Since the oldmansailing online videos have taken off, I get a lot of questions – very often the same questions, so it makes sense to have a page of answers:
Where are you?
You can find my whereabout at any time here: https://www.polarsteps.com/JohnPassmore/23440014-2026
Where are you going?
See the “Home” page.
Past voyages are at the bottom of the “Contact” page.
Do you fish?
No. There are various complicated reasons, more fully explained in this post: https://www.oldmansailing.com/do-you-fish/
What are those ropes hanging off the back of the boat?
In fact, it is one rope – 80m long and trailing behind in a loop. This causes just enough drag to keep the boat straight in a large quartering sea – but not so much as to slow her down.
For very strong winds and dangerous breaking seas, I have a Jordan Series Drogue, which is a very long rope, weighted at the end and with dozens of fabric cones spliced into its length. This should keep the boat straight in any conditions.
Why don’t you wear a harness?
A contentious issue, this one. I have written about it at length at: https://oldmansailing,com/no-harness
Other questions:
I have posted videos of what I eat. You can see how I handle the sails and the self-steering on The Oldmansailing Book Club on YouTube. The answers to other questions, such as “how do I sleep”, can be found by typing, for instance, “Sleep” into the search box on the right of this page.
Of course, if you want the full story, see the “Books” page.
How is sleeping on such a long journey, do you get into a routine and try and sleep at a specific time each day/night?
Why sail around the horn vs cape of good hope? How does one elect a direction to Australia and why? This would make a good video
What do you do with thrash??
What are you doing regarding water provisions, surely you cannot have enough for the entire voyage. How big is your solar bank, do you limit your Starlink usage? What navigation software are you using, do you back it up with celestial? Thank you and may you enjoy wonderful weather!
John has a watermaker, you can read about it here –
https://www.oldmansailing.com/watermakers-in-small-boats/
You can find answers to most of your other questions by searching for the subject in the search bar on the right hand side of every page of his website.
Please tell me about your boat.
You can read all about it here –
https://www.oldmansailing.com/the-boat/
John,
Many thanks for your continued commentary all describing your journey. Be safe out on the high seas,
enjoy all you do