Names of Owners (and crew): Katie & Lyall Burgess plus Iwalani (9) and Anela (7)

Nationality: USA

Boat Name: Blake

Boat Type/Model and Size: Dufour 382, 37ft

Home Port: Hilo, Hawaii

Blog/website/facebook pages:

• www.sunpoweredyachts.com
  
• www.instagram.com/sunpoweredyachts=
  
• www.facebook.com/sunpoweredyachts
  

How did you start cruising?

Both Katie and I had crewed on a variety of boats in our late twenties and saw it as a great way to travel and explore further. Later on, ours was a different path to boat ownership. We took part in a five year program with Dream Yacht Charter (DYC). Our boat was based in Corsica and we got 6-8 weeks of owner use each year on our boat, or any other boat of a similar size at other DYC bases. As such, we went to Corsica a few times to check in on ‘Blake’, but also chartered in France, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, British Virgin Islands, Tahiti and Mexico. At the end of the five years, we sailed away with our own boat with the intention to live-aboard as a family, sail the ARC 2021 and then cruise the Caribbean for all of 2022.

Describe what sort of cruisers you are:

We are a young family cruising with our two daughters Iwalani (9) and Anela (7). Our plan was to live aboard full time for 16 months, home schooling our daughters and running our business – Sun Powered Yachts – while exploring aboard Blake. Our house back home in Hawaii has been rented out the whole time we have been away, but we do need to get a new car when we return!

What type of cruising are you doing currently?

Right now we have slowed the pace right down and spent hurricane season in the Mexican Caribbean. Being close to Cancun we have found a great resort marina and a school locally for the girls to attend for a semester. They are thriving and we are enjoying time to focus on other projects rather than moving the boat all the time. We did still manage to get down to Belize and explore there for a month and we have been doing some long weekend sails to the nearby islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres.

What were the key reasons you selected your current boat?

We both really like the Dufour brand having sailed on a few others previously and the 382 is a great (manageable) size for us as a family. With three cabins, we each have a good amount of space and the boat is easily sailed short-handed. There’s a huge amount of natural light brought down into the boat and we liked the taller mast and deeper keel option.  A self tacking gib makes tacking easy and the large cockpit and fold-down swim platform really opens up the back of the boat, connecting you with the water when on anchor or in a marina.

What other boats have you owned?

This is our first boat.

What changes have you made to your current boat?

• Added SunPower flexible solar panels onto the bimini (730W total)
• Added a Schenker Zen30 watermaker (12V)
• Added a bowsprit for light wind sails (asymmetric gennaker and a code 0)
• Added a third reef to the mainsail
• Added a lot of 12V cabin fans

Most useful equipment fitted and reasons for this choice:

Solar has allowed us to run the engine far less often just to charge the batteries, plus less noise and less heat in the boat is a bonus.  The watermaker has allowed us not to worry about where we can get water from and a Dometic 12V freezer gives us more options to store food, which was great on our Atlantic crossing.

Equipment regrets, or things you would do differently:

• Install more 12V fans and sooner!
• We have not used the downwind sails so much after the crossing.  We could have possibly gone with a larger genoa and spi-pole.  We might use that more often cruising as it is more easy to manage short handed. On shorter sails it is a lot of work to set up the downwind sails.
• Upgrade/beef up the autopilot before the trip and/or carry more auto-helm parts.
• Install more solar panels sooner – modular, so you can add them in stages, but it’s certainly a case of the more the merrier. These days there are so many things aboard to plug in and charge.
• We would like to upgrade the batteries to Li-ion which would increase our Ah capacity in the same footprint. We have a very small area for the batteries.
• Carry more spares (always buy two!) and get them when they are easy to source.

List the countries you have cruised:

On this trip we have visited Corsica, France, Spain, Canary Islands, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Spanish Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Belize.

Future cruising plans:

Blake is currently listed for sale, but Plan B of more sailing is not a bad thing! Possibly Honduras and Belize again or we may head to Panama for the next hurricane season.

List the oceans/seas you have crossed:

The Mediterranean then Atlantic East to West with ARC 2021.

Approximate sea miles:

7500NM since we started cruising (Corsica to Cancun) – Atlantic was around 2900NM.

Scariest day on the water:

Navigating the Straits of Gibralter just for the sheer volume of traffic, but having AIS was a big help. Otherwise, with weather, probably about five days into the ARC crossing when the winds filled in after a period of flat calm. The winds came back with a vengeance and it was a good few days of strong wind and lumpy seas. At one point we had sideways rain, 31 knots apparent wind directly from astern with bare poles going six knots SOG. At least we were going in the right direction, but that was a hard time as you had to helm and couldn’t rely on the autopilot. We were cold, wet and tired. Good job sailors have short memories!

Best cruising moment:

Sailing as a family into Saint Lucia and finishing the ARC 2021, from 160 boats we were the third smallest and had a great (noisy) welcome and were pleased to be in. It had been 10 years since Katie and I first met at the ARC Prizegiving in 2011 and it felt like a circle had been completed. I’m very proud of our family achievement.

Favourite cruising area and why:

Belize. A pleasant surprise with a good mix of sailing with lots of small islands to choose from, reef passes and beautiful sailing in behind the reefs. Amazing colored water, good Caribbean vibes, but a little challenging in terms of navigation and shallow waters.

Favourite anchorage:

South Water Caye, Belize (close second would be Maho Bay, St John USVI).

Favourite cruising apps:

• Navily
• Our anchor alarm app (forget the name)
• Windy

Favourite cruising websites:

• Noonsite.com
• Navily.com
• Noforeignland.com
• NOAA hurricane website
• Windy.com

Favourite cruising books:

Any and all local cruising guide books, they are a great offline reference to have but some words of caution – things do change!

What advice or message would you want to pass on to anyone new to cruising or thinking about casting off the dock lines?

Leap and the net will appear! I’m not saying go totally unprepared, but also you will never be 100% ready.  There is always some boat project to work on, but you can do them underway while on your trip. Also factor in that it’s nice to get off the boat sometimes, book a slip in a marina and go on a road trip or book an Airbnb/hotel. Enjoy the places that your boat has gotten you to.

Why cruise? In a few sentences, what is it that inspires you to keep cruising?

“It’s all about the people you meet along the way” whether it be locals, fellow cruisers or other tourists.   You will meet so many different people and make lifelong friendships.

Any other comments:

Don’t underestimate the importance of running a quiet boat! You often hear sailors say the best sound in the world is turning the engine off, so why put it on especially just to charge your batteries. Solar is clean and quiet. Send us a message if you have any questions about going solar aboard. We’re always happy to chat solar and sailing!

The Burgess Family
SV Blake

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Related Content:

Can you work while Cruising?
Featuring Katie and Lyall and SunPowered Yachts.

More Portrait of a Cruiser stories.

If you think you have an interesting story to tell and would like to take part in our Portrait of a Cruiser series, please contact Sue at [email protected] for a questionnaire.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.

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