Welcome to Sailing Juno!
We hope you will follow or even join us on our trip around the world in our sailboat – JUNO
Introducing Juno, a graceful sailboat that is about to embark on a grand adventure around the world, carrying the dreams and aspirations of its owners, Leigh and Grant. They have has set their sights on a remarkable journey, seeking to traverse the vast oceans and explore the diverse landscapes that our planet has to offer. With Juno as their vessel, Leigh and Grant aim to not only navigate the open seas but also share the rich tapestry of their experiences with a global audience.
This expedition isn’t just for Leigh and Grant; it’s an open invitation for you to be part of the adventure. Engage by reading, commenting, and sharing their posts. The brothers encourage people joining them as co-adventurers at ports around the world. They welcome contributions, fostering a community of exploration enthusiasts.
Juno’s circumnavigation is more than a voyage; it’s an inspiration for others to embark on their journeys, be it at sea or in life’s different facets. As Leigh and Grant chart their course, they aim to inspire a global community to embrace exploration’s spirit and celebrate the world’s vast beauty. The adventure of Juno is an open invitation – read, engage, contribute, or set sail on your odyssey. The possibilities are as boundless as the horizon before Juno’s bow.
The New Masts!
The Story
I think that YouTube will one day be voted as the medium which most impacted peoples behaviour. When it was first touted that someone was going to save all their videos online and allow others to watch them for free, it was literally unbelievable. The advent then of the camera that we carry in the form of a cell phone, meant that any content could be recorded and uploaded in no time at all, and suddenly hours of our days are absorbed watching other peoples’ lives.
And so it was for us. Other people were out on motorbikes, in camper vans, on bicycles, on foot and on yachts, posting their adventures on YouTube. Dreams started to happen, some ‘died on the vine’, others gained some traction. Ours gained traction.
I think it must be ten years ago, early teens anyway, that there were some kids producing watchable content on sailing and who were deservedly getting support from viewers. The social nature of this interaction is a marvel of modern civilized society, strangers in their basements or on busses, sending money to people sailing around the world or around the bay. Strangers supporting strangers, the only connection being Youtube. And the generosity of human nature.
What was the spark?
Everyone has a different reason or starting point for their decisions. They can be joyful or tragic, random or reasoned, out of character or fully expected. Some can be nutured for many years, others are spontaneous and implemented immediately. For me it was reading about the number of people who, after retiring, become sedentary and slowly slide down the ‘health index’ chart, because they have no objective or simply don’t realize what is happening. I don’t want that to be for us and so I developed healthy and active habits, with a big goal for post retirement. We will need to find additional things to do after the trip, but at least I will keep the slide at bay for a couple of years to start with.
The search
Once we had decided to sail, we started to define what we wanted in a sailboat and then started following postings on Yachtworld. There are lots of websites, I found this one reasonably up to date and consistent in its presentation of boat facts. We needed an ocean-going cruising sailing yacht so that excluded all the power boats, racing yachts, dinghies etc. But that still left thousands of boats all over the world. So we excluded places where we would not be sure that our money would reach the owner, inaccessible or inconvenient places with respect to where we were etc. Eventually we searched only in the Pacific North West; the top left hand corner of the USA and the bottom left hand corner of Canada. There are way more boats in the Med and Florida, but we needed it nearby to work on while we prepared for the trip. On the map, you can see that we searched in Vancouver (at the top – Home) and in Anacortes, Olympia and Port Townsend in Washington State USA. This is where we saw the vessels pictured below, all reasonable candidates.
Years ago there was the cruising sailboat Rule of 40’s: The yacht had to be more than 40 feet long, less than 40 years old and cost more than $40 000. As we learned and searched, we figured 40 to 60 feet, 20 to 30 years old and a budget limit of what we had to spend, which fortunately was over the $40 000. There is no limit to what you can spend, at either end. On any given day you can pick up a yacht for free if you drag it away, or blow your lifetime savings in a flash and a blur. We didn’t do either of those.
The Decisions
I feared this part of the site more than any. Clint Eastwood had an interesting take on people’s opinions, on which I won’t elaborate. Suffice to say that for every yacht lover or hater, there is more than one opinion on every aspect of your choice. And that’s cool. But please don’t despise us because of what we have chosen. I am happy to discuss and engage in reasonable conversation.
Decisions are made based on what you know and what you think at the time. The first choice is single hull or multihull: There are lots of happy and successful catamaran sailors (follow Nahoa, they are from Victoria BC). We chose a monohull with a full keel and skeg hung rudder, which happens to be 54 foot design length, launched in 2017.
Next choice is what rig you want – how many masts, sails, steering wheels (Helms), where you want the cockpit etc. We have a centre cockpit Ketch with a cutter rig. (Detail explanations in the blog later.)
After that there are myriad choices and decisions, often limited if you are buying an existing boat, in which case you get the previous persons choices, and change what you can afford to or what you want to. We have ended up with a 6-berth configuration, split three berths in the forward stateroom (room with a door), a passage berth aft of that and an ‘Owners’ Stateroom aft with a queensize bed. There are two heads (washrooms) with a toilet, shower and hand basins, hot & cold pressure water, and a galley with a 3-burner oven, fridge freezer etc. Too much detail, more to follow later.