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 Juan Carlos Duarte:

Juan Carlos is a Portuguese sailor, who has been the skipper/first mate, delivering sailing yachts over the past 13 years. He also assists owners moving their boats in ocean crossings. He has about 60,000 Nm and several ocean passages under his keel.

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...