What factors contribute to the success or failure of becoming a liveaboard cruiser? Over this past year, we’ve seen an increase in couples and families that make the leap into liveaboard cruising only to quickly determine it was the wrong choice. Some have risked everything, having sold their home, car, and possessions. Not only did[Read More]
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Hauling Out, Med Mooring & CopperCoat Update
Discover what it’s like to haul out in Trinidad, learn how to do a ‘Med Mooring’, check out all the work that goes into preparing a boat for storage on the hard, get our latest CopperCoat antifoul update and see what life on as a liveaboard is truly like. Hauling Out, Med Mooring & CopperCoat[Read More]
20 Tips For Provisioning For A Long Sailing Trip
Provisioning a boat can seem like one of the most overwhelming jobs when preparing for a long passage. There’s quite a bit of pressure on the person stocking the boat with enough food, water, and necessary ancillary products (think toilet paper) to survive.
What foods are best to have? What veggies will last a month and what won’t? What can and can’t be frozen? How can you make food prep, while under passage, fast and easy – especially when the seas are sloppy? And how can you ensure that all the passengers are fed and watered properly?
After your first week-long or month long passage you’ll surely be much wiser as to what to do and what not to do. Wouldn’t it be invaluable, however, to learn from those that have already done it? Wouldn’t it be less stressful if you could make that first passage a massive success rather than a mediocre learning experience? With the following 20 tips, you’ll certainly have a greater chance of enjoying provisioning success. Read on.
Provisioning Dry Goods And Freezer Inventory
Sometimes the best way to learn is to see exactly what someone else has done, take what you want, and then customize it to suit your needs. Before we crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and an 18-day passage from Gran Canaria to St Lucia, Caribbean, I created several inventory spreadsheets. These spreadsheets were created to help remind me, and our guests, as to what and where meals, dry goods, beverages, and paper goods were located. I called them my provisioning dry goods and freezer inventory spreadsheets.
Within the ‘Atlantic Crossing Dry Goods Inventory’, you’ll find a list of all the shelf-stable items I packed including canned goods, kinds of pasta, grains, jars, sauces, beverages, mixes and so forth in addition to the quantity and the place where I stored the goods.
On the ‘Atlantic Crossing Freezer Inventory’, you’ll discover what meals I pre-made in addition to all the other items I chose to freeze. This spreadsheet also has instructions as to how to cook some of the meals.
Furthermore, I’ve also included a document that you can use as a basis for a shopping list. It provides all the meal provision groupings to ensure you cover all bases. Download these spreadsheets and change according to your specific needs…
To access this post, you must purchase The Britican Club.
Sailing Grenada to Trinidad – Any Pirates?!
We’re getting to the end of our America to southern Caribbean eight-month sailing adventure! With Hurrican Season upon us, we had to decide to either hunker down in an anchorage or take the boat out of the water and fly ‘home’ to the US and the UK. We decided to take some time out and head home to see family and friends.
By the time we made it to Grenada, all the boatyards were at full capacity.
Due to Hurrican Irma and other horrible hurricanes, Grenada has seen a massive increase in demand for boat storage. Grenada has been hit by some very bad storms but not recently. Knowing Grenada was full we made plans to sail down to Trinidad.
In this video, we’ll show you a bit about Grenada and why so many boaties, especially kid boats, head to this amazing destination. We’ll also show you our passage down to Trinidad. Did we encounter any pirates? Find out by watching the video now.
After Passage Checklist
Onboard Britican we have laminated checklists to help our guests learn the ropes. One of our shorter yet still valuable checklist’s is the After Passage Checklist. This checklist helps our guests have a role and know where to help out. We also use other checklists including Below Deck Pre Passage, Saftey Pre Passage, Above Deck Pre Passage and Systems On Pre Passage checklists when heading out to sea. Copy this checklist, alter it to suit your needs and use it on your boat 😉
Sailing To Carriacou
Carriacou is a Carib word meaning, “island surrounded by reefs.’ Upon approach, your eye’s will smile when they see the tropical turquoise waters marking the shallows. The Winward Island of Carriacou is located below St Vincent & Grenadines chain of islands and above the large island of Grenada. There are around 10,000 people that live on the island and many are of the friendliest people we’ve come across.
There’s a small town charm to the island.
The people make a living from fishing, boat building, and farming. No large cruise ships or tourist boats descend upon the quiet island making it more authentic than most. The video below showcases our very first visit to Carriacou. Since the video, we’ve been back at least 10 more times. We’ve taken a land trip checking out every corner of the island, tested out other anchorages and discovered Grenada’s largest gem – Sandy Island. Sandy is a wildlife reserve so the fish are protected. The reef is AMAZING. It’s like swimming in an aquarium. I even had a Medical Emergency on a deserted island there! Enjoy the video…
Sailing Terms You Need To Know
Are there sailing terms you need to know? And if yes, what are they? Allow me first to step sideways for a moment before I answer that question…In London, over the course of eight years, I built up a successful company. To quietly grab market share from the top three competitors in my marketplace I simply did one major thing that my competitors did not. My competitors all used industry lingo while trying to sell to ‘normal’ people. While researching my rivals marketing materials and sales pitch I realized that the everyday person would struggle to understand what the company was truly offering.
I changed the industry lingo to everyday plain language and watched my market share increase exponentially. Normal people, like you and I, like to understand the environment we’re in. We like to feel at home with the language being used.
Similarly, in the sailing world, there is a massive amount of industry lingo.
Liveaboard Experience On Sailing Britican (Video)
Our Liveaboard Experience charter offering is now fully up and running! Come join us on Britican for a week-long sailing adventure. Not only will you learn about sailing, but you’ll also discover what it’s like to be a full-fledged liveaboard. You’ll see what it’s like to provision in the Tropics, do routine engine checks, troubleshoot the latest breakage, run the watermaker, create passage plans to new islands or countries, reef the sails and much more. The Experiece is customised to what you/your family need to help you hit the waves running. Jumpstart your path to living the dream – get a headstart by joining Simon, Sienna and me this year.
But what’s a Britican Experience like?! To get an idea as to some sights you’ll see and some things you’ll learn, watch the following video about Andy and Ene Stewart’s Britican Experience. This delightful couple have sailed a bit in the past but never in the Caribbean. The enjoy sailing and wanted a closer glimpse into what liveaboard life is truly like. Find out what they discovered…
The Secret Benefits To Becoming A Liveaboard Sailing Cruiser
You only have to submerge yourself into a bunch of YouTube sailing videos, read the book, Dove, or experience a week-long sailing charter to gain a glimpse into the benefits of becoming a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Most people would agree that sun-filled days, tropical white sandy beaches, daily adventures, new friends and an amazing variety of free anchorages are truly a dream come true.
But are those the only benefits to becoming a liveaboard sailing cruiser?
If you’re on the path to break ties with ‘normal’ land-based life and sail off into the sunset what should you expect? Is it just sand, sea and adventure or is it more?
