Offshore Cruising Preparation
Safe, enjoyable passages depend on three foundations: thorough offshore preparation, realistic passage planning, and choosing the right crew.
Two years before leaving Australia again, we committed to a structured plan to remodel our Leopard 45 (the Lagoon L400 took three years). The result was two self-sufficient, long-distance, remote cruising catamarans built for the South Pacific and beyond.
Spreading the work over several years kept costs manageable and gave us time to test every upgrade before trusting it remotely. As departure approached, our focus shifted to maintenance packs, critical spares, repair kits and systems we could service in remote anchorages.
Add to your 'ideas toolbox'. Explore our first-hand experience, see exactly what we changed and why, then decide what might work for your own offshore cruising plans.
Then comes the question every offshore cruiser eventually faces: how many spares are enough? Finding the right balance between preparation, weight and storage remains one of the hardest decisions in offshore sailing.
🧭 3 Yrs - 12 Months out
(Part 1 of 4)
🔧 12 Months to 6 Months out
(Part 2 of 4)
👥 6 Months to 1 Month
(Part 3 of 4)
👥 The Last Month
(Part 4 of 4)
