1980 30' Lancer with complete set of sails, 15HP Yanmar Diesel.

You CAN'T be SERIOUS. if u have to ask that question on . then u r NOT ready to make a trip like that.

l think the Lancers r great boats. the original Plastic Fantistics. & they r great for sailing in Florida or even the Bahamas or Caribbean. but they r not anything that a sane person would even consider sailing across the Atlantic. especially a 28 YEAR OLD one.

If u have ur heart set on taking that plastic toy to Greece to sail the Greek Islands. then sail it to Port Everglades & put it on the Mighty Servant & let them HAUL it over to Europe for you. You can pick it up in Marsailles when they drop off the yachts & u will enjoy the flight over MUCH more than beating yourself up on an Atlantic crossing.

l have a Captain is license with Aux. Sail & l have over 10,000 sea miles doing deliveries & there is NO WAY that l would even consider taking a 30 foot lancer across the Atlantic.

Undertaking that trip would be challenging in a Lancer which is not built for blue water passagemaking. There have been a number of long voyages made in smaller boats such as the Contessa 26. However, u have to stock so many provisions for an Atlantic voyage conventional wisedom suggests a 36' sailboat is at the low end. Ideally, you'd like to have the option to outrun weather systems which puts u in the 60' range.

As the other author previously suggested, such a voyage requires an experienced & knowledgable skipper. I'd rather cross the Atlantic with a competent captain in a Contessa 26 than a greenhorn in a Valiant 40.

Before u put ur life on the line with a Lancer, crew on an Altantic sailboat delivery with an experienced captain (i.e., Master of Oceans). Once u get to the other side of the pond, read this question again & chuckle to yourself.

What a wonderful voyage that is. l admire the dream, & the dreamer.

Since u did not ask ''Can it be done?'' But instead, what do u need to know in order to do it. maybe this will help:

On the Southern route, from DC u need to sail (approx) 900 nm out to Bermuda (should take u about 10 to 12 days, from there, u will have another 1,800 nm of nothing but ocean between u & ur next (or first avaliable) land fall - which is in the Canary Islands.

In a 30' Lancer this will take u (with all favorable winds) between 18 & 24 days from Bermuda to reach the Canary Islands. (to get a 100 nm a day on the open ocean in a 30' Lancer will be a good day indeed).

But remember, u certainly do not want to take this route during the Atlantic is hurricane season. which is now to mid November.

So, the other option is the ''Northern route'' of which the shortest navigable distance between land fall is from New York City & Southampton & that is 3,169 nautical miles. or between 32 & 42 days.

If u can make 100 nm a day sailing - this is always considered to be a very good day on the open sea. A good sailor will always allow, (or plan) on an additional 1/3 more days for purposes of provisioning his vessel.

Now, for navigational purposes, u also want to make sure u do not the mistake & confuse the ''rhumb line'' with a ''straight line'' when mapping ur course. as this could result in the curvature of the earth adding another hundred miles to u trip & possibly confusing u & throwing u way off course. So do not make that mistake!

So, what u need to consider. u will need a minimum of 34 to 54 days of food, water, etc. plus provisions for emergency (my son & l always pack 60 cans of Ensure in our emergency survival float box - (this box floats if the boat sinks). The cans of Ensure take up a small amount of space & u can survive in good health on just three cans a day even without fresh water to drink.

So, regardless which route u take, (north or south) once u get there, u can cruise along just fine to the Gibralter Straits, & then u will repeat ur Atlantic experience again. crossing the Mediterrian.

Now, here is where u will need to do some work. #1 ur 30' Lancer is a ''day sailer''. which means it is light weight, & is not fitted to live aboard. As a result, u will find ur Lancer has. What? A 20 gallon fresh water storage tank? Obviously, 20 gallons of water is not enough to sustain u for a potential 54 days at sea. And u did not mention whether of not u will have a ''First Mate'' along with you. If ur ''First Mate'' is a woman. Oh my. she will empty ur 20 gallon fresh water tank on the first day - by simply flushing the toilet.

Oh, that is another thing. Day sailors do not normally have flush toilets. If they do, they normally have very small holding tanks with only pump outs - which means, u will need to change this all out. 54 days at sea with a porta potty or full holding tank. well, by the time u reach Gilbralter. the monkeys will smell u coming. lol

So, what u need to know is that ur vessel was not designed for this voyage. so, forgetting its light weight (which means mainly, u r going to bounce & role around like a message in a bottle. ) But in addition to that, u have storage of water, safe fuel for cooking, & other arrangements (and adaptions) to make.

So, l suggest, u get ur self to the library & start checking out some books. there r lots of 'em regarding sailing across the Atlantic & or around the world. after u do this, & u begin to realize how far off ur Lancer is from being the right boat for this voyage. then u will probably be a lot closer to knowing what u need to know to make the trip safely.

Take a peek at this link. check out its links at the bottom of the first page. they will give u some very good & helpful, thoughtful things to think about & consider for making this a much more comfortable voyage.
> http://boatwrights.org/ <

But whatever u do. do not loose the dream!
Life is good. Boating is wonderful!

Happy & Safe Boating!

you need to know witch way is gresse

Everything. A Lancer is not made to go venturing out of sight of land. People have done it in some pretty unsafe boats, but they were lucky to survive. Murphy is Law is alive and well on the high seas.

First; do a lot of research
Second; get a better boat
Third; get all the training you can, both class room and on the water with experienced instructors.

Then do it!

Your Lancer is GREAT for learning seamanship and polishing the skills you will need to sail a real ''blue water'' boat on such a voyage. Sail locally. Make friends with the local yacht club. Read Chapman Piloting. But especially, PRACTICE. Take your boat out in the bay. Do a ''dock cruise'' (live a week onboard without shore power or any other hookups) and see how you do.