Across the Atlantic

So here we are in the Caribbean, Barbados to be more precise.

At the anchorage off Port St Charles

The boys relaxing at a beach bar in Speightstown

BUT back a few steps. We were ready to leave Santa Cruz La Palma on about Sunday, but a weather forecast suggested an earlier Friday departure would be very windy, but over the next week would be favorable and less potential for motoring in light winds. So against all yachtie wisdom we left harbour on a Friday, and with Bananas on board.

25knots of breeze leaving Santa Cruz

As we cleared the Southern corner of the island we entered the aptly named Wind Acceleration Zone caused by the high island. Eventually 30 miles from land were clear of the Zone but in the zone experienced wind up to 35knots gusting 40. And then no wind and had to motor for an hour to again be in 25knots.

Double reef main, handkerchief of jib doing 8 knots in 35knots
One visit we had that afternoon was a little bird blown off course by the gusty conditions. We decided 3 weeks on board would not be good for his survival so we released him and hoped he made landfall.

Our feathered visitor

Life settled down to watches of 3 hours on and 6 hours off. Any of the three electric autopilots could handle the steering so watch keeping came down to looking out for passing ships (or watching for alarms on the AIS, an electronic ship watcher!) and adjusting the sails and steering for wind shifts.

Russell with 12 kilos or so of Yellow Fin Tuna

Fishing was an important part of the trip and on the second evening just while discussing dinner we hooked a decent size MahiMahi so the menu changed fairly abruptly.

As the trip progressed we caught more Mahi, a lovely Yellow Fin Tuna, and a Wahoo. The tuna eaten as sashimi was the pick of the fish but we enjoyed them all.

We saw very few ships on the crossing. The AIS alarm let us know of ships up to about 10 miles distance and we could see them visually at about 8 miles. Without the AIS our sightings would have been less.  We actually saw 6 ships and until the last 24 hours no yachts. But on closing Barbados we crossed the route from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria to Martinique. We saw 4 yachts in a few hours and talked to a couple. A big lonely ocean!

A typical meal. Fresh bread, Tuna steaks, coleslaw , tomatoes and olives

The crew getting stuck into some serious reading

We flew the spinnaker for 5 days which was great for keeping the speed up in lighter winds in the middle of the crossing.

We also had the kite for five nights including one 49 hour stretch. Pretty unusual for a cruising yacht but we had good up to the minute forecasts via a Garmin satellite communicator and gave us a lot of confidence to leave it flying

Beautiful sunsets were a magical part of the trip


A bit of detail for the sailors. The wind was mostly NE to E at 12 to 20 knots. The first days were stronger. We only motored for 3 hours and a few hours of engine to charge the battery bank (in hindsight the batteries were fine) so after 2600 miles 7 litres of diesel filled the tank.
The trip took 19days 18 hours and arrival at Port St Charles in the dark was fine. Customs and Quarantine couldn't have been easier the next morning.
As I said the autopilots handle the steering easily and with the centreplate up it is light 2 finger steering most of the time, even under spinnaker.
Daily runs were all 120nms or longer and the last day was 150miles. The average was about 135miles a day. If you could only plan for that all the time!

A flying fish that landed on deck one night

We came across Sargasso weed and for a few hundred miles it clogged fishing lines but didn't cause us any issues. We did discuss the fear of being becalmed in a sea filled with the stuff!

The skipper steering for a while. I still really enjoy the tiller even if the autopilot can do the work

By the end of the trip we had goose barnacles attached to the hull above the water line. You need to rotate the image 180degrees, I couldn't do it!

Nige with a decent Mahi Mahi

The Australian flag had destroyed itself over the last 2 years so Ants spent a couple of days cutting out stars and lots of sewing. Almost a respectable result.

Russell has just left the boat to start back to Oz. Nige is here until Thursday and Friday Jane arrives for 6 weeks. Over that time we will sail to some or all of St Lucia, Grenada, Martinique, and eventually to Trinidad and Tobago where the current plan is to dry store Le Bateau until October next year. But plans are able to be. changed!