June 15th, 2017: Microyacht Sailing

[xoxoxoBruce]

Matt Kent decided he wanted to sail his yacht across the Atlantic, solo.
Solo is a good Idea because his yacht, “Undaunted”, is 42” (1m) long, and 42” wide.

In 1965 Robert Manry sailed his 13ft 6in Tinkerbelle from Massachusetts to England, and the modern ‘microyacht’ trend was born. Tinkerbelle was followed by the 12ft Nonoalca and 8ft Bathtub across the Atlantic.
By 1968 Hugo Vilhen had made the smallest ocean crossing yet, sailing his 6ft April Fool from Casablanca to Miami. Vilhen went on to cross the Atlantic in his 5ft 4in Father’s Day, while in 2002, Tom McNally attempted, but failed, to cross the Atlantic in the absurdly tiny 3ft 11in Vera Hugh II.

Provisions are stowed under Kent’s feet. “I have enough food – half freeze-dried – for six months at 1,500 calories a day. I have intentionally put on 20 extra pounds for the trip as well.
“My diet consists of nuts, dried fruit, protein powder, nutrition bars, a variety of soups, stews, pasta, peanut butter, Nutella and so on. I have a huge variety as well as 64,000 extra calories in the form of two gallons of olive oil to add to my food.
“None of my food needs cooking but I do have a 12V/120W heat coil wand to heat water for dinner or tea or coffee, if I can afford the power. With a two-minute boil time I should be able to use it often. All of this fits in the bilge and down the keel.”

Undaunted has no engine, so the watermaker and battery charger will be operated by hand and foot pumps. “I have two 1.2-gallon manual reverse-osmosis desalinators. One would be more than enough, but water is nothing to mess with. “I will also have one month’s worth of water on board and one month of food that doesn’t need to be rehydrated if the watermakers fail or if I am injured and can’t pump.
Making water and electricity will be part of my daily exercise.
“Also I will be able to swim behind the boat with a dual tether and harness system.”
The keel fresh water tank is divided into four ten-gallon compartments to avoid loss of stability in the event that Kent uses the water. Each can then be separately refilled with seawater.

“Not only is the thought of coming home better than showing up someplace else after a long voyage alone, but it means that by the time I am in US waters I will have just crossed 4,600 miles of open ocean.
“If I can, I will pull into port, raise my Q flag and wait for Customs there. If I am near shore and I become too much of a traffic hazard, we will have a small boat come retrieve me.
“We are trying to make sure we don’t get in the way of other people’s livelihood or put anyone at risk with a needless rescue operation.”

Specifications
Length: 1m (42in)
Draught: 1.5m (60in)
Weight: 544kg unladen (1,200lb), or 816kg laden (1,800lb)
Hull Speed: 2.5 knots
Sail area: 49.5sq ft (square sail) plus 27sq ft (rafee)

He got a shitload of communications equipment so I guess he's trying to be stupid safely.

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