In February, Falken, our Farr 65, made landfall in Falmouth, Antigua, sailing just over 3,000 miles in 16 days from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in brochure-perfect tradewind conditions. It was Falken’s fifth Atlantic crossing in just 24 months and successful by every measure. And yet, as I write this, there is some uncertainty whether she’ll leave the dock on time for her next passage thanks to a suddenly wonky windlass and some mechanical gremlins. That you’re not supposed to sail to a schedule is one thing that almost all cruising sailors can agree on (even if we don’t always abide by it). And yet, in 10 years and over 130,000 miles of running an offshore sailing business that absolutely requires our boats to sail to a schedule, we’ve only been late on a trip once (by one day, due to weather), and Covid aside, only had to cancel one trip due to a mechanical failure. How we do it can be helpful for any sailor who sometimes must break the cardinal rule.
Refit the Boat.
Maintaining cruising boat systems from new is easier than piecing together a previous owner’s jury-rigged solutions. We overhauled Isbjørn, our Swan 48, ahead of the first Svalbard expedition in 2018, including new rig and sails, new engine, new watermaker, and more, and proceeded to have an incident-free summer in one of the more remote places on earth at 80º North. Tellingly, that one trip we had to cancel was on Icebear, our Swan 59, which at the time we didn’t have the budget to completely refit. That came back to bite us when the engine’s injector pump failed and we couldn’t replace it in time. Falken underwent an entire rebuild in 2021, and when she launched every system was new from the wiring and through hulls to the batteries and propulsion, systems we’ve maintained since then.
Decide What’s Mission Critical.
When our hydrogenerator failed on Isbjørn a few years ago, we had to decide if we could live without it until the next off season. It’s so easy to get stuck in the mindset that every system has to work, all the time. That’s faulty logic, and it’s impossible. The more complicated the boat, the more true that statement. We decided that since we had reliable engine charging from our high output alternator that the hydrogenerator could wait—we’d save the expense and time. As it turned out, we never replaced it at all, deciding we could just live without it, period. Go through the list of your boat’s systems and decide ahead of time what is worth fixing in the moment, and what you can live without to stay on schedule.
Be Impeccably Organized.
We know exactly what tools and parts are on each boat at all times. Our bosun, Adam, who is responsible for maintaining Isbjørn and Falken, keeps updated inventory lists and has a database for every system with digital manuals, links to how-to videos, contacts for customer support, and more. Adam knows exactly when and where the 1,500-hour service on the engine is going to take place, for example, and stocks the needed parts on the boat just for that.
Plan, Plan, Plan.
When I sit down to make our schedule, usually two-and-a-half years in advance, I’m trying to solve for a variety of factors: where are the places with good marine services; leaving at least five days between each passage; making sure that after every three to four passages we leave a longer 14- to 21-day maintenance period in a place with good services/haul-out, etc; and looking ahead at logistics on where and how we can get parts flown/mailed in and who can assist with that if needed. Not to mention planning around seasonal weather patterns.
Don’t Forget the Fundamentals!
About that aforementioned windlass…when it kicked the breaker on Falken as they were trying to Med-moor among the superyachts, Skipper Emily didn’t panic. She and Mia seamlessly switched into old-school mode and quickly instructed the crew how to veer the chain manually by releasing the clutch on the windlass. She let out a whole bunch of extra scope, secured the boat to the dock, and then briefed the crew on how to haul in the 155-pound anchor manually should they need to move again.
When all else fails, don’t forget that a sailboat is a remarkably simple machine that modern technology has made remarkably complicated. No matter what the circumstances, at some point in your cruising life you will need to rely on old-school seam’nship, schedule or no schedule, and your ability to do so seamlessly could make or break a cruise.
If we can’t manage to get Falken’s windlass working, we’ll switch into old-school mode and make do. It’ll be a lot more work for the crew in the Galápagos and Marquesas, where we’re headed next (and where marinas are nonexistent), but it’s not going to scuttle our schedule.
April 2025
