Plastic Classic Forum

Flipping through the latest issue of Cruising World I noticed another Triton has crossed atlantic successfully. The owner/captain single-hander is Richard King. I am curious how many Tritons have made Atlantic and Pacific crossings. I am aware that Jim Baldwin's Atom has done two circumnavigations. He also delivered another Triton from Europe back to the U.S. In addition, Fernando de Oleze crossed Atlantic last year also single-handedly. I met another fellow Yuri who crossed Atlantic on a Triton again single-handed in 2007. I read another Triton was lost near Australia but the owners were saved by Australian Navy. Does anyone have a database of major ocean crossings done on a Triton?

I'm not aware of any database (although I'm not a Triton owner), but I do know of a few additional Atlantic or Pacific Triton crossings.

1) Mike Freeman sailed his Triton, "Goose," from the US to the Canary Islands, and then James and Mei Baldwin sailed it back to the US. More here:

http://www.cruisingworld.com/article.js ... &catID=622

2) Debbie Weeks sailed Patience, her Aeromarine Triton, from somewhere on the west coast of North America to Hawaii (California or Mexico, I believe).

3) Jeff and Liz Armour sailed "Different Drum" from the US East Coast to The Azores and Canaries and back (return through the Caribbean) in 1993-94 (coincidentally a current friend of mine met them in the Azores when he was there on a Tartan 34 that he and his wife sailed to the Med and back from Milwaukee).

4) Ken Rupp sailed his Triton, Nereid, from San Francisco Bay to Hawaii and back.

You can read more about #3 and #4 on a National Triton Association page here:

http://www.tritonclass.org/readingroom.html

A friend of mine, Phil Prosser left Solomons, MD in June 2008 and single handed his Triton "Deep Blue" (not sure of the hull # but I think it is in the mid 300s) to Horta in the Azores. Another local sailor from MD joined him in Horta and they sailed to Portugal. After spending some time in Portugal they sailed back to the Azores and the boat was put on the hard at a marina and Phil flew back to the states. His plans the last time I talked with him were to fly back to the Azores in the spring of 2009 and spend the summer cruising the Azores.

Debbie Weeks was next to me at the Berkeley Marina, in Berkeley, CA a - she departed for HI from Berkeley. Debbie is a hard core gal.

Here are pictures of Debbie just before and during her Hawaii trip:

http://tritonclass.org/mir/362ta.html

Note her 'extensive' offshore equipment. Unfortunately, Debbie just posted on the Triton Yahoo site that Patience broke her mooring in Hawaii, and is still on the rocks. Debbie sold her awhile ago because she was moving to Australia and didn't want to do that trip.

I am sorry to hear about Patience's recent unfortunate incident. I hope it is insured. That's a shame. Still, I don't understand why Debbie sold it for only $2000 for a Triton that just crossed Pacific with a Monitor on the transom and an almost new outboard!

Unless something new has occurred, I believe Debbie sold Patience for $15,000. There was a thread about it on the Triton mailing list about six months ago. If I remember correctly, there was some dispute about the details between Debbie and the buyer, and so there may have been a bit of a compromise, but I didn't get the impression it went as low as $2000.

R.

PS: I just read the list post. I believe Debbie is saying that the buyer still owes her $2000 according to their payment arrangements; not that the boat was sold for that much.

That makes more sense to me now. Thanks Rachel!

I envy people that can just pick up and go. As much as I love boats and sailing offshore it is only a dream to me at this stage. With three kids and mortgage and career it is going to be at least five years before I will be able to put my long dreamed circumnavigation in motion. With the current financial crisis I am afraid that plan is pushed out at least by three years ;-(

I am about to delve into that CW article, looks like a good one packed with lots of details. The picture of the captain at his 'stove' cracks me up. Reminds me of my Tempest days. Remember the cruising days without headroom and loving every minute?

Just a note to let everyone know that Deep Blue has completed her voyage, from summer 2009 to spring 2010. Deep Blue toured the Azores, Portugal, Madeira, Canaries, Cape Verdes, Grenada, Isla Mujeres, Ft. Myers, and ICW to the Chesapeake. I missed a single handed circle by the 450 miles from Sines Portugal to Porto Santo in the Madeira group. My crew Luis Patta of Sines, was invaluable when crossing the Cabo Roca traffic zone near Lisboa. Deep Blue performed without complaint all along the way. Phil Deep Blue hull #416

Congratulations Captphil. I'm envious. As an aside, Debbie Weeks posted her departure today to Rarotonga to join the SV Kwai as supercargo, not certain what that means. She seems to get around some.
Steve

Captain Phil,

Your Triton is certainly well-named! Congratulations on a successful voyage. I hope we hear more about the details- especially what worked or didn't while you were sailing solo.

With respect from someone who is strictly coastal so far,

David

Dave & Steve;
Thank you for the kind words. As for what worked and what didn't, I hardly know where to begin. Deep Blue was purchased for $400 as a partially completed project. The final success was a result of the kiss principle married to a severly limited budget. Decks were recored, the engine replaced, and then the customizing started. The largest failure was my reefing system, which underwent continual modification all during the voyage. In the end reefing time was reduced from 1 hour to 8 minutes. The most difficult part of the trip was untying the dock lines. I will try to jump into the discussion when I feel I can be helpful Phil