Interview with Jamie and Behan Gifford of Sailing Totem

Sailing Totem:
Our intention was a sabbatical journey; it happened to become a circumnavigation along the way. Cruising was something Jamie and I always planned to do, but assumed we’d do in retirement; losing Jamie’s mother in her mid-50s prompted us to fast-forward plans. We hoped to build memories with our children and slow down the pace of life. We knew fulfillment and joy as a family came from time we spent on the water together in Puget Sound, disconnecting from the busy shoreside patterns. Cruising would let us take that further, literally and figuratively. We wanted to live close to nature, sourcing power through the sun and wind, and raise our children in tune with the environment and away from a consumer-driven society. We hoped to help them grow into citizens of the world instead of the privileged community they called home.

Sailing Totem:
How to decide which was the most challenging?! From the Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire) around to Colombia during the “Christmas winds” enhanced trades and big winds driven by the highest coastal range in the tropics, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Or dodging meanders in the Agulhas current between Madagascar and South Africa while trying to avoid being caught in a southerly buster. Maybe the 3,100 from Ascension to Barbados, where our take on weather at the time prompted bucking the fleet favorite route plan documented in Cornell’s excellent book. By choosing to aim 900 nautical miles and run north closer to Brazil instead we had a faster passage, better sailing conditions, fewer squalls, and burned almost no diesel compared to boats on the same run.

Passage planning was key to keeping each of these safe and as comfortable as possible; they involved complex interaction between different weather drivers. Managing the various forces of seasonal conditions, shifting currents, and evolving weather systems were essential – all anticipated through careful passage planning.

Sailing Totem:
Passages can feel intimidating as the ‘unknown’; stepping in slowly, with overnights, then two nights, then multiple nights at sea are a great way for many folks to gain confidence. Consider as well that coastal cruising actually comes with far more hazards to navigate. An important takeaway is giving time for predeparture planning: what is the navigation route? What are the possible hazards along the way? What is the weather expectation and strategy for efficient and enjoyable sailing? How simple or complicated is piloting at the destination? Are there any particular concerns with the boat or crew? Answering these questions and more help make successful passages.

Sailing Totem:
How do you know what a passage is like, until you go on a passage? Our goal with this seminar is to give participants that feel for the planning process and how those translate to realities on passage. By walking through these, we hope to provide them with much clearer expectations on what passages may be like for them based on how they understand the preparations (and implications of any shortcuts on prep). To quote Captain Ron, if sailors lean into the attitude of “if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there” as a rationale for leaping before looking – and then wonder why things go wrong.

Sailing Totem:
Mis-interpreting the weather forecast and what makes a good weather window top the list of mistakes. GRIB forecasts give the appearance of easy interpretation, but subtle nuances can deliver weather that is different than expected. Another common mistake is not getting out and using the boat enough BEFORE, heading out on a bigger passage. Gremlins may not come out at the dock or on a short sea trial, but if you’ve made notable changes onboard, consider them unreliable until proven otherwise.

Sailing Totem:
Ocean currents are often overlooked, with big implications for long passages. People tend to look at big current, like the Gulf Stream, and otherwise don’t give it much thought. If you look at ocean current forecasts though, there is a maze of current eddies, meanders, and filaments. The consequence of ignoring current may be a slower passage than you planned, leading to a nighttime arrival, rather than before sunset. Night time arrivals in new destination carry risk to the boat and crew. Or maybe you sail in to a wind against current situation to makes a washing machine seastate. The good news is that current forecasting is pretty good, so we can make routing choices to minimize foul current and get a speed boost when in good current. One knot of positive current may not sound like much but that’s 24NM distance boost per 24 hours; which equate to 4 hours less trip time, per day if averaging 6 knots.

Sailing Totem:
We’ll monitor the questions submitted by participants throughout the duration of the seminar; sometimes we can answer them immediately and help everyone benefit from the context of content discussed in the moment. We’ll also allow time at the end for Q&A, and participants are always welcome to reach out to us direction for clarification on points after the seminar has ended.

Sailing Totem:
Sharing our knowledge about how to plan for a passage lends itself exceptionally well to an online seminar! So much of what is key to this planning lends itself to the format. It allows participants from a wide range of locations and time zones to join in as well.

Sailing Totem:
We hope they’ll walk away feeling that passage planning is an achievable process which they can undertake, with a view on where their knowledge gaps are for doing it well, and how to close those gaps through further education, experience, or professional assistance – so they can map a passage anywhere they’d like, whether it’s around the point of land or across an ocean.