chafe => mains sheet moved to middle jammer. Spinaker halyard: shackle ring was removed and replaced by short metallic wire protected waxed twine. Top eye pop off the mast, it was replaced with a soft block => ring + dynema ®
Protecting the edge of outboard for chafe prevention against lifebuoy
	When chafe occurs… Spinnaker halyard guiding eye on top of mast failed, rivets did’t hold the load, then, main sheet was chafing against the block and halyard almost broke. Spinnaker luff was made out of steel wire, without turning block, cable un-spins and… breaks. It has been replaced with spare sheet core (inside only).
	Rubber particules where found in the aft locker… the exhaust pipe was chafing against its sharp metallic fixation. If it fails, an important amount of cooling water goes straight to the bilge, thanks Jeanneau! Chafe protection was made up to avoid this…
	Outhaul line was about to break due to the bowline knot chafing against the sharp plastic part of the clew. The bowline was replaced by a simple stopping knot, triple fisherman. Other boats use a « donut » ring.
	Pulpit and pushpit chrome was « attacked » by the ropes !!! Either the chrome is poorly done or the line is abrasive like hell… never seen that happening before!
Securing the clew to the boom Dynema secure line in case of outhaul line failure due to chafe.	Trace line in the boom Since there is no reefing lines running inside the boom, we installed a trace line (green) to replace the outhaul (white & red) in case of failure.
	Logbook Having a logbook is mandatory, it takes a little time every day but it is precious. Writing at night in gusts, waves and pouring rain will not produce a nice result in the logbook… Use a scrap book for the crew to write down the log while sailing and put it clean the day after.

Spinnaker setting with pole and without

	Two spinnaker blocks for the tack rigged on both side of the forestay to avoid chafe on angular forestay base.
	Food management Repack fresh food in ziplock, store eggs at ambiant temperature, store agrumes and tomatoes in a hanging net, cardboard boxes can also be used to store fruits, potatoes, oignons… Ref to Kenneth’s list : My New Shopping List.doc
	Fresh spreads for sandwiches & salads : rince the seeds and let them soak for 24h in the dark. Then place the glass upside down for drainage, still in the dark. Rince every 24h and let’s grow. When light green, eat!
	Water management 1 permanent bucket tied aft, 1 flying bucket in aft locker, 1 sea water bucket in the sink for washing.
	Iridium Sat Phone and Optimizer Optimizer: Red port.com + Battery + 12V cable Iridium Satphone with integrated modem (Iridium 9555, not the EXTREME) Subscribe to Iridium to get the SIM card and buy a « 12 month plan » Subscribe to Xgate for PredictWind basic package Battery for optimizer
	PredictWind application Weather forecast app. supplied by Xgate and Weather 4D were used for the passage.
	Oil and filter replacement Replace oil down wind at calm sea… Use a manual pump to suck old oil if available, connect it to the gauge tube because it goes at the very bottom of the engine block. If diameter don’t fit, be inventive… here, we connected the pump hose to the pipe with a marker tube. For oil filter replacement, tape a plastic bag under it to prevent oil spill in the engine bilge, use a rubber band (chambre à air de vélo) to screw or unscrew it for best grip. Never pinch a screwdriver through to unscrew in case of the new filter doesn’t fit, one’ll still have the old one to screw back!
	Fuel refilling without a drop spilled 1 long tube from jerrycan to tank, 1 smallest tube to blow into the jerrycan to increase pressure so fuel is pushed to the tank, and a piece of rag to seal the top; simple, easy and clean.

	Splices and soft shackles At sea, we have plenty of time… take advantage of it to create all sorts of customized lines and inventive combinations of knots & splices that will naturally find their use onboard.
	Load test Making soft shackles and rope work is fine, but does it hold the load? Before using them, we tested our creations with 46’’ winch, full force in second gear + 5 clicks in first gear… they elongated a little bit but held the load, test passed!
	Fishing line A good way of getting fresh proteins if lucky… tie a bungee to shorten the line with an alarm to warn one’s of a catch. We didn’t catch any except 2 skip jacks… 🙁
	Navigation tool – Raymarine plotter – iNavx, iPad app – Navionics, iPad app – Paper charts (FrugalNavigator.com )
	Navigation – Pilotage plan for Brisbane channel – Entering at night is safer and easier…

Ocean Crossing Reliable – Fast – Safe – with minimal wear & tea