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ON WATCHmay 2018cruisingworld.com2013, we sailed from the canal
to Ecuador but refused to clear
in because of excessive ($800)
bribery demands. Instead, we
continued on to the Galápagos,
where they wanted even more to
stop for three days and refuel. A
month or so of nonstop sailing
days later, we were hove-to off
the Gambiers, and they closed
the port because of heavy weath-
er! Finally, we pulled into Tahiti 48
days after Panama.
No, circumnavigating on a
Top-Sider string isn’t easy! As a
consequence, we always arrive in
any port with enough food and wa-
ter for another month at sea, just
in case.
On Ganesh, we carry 100 pint
and half-pint canning jars at the
onset of a Pacifi c crossing. Once
we’re down 20 or so jars of food,
Carolyn waits for a calm day or
protected anchorage and cans
dry-stored and time-consuming-
to-cook beans spiced with dif-
ferent sauces for fast and tasty
prepared meals underway. While
anchored in paradise, we also ex-
periment with drying fruits, but
we leave drying fi sh and meats to
the South African cruisers who
adore their biltong.
In the Pacifi c, many of the
deserted islands we tuck behind
were formerly coconut planta-
tions, so they have tens of thou-
sands of palm trees from one end
to the other. These islands shift
and slowly silt and erode with
tides and currents. Often we’re an-
chored near a palm tree that starts
tilting more and more, and then sudden-
ly fl ops into the water from natural sea-
shore erosion. We’re instantly all over that
palm with our machetes, chopping out
the heart of palm both to consume on the
spot and preserve for later. When we’re
hungry for fresh food, I swear fresh heart
of palm tastes like chilled heaven soaked
in Dom Pérignon champagne.
Part of the problem with provisioning
while circumnavigating is that every time
you discover a truly great new product,
you can only buy more of it 2,000 miles
to windward.
But enough about food. We begin our
next long voyage knowing that, regrettably,
the great age of marine single-sideband ra-
dio is over. We used to know very cruising
sailor in the Caribbean or, say, the western
Pacifi c or Southeast Asia because of the
wonderful communities of SSB nets. All
that has now been replaced with the use of
Iridium Go and other satellite devices.Each to his own, but I need to talk to
the vessels in the ocean all around me, not
my Wall Street broker. We don’t have a
satellite phone because keeping ourselves
bill-free from the land sharks ashore is
exactly why we’re approaching our sixth
decade of offshore cruising.
On Ganesh, we continue to migrate
all our electronics belowdecks. Alas, the
engine instrumentation and autopilot
control head are still in the cockpit,
but only because their extensive wiring
is loomed under our headliner. On our
previous boat, Wild Card, which we sailedoffshore for over two decades
and on which we completed two
circumnavigations, I’m proud to
say there was not one single piece
of electronics in the cockpit. I
sail to get away from screens, not
to have a bright electro-glow in
the cockpit obscuring my view
forward while destroying my
night vision.
All of the above is only
important if you sail a lot. We
average 6,000-plus ocean miles
a year on a modest budget, so
we can’t replace water-damaged
devices after every major blow.
Plus, we don’t want to sign up
with any one family of electronic
instruments; we feel it increases
cost and decreases options. So,
by design, our electronics don’t
talk to each other because the
only thing we’ve heard them say is
“Wow, are we expensive!”
Having nonintegrated
electronic doodads has another
safety feature: Your depth meter,
GPS, AIS and radar will never
all blink out at the same instant
— on a dark night coming into a
shallow harbor with crosscurrent
— if they aren’t chatting to each
other in the same box.
Do I sound like a Luddite
and curmudgeon? Perhaps so.
But my informal research shows
that all the instruments in the
world can’t replace common-
sense seamanship. Just ask the
professional sailors aboard Vestas
Wind, who in the last Volvo Ocean
Race piled the boat into Cargados
Carajos Shoal. Or check with any
of the face-aglow amateur sailors who
missed the entrance to Chagos at night
by the exact distance their C-Map charts
were out.
I am all in favor of modern advances
in marine gear that actually make us
safer, but not all do. Many a Perkins
4-107 diesel engine has lasted for more
than six decades now, some even after
getting a dunking or two. Will a new
half- aluminum Perkins with electronic
injectors and electric fuel pump last as
long or be as dependable? I doubt it.
When we sail, we continue to stock
consumable goods to trade and gift.
School supplies, fi shhooks, perfume,
fi llet knives and small Harbor Freight
tools are popular. But the outer isles of
paradise now go truly nuts for Luci lights
and solar iPhone rechargers.
Since Ganesh has a walk-in tool room
— and I know that the less money you
have, the more tools you’ll need — I amWith school supplies in hand, Caro-
lyn is a welcome visitor at the Lucky
School on Palmerston, in the Cook
Islands, where everyone’s last name is
Marsters (top). Before leaving port,
Carolyn uses their pressure cooker
and collection of Mason jars to can
meals for the journey ahead.GARY M. GOODLANDER