Now Living Their Offshore Dream, a Cruising Couple Shares Tips for Other Sailors
For some of us, sailing offshore is a realistic goal. For others, it’s a wild but hopefully attainable dream. We take classes, follow favorites on social media, read cruising memoirs, and hire private coaches. Each step moves us closer, helping to define the boat we want and the skills we need to venture away from sight of land.
Along the way, we meet other sailors who share similar ambitions. That’s what happened in 2014 when fate docked my boat next to Suzanne and Joe Rexing on Patience. I was impressed that they lived six months of the year on their Passport 456, despite their home being a few minutes away. They had committed to an offshore dream, and even if present circumstances didn’t allow them to sail beyond the Chesapeake, they were going to experience as much of their future life as they could.
Fast forward 10 years to June 2024 when Suzanne and Joe began their offshore adventure. They spent last summer exploring New England and are currently living the dream in the Bahamas. They will return to the Chesapeake for a few weeks this spring before heading north again.
With a first year of distant cruising under their belts and several more years of preparation for their journey, I asked them to share some tips as first-time offshore sailors.
Boat tips:
- Select a boat that meets your offshore goals and spend time learning how your boat works. We spent many years living and cruising on Patience. We knew she was a sturdy bluewater boat and comfortable for living aboard.
- Build a reference library of equipment manuals, standard operating procedures, lists of spares, etc. as if strangers were going to sail your boat. We initially thought this was overkill, but it helps us to stay organized and to analyze “the why and the what.”
- Know how to troubleshoot and fix things. We both invested time in hands-on training that has been prudent as we push farther away from homebase. Our training included servicing diesel engines and 12 V electrical systems, as well as hands-on coaching to manage a Victron LiFePo4 system, watermaker, navigation instruments, and related navigational and weather applications.
- Get professional assessments of all systems. We collaborated with a set of professional marine systems technicians, asking them to help us evaluate, upgrade, and replace mission-critical systems. We did as much of the grunt work as possible. We worked alongside experts for the comprehensive replacement of electric, navigation, and communication systems; HVAC, plumbing, and desalination system replacements; new standing and running rigging; steering system overhaul; and refurbishing of deck and hull surfaces. We finished with sea trials and testing of these systems in multiple conditions.
Human tips:
- Refresh your textbook training. We reinvested in formalized training to refresh our knowledge and are now ASA alumni. It was amazing how much we had forgotten since our introduction to sailing over 30 years ago. Courses beyond our refreshers included:
- Marina Learning Systems online OUPV Captains License. The license was not essential for going offshore, but it is a structured single-source course to review everything we felt we might need to know including Rules of the Road and International Maritime Regulations.
- Offshore Medical Emergency Training. We took an immersive two-day emergency medicine course sponsored by Maritime Medical Guides, which was held on the water aboard a Farr 40.
- US Sailing Safety at Sea. We participated in a multi-day search and rescue safety at sea training at the USNA. The in-pool PFD and life raft deployment experiences were impressive and sobering.
- Fire Protection. We learned fire prevention and firefighting techniques through a seminar hosted by The Maryland School of Sailing and Seamanship.
- Avoid taking your boat on its first offshore experience alone. We solicited the professional services of Lisa and Andy of Kinetic Sailing to join us aboard Patience for our first offshore voyage. We collaborated with them to design our multiday passage of 480 nm. Their detailed instruction included best practices for departure planning, weather routing, log keeping, watch schedules, and much more. For us, the offshore passage with Lisa and Andy resulted in an invaluable, positive, and fun first-time event.
- Understand weather and its implications for offshore sailing. We took several webinars and classes specific to offshore sailing and weather routing. One of the best was a four-day intensive Marine Weather course (ASA 119) with Lisa at Kinetic Sailing. We subscribe to Chris Parker’s Maritime Weather Center Service for daily weather webcasts. Coupled with numerous weather applications, we strive to have a detailed understanding of forecasted conditions. We are still learning. With this preparation we had a smooth first time Gulf Stream crossing from Lake Worth Inlet to the Little Bahama Banks.
- Don’t set schedules or let destinations drive decisions. We remind ourselves that we can always come back to a place which relieves the pressure to see everything. Weather drives our journey rather than a schedule. We push ourselves when we feel we can go further, and we heed the weather when we need to stay put. This reconnaissance year will help us enjoy cruising these waters again with friends and family aboard.
- Data collection is essential. We forget things, and often! We learned that we needed to hone our data collection skills. Documenting fuel levels, water usage, engine oil, state of charge, barometric readings, and provisions are now daily routines. Having data to make informed decisions is key.
Offshore sailing and liveaboard life is a job.
The Rexings contend that sailing offshore and living aboard is a job. They feel fortunate that they both enjoy the work. Destination planning consumes inordinate amounts of time as they factor tides, currents, weather, fuel, and wind. “It can take us as many hours to plan a passage as it does to sail the passage.” They cross-train and equally share common projects that include tending the watermaker, checking and fixing leaks, changing filters, and sewing repairs. A weekly cleaning of sumps, filters, and pumps, aka Maintenance Mondays, is now a routine event that doesn’t bring stress.
Their final tip: “As you might approach any new job, have a mindset to learn. So far, this is proving to be the best job we’ve ever had. We are not experts. There are others far more experienced. We are lucky to meet them and continue to learn from them as we cruise.”
More resources:
Andy and Lisa of Kinetic Sailing, [email protected]
Mariners Learning System, marinerslearningsystem.com
Chris Parker and Marine Weather Center Services, mwxc.com
US Sailing Safety at Sea Courses, ussailing.org
Maritime Medical Guides, maritimemedicalguides.org
Back Country Medical Guides, backcountrymedicalguides.org
Long Beach Maritime Institute, maritimeinstitute.com
About the authors: Captain Cheryl Duvall lives in Annapolis where she works for Watermark and sails her Gozzard 44 Belle Bateau. Captains Suzanne and Joe Rexing are “living the dream” with a meandering mentality aboard their Passport 456 Patience, presently sailing an East Coast to Bahamas journey.
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