Kosmos Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Hey, this is not a question, but was our first thought as well.  We came in as skeptics.  No matter how you look at it, the plan is amazingly ambitious and very serious undertaking.  We are in no way taking this lightly, and understand the risks involved.  There are also tremendous rewards as well.  It took quite a bit of research and talking to people to validate our plan was not fantasy.  And that is what the rest of these FAQs are about.  The simple answer is, yes, we can do this.  We know it will be a challenge and we have plenty to learn.

We wish the answer was 100% yes, but it is not.  So far it is looking good.  But, we still are not sure we can afford it. It depends on several factors such as the stock market, real estate, and interest rates. We are diligently saving our pennies and working hard. As time goes on, we will know for sure hopefully in late 2006.

There are indeed a few pirates out there.  However mostly due to a system of documenting ships, actually stealing of vessels does not regularly happen.  Piracy is usually of the mugging variety, where pirates attempt to steal money, jewelry, and electronics from the crew.  There are also two kinds of piracy, commercial and private.  Commercial piracy is mostly around China and Indonesia.  Container vessels have 10-30 crew members which can add up to a decent amount of cash.  The main private piracy hot spots is the Gulf of Aden (entrance to Red Sea), with pirates running between Somalia and Yemen.  About 1 in 100 boats gets attacked there, and we do intend to pass that way.  However hot spots also draw attention, and lately with widespread military activity in the region, piracy has declined somewhat.  Technology can help, such as calling for help or noticing we are being followed on our radar.  We are not going to let fear of pirates stop us.  Thousands of people travel around this planet via small boat and have zero problems.  We are going to be cautious, and smart.  “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  Particularly with media and political fear mongering as of late, this might be a hard perspective for some people to understand.

Are you going to carry guns?

We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of weapons, such as guns on our boat.  If you are going to become crew or a guest we will let you know how we will defend Kosmos.

You are not going on a sailboat, what if the engine or some critical thing fails?

Any boat, sail or power there can be some serious problems if critical systems fail.  As such those critical systems are made as solid and redundant as possible.  The main engine is the heart of the long ranger power boat, and it certainly gets plenty of consideration.  For one, it is a very reliable diesel, run at low horsepower.  This means it can run for literally two weeks, 24 hours a day, without stopping.  It can run 20,000 hours without an overhaul (it will take us about 4000 hours to go around the world).  Simply put, these engines are designed, proven, and rarely have trouble.  Hundreds of boats have used this engine, without any failures.  They are that good.  Other critical systems, such as steering, navigation, communications, batteries, etc. have some form of redundancy.

Wait a second, you said main engine, is there only one engine?

Incidentally, the true workhorse boats, fishing boats, almost all have one engine.  It is more efficient, and generally much more cost effective to only have one trustworthy engine.  However on our boat there is a secondary propulsion system called the “wing engine”.  The wing engine sits off the side and has its own drive shaft and propeller.  Some people argue it is not needed, because the main engine is so good.  Yet there could be rare times we might need to use the wing engine.  For example while the main engine is essentially bullet proof, it still can stall from bad fuel.  If that is the case, and we really need a propulsion system going, we can turn on the wing engine (it has it own separate fuel tank too).  Also it is possible we might want to change the main engine oil or might want to check something out, and we would still want propulsion.

What about bad weather, like in the movie The Perfect Storm?

We will use all means possible to avoid bad weather in the first place. Advanced planning is used to navigate around regional bad weather seasons. Modern communication equipment gets up to date weather information where we travel. And most importantly not feeling forced to brave weather for any particular reason.  Of course sometimes bad conditions happen.  In that case we will prepared. First the boat is extremely solid, and is designed to handle extreme weather conditions. The more worrisome part is how the crew will hold up. So we will have the right medication and training.  It is worthy to note that statistics show that about 5-10% of the time world cruisers encounter bad weather.  Extreme weather is about 1-2%.

How fast is the boat, and how long does it take to get somewhere?  How long are you underway?

The boat goes about 8 miles an hour (7 knots), and sometimes a bit slower on very long trips.  This means over the 2 years we will be underway about 20% of the time. When the boat travels long distances we do not stop in the night, we keep going.  The longest passage is from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to the Marquesa islands in the South Pacific at about 2700 nautical miles (nautical miles are about 15% longer than regular miles).  It will take about 18 days to get to the Marquesas from Mexico.  Most passages average about 10 days.  There are about 10 long passages to make it around the world on our planned route.  The boat has a maximum range of about 3000 nautical miles on one tank of fuel, which is 1200 gallons.

Many people mistakenly think we will be spending all our time underway "on the high seas".  But this is not the case.  We will be spending the vast majority of our time exploring land.

How much fuel does it burn an hour?

Hmmm, you must know something about boats to ask that question.  To give some context our old boat “Seas the Day” was a single engine 8,000 pound boat that went about 25 knots.  It burned about 15 gallons an hour at this cruising speed.  Bigger dual engine boats range in the 20-40 gallons an hour.  The Nordhavn 43 is about 55,000 pounds.  Yet because of its design and slower speed it consumes only about 2.5 gallons per hour.  As you would expect, this is one efficient boat.

If the boat does not stop, who drives?

First, we do not need to actively steer the boat.  It has an autopilot.  But someone does need to be on watch all the time.  Being on watch is basically making sure we do not hit other boats and making sure the boat is running normally.  The curvature of the earth and the speed, at which the boats travel, means we need to check the horizon every 15 minutes to be safe.  We could actually collide with someone in as little as 40 minutes from the last time we checked the horizon. Of course we do have technology, such as radar, that help detect collisions dangers.

How do you do watch if there is only two of you?

We generally will not for long trips (over about 3 days).  We need to get at least one additional person to run a reasonable 24 watch cycle (usually 3-4 hour sessions running watch).  Insurance wants it, and it is the safe and sane way to cross an ocean.

What about fresh water?

What about communications?

Lots. 2 short range radios, 1 long range radio, 1 satellite phone.  Yes we get Internet access too, really slow through the long range radio or sat phone. It is really just for e-mails.

What kind of marine systems will you use?

Radar, depth sounder, GPS, chart plotters with electronic charts, automated information transponder (AIS), paper charts, autopilots, sextant, magnetic compass.  Technology really kicks in here, and there is a tremendous about of helpful tools from simple to complex.

What about electricity?

Yes from a diesel generator and a handy device called an inverter which converts DC battery power to AC power.

What about laundry?

We will have a washer and dryer combo unit on board fed by the watermaker and generator.

Will you need a dingy?

Yes, this is generally how we get to shore and explore places in detail.  Think of the boat as the house and the dingy (also known as a tender), as your car.

But what if it all goes wrong, even though it is not supposed to?  Do you have a life raft?

Yes, holds 6 people and has satellite transponder and GPS so help can find you.

What about medical emergency at sea?  What about motion sickness?

We will have a large medical kit (including lots of medication), books, and some training. Some things are easy to handle, other might be difficult.  We can always call for medical help.

Doesn’t the boat roll from side to side?

Yes, unless we have an anti-roll stabilization system.  In fact we will have two such system.  One is called paravanes, which are large poles that tow metal pieces that greatly reduce roll.  The other is called active fin stabilizers, which are fins on the side of the boat that keep it from rolling.  The reason for both is redundancy, which is a common theme in the design and things we bring on the boat.

What about speaking foreign language?

Lot of people speak English, but we are going to try our best to use local language.  Thank goodness for language programs on computers these days.  Also there are some nifty voice recognition translator devices that are becoming available.

Are you going to get some training?

Yes.  There are also tons of great books.  Finally we hope to get some short crew assignments for some other boats

Are you going to hire a professional crew or captain?

Maybe for a short time to help teach us.

Are you going to take off right away?

We are getting the boat in May/June 2006. One plan is we leave on full time cruising around Mar-May 2007. We plan to spend months of time of testing and training on the boat. . So while no we are not taking off a big trip right away, we will be taking off on lots of little trips, and maybe even a few big ones.

How much does it all cost?

Lots and lots.  Figure about a nice house in San Diego, and then living expenses, which surprisingly are not too much more than just normal living.  Well except all that fuel. Overall the costs of travelling on a boat can vary quite. For example anchoring is cheap, staying in a slip is expensive. Eatting out is expensive, cooking yourself is cheap. Every penny of this boat we have earned ourselves through working hard since we were teenagers. So relatively this is a lot of money for us, yet all things considered we think it is worth it.

How much does the boat depreciate?

Boats typically are bad investments. We think the Nordhavn 43 is about as good of a boat investment as we can make. A few Nordhavns have actually gone up in value. They are extremely well made, trusted, and specialized craft. In general we expect to not lose a ton of money, and hold about even.  If well maintained these boats can last 20-30 years.

Are you going to sell the boat when you get back?

We are not sure. Most likely yes. It all depends on resources and our plans. This is not the kind of boat to let sit in a slip. If we will use it, and can afford it, we will try to keep it. I am sure we will be emotionally attached to the place that was our home for 2 years.

Lots and lots.  Will post them later.

How did you get this idea in the first place?

It essentially started because we decided to save some money, take time off work, and do some traveling before settling down to have kids.  We want to travel while we are young and fast. The question became how big a trip this might become. While some people might be happy with few weeks, we really wanted to take lots of time.  Yet to tell this story right, we need to back up a bit. First some history of our boating.

Eric’s boating experience starts back in 2000, about a year after meeting Christi.  He bought a new 28 foot sedan powerboat (Bayliner Cierra model 2855).  It has been wonderful rally point for friends and family.  Eric married Christi, and got her into boating. We both loved the boat so much we starting looking for a bit bigger boat so we could be more comfortable and get more friends and family on board. Eric found one he particular liked, a model by Carver.

We went to the Newport boat show to see it, as well as look at other similar boats.  Walking the docks we saw a wide array of vessels.  The Newport boat show mostly has very large, and very expensive boats (millions). Almost all, save a few “small” models were way out of our price range. So after looking at the Carver model, it simply became entertainment and curiosity to browse through the luxury yachts. Then there it was.  The Nordhavn 40 footer was a few vessels ahead, stoutly standing out.  I stopped, pointed and turned to Christi and proclaimed, “Wow.  That is the kind of boat you need cross an ocean.”  She looked rather shocked, particularly after we just saw a multi-million dollar boat, and said, “You mean all these other boats can’t?  What is the point of spending all that money if you cannot go around the world and cross and ocean with it?”  We walked up, took a very quick peek inside, and grabbed a one page flier.  We then went on our merry way, not even talking about the Nordhavn at all.  We discussed the Carver we saw, and decided it was too expensive for what it would give us.  Time is so short in our busy lives.  Does it really make sense to get a boat we may not really use to its potential?  Months went by and we were happy with our Bayliner.

I am not quite sure when, but it dawned on us.  To truly use a boat, we would need to live on it.  And why live on a boat if you are going to stay in the same spot?  Boats are for traveling.  So now back to our travel plan. What if we took off time and really traveled hard core?  Get out of the daily grind, and go for it.  The dream was forming.  Then the flashback, which boats were really made for this?  Then began lots of research to figure out if our new dream was even possible, and if we would be up for the challenge.  We got several books, and scoured the Internet.  We felt we could do it.  And we were amazed to find Eric’s initial reaction to the 40 was right on target.  By vast majority of accounts Nordhavn is the way to go.  We went to Dana Point and looked at the 40 and 47, and while not built or seen yet, the 43 seemed to be the perfect balance of size and cost for us.

One thing lead to another, and here we are, going for the Kosmos Plan!

Why not just take a cruise or take a plane?

These are all great options, and certainly if things fall through we will travel via alternate means. Our rationale right now is: We think we will get too fat and not a deep enough travel experience on a cruise ship.  We do not want to backpack and haul bags around everyone and stay in hundreds of different beds like traveling by plane or train.

We want to be challenged, grow as people, and experience the world. Liveflux!  We think the Kosmos Plan is the way to really do it.

Do you need or want a sponsor?

Sure!  We are pretty sure you will get some good exposure being associated with our exciting plans.  Inquire to eric@liveflux.net.

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