Finding Dory - Webinar 10: "Sailing a catamaran across the ocean: Tips and tricks"

When sailing a catamaran in an open ocean is different from sailing a monohull. Specifically on an East-West transatlantic, with bigger waves and mostly down-wind sailing, "cats are different". They present both specific challenges and advantages versus sailing a monohull.

No surprise that many people in our "Finding Dory" group, now assembling about 160 boats and over 200 cruisers, asked for a webinar on the "tips and tricks" of sailing a cat in their upcoming transat passage.

For this upcoming webinar, we assembled a formidable panel of very experienced cruisers, each with an impressive ocean-sailing curriculum. Some sail "cruising cats", some sail "performance cats". Each also sailed monohulls before... So,... an ideal quorum of expertise for a panel...

And in this webinar, we will do things a bit differently: We won't have the "traditional" programme of "1 hour presentations", followed by "30 minutes of questions and answers"... We will only do "questions and answers", which will make this (I hope!) a very interactive, engaging and spontaneous webinar.

And even if you are not a catamaran sailor, it will be interesting also for (even the hardcore) monohull sailors, as sailing -for me- is all about the continuous process of learning, and sharing different experiences.

So, if you want to learn about how experienced catamaran sailors do their weather routing, choose their downwind sails, set up their sail plans, prepare their boat/crew, join in this webinar.

This will also be the last webinar for our "Finding Dory IV" flotilla, before we all start migrating "further South" and "further West". So we are motivated to make this webinar, "the cherry on the cake", our "swan song" :-) .

So, join our 10th free webinar on Monday Oct 27th at 19:00 Rome time (CET) - or 18:00 GMT - Note that Europe changes to Daylight Savings time the day before, hence the new CET time.

Our webinar will be held on “ZOOM” and consist of +- 90 minutes of open discussions between the audience and the panel.

Our webinars are free for all “Finding Dory” members. We will record the session and publish the link to the recording afterwards to all members of our community.

The instructions on how to join this webinar, are distributed to "Finding Dory" members only, rather than widely distributing the link via social media, mainly to avoid spammers to join in, and disturb our webinar.

So, if you want to participate in the webinars, first join the "Finding Dory" community. Via our flotilla's Whatsapp group, we will send you details for each webinar. Instructions on how to join the growing "Finding Dory" flotilla on Whatsapp, you can find in this Noforeignland blogpost.

About panelist Erich Baier:

Erich Baier is a retired electrical engineer, born and raised in Germany who spent most of his professional career at various locations in the USA.
Sailing wasn’t on his, nor his family’s, mind until they enjoyed a sailing vacation with close friends in the BVI in 1996. He got certified through the RYA to enjoy family charters until his early retirement in 2014.
Erich and his wife Sabine jumped into ocean sailing with passages between the US East Coast and the BVI, participating in the World ARC 2016 from St Lucia to Tahiti, delivering boats to/from the U.S. East Coast to the Caribbean, to build hands-on experience before purchasing their first own boat: In 2018 they ordered "S/V Seabbatical", a Morelli and Melvin designed HH OC50 catamaran, which was delivered to Barcelona in 2020. They sailed the Mediterranean on Seabbatical up to late 2024, and crossed the Atlantic East-West, in January 2025.
You can follow their voyage on Instagram and Noforeignland.

About panelist Fergus Dunipace:

Fergus is a RYA Ocean Yacht Master and cruising instructor.
Having lived on their own catamaran for eight years, sailing slowly from the Mediterranean to Australia, Fergus and his wife know a fair amount about the liveaboard lifestyle and crossing oceans. On returning to the UK in 2023, Fergus worked with various transatlantic and world rallies. This winter he will be crossing the Atlantic for the 4th time, from Las Palmas to Grenada on a Nautitech 46.
Fergus is a huge believer in the comfort and safety afforded by modern catamarans and the benefits of crossing oceans in them.

About panelist Ben Fletcher:

Ben hails from the landlocked state of Utah, USA. Ben embarked on his sailing journey in 2022 with no prior sailing experience but loads of YouTube education 🙂🙂🙂🙂. Determined to learn, he hired a captain in the Sea of Cortez, where he purchased his boat, for an intensive five-day training. From there, Ben and his family set sail on "S/V Best Life", their 2004 Leopard 47 catamaran, navigating the vast Pacific Ocean, Australia, Indonesia and SE Asia. Most recently they crossed the Indian Ocean, came up the Red Sea and sailed through the Suez Canal. They now spent this last season exploring the Mediterranean and are looking forward to crossing the Atlantic into the Caribbean this winter, as part of the "Finding Dory" flotilla.

About panelist/moderator Peter Casier:

I am an RYA Ocean Yachtmaster and instructor, mostly concentrating on mentoring new boat owners, and skippers/crew who have never done an ocean crossing before.
I mostly sail or race monohulls, but I did a training and regatta on a MOD70 trimaran and two years ago, I sailed as the first mate on a lovely Lagoon 450F, from South Portugal via the Canaries and Cape Verde to Grenada.
I will moderate the webinar discussions, and contribute in the panel with my combined monohull/multihull experience.


"Finding Dory", is a social community of cruisers who plan to cross the Atlantic (East-West) next winter (2025-2026 season). It is "free-to-join" adhoc group of yachties, bonded by one common goal: to cross the Atlantic safely. "Finding Dory" is organized in collaboration with "Noforeignland" (NFL). You can read about the background, purpose and setup of this group, and planned free webinars in this post on Noforeignland.

Read the full post...

Finding Dory - Webinar 9: "Be Safe, Be Magical" - Crew prep for a transatlantic crossing

For years, I have helped cruisers prepare for their first ocean crossing. Typically, they have spent some seasons sailing the boat, with their families, in the Med, Northsea or Baltic, and now want to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

In preparing for their ocean passage, the most common mistake people make, is to consider a (for instance) 18 day passage, as 18x a day passage.... Day passages as they have sailed many... However, 18 days sailing on bigger waves, in constant motion, is more taxing on the boat and crew, and needs more extensive preparation. Of the boat AND the crew...!

So the 2nd most common mistake people make, is to concentrate on the preparation of the boat (boat prep is a topic we handled in a previous webinar)... Processing list upon lists of hardware upgrades/repairs, rig inspections, installation of new equipment, provisioning lists, etc... But while concentrating on these endless lists, we tend to forget that the preparation of the crew, is just as important.

Making sure both the boat AND the crew are ready for a passage, will give you more chance of enjoying the magic of sailing in the open ocean, where the closest human beings, other than some fellow sailors in your flotilla, are not the people in Cape Verde or Grenada, but the astronauts in the International Space Station, shooting overhead in the night...

So, in this webinar, we want to balance the two aspects: experiencing the magic of an open ocean passage, and the preparation of crew.

To balance these two topics, we have invited 4 guest speakers, who have done ocean passages before. In the introduction of the webinar, they will talk about their experience.

Then I will join in, and share a number of topics/points-of-thought in crew prep. In these points, I will assume you will take on some extra crew (family, friends, or "strangers"), just for the crossing. But many of these tips can also be useful if you don't have guest crew:
- How to match the expectations of the skipper with the crew?
- The role of the skipper and first mate
- Basic boat safety
- Ondeck safety for day and night sailing
- Proximity of other vessels
- Organizing watches, keeping watch
- Monitoring wear and tear on the boat
- Sufficient rest, avoiding exhaustion
- Weather predictions
- "Everything has its place on a boat"
- Use of internet (Starlink)
- Overall cost sharing agreements
- Food preparations, meals, "motherwatches"
- ...

So, join our 9th free webinar on Monday Oct 20th at 20:00 Rome time (18:00 GMT).

Our webinar will be held on “ZOOM” and consist of +- 90 minutes of guest speakers and presentation, followed by 30 minutes (or more if needed) of open Q-and-A/discussions/shared experiences amongst the participants.

Our webinars are free for all “Finding Dory” members. We will record the session and publish the link to the recording afterwards to all members of our community.

The instructions on how to join this webinar, are distributed to "Finding Dory" members only, rather than widely distributing the link via social media, mainly to avoid spammers to join in, and disturb our webinar.

So, if you want to participate in the webinars, first join the "Finding Dory" community. Via our flotilla's Whatsapp group, we will send you details for each webinar. Instructions on how to join the growing "Finding Dory" flotilla on Whatsapp, you can find in this Noforeignland blogpost.

About guest speaker Sue Sagar:

Sue Sagar is a retired Marketing, Communications and Events Manager, who grew up in Melbourne-Australia, far away from the ocean. In 2021 her husband dragged her away from family and friends to pursue an adventure which centered around water! She kicked and screamed, and found herself on Bonnie Doon, a catamaran in Greece heading for the Atlantic! Still married and a few years later they find themselves in the Caribbean with the plan to sail across the Pacific to Australia in 2026. You can follow her (and Bonny Doon's) adventures via Instagram.

About guest speaker Linda Cardew:

Linda and husband Tony departed from Cooktown, North Queensland in Australia. Over 40 years ago, they sailed 22,000 Nm as crew from the Pacific across the Indian Ocean, south Atlantic to the Caribbean and up to Nantucket USA.
As of August 2022, they started a circumnavigation on their own boat, "S/V Paroo", and are currently in Spain after, once more, a 22,000 Nm crossing from the Indian Ocean, around South Africa, via Namibia and Ascension Island, and intentionally the “wrong way” north up the South and North Atlantic Ocean, to Cape Verde, the Canaries and into the Med.
After overdosing on the fine foods of some beautiful Mediterranean countries, they are now heading for an Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean and will be heading through Panama to Costa Rica by March 2026.
Their motto is “(Wo)Man Plans, and the Gods Laugh”.

About guest speaker Jillian Greenawalt:

Jillian lives and sails aboard a 1972 Bowman 46, "S/V Mug Up", with her husband and 3 kids.
Over the past 4 years, they've sailed the US East Coast, Caribbean, and the Med. They also did a W-E transat in 2024.
In this webinar, Jillian will share how experience on how to make the trip also magical for the kids on your boat.

About webinar moderator Peter Casier:

I am the "house keeper" for the "Finding Dory" flotilla community and will moderate this webinar

If not cruising, on open passages or sailing in a regatta, most of my time is dedicated in mentoring or training others: People new to sailing, new boat owners, or cruisers preparing for their first open ocean passage...


"Finding Dory", is a social community of cruisers who plan to cross the Atlantic (East-West) next winter (2025-2026 season). It is "free-to-join" adhoc group of yachties, bonded by one common goal: to cross the Atlantic safely. "Finding Dory" is organized in collaboration with "Noforeignland" (NFL). You can read about the background, purpose and setup of this group, and planned free webinars in this post on Noforeignland.

Read the full post...

Finding Dory - Webinar 8: Fishing while on a Transatlantic passage

Many cruisers trawl a fishing line behind their boat. But I have to admit, that "fishing while on passage" has never been my forte... It looks like fishing in an open ocean, on a yacht under sail is a combination of a science, an art, experience and a bit of luck. I lack all of the above :-)

But many cruisers are successful and reel in fresh fish every other day, converting their catch into sushi, sashimi, steaks, curry stews and soups. (and I am getting hungry as I write this)

One of the people who has been successful in fishing - both as a sport fisherman, a fishing expedition guide and a cruiser, is Tony Orton, our next presenter.

In our next webinar, Tony will share his secrets with us:

- Type of fish to catch/eat.
- Hand lines vs rod and reel.
- line capacity, drag settings on reels and rod choice.
- Fighting a fish while under sail, techniques, vessel placement.
- Lure selection.
- Rigging trolling lures.
- Safety while handling fish.
- Care for your catch and preparing the fish for consumption with limited means.
- ...

So, join our 8th free webinar on Monday Oct 13th at 20:00 Rome time (18:00 GMT).

Our webinar will be held on “ZOOM” and consist of +- 60 minutes of presentation, followed by 30 minutes (or more if needed) of open Q-and-A/discussions/shared experiences amongst the participants.

Our webinars are free for all “Finding Dory” members. We will record the session and publish the link to the recording afterwards to all members of our community.

The instructions on how to join this webinar, are distributed to "Finding Dory" members only, rather than widely distributing the link via social media, mainly to avoid spammers to join in, and disturb our webinar.

So, if you want to participate in the webinars, first join the "Finding Dory" community. Via our flotilla's Whatsapp group, we will send you details for each webinar. Instructions on how to join the growing "Finding Dory" flotilla on Whatsapp, you can find in this Noforeignland blogpost.

About Tony Orton:

Tony is the presenter in this webinar. He has been a professional international sportfishing captain for over 23 years. With over 200,000 sea and ocean miles he has sailed, fished and guided in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Currently, Tony and his family are doing a circumnavigation on their sailing catamaran “IKIGAI” and at present are sailing and fishing up the West coast of Central America.
Tony is a sponsored fisherman and works along side with world leading tackle companies like Shimano and has done regular videos and seminars on different fishing techniques in many aspects of fishing. Check out his Instagram!

About Peter Casier:

I am the "house keeper" for the "Finding Dory" flotilla community and will moderate this webinar

If not cruising, on open passages or sailing in a regatta myself, most of my time is dedicated in mentoring or training others: People new to sailing, new boat owners, or cruisers preparing for their first open ocean passage...

"Finding Dory", is a social community of cruisers who plan to cross the Atlantic (East-West) next winter (2025-2026 season). It is "free-to-join" adhoc group of yachties, bonded by one common goal: to cross the Atlantic safely. "Finding Dory" is organized in collaboration with "Noforeignland" (NFL). You can read about the background, purpose and setup of this group, and planned free webinars in this post on Noforeignland.

Read the full post...